Note from Jackie… Today’s post is a guest post from Robyn Adams. She’s an amazing writer, and has turned her talents into a thriving PLR business. Today is Robyn’s birthday… and for her birthday she’s throwing a BIRTHDAY BASH at The PLR Mall ~ her plr store. Everything is 75% OFF! Yep… no code, no tricks, everything is already marked down, just click the “buy now” button. The sale runs through the 20th  and her plr is top notch so grab some while it’s cheap. Now… let’s carry on with how to make your PLR your own. 

When you purchase new PLR, it’s important to remember it’s still a “work in progress” for your business. It needs a few tweaks to get it ready to give your business the boost it needs. Take heart, though, there’s very little actual writing involved to give PLR your own unique spin and personal voice. It’s more a matter of a creative art of pulling out some information and rearranging other content. It’s actually sort of fun once you get the hang of it!

Give It a New Title

Chances are good you will need to change the title of your PLR article. Most PLR writers don’t spend a lot of time coming up with a crafty title because they know it will most likely be changed to something unique for the business the article eventually is used for. So if you need a reason to change it, just know the title it was originally given was dry on purpose.

You need to give it life!

Pick something that packs a punch and really draws the reader in. This is your first opportunity to really capture their attention. Make it count. People like things that spell out what the article will be about. Use as many action words as possible.

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Add Personal Examples

The quickest and easiest way to give PLR your own unique voice is to add personal examples. Simply read through the article and find areas you can relate to and have personal experience with. Add a personal example or a personal feeling about the matter. Any feelings of impersonal PLR that might exist before will quickly evaporate. You don’t need to write much, just enough that the reader will feel like they understand you better and ultimately the point being made in the article.

Add a Personal Touch to the Introduction and Conclusion

You know why your audience has arrived at the PLR they are reading. Are they visiting a blog? Are they on an information website? Are they reading a newsletter? Address the reason behind their reading the PLR. If they are reading a blog, you could mention the blog post will help them solve problems x, y, and z. You can close the same way with your conclusion, and reiterate what they’ve learned from the PLR and make it specific to the mode of delivery. You might mention that problem x, y, and z were addressed in this month’s newsletter and you will be discussing problems a, b, and c in next month’s.

Include Bullet Points and Sub-Heads

Here’s a tip that doesn’t require any extra writing: If the PLR doesn’t have bullet points and bolded sub-heads, add some. They will act as anchors to the eyes and really draw the reader in. There’s a psychology behind this that makes the reader feel welcome because their eyes have a place to land and be held. You don’t need to write anything new necessarily. Just work with the text that’s already there. Pull out some of the better points and make them bold headings. Find a list somewhere in the article and make those bullet points. Voila! You’ve taken a rather boring looking article and turned it into a much more appealing looking peace without writing a thing!

Rearrange the Order of the Article

There are no rules that say you have to keep the PLR article in the order and form that it came to you in. Feel free to move things around in the order of importance as you see them. This can also really change up the article and make it more unique and give it your personal flavor. It’s a great way to give it your voice. Again, there’s no writing involved in this step!

Want to make your PLR stand out with your unique voice? There are a number of things you can do to really make the “P” in PLR look like it stands for “personal.” You can do things such as adding a new, catchy title, add specific intros and conclusions, draw out sub-head and bullet points, and even change the order of your article. You can make your PLR almost unrecognizable in a very short time with these tricks.

Robyn Adams invites you to check out “The PLR Mall” where you will find the quality PLR you need on a variety of subjects. You can also sign up to receive discounts on PLR and get 10 free PLR articles.

Related posts:

1. Your Unique Selling Proposition Makes Writing Content Easier
2. How PLR Can Solve the Top 3 Internet Marketing Problems
3. How to Ruin Your Business in One Easy Step

image credit: rahego

Gone are the days where you can just offer updates and people willingly fill in their email address. (Although this DOES happen more easily when you have KILLER content) For the mere mortals among us we need to offer a gift, an ethical bribe, something of value to our readers in exchange for their email address.

It can seem overwhelming when you start to think about it. But it’s really quite simple, and today I’m going to share with you a fantastic way to create a valuable piece of content your reader’s are going to eat up.

1. Identify a problem your readers are facing.

What hurdles do they face? What troubles them? What questions do they have? What keeps them from being successful in this area?

Those are the questions you’re going to ask yourself… THEN you’re going to find a reputable PLR dealer, and you’re going to see what they have available to help you answer these questions, jump over the hurdles etc.

There’s no reason you have to struggle and spend a million hours trying to perfect an opt in gift ~ this is especially true if you struggle with writing. Stop putting it off, and get some help ~ some PLR help.

What is PLR.

PLR stands for Private Label Rights. This is where someone writes, whether it’s articles, reports, entire ebooks, and then sells them to you for a price.

Now, the seller doesn’t just sell them to YOU, but to others as well. Some sellers only sell to a limited number of people, and others will just sell as many copies as they possibly can.

The key to making this strategy work is finding a reputable seller ~ a GREAT writer ~ it’s like having your own ghost writer on staff.

When you go to your PLR seller with your problems/questions in hand you can look for a couple different things…

1. Articles

2. reports

3. ebooks

All of these make excellent opt in gifts ~ once you make them your own.

If you find articles you might put them all together as an “FAQ” type package… answering the most often asked questions in your niche. You could also put them together to create a short report to give to your readers.

Reports and ebooks speak for themselves.  A well written report or ebook can go a LONG way to creating a connection between you and your reader ~ as well as giving you quite a bit of authority on the topic.

Once you’ve decided on some content, and you’ve purchased it you’re ready to make it your own. That’s what we’re going to be talking about next week! How to make this PLR content your own, so stay tuned.

This week’s action steps:

1. Identify problems, concerns, hurdles, questions you’re target market has.

2. Find some PLR content to solve those problems.

Here are some fantastic PLR sellers where I get my PLR.

Tiffany Dow  ~ a variety of topics, both niche, and IM

Yummy PLR ~ for food related topics

Sassy PLR ~ a variety of topics

Easy PLR ~ nice reports, and ebooks on a variety of topics

PLR Mall ~ a fairly new site ~ but an AWESOME writer!

If you get this piece done this week, next week you’ll be ready to start making it your own, and then you’re ready to upload and start taking names!

Related posts:

1. How to Create Content When You Hate to Write
2. How to Ruin Your Business in One Easy Step
3. How PLR Can Solve the Top 3 Internet Marketing Problems

These “rumors” are enough to strike fear into the hearts of your average affiliate marketer… losing the ability to build links that work? Losing ranking ~ that means losing traffic ~ hate mail from Google?! YIKES.

It’s enough to make you want to throw your hands in the air and give up.

But let’s not.

Because, there’s one asset you could be creating that can give you security ~ knowing no matter what Google, or Youtube or any other web 2.0 site decides to do with you… you could bounce back.

What’s that asset?

A list of course.

Here’s the thing…

When you create a list, and build your relationship with that list, create a serious group of people who not only signed up but look forward to hearing from you ~ nothing can stop you.

Your site gets deindexed?

Send an email to your list and they’ll stop by and read what you wrote.

Your youtube channel gets closed?

Send an email to your list and let them know you’ve set up shop on another network.

Facebook closes your account?

Send an email to your list and let them know your new address.

Got a new product you created?

Send an email to your list and let them know about it.

You see… once you have a list you’re almost bulletproof. No matter what outside forces DO to you… you can still connect with your audience. You still have a point of contact.

Being able to connect and contact your audience is THE biggest thing when it comes to internet marketing. If you can’t contact and connect with your audience ~ you’re sunk. You are at the mercy of anyone and everyone’s whims.

But once you have a list… you can rebuild no matter what happens. You can makes sales no matter what. You can launch new things, no matter what.

The very first thing you should do ~ well after writing some great content ~ is start building your list.

Now… let’s talk about this whole “building your list” thing for a second. Because I know we’re here to make money, and most of us have been reading way too much about “monetization” and affiliate marketing, and how to scrape the last dime out of your visitors.

This is NOT what your list is about.

This is SOOOO important… because if you do this right your list will love you and buy from you forever. If you do this wrong…  you might as well not have a list at all.

When you’re thinking about your list you need to think of them as friends. Yep. Friends.

Do not do anything to your list or with your list you wouldn’t do to a real life friend.

This includes everything… the emails you send. The products you recommend. How often you recommend products. How often you send emails. What kind of thank you gift you offer to them.

List building doesn’t need to be complicated… in fact, it’s a really simple thing.

You are offering a way to get to know YOU better… as well as  a way to get to know THEM better as well.

If you think of your list as a way to connect, you’ll be ok 100% of the time.

Your list is an asset for sure. But it’s more than just a business asset ~ it’s a lifeline between you and your audience. It’s the way they get to know you. It’s how they get to trust you. It’s the way they learn if what you’ve got, and who you are is a good match for them.

So if you haven’t started building your list yet… get started now. There’s really no better time. This month we’re going to talk about creating a relationship with your list ~ how you can really connect with your list so it will be a HUGE asset to your business.

If you haven’t started yet, here’s some articles you can use to get the basics down, and get yourself up and running so you can follow along for the rest of the month.

Build Your List from the Beginning ~ the basics of list building.

Tips to writing your free report ~ We’ll be talking more about this next week as well.

How to upload your report so you can share it 

How to set up your autoresponder

How to add your opt in box to the sidebar

That should get you started. The rest of the month we’re going to be talking about how you can be YOURSELF, and connect with your list ~ because it’s the connection that makes your list worth its weight in gold.

I want this series to benefit you… so please make sure you let me know what elements of list building YOU want to cover this month. I’ve got my own ideas… but I want to make sure what you want is what I think you want lol.

Related posts:

1. Build Some Buzz to Propel Your Business
2. March Challenge ~ Content Creation Style!
3. 10 Tips to Drive Traffic and Build Your Brand with Pinterest

But today… I wanted to talk about one last thing when it comes to content creation… stories.

It’s all fine and sometimes good to tell facts and share benefits.  However, when you can share a story ~ you’ll go so much farther in terms of connecting. The thing is facts are great ~ but stories sell. A person can’t visualize themselves in a fact ~ but they can in a story. When you share stories people can begin to put themselves in the shoes of the main character, they can think about how they would react. They start to formulate their OWN opinions about the topic. When people form their own opinions… you don’t have to sell them. They sell themselves.

Over and over and over again I’ve talked about building your brand, finding your niche, being clear about who you are… but today I’d like to share a story ~ maybe this will illustrate my point better than the facts.

What a Construction Company Owner

Turned Farmer Can Teach You…

Over 50% of small businesses fail.

This is the story of one.

This small business started off as a partnership. Two guys who started putting in sprinkler systems in high end neighborhoods. One guy realized there was a lot of competition in the sprinkler business, and not a lot of profit margin and decided they should take their business bigger. They should expand.  He started thinking that if they did some of everything they’d make more money and be able to reach more people.

When you try to talk to everyone you talk to no one.

So they expanded. When asked what he does he says “I own a construction company”. He’s pretty proud of that fact. It’s a pretty cool thing to say. You know what people say to him when he says that?  ”Oh”. It’s a fact that he owns a construction company but it doesn’t let anyone know if he does something they need.

He ended up doing a lot of remodeling, and built a new road/driveway for a guy. He built some steel buildings ~ (oh yeah, at this point the partner had flaked and left town, and the guy left was determined to do it all on his own). Then one day a neighbor asked him a question… she said, “Do you do roofs?”. He said, why sure. I think a metal roof would be perfect on your house, and I know a distributor that can help me get that roof on your house for less than a shingle roof.

Done. So he started putting a roof on this lady’s house. Next thing you know, another neighbor is driving by and stops to ask him if he’s got time to do another roof. While he’s doing that roof a few miles away someone else sees him and asks him to do their roof, and the next and the next.

When you can say I do this… whether it’s putting on a roof, or building a steel building, people know if they need that. They also know if anyone they know needs that too. They can raise their hand and say “oh yeah, that’s me… I need you.”

Who are you calling? Who needs you? Do you know? Do they know?

This construction company comes across a great deal on some machinery. It’s pennies on the dollar. The owner thinks new machinery will help him do more jobs. He thinks he’ll be able to diversify and take on bigger jobs. Bigger jobs with bigger profit margins. Against some good business advice he invests a large chunk of change in this machinery.

Now he’s got himself a dump truck, a bulldozer, a semi, a skidsteer… he’s ready to rock and roll and pull in the big bucks. Only problem is, now he’s even more diversified, he’s calling even more people’s names who can’t hear him because he’s not talking specifically to them and now he’s got all this equipment that has to be tagged, insured and paid for.

That good business owner now has a couple other things as well. He’s got panic, and guilt. He’s just spent way too much in a business that wasn’t profitable to begin with, now he’s got to hustle and he feels like he’s drowning. This business is no longer fun for him. He hates getting up every morning. He doesn’t even want to think about it. AND he has to get out there and hustle for business and he hates that. He’s got to make payments that jobs just aren’t covering. He’s got to take care of his family, and he can’t.

Spending money you don’t have doesn’t make a business better, it just makes it more in debt.

This good construction guy has hustled up some business. He is working on a roof, on a busy road, and when he’s done, he leaves. The roof looks great, it was a crazy roof ~ lots of angles, and corners. He did a great job though… but now, unless someone talks to the home owner and asks who did her roof no one will know. This fantastic roofer didn’t leave any way for people to know this was his work. No sign, no cards left, no big sign on the truck stating his name and number.

If people don’t know you do what you do, how can they hire you?

A simple metal sign placed in the yard would have let people know this was his work. It would have been free advertising, right there with a gorgeous roof for proof on a busy highway.

What are you doing to let people know you do what you do?

This construction owner listened to someone with a little marketing experience and started his company with the letter A, you know, so it would come up first in the yellow pages. However, he never took out that yellow pages ad. He refused to create a website, or put ads up on Craigslist or in the local directory. He just didn’t think that would work, and he couldn’t really afford the yellow pages.

If you don’t tell people you exist, no one knows you exist.

There were many ways this construction business could have gotten the word out. They could have created a website, they could have gotten a sign to go on the side of their trailer and trucks. They could have put an ad in the local paper, they could have gotten yard signs to leave on finished job sites. It doesn’t have to cost a ton of money to get the word out that you exist, but if you don’t do it… well if no one knows you exist, you get no customers.

The owner also let his fears get in his way. He was worried if he advertised he’d get more business than he could handle. He’d have to schedule jobs out ahead and he didn’t think it was right to make people wait. He let his fear and his thoughts about how it “should” be get in the way of his business success.

What are you doing to let people know you exist? What fears are holding you back from doing what it takes to let people know you are here?

The biggest problem though was that this construction company was afraid to ask for money. This small business owner had the idea in his head that he couldn’t possibly ask customers for money up front to cover the cost of materials. The owner somehow got it in his head that he just couldn’t possibly do that. It was pushy, made him look bad, the customers would cancel the job… he had a ton of negative scenarios running through his head. He would end up putting the cost of materials on his credit card, and then the job would run long, or something would go wrong and more materials would be needed, and low and behold at the end of the job there was never enough money to cover the credit card payment.

So he’d hustle to get another job and the same scenario would happen… over time the business was more than not profitable, it was costing him money every time he went on a job.

Ask for the money.

If you don’t create something or recommend something that’s going to bring some profit your way, you can only expect to fail. That’s what a business is after all… an exchange of money for something. But you have to have something to sell, and you have to be willing to ask for the money.

The thing about this is, if this business owner hadn’t been so hard headed, if he hadn’t been so scared to try something new, he might have succeeded. Just because you think something is the way it is, doesn’t mean it is, or has to be. You have to be willing to take risks. You have to be willing to try new things that may fail, but they may succeed beyond your wildest dreams. If what you’re doing is not working, and you’re unwilling to try something different just pack it in today.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

This business owner realized a few things over the course of running his business. A few of these things were pretty important to know when undertaking a customer based business.

1. He really doesn’t play well with others.

2. Having customers is pretty similar to having a boss.

3. Tooting his own horn is really not his thing.

4. He really didn’t like construction all that much, even though he was wicked good at it.

Well… it looks like those realizations make owning a construction company not so much fun. This business owner, an entrepreneurial genius to the core decided to call it quits with his construction business. He was miserable and getting angry and frustrated more and more every day. He decided to close the doors to this business. He was down, but he wasn’t out. He found something that was much more in alignment with who he was, the strengths he has, and the things he loves. He’s now a farmer, well he’s working his way to being a farmer. Hard solitary work. Long hours alone in a tractor… just the way he likes it, unless of course his daughter decides to come on a ride along.

He’s much happier now. He doesn’t dread going to work each day. In fact, he heads to work and comes back home in a good mood, and reads more about how to make this farming thing work as a new farmer. He’s excited again, and ready to get out there and start over.

So I guess this is the last lesson we have to learn from this construction owner turned farmer… if you hate what you’re doing it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a boss. It’s still just a job (that you now probably put in twice as many hours at, for less pay and no “security”). If you’re going to work for yourself you might as well find something you’re good at and that you love. Life is too short to spend your days being miserable, especially if you own the business.

image credit: Mostly Dans

Related posts:

1. Creating Good Content ~ Reader Question

image credit: Pascal Maramis

It’s so easy to just decide to go into business. Pick a topic, find some keywords and go. Right? Wrong. Well, technically it is that easy, but if you want long term success, conversion and sales there’s a little more that goes into it.

I’ve noticed a lot of people choose a blog title based on just keywords, or on themselves… and this is a mistake.

At every step of the process you want to have in the forefront of your mind “what’s in it for them”… them being your reader. The problem comes in when you don’t even know who your reader is because you don’t know who YOU are… and what makes you unique from the other sites out there. Your uniqueness is what makes you speak to some people and not others.

To be able to really speak to the people you want to speak to you have to have some clarity on who you are, and who they are as well. I’m not talking about whether they’re 30 and female… although that stuff can certainly be important, I’m talking about your unique selling proposition.

Sometimes it’s easier to get clarity on how this stuff really effects us by looking at some examples.

If you were looking for a copy writer, let’s say. Who would you go with?

Ashley Ambirge ~ who’s website is called “The Middle Finger Project” and her tagline is: because entrepreneurs do it better and vulgar titles are funny. ~ She cusses, talks a lot about sex, and hookers, drinks and dancing and incorporates that energy into her writing.

or

Joe Vitale ~ who’s site is called “Joe Vitale is… Mr. Fire” and he talks about hypnotic copy and marketing. Very upstanding, claims to be a guru in marketing etc.

Two VERY different people… and very different people will be drawn to them both.

Let’s take the internet marketing arena…

 Tiffany Dow ~ straight forward, honest, at times call you out and in your face… self professed honey badger.

vs.

Darren Rouse ~ seems very laid back, professional, non controversial, has lots of guest bloggers on his site.

Who do you connect to? Because they are very unique ~ and yet have quite a bit of overlap.

or how about in the food arena:

There’s 100 Days of Real Food ~ a whole family eating completely unprocessed foods.

vs.

Cupcake Project ~ an experimental cupcake project

Both delicious ~ but if you like one  you probably aren’t “in to” the other.

How about in the parenting niche? There are soooo many mom blogs out there ~ but the difference between getting lost in the crowd and creating a crowded community is your USP.

Let’s take Scary Mommy as an example. The tagline is “An honest look at motherhood. Where less than perfect moms can connect and commiserate… join the club” This site is a serious “reality check”… where people confess their “bad parenting” moments, they talk about things like “cussing at your kids”, a completely “non sugar coated” view of parenting.

vs.

Simple Kids ~ which is part of the Simplemom media network. Where the tagline is “Uncomplicated Childhood”. A TOTALLY different take on parenting, and raising our children, and my guess is the people who read one, don’t read the other.

This is what your USP is all about… finding your calling, and then calling out the people who are like you and are interested in what you have to offer.

The things is once you find your USP it will spill into EVERYTHING!

Your blog title, your tagline, your post titles, your content, the products you promote, the products you create, the emails you send.

The emails I get from Tiffany Dow are completely different than the ones I get from Darren… because they are different, their sites are different, and their USPs are different! The articles I might read on Scary Mom are almost the exact opposite of the ones I would read on Simplekids… that’s the difference between their USPs.

If you’re thinking I don’t need a USP I’m just doing a niche site, or a product review site, then you’re sadly mistaken. It’s even MORE important for you!

Let’s say you’re writing a book review site. That’s an awesome idea but what makes you different from all the other book review sites on the web? What makes you different than the reviews I can find for any book on Amazon? Why should I come to YOUR site?

Here’s a site I’ve recently found that’s knocked her USP out of the park.

Packabook.com ~ where she combines travel with books… but even better than that… she combines travelling to visit the places she reads about IN THE BOOKS!! OMG. It was a book readers heaven when I stopped by.

Now THAT made me subscribe to her updates and I’m eagerly waiting for her next review.

That’s a USP. (She could make her USP a little more clear within the first 5 seconds of being on the site… but once you get it you’re sold)

or how about…

Best Cookware ~ where they “provide unbiased opinions on what we think is the best cookware for you” They’re real people, who do the research for you… how much do people love that!

or how about this one..

Party Supply Kits ~ “your complete party in a box”.  If you’re a parent who hates planning parties, and finding all the stuff you need for a party (like I am) how awesome would it be if someone just did it all for you?!

As you can see… being just a little bit different/unique than every one else goes a long way.

What if you’ve already started your site but didn’t think about your USP (or didn’t know you needed one). Don’t freak out and start over!

You can create and refine your USP as you move forward… that’s definitely what has happened on this site! It’s gone through a variety of incarnations… but if you can do it before you get started your growth can be all that much faster.

Here’s some tips for identifying your USP. I’ve borrowed them from the interview Corbett did with Derek Halpern because Derek just made it so simple, and it made such perfect sense. (if you haven’t watched/listened to that interview you really SHOULD!)

1. write down the top 10 blogs in your niche (topic area)

2. Identify their “secret sauce” or what makes them unique.

3. Figure out how YOUR site can fit in this group.

4. Identify what you can do to be “different” than the top 10.

(and I love #5)

5. Get on a box and preach it with a megaphone!

It’s really a simple process, but understanding what makes you and your site different and unique is huge, and makes the rest of everything… much easier.

If you’re Scary Mom ~ you know you’re probably NOT going to write about organic laundry soap. Therefore you’re not going to look for affiliate opportunities for organic laundry soap ~ you wouldn’t look for organic PLR. You see how that works?

Having clarity on your USP allows you to have clarity on everything throughout your business.

So before you start writing, or getting clients, or build a community ~ figure out your USP! That way you’ll know exactly what to write, who to talk to and who to connect with!

If you’d like to work on your USP join me in the KISS Club ~ you and I will work together and we’ll figure it out.

Related posts:

1. How to Make Your PLR Unique ~ Just Like You
2. Creating Good Content ~ Reader Question
3. How to Create Content When You Hate to Write

Image credit: A. Germain

As we carry on through our content creation month I’ve heard plenty of comments about people who hate to write. Well, if you’re going to create a profitable and sustainable blog or website you’re going to have to have awesome content… so what do you do if you hate to write?!

If you want to have text posts on your site, but you hate to write you still have some options.

1. PLR ~ private label rights. 

These are articles, posts, emails, reports, ebooks ~ all written by someone else. However, once you purchase them you can take them apart, rewrite, mix them up, add them together ~ whatever you want to do with them… AND THEN… put your name on them as your own.

This is an excellent route to go to have text posts and not have to write it yourself. If you’re using them on your blog, or other places on the web you’ll want to rewrite them a bit. Tiffany Dow has an AMAZING walk through of how to rewrite PLR. The niche may be different than yours… but the process is the same.

If you don’t want to rewrite the content yourself you can go to fiverr.com and find someone who will rewrite your articles for 5 bucks. Make sure you find someone who has plenty of positive feedback if you’re going this route. One of my regular readers and Kiss Club members does rewriting at fiverr and she’s fantastic… so check her out if you need this done.

Resources:

Tiffany Dow’s $1 for everything sale is going on AGAIN!! Through Wed.

If you need excellent quality PLR make sure you take advantage of this sale. Everything in her PLR store, including her 50 page reports and ebooks are on sale for just a buck! It’s a great deal for sure. Make sure you read the directions in the WSO before you click through… you have to buy a “voucher” and then send her a list of the products you want ~ she’ll send you an email with the products attached.

(For more PLR options check the Resources page!)

2. Video Blog Posts

If you don’t necessarily care about having text on your page then you have even more options! Video blog posts, or vlogs are wonderful ways to create amazing content and not have to write!

All you need is a simple webcam, or a hand held video camera and you’re off to the races. What? You don’t want to be on camera either?! That’s ok… you can also do tutorial videos, or screenshot videos. You could also do product demonstrations where the product is on camera, and you’re just the voice behind the review.

You could also use powerpoint and create “presentation” videos. There are a lot of ways you can go with video content. It’s probably a good idea to go with a mix of the different options though. Remember, you’re building trust, and connection with your readers. Seeing your face, and hearing your voice can go a long way in that respect.

Resources:

Speedy Video Tutorials ~ if you’d like to learn how to create wonderful videos and powerpoint presentation videos this is an excellent resource. You’ll be walked through the entire process.

Animoto ~ you add images and make a few choices in their software and they create the video for you. An excellent way to add a quick video to a post or anywhere else.

3. Audio Content

Creating a podcast is one way to sky rocket your traffic, and do it without writing a single word! Recently Corbett Barr did an interview with Derek Halpern of Social Triggers where Derek talked about how adding a new form of content (his podcast) added an entire new stream of traffic to his site. He posted his podcast on itunes so he ended up connecting with a totally different segment of the population ~ and increased his readership.

There’s so many things you can do with audio. You could do an interview with someone, you can talk about any given topic, in fact, one of my favorite podcasts is really short ~ and it’s a “daily” moment from Elizabeth Potts Weinstein. Your podcast is only limited by the bounds of your imagination. You can literally do anything you want in audio format… and then link up your podcast with itunes so people can find it.

Resources:

Blubrry ~ is the company and plugin I use to upload and play my podcasts here on IMM. They also help you integrate your podcast with itunes.

There are a lot of options out there for people who don’t like to write. It’s just a matter of testing things out and figuring out what you like to do, and what your audience enjoys, and then being consistent in creating content. (there’s that consistency again lol).

What about you? Are you creating non text content? Tell us about it!

Related posts:

1. Hate to Write? Youtube Marketing is the Answer
2. More Video Marketing Tips for the Camera Shy
3. Creating Good Content ~ Reader Question

credit: Rennett Stowe

Recently in the Focus and Action Mastermind Group (yes, you can still join!) we were talking about where you come up with ideas for blog posts.  It seems the idea of writing daily has got people a little overwhelmed and in some cases… stuck.

That’s no good… because ideas are everywhere!

Here’s some of my favorite ways to come up with ideas for blog posts.

1. Comments from my site.

People often make comments that I could write a whole post on ~ so I do!

2. Questions from readers.

It so much easier to answer questions that you get frequently in a blog post so the next time someone asks you can just give them the link to the answer. It’s great content and a huge time saver as well.

Now if you don’t have a big audience, and aren’t getting questions yet, no worries. Think about the questions YOU have about your topic, the things you had to learn, the things you needed to find answers to ~ write about that! Or if you have people in your day to day life who ask you questions that are related to your topic you can always answer those questions on your site as well.

3. Forums/twitter/facebook/blogs (aka conversations)

This is one of my very favorite places of late. I get into conversations on social networking sites and from those conversations I get tons of ideas for blog posts! (This one included). This post itself if a great example of that. Yesterday I was reading ThinkTraffic.net and Corbett was talking about the very same subject ~ and it was interesting to see his perspective on What to write about.

4. Walmart. 

Yes, I still shop at Walmart, (it’s my only option locally so no grief in the comments thanks) and it’s one of the BEST places to find ideas… from where they place items on the shelf, to the items that are there. I’ve come up with tons of niche ideas there, as well as product lens and post ideas.

5. My biggest suggestion is this:

Take a notebook with you everywhere you go. Ideas are everywhere, and they’re really easy to forget. Write them down as they come to you and you’ll have a nice list to choose from when you’re ready to write.

But what about us niche site folks? 

You might be saying, “That’s all fine and good if you have an ‘authority’ type site… but what about me, I run a niche site about products or a really small topic or I’m working on Squidoo lenses… what about me?!”

I have a couple suggestions for you too.

1. PLR ~ Private Label Rights
(articles someone else writes but you rewrite/publish using your name on them)

Yes, PLR can be your biggest friend when it comes to niche and product sites. It’s a great place to get not only ideas, but content. You can break the articles up, add some videos when appropriate, and have a completely new piece of content.

I frequently will just go through my folder of PLR on my computer and look at the titles to get ideas, and then write my own article based on the title.

If you’re looking for great niche PLR check out Tiffany Dow for all different things, Yummy PLR if you’ve got a food related blog (my favorite food plr site!), or Sassy PLR for more niche content.

PLR is awesome if you a hard time coming up with ideas, and just want to rewrite a little bit and post. The more original you can make your plr though… the better.

2. Easy Article Starters

Maybe you find it very hard to rewrite PLR ~ I get that… here’s a second idea that will help you get ideas to write about, give you a framework and things to start talking about ~ but let you fill in the blanks.

Easy article starters are awesome… they get you started but you put the words in. Sometimes it just takes a spark of an idea to help us get started. I know it’s easier for me to get started writing when I have “an idea”… that’s what easy article starters are… they give you the idea, and some ideas on how to fill it in, and then you supply you, and your words. It’s an awesome tool… and what’s really cool about them, unlike a PLR article you can use them multiple times ~ because you’re adding the words, you can reuse the starters and take a different slant on the content or use different examples etc. So these are a huge bang for the buck ~ and you can get a discount price here.

For the squidooers out there…

3. Squidoo Shortcuts.

I recently was asked by a facebook friend (who got her start using the Christmas Cash Blueprint and is ROCKING squidoo these days) to review her Squidoo Shortcuts ebook she wrote. It is fantastic. She took the blueprint, tweaked it, made it easier (can you say no keyword research and NO backlinking?!… um yeah). So anyway, she’s got some amazing ways to identify topics to write your lenses about in this ebook. So if you’re working on Squidoo I can’t recommend it enough. If you’ve got lenses made and you’re still not making money on Squidoo, get this ebook. It will help.

I hope this gives you some ideas about where to find ideas.

I’d love to hear from you… where do you get ideas for blog posts, lenses, articles and whatever else you have to write? Share your ideas in the comments! I look forward to hearing them.

image credit: Rennett Stowe 

Related posts:

1. Creating an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

Back when I was in college a friend introduced me to the author Richard Bach. I have read all of his books, and loved them all. As I was reading One, which I love, I was entranced by one concept in the book.

Shine who you are, clear calm and bright. Those who you have something to teach will automatically be drawn to you ~ as well as those from whom you have something to learn.

It sounds a little like attraction marketing, before attraction marketing existed by name.

I bring this quote up because this quote has been the underlying basis for how I live my life and run my business. Shine who you are, clear, calm and bright. When we’re creating an internet business it’s so easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest thing. It’s so simple to “go with the flow” and follow the lead of a mentor or teacher. It’s so easy for us to brush aside the feelings of something being “not quite right” for us because someone who’s been much more successful said it works, and it was an ok thing to do.

It’s easy to get sucked in. I get that.

However… when you get sucked in to shady tactics and grey or black hat marketing you’re not being true to yourself. You’re NOT shining who YOU are. I’m sure there are people out there who just don’t care about playing by the rules, or about being good people, or about their readers or customers. I’m sure they’re out there… and I’m pretty certain, in fact, very certain… they aren’t you.

I know this because that’s not me… so I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the people looking to me are not shady people who don’t care. And yet, we fall victim, at times, to things that are shady ~ or downright wrong.

This can happen in all areas of our business, but since we’re talking content creation this month, let’s look at that for a minute.  I recently met someone online, we don’t know each other all that well… but she seems like a good person.

I stopped by her blog to read her latest post and got to the bottom and saw a link back to the “reference” for the post. I was intrigued… because the post seemed based on heartfelt emotion to me, and personal experience, so I clicked through.

I was a little shocked to see the same exact post ~ although reformatted (but not rewritten) on CopyBlogger.com.

As a writer this sparked a nerve for me. You don’t just copy and paste someone else’s words onto your website, and say it’s yours… which is what you’re doing if you don’t use quotes, and your name is in the byline. I don’t care if you link back or not… this is stealing. This is plagiarism, and in my world… just NOT ok.

I gave this person the benefit of the doubt, and connected with her privately. I told her she really shouldn’t do this because it’s stealing, and she immediately stood her ground, told me it was perfectly fine because she’d linked back, and if they didn’t want their stuff  shared they wouldn’t have published it.

Well, knock me over with a feather.

I took a deep breathe and walked away from the conversation, because I was PISSED. I was so pissed tears were rolling down my face.

Here’s why I was pissed.

1. She’s building a business, branding herself, and she’s going to ruin that. 

I truly at the very core of my being want people to succeed online. When you’re building yourself as a brand you have to think about everything you do… you have to think about what every single action says about you.

When I saw she had copy/pasted an article from another writer and called it her own ~ I was appalled. When she said she thought it was a perfectly fine thing to do I began to wonder what else she thinks is an “ok” thing to do, and immediately decided I would never do business with her.

Maybe that’s harsh, but if someone thinks it’s ok to steal content from another person, our values are not aligned, and I have trouble trusting everything else they do from that point forward, and quite frankly do not want my name, my brand, and my business associated with it. At. All.

2. Someone spent a lot of time, effort, and personal energy writing that piece. 

As a writer I know what it takes to come up with amazing content day after day to help and serve my readers. The fact someone could just copy and paste my hard work, my words, my heart ~ and stick it on their site like they wrote it… yeah, that pisses me off.

3. She’s lying to everyone.

I’ve seen quite a few comments on the content. “Great post”. “Wow, great post”. Great ideas in that post… and she comes back with a thank you. Each. and. Every. Time.

Yeah, damn right it’s a great post ~ one of the best writers on the web frickin’ wrote it! And here you are saying thanks ~ why the hell are YOU saying thanks. All you did was copy and paste it and add some red headlines and an image. That post has nothing to do with you. Not a damn thing. And by saying thank you each time someone says something great about the post you’re lying and taking credit for something you did not do, for thoughts that are not your own, for concepts you never had, for words you didn’t write.

4. She’s cheating herself. 

This lady is a smart cookie. I’m certain she has opinions, and thoughts, and experiences. I’d like to hear them. If something from that post resonated with her, I would have LOVED to hear why, and what, and how it landed on her, her experience. If I wanted to read what Brian Clark thought, I would go to copyblogger and read it myself.

How can you possibly shine who YOU are clear, calm and bright so others who need you can find you, when you’re “sharing” other people’s thoughts and words?

You can not be attractive unless YOU are willing to shine. You must be willing to share yourself to the world. You must be willing to have people say, hmmm… you’re not quite right for me, but OMG I know this person who would LOVE you!

You can not do that when you are stealing other people’s words. You have to share your own. You have to share yourself.

5. She’s cheating her audience. 

She’s creating relationships based on lies, and when people realize the truth they will be pissed. Just like I am right now. I have been reading her stuff, thinking I’m getting to know her for a bit now. Until one day I clicked through to that link and realized I hadn’t been learning anything about her ~ I hadn’t been reading her words. I didn’t know anything about her but the fact she was willing to pass someone else’s words off as her own.

Then to link to the exact same content? What good does that do me as a reader? That doesn’t help me learn anything new. That doesn’t help me move forward. It does nothing for me, as the reader, to click through to another page where I’m going to read the exact same words and information.

I don’t usually stand up and point my finger loudly at the things that are wrong in this industry. I usually try to focus on the positive, teach the “right” way, and hope people will hear me. I just couldn’t do it today, because here’s my belief. I don’t think she came up with this idea all by herself. I think she was taught to do this. I think some “guru” or whoever, told her it was an acceptable thing to do, and she believed him. However… I can NOT believe, in my heart of hearts that deep down in her soul she thinks this is the ok thing to do and it’s a win/win for everyone, just because she placed a link back to the original article she stole.

I want you all to listen to your hearts. If someone is teaching you something that feels “off”, it’s off. Don’t do it. I don’t care if they made a million dollars in 5 minutes using the strategy. YOU have to do what is right, and fits with your values, and your integrity. If you don’t ~  you will not be shining, you will not be attracting, you will not be creating, you will not be building YOUR business online… because you will be shining a false sense of who you are, and everyone will feel it. Maybe not the first minute… but it will be what shines through.

Related posts:

1. Easy Step to Create an Opt In Gift Your Readers Will Love
2. Creating a Strategic Business Plan for the New Year
3. Build Some Buzz to Propel Your Business

I also received an email that got me thinking. I wanted to share it with you all, as well as my reply ~ because it’s an interesting point, and something that I believe needs to be given some attention and conversation… (I’ve not edited the email, only deleted the person’s name)

Jackie,

Don’t know if you will receive this email & read it–hope you do.

The problem with the internet is that it is full of content  that is 99%  USELESS information, published  ONLY for the purpose of SEO  (for that blog post). Most posts do not inform or entertain their readers.

Your suggestion of posting everyday for a month would probably produce more useless posts.

Question: can you recommend a source where we can obtain quality reference material to help us produce quality posts?  (No, that doesn’t include Wikipedia.) So far, I have failed to locate any such sources.  Have even asked a college professor for this info & he did not know where to find quality reference sites.

Thanks

And here is my reply… (and I have more thoughts since this email went out… I’ll continue them below my reply)

Hi “reader”!

Yes, the interwebs are a flutter with useless content. AND it’s completely up to YOU what you create and publish into the world. Some things that are published don’t need to be works of art ~ and are used simply for SEO purposes ~ but when it comes to putting content out there that’s for “human consumption” I have ALWAYS encouraged people to write amazing content.

If you’re looking for ideas on how to write great posts I’d suggest the site thinktraffic.net ~ there is always amazing content there, and it’s an excellent example, how even in the internet marketing arena you can produce valuable content.

The key to creating quality content is putting your readers ahead of anything else. Asking yourself what concerns/problems/questions they have and then answering them. That’s really what it comes down to… good content comes from people who really care about their audience. Good content comes from the heart ~ not wikipedia.

Hope that helps.
Jackie

His need for reference sources got me thinking… what kind of content are people creating online;  and for that kind of writing do you need “references”. I personally, unless writing a paper in college, have never done the kind of writing where I needed “references”or sources. I’ve always written from my heart, my bank of knowledge, and from the connection to my readers. From that connection I am able to glean what they need, want, enjoy and that’s what I try to provide. (Running surveys every so often helps too!)

It just got me thinking… if you’re writing on a website where you need a ‘reference’ to create good content should you really be writing that content at all? These are just questions I’m pondering. I know from my personal experience the things that I’ve done best in (money, traffic and community wise) have all been projects I’ve known well… from my own experience.

What do you think? What kind of things are you writing? Do you use references? Do you need them? Do you write from experience, from the heart? I’m curious… let’s talk about it in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Using Stories to Connect with Your Reader
2. How to Create Content When You Hate to Write
3. Creating an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

If you’re creating an online business ~ no matter what it is ~ you’re going to need content. If you’re blogging, you’re going to need to write blog posts. (or make videos if you choose), if you’re creating niche sites you’re going to need product reviews, or content about your topic, you’re also going to need to write articles to spread around to build some links.

Content, content, content ~ you just can’t get away from it.

Content is AWESOME ~ and the more content you publish on your site the more fodder Google has to rank you for ~ you know, those long tail, mix ‘em up keywords, that not a ton of people search for, but they’re super easy to rank for, and add up over time ~ yeah, those.

The thing is… what makes content even BETTER ~ is having a group of people who are willing to help you get your content spread around the interwebs. People call them tribes, or groups, or whatever… they are syndication and connection at its VERY best!

So here’s what I’ve done… and the challenge for YOU! 

The content creation challenge for the month of March is this:

Write something and publish it EVERY DAY.

EEK.

I mean it though… the more you write the easier it will get. The more you write the more ideas will start popping up for you. The more you publish the more traffic you’ll start to get. The more you publish the more you’ll WANT to publish.

So yes. I do mean write and publish every day.

Now whether you publish on your blog, or on a support blog, or an article to submit to EZA or other article networks, or on multiple blogs depending on what needs your attention, I don’t care ~ but I want you to WRITE AND PUBLISH.

Part 2. 

The all new and SUPER exciting Focus and Action Mastermind Group!!

Oh yeah.

I’ve created a new group on Facebook. It’s a closed group (which means people outside the group can’t see what we’re doing) and you’ll have to request to join (don’t worry, I’ll approve you!). The purpose of this group is to post a link to what you’ve published today. Now… just posting links doesn’t do anyone any good ~ the purpose of the group is to HELP each other.

We will help each other by visiting 2 (or more if you have time) links people post and doing one (or more) of the following:

comment
tweet
facebook share
stumble
bookmark
pin the post

In some way we are going to syndicate that post to help the other person, get a link, or get some social traction.

It’s very simple ~ and it won’t take much time. If we’re all doing it, the results will be OUTSTANDING.

I’m also looking into other methods of syndicating our content and will share them over the month as I test them out and see if they’re worth the time/energy.

So… who’s in?

Tell me in the comments if you’re up for the challenge… and then go join the group!

While we’ll focus on content creation this month… my overall goal for the group is to make it a place where we can all connect, get some help, get some input, and really connect and be resources for one another!

I’m so excited… can’t wait to see you there!

Related posts:

1. Creating Good Content ~ Reader Question
2. 6 Quick Tips to Drive Traffic From Facebook
3. Your Unique Selling Proposition Makes Writing Content Easier