Conventional wisdom tells us we should:

• Create and encourage a vibrant community through blog comments
• Be active in other social media as a way to direct people to your blog
• Build an email subscriber list of really engaged people you can offer product to one day
• Use interesting and inspiring images in your posts
• Break up longer passages of text with headings or bullets
• Encourage people to connect and reach out to you via a contact page
• Have a detailed about page which explains who you are and why we should read your blog

All agreed?  read more »

Before I write a post, I jot down some bullet points to make sure I get the message across. Let's see if you can read a bullet point blog post!

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This is a guest post from Kevin Tea.

Blogging can be a roller coaster of a ride, taking you from elated heights to depressed lows. You run the whole gamut of emotions from joy through frustration to despair - and that can be on a good day! The people who go into blogging expecting to make a quick fortune are rare and I think most are pragmatic enough to realise that it involves hard work and perseverance. That mindset that is ready to accept that blogging can be a slog even though the passion and drive remains, are rarely prepared for the downsides such as seeing months of hard work possibly wiped out due to situations outside of their control. Which is what happened to me.

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This is a short video review of a couple of books I've been enjoying recently. You'll find (non affiliate) links below if you want to get your own copy.

This is where to go to find out more about Passionate Living

And here's the site for How to be Rich and Happy

I also promised to link you back to my full review of the latter and you can find that here: Mike's review of How to be Rich and Happy.

Competition  read more »

If you've been reading my blog, you'll have been following the story of Eben Pagan's upcoming launch. Here's the link to the next video in the series.

But for today, I want to talk about my observation of his launch.

Image: Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net  read more »

It has been a privilege over many years to support our Island's biggest sporting event in some way. Between us, Julie and I have variously commentated on local radio, compiled statistics for listeners, provided safety cover in Kayaks, worked on aid stations, and have generally helped at Ironman in any way we could.

I have always been filled with admiration for the professional athletes in triathlon - they have honed their bodies to the point where they have evolved almost into a new species of endurance "being."

But for me the heroes have always been people like Darren the palm tree man, Manuel the waiter and Paula from Wales. Ordinary people like you and I. People who train for a year, who save as hard as they can to buy a decent bike, and who endure pain you cannot begin to even imagine. Just so they can one day say "I did it!"

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I wrote a post last week about Eben Pagan and how he generated $29 Million turnover from his home office last year. That post linked to the first video from him in a series which will eventually lead to a product launch of some kind. I suggested that it would be a good learning experience for all of us to watch the videos, get onto his launch email list, and see how he manages the whole thing. Apart from anything else, the content in these videos is amazing!

The second one is out now, and you can view it here.  read more »

Do you remember the first time you sold a product on a website via an affiliate program? That amazing feeling when the email pops in to say "You've made a sale!"?

It's fantastic, isn't it? What happened next? I'd wager you went straight to the affiliate page to check your commission was showing and to see when you were going to get the money.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And this is where so many affiliate programs go wrong!  read more »

It's no secret that the reason I chose Drupal for my first blog was because D comes before W on Fantastico, and I hadn't heard of either before!

Over the years, I've taken a lot of stick from people I work with, who believe Wordpress is the greatest blogging platform around. And you know what? They're right.

But only if you don't know how to use Drupal.  read more »

Scene one: I pull up outside my mansion in the Ferrari and get out of the car to introduce myself. I'm wearing Hugo Boss shades.

Intro section: We'll shoot this from the balcony of the Santa Monica apartment, overlooking the beach.

"..I spent six months travelling the world and continued to increase my income..."

Middle section: I'll get all 23 surf boards out of the garage and put them on the lawn

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