June 22, 2010
– One of a number of posts about whether you should have comments on your blog (I just HAD to comment)

June 22, 2010
– Aaah, being undisciplined – something I know a lot about!

June 22, 2010
– Good question? And a much better way to approach it. Are you using a particular figure as an excuse?

June 22, 2010
– Want your own women’s business network set up and ready to go? We’re selling the SWBN….

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 26, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 12, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 6, 2010

June 12, 2010
– Yay! It all starts again soon

June 12, 2010
– I love Springwise for ideas and innovation. This is another great example of an idea you could implement in your own business

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 26, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 12, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 29, 2010

June 12, 2010
– Like a lot of people I love this blog. Check out this post and the rest of the blog and see what Pioneer Woman does to draw readers in and keep them coming back for more

June 12, 2010
– Great getting indexed advice

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 12, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 26, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 29, 2010

May 26, 2010
– Every blog post from Seth is packed with wisdom but this one is so simple and yet vital

May 26, 2010
– Now that’s what I call a good investment!

May 26, 2010
– My new favorite blog and this is the 1st recipe I’m going to try when my kitchen is finished

May 26, 2010
– Allison telling it as it is

May 26, 2010
– The lovely Barb from the SWBN and 2 of our members in San Diego

May 20, 2010
– I have a friend who works at Wlesh Naitonal Opera – not sure this is the kind of publicity they seek, but an interesting and useful guest post on problogger

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 6, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 26, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 22, 2010

May 20, 2010
– The Facebook Like button has been talked about a lot recently. I’ve added one to IMGeekGirl.com and will see what happens

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 20, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 29, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010

May 1, 2010
– Seth, as always, full of words of wisdom. I have to tell myself this everytime I deal with an arsey client

May 1, 2010
– Great post from Allison Reynolds about the appeal of the perfectly imperfect

May 1, 2010
– OK, one of mine, but I hope you have been able to listen to these bitesize podcasts – especially the current series “things I learned about business from Dolly Parton”

May 1, 2010
– The second part of Alice’s blog post about getting results with your blogging. Love the simple but effective diagram

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 6, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 22, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010

April 22, 2010
– I was on a webinar this week about online local business consulting and someone asked why businesses would be persuaded to do local listings rather than YP and how it was different. Tthis is the answer (if it wasn’t obvious enough)!

April 22, 2010
– Even non-sci-fi fans will see the genius of this idea. And I’m blown away by the creativity. Classic!

April 22, 2010
– Just wondering whether the title was deliberately provocative or if it’s just my dirty mind (although knowing Dan I’m sure it’s the former). Anyway, great report, excellent plugin

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 29, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 22, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 26, 2010

Before I say anymore, I know she is planning to pull down all the free stuff she has given away over the past couple of weeks so I recommend you go and take a look at it before it disappears, and download the free stuff:

Rank Decoding Engine Software – see which websites are considered the most authoritative in your niche

Bird’s Eye View – Michelle actually shares the basics of beginning her system and explains why systems are important (this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme)

Double Your Money Software – a simple piece of software that makes your followers/list/visitors believe they are getting even greater value from you and make them more willing to give you their email address for it.

Why Did I Join Crowd Mountain?

Those of you who know me well and follow what I do will know I don’t recommend many membership programs, mainly because I don’t belong to many and only like to recommend what I have experience of.

I stopped buying into the many Internet Marketing launches a long time ago, I have my systems in place for doing different things online, and for the extra research, new strategies and techniques I am a member of the Immediate Edge. I prefer to spend my money on the tools that make my business work easier not on buying into the latest must-have IM product.

I signed up for Crowd Mountain for 3 reasons:

1. I have great respect for Michelle MacPhearson and appreciate her no-nonsense approach. She doesn’t over-hype, she clearly knows her stuff and takes action on what she has learned, she is solutions driven, and she makes me laugh (I think it’s vitally important that you like and respect the marketer you are learning from – otherwise you are less likely to stick at it). Yes, I have a geek girl crush on her!

2. A couple of friends had joined Crowd Mountain and highly recommended it to me (social proof).

3. I like systems and processes and was interested to learn Michelle’s system, and see how it compared to how I set up sites.

4. I knew she had some cool software and tools included in the membership that I wanted to get my hands on!

Crowd Mountain Boot Camp

When you first join up with Crowd Mountain you start by working through Boot Camp. Michelle lays out her system step by step with videos and worksheets to guide you along the way. I love this way of doing things because it’s more conducive to getting things done.

Many membership programs throw everything at you at once and try to wow you with volume instead of substance, but for learning a particular process the boot camp works very well at keeping you on track and preventing you cutting corners (the same reason I love the Thirty Day Challenge).

Why Do I (You) Need a System?

I often say that I’m not interested in re-inventing the wheel. Over the years I have developed my own way of doing things but I’m always happy (and in the ever-changing world of the Internet it’s a necessity) to learn new methods, refine my processes, add new tools, and even overhaul things completely. Online you have to be prepared to adapt and change your systems as some processes stop working and new things come along.

I don’t need to be the architect, I just need to be the builder who knows the right architect to go to and the plans to follow.

You know what? I’m quite happy to let someone else put the time in to see whether a system works and then learn it from them.

What Is the Crowd Mountain System?

Michelle explains the basic system in these Bird’s Eye View videos. It’s the same process she follows to research a niche, set up the site, create content, monetize, start gathering emails from visitors, and push the site to the top of the natural search engine rankings.

This is niche online marketing made easy.

What Else Does Crowd Mountain Offer?

As well as the bootcamp, Michelle offers:

- A monthly Q&A

- Wordpress themes that are suitable for use (from an SEO and monetization point-of-view)

- Monthly LRBs (links, ready to build) – the best sites to post your content to in order to build authority backlinks to your site

- Niche Trailheads (Michelle finds some great niches for you)

- Great tools and software. You’ve already received 2 pieces of software from Michelle, well inside Crowd Mountain you can enjoy tools that will make your business life easier including the Crowd Mountain Task Manager, Bookmarker, RSS Blaster, Snooper and some fantastic custom made plugins (the one I use constantly is the YouTube Dropper).

- Best Link Building Tactics. Michelle is particularly well-known for her SEO skills and building great quality backlinks. She shares all her best tactics and tools in the member’s area.

How Am I Using Crowd Mountain?

The Crowd Mountain Bootcamp has changed my own processes considerably and now setting up sites is even quicker and more systematized. It can be too easy to become distracted and miss steps out when setting up new sites and I like knowing that I can move through step by step and make sure I don’t miss anything.

I’ve always had a  number of niche sites (some of them sorely neglected) but recently I have been setting them up at a faster rate to sell on. If you have aged domains or can buy something with a good age and/or PR then put it through the Crowd Mountain process and list it on Flippa for a nice tidy profit.

It’s simple, step-by-step-easy and is perfect for both beginners and those of you, like me, who already have experience and a system (it really has made setting up sites easier for me).

Make sure you check out all the free stuff mentioned earlier and if you are already sold click here to join Crowd Mountain.

My Crowd Mountain Review (at last) is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Free Software for Internet Marketing from Crowd Mountain
2. What I really Think of the Immediate Edge
3. Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy!

April 19, 2010
- Excellent business and investment advice from Erica Douglass

April 17, 2010
- Really fascinating insight into the world of public speaking (especially from a marketer’s point of view)

April 15, 2010
- A simple guide to getting your free report out there

April 14, 2010
- Selling a mailing list on Flippa – first post I’ve seen on this subject

April 14, 2010
- Yes, this is one of mine – but getting your ebook out there on so many platforms is HUGE (and simple to do)

April 14, 2010
- Nice idea for an investment opportunity from Vince (he has the skills and software if you have the cash)

April 14, 2010
- I like the idea of Bartercard but I had a really poor experience of it my voiceover/audio production business a number of years back and nearly got ripped off. May take another look at it

April 14, 2010
- Getting the balance between good looks and great content (a bit like me!)

April 14, 2010
- One of the biggest questions I hear on forums is “what niche should I blog about/start a business on?”

April 14, 2010
- Darren Rowse talks about his take on Chris Brogan’s recent blog post and relates it to success in blogging

April 14, 2010
- Love Alice’s no-nonsense approach to online business and great to see her over at the Thirty Day Challenge blog

Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 22, 2010 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 29, 2010
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010

The software fulfils 2 functions:

• helps you keep track of which social media sites are popular with the search engines, which are becoming more popular and which are being ignored, and
• enables you to input your own keywords and see which websites are ranking best across all those keywords so you know exactly where to place your content and create backlinks.

Click here to download the Rank Decoding Engine Software free.

I find backlinking one of the most tedious jobs ever, so knowing the best sites to target is a major bonus in my book.

Free Software for Internet Marketing from Crowd Mountain is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. My Crowd Mountain Review (at last)
2. Another Thirty Day Challenge is Over…so How Did I Do?
3. Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy!

a) it still remains the best and one of the only subscriptions I keep for my online marketing, and

b) there are some new developments which I think will appeal to some of you who have avoided joining or have joined in the past and decided it wasn’t the right membership site for you

Immediate Edge Revisited

Let’s start with the main Immediate Edge and why I think it is so valuable.

The Immediate Edge remains constantly on the cutting edge of Internet Marketing, and has been there since it began in 2006. It doesn’t often break through the noise of the Internet Marketing world in terms of publicity, it’s generally happy to keep membership closed except for a small number of occasions each year.

Why is that?

Well, for a start, members rarely leave. Sure, there are people who join and find it isn’t for them but generally the content (and there is now A LOT of content, tools, software and training) keeps them firmly loyal to their subscription.

Secondly, the Edge’s reputation is such that many of the best marketers in the world are members (some openly, some keep it quiet) because the training is so unique and advanced it offers the things they need to keep ahead of their competitors. It’s the kind of program that spreads by word-of-mouth.

And you may think this is hype but in the Immediate Edge you really will find the kind of information and training that will be taught by other marketers in 12 months time, so it pays to be there first if you are serious about being a market leader online.

How Do I Personally Use the Immediate Edge?

I’ll be honest…sometimes weeks will go by between visits to the Immediate Edge site, but then I’ll be thinking about how I need to find a way to do something better or differently and inevitably I’ll find the answer at the Edge.

For example, the other day I was in need of a better strategy for using Google Local, I headed over to the Immediate Edge and – lo and behold – there was a wealth of information there on the topic.

Other times I’ll see a Tweet about a new update on the Edge about something that interests me or about something I’ve never even heard of, and I’ll head over there to find out what it’s all about.

That’s the joy of the Edge – you can dip in and find single tips that will help your online business or whole strategies that you can adopt as part of your business model.

So, What Is the Edge Blueprint?

One of the reasons many people do not join or choose to leave the Immediate Edge is because they want a step-by-step plan to build or create an online business.

The Immediate Edge is closely linked to the Thirty Day Challenge (Ed Dale and Dan Rain run both) and those who have completed the 30DC often move on the Immediate Edge. But there is a huge different between the 2.

The Thirty Day Challenge offers a step-by-step process to getting started online with a lot of hand holding, while at the Immediate Edge the idea is very much “here are the tools – now get on with it”. It can be a difficult jump between the 2 programs because you may not be able to bridge that gap. The Thirty Day Challenge Plus was created to help offer the kind of training that does help people progress from 30DC and maybe eventually take up the Immediate Edge.

We’re Not All Groundbreakers – Sometimes We Just Need a Process

Many of you who come online are not interested in being a pioneer, you don’t want to have to work it out for yourself, you just want a tried and tested method to help you create a full or part time business online.

That isn’t a bad thing.

It’s the reason the Thirty Day Challenge works so well for so many people.

And ever since the beginning of the Immediate Edge, members have been asking Dan for a step-by-step process that ties all the training and tips together. And that’s what he’s created in the new Edge Blueprint.

Dan is finally showing how he would start and build a successful online business from start to profit and beyond.

That’s an exciting prospect for anyone who finds it hard to see the bigger picture and how all the pieces fit together, and want it laid out in a linear sequence.

Dan is offering the opportunity to test out some of the Blueprint for free at the moment, so if you think this is something you’d like to try out, then head over to the Edge Blueprint site for more information.

I’ve Said it in Video Too…

Oh, and if you are in any doubt how I feel about Dan Raine and the Immediate Edge, here’s a video I made to explain it in a nutshell!

P.S. Yes, I’ve used affiliate links in this post. So, if you use my link and eventually decide to join the Immediate Edge then I will make some money.

Immediate Edge Revisited and the New Edge Blueprint is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. What I really Think of the Immediate Edge
2. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010
3. Another Thirty Day Challenge is Over…so How Did I Do?

This is the result of an online project created by Joss Whedon, his brothers Jed and Zack, and Maurissa Tancharoen – an online musical miniseries about Dr Horrible’s attempts to take over the world and get accepted into the Evil League of Evil. Neil Patrick Harris in the title role is most defintiely one of the reasons this works so well.

As an IM Geek Girl, what I loved about Dr Horrible was how it went viral across the world, mainly through word of mouth and how the creators used social media to promote it and keep fans interested. And you can judge how much of a cult following something has by the number of people who then release their own videos on YouTube in response (the DVD extras includes some of these videos).

Mucho recommended for quirky comedy, catchy memorable tunes and some great characters.

Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. IM Geek Girl is Go!
2. Who is IM Geek Girl?

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK, but I love the idea of a holiday that represents being thankful for everything you have.

This year has been a fairly crappy one for me in many ways, due to health issues that had a knock-on effect to my finances and business. Yet, through it all I have so much to be thankful for.

I started writing a list of 101 things I’m thankful for this year. I thought about posting it here but decided a list might be a little boring, so here is a snapshot.

I am thankful for: all my family and friends who love me, take care of me and rally round when I need them (I hope I offer as much strength to you as you do to me); all my online friends who I class in the first group as well, but who also offer me daily food for thought, smiles, laughs and occasional tears; my 1st nephew James who was born earlier this year and is the happiest, cheekiest chappy imaginable; Allison Reynolds and Barb Sabathil from SWBN who are wonderful friends and business partners and who gave me something to sink my teeth into at a time when I needed it most…

…my trip to Salzburg last Christmas, which seems like a lifetime ago but which has given me the best snowy pictures for this year’s Christmas card; my brain and ability to make the best of a bad situation; that I am still able to continue working as my own boss and find contracts that interest me and use my abilities to their fullest; my health, which is on the mend and I finally have (close to) my old voice back (I’ve missed it but maybe others have enjoyed the silence)…

…Thirty Day Challenge and Immediate Edge for being wonderful resources and communities; my laptop, which connects me to the world (even if it is a pc and not a mac); the books I have read, the music I have listened to and the movies and tv shows I have watched that have left me feeling uplifted, relaxed or enriched in some way; my day trip to France and drinking cafe au lait with friends in a small cafe overlooking the cathedral square; my beautiful, completely unfinished disorganised home (with so much potential)…

…chocolate, champagne, good food, new friends, flirtations, freedom, life, love and lots and lots of laughter!

Anyone who has read a book or watched a dvd about the Law of Attraction will know that having an Attitude of Gratitude is considered incredibly important. Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, gratitude is a powerful and positive emotion.

So, whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving today or not, I hope you will spare a moment to think of all the things for which you are thankful and grateful.

I’m Thankful is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Is It Time You Went on a Media Diet?
2. Who is IM Geek Girl?
3. IM Geek Girl is Go!

OK, so just creating a post like this is likely to cause a major backlash, but hear me out.

Is this going to be a blatant excuse to add an affiliate link to PLF 2.1.5+ Ultra Secrets Generator (sorry, after all the Twitter ideas that were sent to Jeff Walker for a name, I can’t remember which one he chose…but one of those has to be right…right)?

Absolutely… I’d be a fool not to add an affiliate link, although in this case it’s not mine. I’m using my friend’s. I’m hoping she’ll buy me a new MacBook Pro for Christmas if she makes enough money. At this stage I’m supposed to say that the money doesn’t matter to me but include the affiliate link anyway, but you know what? The money does matter to me (or my friend…and this isn’t one of those imaginary friends that is really me…LOL…and I really do want that MacBook Pro).

I even have a story to tell about me and my buddy Jeff. Well, OK, we’re not exactly buddies but I did stay up until 4am in the morning once drinking with him at a seminar in London. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember me, and I’d love to say we talked about intense subjects related to Internet Marketing, but I seem to recall the conversation was about whether lap dancing was demeaning to women!

Anyway, back to the subject in hand.

Are product launches a lost cause? Are they dead in the water?

If you have spent more than a few months in the Internet Marketing world you may think they are, but that’s because we see so many of them over and over again. We are inundated with product launches in the marketing world and many of them follow exactly the same pattern (some even use the same emails/sales pages/video formats).

But, if you are in a different market – if you market to a niche that rarely see products launched – then I promise you they won’t have the same reaction to you following a formula for your next product release. Especially if you know your market well and put a slant on the launch that speaks directly to them.

I own Jeff’s original Product Launch Formula and my friend (honestly, she is real) bought the more recent release back in the spring. We have both seen product launches work well in non-IM niches. In my own case I had people thanking me for selling to them…because it didn’t come across as a sales pitch at all…I was offering them something they wanted and the process leading up to releasing it simply built more excitement and value into what I was offering.

So, can I personally say that what Jeff Walker is offering is worth the money? Absolutely. It can and has worked in niche marketing, music promotion, selling homes and businesses, and many other areas. Don’t let product launch saturation in the marketing world stop you from buying this if you are at a stage in your business where you can use Jeff’s expertise and knowledge.

So, clear your cookies and click this (affiliate) link to sign up for notification of the release of Product Launch Formula (2pm today – Thursday 13th) and if you buy you will make my friend’s day (no, really, she DOES exist).

P.S. She really really does exist, and actually needs the money for medical bills (not MacBook Pros). Could I tug on your heart strings any harder? So, if you are buying PLF 2.1+ then we’d love you to use her link, but if not I hope this blog post has provided some light entertainment!

Are Product Launches Dead in the Water? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Best Internet Marketing Course?
2. My Thirty Day Challenge: Halfway Mark
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 27, 2010

What a great way to take a mundane auto-response message and turn it into something memorable. I’m certainly going to remember John the next time I speak to him (some parts have been removed to protect the guilty – indicated by <>)

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled … was persuading the world … he was … in London for a couple of days.

But don’t despair … I’ll be back on Wednesday.

As will Dave – so ignore the bit below … thank-you.

If you have a query before then, please feel free to address it to my stunt double: Dave <>.

Ring him direct on <>.

Or via our switchboard on <>.

Or you could email <>, but where’s the fun in that?

: )

Cheers:

You’ll Miss Me When I’m John.

You’ll Miss Me When I’m John: Funny Out of Office Message is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

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1. Should You Only Write What You Know?
2. Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy!
3. Take Responsibility for Your Own Abundance

Marketing seminars and events can be great places to make connections and friendships, as well as find people to collaborate with on future projects.

In 2006 I went to an Internet Marketing seminar in London. The training was good but it was the many cool people I met and was able to hang-out with that really made it so valuable: Ed Dale, Robert Somerville, Dan Raine (pre-Immediate Edge), Jeff Walker (PLF), Mike Mindel (Wordtracker), Carolyn McCourtie, Yanik Silver, Andrew Fox, Rob Benwell, Peter Woodhead, Phil Gosling…

Now, I don’t even begin to suggest that these people are all good buddies as a result of our meeting (some of them I have not had contact with since and would never assume to believe they would even remember me), but the time I spent with them gave me new ideas, encouraged me to achieve more, and forced me to “raise my game.” And I do consider one or two of them friends.

When I had the chance to meet Mike Mindel again recently he shared some incredible Squeeze Page tactics with me and invited me to be a beta tester for the all new and improved Wordtracker, Ed Dale and Dan Raine continue to humour me when I ask them for advice, and Caro…well, Caro turned out to be one of the loveliest online friends I have.

Networking offline can be just as important as networking online. Never underestimate the value of meeting someone “in the flesh” and what that can lead to. If you look at the previous two Over the Edge conferences you can see some of the great things that came out of them: Market Samurai (already being developed but probably a very different entity after OTE), the further development of what has now lovingly become known as the Manchester Mob, and the addition of Lynn Terry and Michelle MacPherson as co-hosts on a weekly podcast with Ed Dale and Paul Colligan (4 BIG names in one). I would love to know some of the things that have come out of OTE that we don’t know about.

Of course, not all seminars are created equal. The last conference I went to was very much aimed at beginners…and in huge numbers. Forging quality connections at these events can be much harder (but not impossible).

And if you can’t make it to a national or international seminar then check out the local business events around you. I recently went to a Federation of Small Businesses meeting with a colleague and made some great contacts. It even led to my colleague working with our local Member of Parliament on a topic he has a lot of knowledge about that she wanted to raise in the House of Commons.

Many people complain about the “gurus” of Internet Marketing all hanging our together and promoting each others’ stuff, but it is natural to want to work and mastermind with people you get on with. And how do you think they made friends with each other? Most of the stories I have heard about how friendships were forged between Internet marketers have involved meeting at an event of some sort.

Don’t get me wrong, networking online can lead to some great collaborations too – that’s how Allison Reynolds, Barb Sabathil and I met and decided to create the Secret Women’s Business Network – but if you have the opportunity to attend a seminar I would highly recommend it. For many it will mean taking a giant step out of your comfort zone, but the right event could lead to great things for you and your business.

And if any of you do come to Over the Edge 3 (I don’t have details yet so watch the space) I look forward to meeting you.

When Did You Last Network AWAY from Your Computer? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. IM Geek Girl is Go!
2. The Secret is Out!
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – May 6, 2010

I’ve been really busy working on a number of other things, one of which I am extremely proud of and finally able to talk about a bit more.

About a month after I launched this blog I was asked to get involved with a new project called the Secret Women’s Business Network. Allison Reynolds, who I met through the Thirty Day Challenge and Immediate Edge, asked myself and Barb Sabathil to join her on this project to offer other women online an environment to learn, collaborate and mastermind together. I was over the moon about being asked. It is something I have wanted to do for ages, and I knew Allison, Barb and I together could do some great things (honestly, collaboration is the way forward if you are running an online business).

The main site will be heading into beta testing very soon and then we will be good to go! Yesterday our Secret Womens Business Network blog was launched, which will be where we have a strong online presence for anyone to access (not just women) and where you can learn more about us and our business philosophies (and just general thoughts on the world of Internet Marketing).

I’d love you to checkout the blog and add your comments on the posts that are already there. Also take a look at the video explaining exactly what you can expect from us: What is the SWBN?

Now, better go catch up with that tumbleweed!

The Secret is Out! is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Life Unravelled a Little for this IM Geek Girl
2. Is It Time You Went on a Media Diet?
3. IM Geek Girl is Go!

We begin to see, therefore, the importance of selecting our environment with the greatest of care, because environment is the mental feeding ground out of which the food that goes into our minds is extracted.

The main reason I and many others choose to avoid the newspapers and news media as much as possible is because we believe in what Napoleon Hill spoke of often, that “what the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Everything we want to create in our lives starts with us and our internal thoughts and beliefs. True success must be created internally before it is manifested externally. So, you cannot create prosperity when you are focused on lack or worrying about what may happen, or what you may lose.

What goes into your brain really does affect what you manifest in your life, so if you are reading the newspapers at the moment and watching endless news stories, you are going to be focusing on lack, poverty, rising prices, stockmarket crashes, doom, gloom, and problems. You are buying into mass beliefs that are being expounded by the media.

Do you really believe that there is less money in the world, all of a sudden? Do you believe that people are going to stop spending?

Instead of dwelling on the terrible news the media is broadcasting, you can choose to ignore it and create your own vision of abundance. Someone told me that more millionaires were made during the Depression than at any other time in history. I don’t know if that’s true, but certainly during times of economic difficulty people are still looking for solutions to problems. And when life is a bit depressing, we all know that people buy more of what they want to make themselves feel better.

Imagine the possibilities for you as a marketer!

You need to make the choice to control the information that goes into your brain, and start believing in prosperity, focus on your goals and take action. Take responsibility for your own abundance.

Take Responsibility for Your Own Abundance is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Is It Time You Went on a Media Diet?
2. I’m Thankful
3. Marketing Lessons in Shopping Bags

Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another. – Napoleon Hill

I have noticed a number of people recommending shutting off from the media, in order to avoid all the current doom and gloom. And I have seen a strong reaction from others who think this is crazy, especially with the US Election building to its climax and issues with the economy.

So, is a media diet tantamount to sticking your fingers in your ears and hoping the bad stuff will go away, or is it vital to your success and peace of mind?

In my opinion this discussion enters the realms of prosperity and abundance, which I promised to talk about on this blog (and so far have not mentioned).

I have been on a media diet for many years. I refuse to read newspapers or watch lengthy news reports. Am I burying my head in the sand?

Absolutely not. There is a big difference between going on a media diet and ignoring the world altogether.

I still listen to the news headlines on the radio or watch them on TV when I need to. I browse my local newspaper’s website to ensure I am up-to-date with what is happening. And I probably hear all the big news first on Twitter (honestly, I hope Reuters is following the Twitter stream)!

I do not read newspapers because I learned a long time ago that (a) they are not impartial and are governed by fewer laws than broadcast media (at least in the UK) and (b) they sell papers by being doom and gloom merchants. Newspapers are packed full of bad news… unless you read the tabloids, in which case they rarely carry news at all and are more focused on sensationalism and gossip.

Even broadcast media offers a slightly skewed view of the world by choosing what is news and what isn’t.

As if this isn’t reason enough to avoid the news, I realised that the two most negative people in my life are avid newspaper readers and TV news watchers. Is that just coincidence? Perhaps. But their negativity often refers back to the news stories they are consuming. If they were reading self-improvement books instead, or watching uplifting movies, would they be as negative? I’d love to find out. Are their lives more enriched by being more up-to-date on the minutiae of news than I am?

But there is more to my media diet than just my negative view of newspapers, I truly believe that the media plays a huge part in our successes and failures.

I’ll discuss this more in my next post, but if you need any hints beyond what I have already said, think on this other quote from Napoleon Hill:

We begin to see, therefore, the importance of selecting our environment with the greatest of care, because environment is the mental feeding ground out of which the food that goes into our minds is extracted.

Is It Time You Went on a Media Diet? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Take Responsibility for Your Own Abundance
2. I’m Thankful
3. IM Geek Girl is Go!

I didn’t blog immediately about it, partly because I wanted to mull things over a little first (i.e. not be reactionary) but also because I made a lot of my feelings known previously in these posts: Where have all the good girls gone? and Celebrate your differences!

But, this topic is slightly different from the focus of those posts, and in light of my new project (Secret Women’s Business Network) with Allison Reynolds and Barb Sabathil, I wanted to highlight one or two things.

As mentioned before, there are simply fewer women in Internet Marketing, although this balance appears to be gradually shifting, especially with so many women choosing to be SAHMs and wanting a career they can pursue from home. The imbalance is reflected in business as a whole – in the UK the latest figures show that the male to female ratio of self-employed workers is 3:1.

Also, many women have a different focus when it comes to their Internet businesses. Their priorities are often dissimilar to men, and hanging out with the top Internet Marketers is not necessarily one of them.

I enjoy male company and most of my closest friends are men (perhaps a throwback to my years in what was a heavily male-dominated career – radio presenting), but I understand that many women prefer to socialise and “hang out” with other women. That’s why SWBN has been created: to offer an environment where women can learn, network and mastermind with other women. This will appeal to some women more than others.

There are all-female business groups throughout the world, established for just this reason, so it’s not fair to suggest that male Internet Marketers shouldn’t have their own mastermind groups and friendships. We are all drawn to socialise with others like us, and we all like to network with people whose company we enjoy. Internet Marketers are no different. This may mean networking with other women, with other men or with a mixed community – wherever is most comfortable.

However, that wasn’t really what Donna Fox was writing about in her blog post. There are women in Internet Marketing who want and deserve to be known for being at the top of their field, and being accepted into the upper echelons of this business is part of that. They have set themselves goals to be the best at what they do. Part of this would naturally include being invited to speak at seminars and be recognised as one of the movers and shakers. And I think that female marketers at all levels need to see that happening – in any career, we need our mentors and role-models.

While I have no problem with the “boys club” within mastermind groups and social networks (none of us has the right to tell others how to pick their friends and associates), at events and programs that are supposed to bring together the cream of online marketers it seems unlikely (and remiss) that this wouldn’t include a number of women.

There may not be as many women at this level as men, but they certainly exist. I set myself the task of naming as many as possible off the top of my head and in just a few minutes came up with 18 (Donna Fox, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, Lynn Terry, Alice Seba, Michelle MacPherson, Rosalind Gardner, Julie Perry, Lee Milteer, Coach Deb, Kelly McCausey, Nancy Andrews, Sylvie Fortin, Sydney Johnson, Mari Smith, Liz Tomey, Mila Sidman, Lisa Preston, Loral Langemeier…). I’m sure if I delved deeper into the recesses of my brain I could name many more.

We all have our personal goals in life and our careers. Probably for most this will not include being recognised at Internet Marketing events. You may simply aim to be good at what you do and live the lifestyle that enticed you to online marketing. But for women whose goals include becoming a seminar speaker, writer and/or teacher in this field, it’s important to be recognised for their skills, not because they are women but because they are good at what they do. It shouldn’t be a question of sex, it should be a matter of talent.

And, before I upset all the men I respect in this business, I am happy to report that I have almost always been treated with respect at marketing conferences and meet-ups (not because I am a woman, but because I am a fellow marketer with as much to offer as anybody else). There are those that have patronised me for being a woman, but thankfully they have been the exception not the rule. Frankly, those that have been patronising are not people I want to hang out with anyway.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Secret Women’s Business Network and finding other women to network and mastermind with (or you simply want to learn more about online marketing in a fun and comfortable environment), please sign up for more information from SWBN.

Good Girls Revisited is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. The Secret is Out!
2. When Did You Last Network AWAY from Your Computer?
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I have also found another option. I recently became a member of the Wealthy Affiliate University and they have released a new tool called Wordpress Express. This doesn’t offer the automatic content of WPD but it does offer different benefits:

1. Quick and easy set-up of Wordpress blogs with the 60-second installer
2. Unlimited hosting included (buy the domain and point it at the hosting)
3. All the important Wordpress plugins already installed
4. Easy domain manager
5. Unlimited sites (for a limited time – that’s the current offer as of 07/07/10)

On top of this they also include full membership to the WAU with all the training, tools and support that goes with this. All for $97 per month.

While on the surface the 2 tools have a similar premise they are actually aimed at people with different needs and priorities.

Hopefully one of them will offer the functions and extras you are looking for

———————————————–

Numerous people have been asking me what I really think of Wordpress Direct. I am one of those who has been lucky enough to use this as part of the Thirty Day Challenge, where it enabled thousands of challengers to get new blogs online quickly (and contributed to some excellent and fast rankings). But, with the big launch now taking place, the question I am being asked is, what uses does Wordpress Direct have and is this system right for my needs?

What is Wordpress Direct?

Wordpress Direct is a system that quickly creates multiple Wordpress blogs. You can set them up in seconds, once you have researched your main keywords, and the blogs come with the most useful plugins and are fully optimised. Unlike many other blog creation systems, all the blogs are hosted with your own blog host and you own the domains and overall control of the blogs (should you ever cancel).

Wordpress Direct will also create automated posts for you, legally gathering the information from other websites, so your blog can always look active to the search engines even if you don’t have much time to put into them.

Who is Wordpress Direct for?

Wordpress Direct is the perfect tool for anyone who: wants to create multiple niche blogs quickly and easily; wants their blog to be optimised for their keyword phrases; and isn’t concerned with every post being 100% original.

Who is Wordpress Direct NOT for?

Wordpress Direct is not for anyone who is creating one or two personal/business blogs that they want full control over and intend to write for and build-up over time. While it would still work for setting-up your blog quickly and provides a good optimisation structure, it probably wouldn’t be an effective use of your money. You would be better to pay to have someone create a blog that is unique to you.

Can I Create Multiple Wordpress Blogs like these without WPD?

Yes, these are essentially Wordpress blogs with a number of carefully selected plugins. If you know how to set up a Wordpress blog then you could create multiple blogs yourself (there is even software to enable you to clone previous blogs so you can do it quicker). The automated content is drawn from different places online (Youtube, Yahoo Answers etc.), which you can do yourself or pay someone else to do. You will also need to re-create the linking and blog structure for optimisation.

What Can I do with Wordpress Direct?

Wordpress Direct is perfect for: creating multiple Wordpress sites if you don’t know how and don’t have the time to learn; reviving old websites and/or domains that have been sitting gathering dust but which you don’t have the time or interest to build-up; creating blog networks each focused on a different microniche to build traffic and authority to a niche blog/website/ecommerce/service site. If you

You can then sell the individual blogs or networks based on traffic and/or PR, or use them to bolster your main business.

And, as the Thirty Day Challenge has shown, the system can be used to test microniche keywords quickly for traffic and commercial potential, without needing to invest too much time or money.

What are the Wordpress Direct Membership Levels and are there any other expenses?

The current offer is:

$1 trial for 45 days leading to the Bronze package at $37 per month (up to 10 blogs)

Silver is $97 per month for up to 20 blogs

Gold is $127 per month for 100 blogs

Platinum (currently unavailable)

As well as these subscriptions you will need to pay for domain names and hosting with one of the accepted cpanel hosts (I use Hostgator and Bluehost).

Pros of Wordpress Direct

* Wordpress Direct is quick and easy to set up. Doing this yourself will take a lot of time and continuous effort.

* There is no need to create new, original content all the time (those worried about duplicate content should know that the content is presented in such a way that doesn’t appear to receive any penalty – even if duplicate content is a true issue, which is another blog post in itself)

* Blogs are optimised for you

* You can add banner ads, one-off offers and adsense

* You can still monitor and select the auto content you like (and set it to supervised content)

* There are a number of useful videos that show you exactly how to set-up your blogs and automated content.

* You can easily install Google analytics and track your ranking within the dashboard.

Negatives of Wordpress Direct

* Some monitoring of auto content is needed to prevent odd stuff appearing or suddenly seeing 15 posts appearing all at the same time

* Wordpress Direct can only work with a limited number of hosting companies

* My own support issues were answered relatively quickly and satisfactorily, but I know others that have had genuine problems with the support system.

* There are still quirks in the system that need ironing out, such as multiple themes not working well with the system and/or having funky code in them (Wordpress Direct is working at pulling out or amending the dodgy themes)

* You cannot set up posting to go out at specific times or days like you can with Wordpress blogs (Wordpress Direct have said this feature will be implemented within the next few months)

* Images do not always format properly (I usually have to login to my main Wordpress admin to re-format the pictures).

* This is not a blogging panacea. While I had one blog rank well for a phrase match keyword phrase just from sitting there minus content, this is not to be expected in every case. You still need to implement a backlink strategy.

Would I Recommend Wordpress Direct?

A number of people have asked me this question and I find it difficult to answer, because it really depends on you and how you will use it.

Yes, I recommend Wordpress Direct if you are keen to build your own network of multiple Wordpress microniche blogs and/or revive old sites/domains with minimal effort (both of which I am doing). If your business model require blog clusters and siloing techniques then this is ideal for you.

You still need to monitor the sites and content and you still need to be prepared to build up backlinks and authority in order to rank well for your keywords. You will also need to be prepared to work with the quirks and not expect great things when you require support (that’s not to be unkind to WPD, just to point out that customer service has not been an overall strength so far).

I wouldn’t recommend Wordpress Direct if you don’t have a strategy in place to use the software to its full potential. If you only want a few blogs or hate the idea of allowing automated content onto your sites, then you have probably not grasped the concept and value of the system. These are not the sort of blogs that will gain you problogger status. The blogs are not “pretty” – you are not going to win any design awards for them, and some people can’t bear creating unremarkable websites. That said, they are not “ugly” but the themes are all fairly standard.*

Many people are going to hate the notion of Wordpress Direct because the blogs it creates are not personal, unique blogs like this one. There is no (or should be no) emotional attachment. This is another tool to test niches, build traffic and PR, and assist your linking strategies.

I am happy to recommend Wordpress Direct as a system for creating and maintaining multiple Wordpress blogs if you are going to use the system to its fullest, but if you simply want one or two blogs then I would suggest finding a good Wordpress course (there are some excellent free and paid tutorials available) and/or spending the money to have someone create a blog for you that you can update yourself on a regular basis.

There is a 45 day $1 trial, so if you are still undecided you can trial the system before you make your final decision.

*Since writing this, a number of people have pointed out that Wordpress Direct blogs can be personalised and made to look more ‘pretty’ and have even shown me evidence of this. So, I back down on this one and agree that there is scope for making your WPD blogs unique and personal. This involves logging into your admin panel and playing with the theme design, which will depend on your experience level with Wordpress blogs. I haven’t done much to mine as that isn’t the object of my use of Wordpress Direct.

Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy! is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Another Thirty Day Challenge is Over…so How Did I Do?
2. My Thirty Day Challenge: Halfway Mark
3. My Crowd Mountain Review (at last)

I notice that recently in Internet Marketing the trend is to give away a lot of stuff for free (or nearly free). To lose out on the front end with the long term plan of making money on the back-end. Actually, this isn’t new even by IM terms but marketers are now giving stuff away on a MASSIVE scale (see the recent Stompernet promotion). These promotions cause a major buzz and news spreads virally. It may take 6 months or a year (or longer) to start profiting from an event like this, but the investment will be worth it for future profits.

Of course, anything that is done online has probably been done successfully offline – good marketing is good marketing and will work as well now as it did 100 years ago. Dentists will give away free or virtually free tooth whitening to bring in new clients who will eventually pay high premiums for cosmetic work on their teeth. Housing companies will pay for you to move into your new home because eventually they will see huge profits from your purchase.

And yet, it surprises me that with this marketing tactic working so well for so many years that more companies don’t employ it.

When I worked at TopShop one Christmas 15 years ago, we were told that a customer should always be given a carrier bag when they buy something. In fact, no customer should leave the shop without a TopShop carrier bag. This is another great marketing tactic. As much as we like to think of ourselves as individuals and free thinkers, humans are actually conditioned to follow the crowd, so the more people who are seen with TopShop bags, the more likely others will come in and shop there too.

In this era of environmental ‘friendliness’, it would be silly for a company to insist someone use a plastic carrier bag, and all the supermarkets in the UK now sell bags made of cloth, jute and strong plastic so customers can use them again and again. They also reward customers with pennies off (or loyalty points) for using their own bags, so it’s not unusual for a customer to use Sainsburys branded cloth bags in Tesco and vice versa.

I was thinking last year that it would make a lot of sense for one of the supermarkets to have a Big Green Bag giveaway, where every customer was given at least one re-useable shopping bag. If that bag was branded with their supermarket name, it would create the same effect as the TopShop bags were supposed to create 15 years ago. It wouldn’t matter where they actually shopped, other people would think they were regular shoppers at XXX supermarket. Plus, the goodwill it would create would be enormous.

I waited and waited for a supermarket to run with that idea (OK, maybe I should have contacted my favourite, but that’s what they have marketing departments for). I believe Sainsburys did do something similar back in 2006 but only for customers who bought a certain number of items from their organic range (close but no cigar).

Eventually, Morrisons had the right idea. Only problem was that they gave away strong plastic bags instead of cloth or jute bags. They may last longer but plastic is still plastic and when the bag splits it will still take centuries to biodegrade. They chose the cheap option.

Maybe Sainsburys or Tesco will eventually take a hint from the Stompernet launch and realise the value of giving away stuff on a massive scale i.e. great quality shopping bags, fully branded with their name. When they do, remember you heard it here first (unless I simply missed them do it already) and I will expect my fee from their marketing budget.

In the meantime, think about what you can learn from the Stompernet launch or any other good marketing tactic you see online or offline. How could you apply it to your business?

Marketing Lessons in Shopping Bags is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

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3. Immediate Edge Revisited and the New Edge Blueprint

It’s a subject I get asked about a lot so I thought it wise to give my honest opinion about the Immediate Edge.

First, I think I should explain what the Immediate Edge is for those who don’t already know. It was the brainchild of Dan Raine, an exceptional online marketer, who now with Ed Dale and their combined teams teaches online business and marketing strategies and tips, as well as provides excellent tools members can use to make life easier.

Basically, a program that gives its members the “edge” over their online competitors.

Secondly, for folks who don’t know me, and in the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that Ed and Dan are two of the people I respect the most online. They are excellent businessmen and have an equally talented team of staff and interns. As a result of the respect I have for them, I volunteer as a moderator on their Thirty Day Challenge forum, and I have been a paid-up member of the Immediate Edge since its creation (note that I pay for it and have been happy to pay for it even during the Beta trial).

Naturally, I am going to be writing quite positive stuff about the program…

But I hope this review will also explain why the Immediate Edge won’t be for everyone.

The Immediate Edge is for you if:

• You are a Thirty Day Challenger who has grasped the concepts of the Challenge , made some money/found a good niche, and are ready to move on to the next level.

• You are in Internet Marketing, whether running a niche business or promoting an offline business, and need more strategies for growing your business, as well as the tools to make it easier.

• You are ready to take massive continuous action on your IM business.

It is worth noting that the strategies taught by Dan, Ed and the team are usually “borrowed” by others and appear 6 to 12 months later being taught in a different guise, so you really are ahead in the game (a particular bonus if you are in a fiercely competitive niche).

The Immediate Edge is NOT for you if:

• You have found the Thirty Day Challenge concepts and process hard to grasp and are still not making it work (please go back over all the free training).

• You (whether Thirty Day Challenge or otherwise) need a lot of hand holding and guidance. If you rely heavily on membership forums to help you, you are probably not going to find that support in the Immediate Edge. The Edge has just introduced a members’ forum but it is not aimed at being a support mechanism or offering extra training. It is simply a place for a meeting of minds and some discussion. Dan and Ed’s ethos for the Immediate Edge is very much about taking action and not using the site to socialise.

• You need things to appear at a regular time or when promised. Dan and Ed try to keep to agendas but they are not well-known for their “punctuality”. This is partly due to behind-the-scenes work and testing strategies or creating tools (these things never run to plan). When they do deliver, they well and truly OVER deliver, but if you are going to become frustrated expecting training and updates to appear on certain days, you probably shouldn’t join.

Nowadays, I don’t subscribe to any other membership sites apart from the Immediate Edge. Most of my subscriptions are tool based. There comes a time when you have to stop learning and start doing, and I find that the Immediate Edge offers me more than enough to do and implement (and I still haven’t done it all).

Feel free to ask any further questions about the Immediate Edge in the comments section – I’m sure I will have missed something. If you already feel the Immediate Edge will be a good ‘fit’ for you and your needs then they are offering a free 14 day trial for a limited time – I suggest you head over there and check it out.

What I really Think of the Immediate Edge is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Immediate Edge Revisited and the New Edge Blueprint
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3. Thirty Day Challenge 2008

On the plus side, I followed and finished all the training and enjoyed using the new tools and learning an excellent strategy for researching and testing markets (and finding micro-niches).

On the downside, I didn’t put enough time and effort into creating enough content and backlinks, so I didn’t get enough traffic to fully test my niches or make my dollar.

In the end I put up 4 micro-niche sites in 2 niches (yes, I probably overstretched myself again – when will I ever learn?). The last of these sites only attracted my focus 2 days ago when I realised it was number 3 in Google for phrase match and didn’t even have any content on it (good ole Wordpress Direct).

This site and the other that ranked quickly just don’t appear to be getting the traffic in those positions, and the other 2 sites haven’t ranked high enough yet.

They did prove an interesting point that I had already been conscious of but wanted to test further. As long as all the other criteria are right in the market research, keyword phrases with more than 2 words seem to rank quicker and better than phrases with just 2 words.

Also, the lower the competition the better. That may seen obvious but sometimes it’s worth dropping the expected traffic numbers in order to find a lot more phrases with low competition, that you can use to create a number of blogs or web pages to draw traffic for a much more competitive niche. I would rather have 3 sites ranking at the top of Google for their keywords with only 30-40 visitors per day than 1 site that only ranks at number 4 and so only receives a small fraction of the expected 140 visitors each day. Your analytics will then provide you with more good keywords you can use and you can build more traffic from there. Once you have tested the niche with the longer tail keywords you can always target a better traffic phrase with more competition, knowing that the extra time and effort to get it ranked will be profitable.

The most important part of the Challenge for me is that it has set me up with a strategy for taking my old domains and tired sites that see little input from me, and building them up using more focussed keywords (found using Market Samurai). I have already set up a bunch of domains each on separate hosting (within my Hostgator reseller account) and started to use Wordpress Direct on them. The aim is to get good rankings on some long tail keywords, start to build up traffic, and either sell them or leverage the eventual good PR and age.

Talking to Ed Dale in London yesterday about this strategy, he said this is something the Immediate Edge will also be focusing on in the coming months – showing exactly how to employ this effectively. Hooray! I had already planned to use some of the great Edge strategies that were not covered in the Thirty Day Challenge to improve my rankings and traffic on the Challenge sites and my new projects (if you are wondering whether the Immediate Edge is right for you, they have a $1 trial at the moment and I will be giving you my honest review of the program later today).

On a separate note, being a moderator on the Thirty Day Challenge forum this August (as well as for the past year) has been a tough but rewarding job and I love doing it.

Major props to: Ed Dale, Dan Raine (you didn’t see much of him but he was always there behind the scenes), Robert Somerville (for the training and overall organisation and concepts), Super Moderator Caro, Nez, Asbjorn, Paul, Collette, Kenny, the guys at Noble Samurai for the Market Samurai tool, the Wordpress Direct team, all the other moderators, those who helped on the forums just because they like the community, God, the Academy, my mother, my dog Jenny who was the best childhood pet a person could want, and anyone else I have forgotten….

That’s not really the end for the Thirty Day Challenge for this year. The main August challenge may be over, but the forum continues and anyone can take the training at any time they want, so I hope to see you there.

Another Thirty Day Challenge is Over…so How Did I Do? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. My Thirty Day Challenge: Halfway Mark
2. Thirty Day Challenge 2008
3. Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy!

The two downsides of the debate are these:

• If you tackle a niche that doesn’t interest you then it is going to be harder to: write content for your own web site, article sites and Web2.0 sites; find and read information on the topic on a daily basis; visit forums and blogs and participate in discussions on the topic; keep your interest long enough to monetize your site etc.

• On the other hand, if you are too interested in a subject you can become so attached to the idea of it that you ignore the signs that is may be a dud (too much competition, not enough interest, not enough traffic, not a spending market). You will find it difficult to view this market with neutrality.

Of course, on the plus side:

• Even a niche that doesn’t interest you can make you a lot of money and your detachment can work well from a business point of view. Good business is about finding a need and filling it.

• But, if you are interested in a subject your passion will show and will increase your chances of succeeding in that market, writing about it and generally keep the momentum going.

I find myself happily sitting on the fence in this argument because I have had successes and failures on both sides of the debate.

I was passionate about radio and being a radio presenter, to the extent that like many young presenters I was prepared to work crazy hours and do anything (or nearly anything) I was asked to do, for quite low wages. After a number of years and lots of office politics, my passion started to wane and it stopped being fun anymore. If I ever work in radio again it will be in the knowledge that it is first and foremost a business and I need to accept it as such.

However, I was also passionate about voiceovers… and still am (when I have the voice to do them). I love the nature of the work, the fact that everyday is different, the way I can use my voice for so many different projects, being fully self-employed. However, the difference is I accepted from the beginning that this is a business above all, and so I have to make business-like decisions about the work, my marketing, when I work and who I work with.

Online, most of the niches I have entered have interested me at least a little. The niche that hasn’t really worked was one I was passionate about and I was probably too close to. Others held my interest for a while but ultimately the interest fizzled, and one has grown into a passion beyond anything I imagined.

There is a new post over at the John Cow website called Start a Blog About Something You Want to Kick Ass At. There is a lot of sense in this, as it is easier to write about things you are passionate about, and work isn’t much fun if you aren’t interested in what you are doing. However, if you are entering a market that is your passion or hobby, and you want to make money from it (rather than just create your own fun hobby site) I would suggest asking yourself these questions:

• Do the numbers add up? Is there traffic for your keywords, can you compete with other sites targeting those keywords, are your visitors actually likely to buy, can you make a profit?

• Will working in this market gradually lessen your enjoyment of it? There is a big difference between pursuing a hobby and making a business out of it.

• Can you walk away from it if things don’t work out?

I don’t think there is any problem tackling a market you know nothing about. Once you have tested it and started making some money you can always outsource the work so you only need to keep an eye on the overall business concept. If you become fed-up with it then you can sell the website/blog and make some money to start a new one. You may never become passionate about a topic but as long as other people are (or you fulfil a need) you can make money to leverage other pursuits (business or personal).

On a final note, I would suggest you do a bit of both. I would never have started this blog if I hadn’t been passionate about Internet Marketing and wanted somewhere to publish my thoughts on it. The IM world is crowded enough as it is and I didn’t enter it with plans to dominate and usurp the big names in Internet Marketing. I do believe I can make some money from it, but I don’t expect it to be hugely profitable. My main objectives were to create an outlet for my own observations of online marketing and help others in the process. Those are perfectly valid and good objectives to have.

You may have a similar desire to write about your hobby, a medical problem, your weight loss, your overseas travels or your favourite Wii games, for no other reason than to share with and help others and hopefully make enough to have the website pay for itself.

From a business point of view this makes no sense, but on a personal level it can be extremely rewarding. However, if you wish to make money online you need to be prepared to be more objective and sometimes enter markets that don’t interest you. No one would admit to being enthusiastic about getting rid of cats from the garden (actually, get me onto the subject and I can be wildly passionate about it – spot my nemesis at the top of the post), but you can bet someone out there (me) wants information on stopping cats from using their garden as a toilet.

It’s all a matter of perspective. And if you can use the less exciting markets to fund your passions and a great lifestyle then you will be a lot happier than if you stay attached to a market you love but which sucks up all your time and makes no profit.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please add your comments

Should You Only Write What You Know? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Thirty Day Challenge 2008
2. Are Product Launches Dead in the Water?
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – April 22, 2010

In brief, so far the Challenge has involved:

• Researching good keyword phrases using Market Samurai to find one that has more than 80 visitors a day when you have the top phrase in Google and less than 30,000 competing pages (phrase match)

• Analysing the top 10 sites for that keyword phrase in Google and seeing whether there is an opening for a well-optimised site with some good backlinks

• Setting up a Wordpress blog (using Wordpress Direct) that is highly optimised for the keyword phrase

• Adding an affiliate link to a relevant product to test the market

• Helping the search engines find the blog by submitting the first (and any subsequent) blog post to a number of social bookmarking/networking/media sites, such as DIGG, Propeller, Twitter and Delicious.

• Commenting on relevant blog and forum posts with the url of blog included in the signature or blog comment

• Using highly optimised Web2.0 sites to create quality backlinks to the main blog

This is not a lesson in Affiliate Marketing but a free and easy method for testing a market. With just 17 days of effort we should start to see traffic coming to our blogs and soon be able to judge whether any of these visitors are buyers.

My Own Thirty Day Challenge

So far, I have targeted two different niches. One is a completely brand new one, and the other is a niche that is practically new (I started a personal blog on this topic recently for some friends and then discovered that there were some excellent keyword phrases within it).

Site one was picked up very quickly by Google but is not ranking very high (maintaining a position around the 31-35 mark). Site 2 took nearly a week to be listed by Google but is now around the 10-12 position for phrase match.

It may not sound too impressive, but considering I have yet to actually catch up with the challenge and create any web pages on Web2.0 properties like Squidoo and Hubpages, this is pretty good going. I have only done some social bookmarking, rss submission and one or two blog comments (I haven’t posted to Squidoo or FriendFeed because I don’t want to reveal my niches). I probably wouldn’t have even managed all the social bookmarking if it wasn’t for the new Traffic Android tool I have been using, which makes it extremely easy to social bookmark more naturally and organically (read my review of Traffic Android on my Audible Marketing blog).

Why am I behind with the Challenge?

Partly because of keeping up with my moderator duties at the Thirty Day Challenge Forums (the forums have been incredibly busy this year) but also because of friends visiting and having to go away for a wedding. Also, I am doing quite a bit of writing outside of the challenge, so the extra writing involved to create all the required content is just more time at the keyboard.

Plus, I’ll be honest and say that researching markets on Market Samurai has become a new favorite pastime – it would take me years to follow the 30DC process for all the keywords I have researched but I keep looking anyway.

I’m not too panicked, though. I shall have a writing blitz over the next few days (I already dictated some ideas and notes to myself on the motorway today) and start setting up some more web pages.

What do I hope to achieve from the Challenge?

At the moment, it is too soon to say. If Niche One proves profitable I will probably keep it as an affiliate site and build up more blogs like it, but with the potential of creating a more general authority blog on the topic. Niche Two has more possibilities for an information product (or a variety of information products).

One decision I made early on, before the challenge even began, was that I was going to target higher priced products in my testing. I would rather sell a $2000 affiliate product than a $27 one. The effort and numbers required in traffic to make that sale are probably the same but the affiliate payout will be much better. So, if I can find a successful niche where visitors are going to buy a high ticket item (or at least 1 in 200 visitors to the money page are going to buy) I can make a much bigger chunk of change even at only 4-6% commission (that’s $80+ for most sales in these niches compared to $15).

In the case of both of these niches I would probably continue to manage them myself if they prove successful (but outsource much of the content). However, I am intrigued by Allison Reynolds’ business model of building blogs using this method, make them profitable and then sell them. When I have tested these markets and proved I can use this process to make money, I fully intend to pursue that line of thinking (check out Allison’s blog – she’s an incredibly intelligent woman and fellow IM Geek Girl).

So, that’s the challenge so far. Stay tuned for more.

My Thirty Day Challenge: Halfway Mark is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Another Thirty Day Challenge is Over…so How Did I Do?
2. Thirty Day Challenge 2008
3. Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy!

As is always going to be the case when a big online event like the Thirty Day Challenge happens, the criticisms and misconceptions begin to fly. It happens to all the big name marketers when they launch a product or do something new. It happens in the offline world as well. Successful people will always have critics. Individuals will always have their opponents.

Some things I’ve heard others say about the Thirty Day Challenge so far:

• They are just teaching affiliate marketing

• They are just teaching social networking

• They have given this tool away for participants to use but there are other tools that do the same thing

• They are teaching people to create spammy blogs

• They are not giving everything away for free – look there are affiliate links on their website!

All these statements can be confusing for people just starting out on their Internet journey and can lead them to doubt what they are learning and who they are learning from. How can they possibly judge which course is best? If you are one of those people facing confusion, it’s worth noting that:

1. Some people criticise a process without first getting all the facts and then following the process through to completion i.e. testing the process to see if it works
2. Many people online become very defensive about their own process and tools for marketing. Instead of observing what others are doing from an analytical standpoint they immediately see it as a criticism of their own methods.
3. It’s easy to criticise the leading names in Internet Marketing, and through creating controversy they draw more people to their own blogs and websites.
4. Any big name on the Internet is going to face criticism, especially when they launch a new product. It happens offline as well. Famous authors, directors, actors all face strong scrutiny when they release something new, and much of it is far from complimentary.
5. People can’t see that free is actually free. They look for a catch. They have to point out what’s in it for the person giving stuff away. They even have to criticise the giver for doing it.

I would like to suggest that people bear these points in mind when following the Thirty Day Challenge (or any Internet Marketing process for that matter):

• There’s more than one way to skin a cat! Meaning, there is more than one way to create an online business. People have succeeded creating businesses online using many different methods, so no one method is necessarily best

• If you start following a process (in this case the Thirty Day Challenge) you are most likely to succeed if you pursue it through to its conclusion. Giving up halfway through because you can’t see the outcome, or switching to another process because someone else slammed the current one or made a great case for their process being better is not an effective use of you time and efforts. Have a little faith and follow the process exactly. If it doesn’t work for you then you can move on (in this case after only a month of your time)

• Personalities clash online and offline. You may not warm to a particular teacher and/or their methods but that doesn’t mean they are wrong and does not give you or someone else the right to flame them. If you truly believe you have been ripped off then follow the appropriate legal path. Trying to discredit them online is beneath you and serves no purpose except to make you unhappy. Your energy would be better spent becoming successful yourself.

• Trust that the process you are following has been tested and proven. I can’t speak for all online marketers and I do believe you have to be discerning in your choices, but I know that the Thirty Day Challenge system has been tested over and over again by the lab to ensure it works. And they have the added difficulty of finding a process that will work for thousands of people all using the same tools and methods at exactly the same time. Most Internet Marketers are only teaching their method to a fraction of those people.

• Show gratitude to the people who give their time and a lot of energy to try and teach you new things. Not everyone has an ulterior motive. No, they wouldn’t be Internet Marketing “gurus” if they didn’t make a good living out of it (that is true) but many of them only choose to teach their methods because they have a desire to help others. The Ed Dales, Dan Raines, Jeff Walkers and Jason Moffatts of this world all know how to make a lot of money online, and would probably make even more money if they focussed solely on non-Internet Marketing products – that’s how they became the experts in the first place. But something compels them to share their knowledge and success with others. I may sound naive to some of you – and I know that many people start teaching “making money online” because they think there is a fast buck to be made – but if a person is an established online marketer and has been at the top of their profession for some time and others hold them in high regard, then there is probably a good reason for that.

• We’re all human. Some people we will like, some we will find annoying, abrasive or arrogant (got to love alliteration). Some people will not warm to you and your style either. When I was a radio presenter I used to have people criticise me all the time – not everyone liked my style, what I said or the way I said it. But I also had enough people (thankfully) who loved listening to me. You can never please all of the people all of the time.

• The great thing about the Internet (and radio) is you can shut out the people you don’t like. If you don’t like their Twitters, their constant promotions by email or their Facebook invites then you just turn them off/block them/stop following them. If you decide you don’t like their personality and would rather not learn from them, you never have to deal with the again. Just walk away (figuratively, of course).

In terms of the Thirty Day Challenge specifically, I hate people criticising what Ed and Dan do. They are two of the finest and most giving people I have ever met, but I understand that other people have their own opinions and experiences. However, I will defend them to the hilt if someone makes a slur on their character or suggests that they are not as honest and transparent as they make out.

I could go into great detail responding to those earlier comments but I can’t be bothered! There are too many other things to be doing right now and it just demeans me and my time to enter into petty arguments. I simply suggest they (and you) follow the training through in full before passing judgement, and if you have any questions, concerns or comments you can join us on the forum to air them (I’ll try to be polite).

If you are still on the search for the Holy Grail – the best Internet Marketing course ever – then I’ll let you in on the secret. The best Internet Marketing course is…..the one you finish and take action on.

Best Internet Marketing Course? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Thirty Day Challenge 2008
2. Marketing Lessons in Shopping Bags
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010

Every year for four years, Ed Dale has provided free training for people to learn about creating a business online. At first he provided that training with Frank Kern, and now he works with Dan Raine (along with a whole host of behind-the-scenes folk and experts).

The first Thirty Day Challenge in 2005 had around 1000 participants. It has been increasing every year, and this year more people joined on the first day of the challenge than had taken part in the previous 3 combined (and there were already thousands who enrolled during pre-season).

Naturally, it can be difficult to teach a method of online marketing that thousands of people can follow which doesn’t involve them having to spend money. Last year, so many people tried to create Tumblr blogs following Ed’s instruction that Tumblr shut them all down, believing they were spam.

Every year the Thirty Day Challenge seems to pull something out of the bag that astonishes even the veteran marketers. In fact, even those of us who are members of Dan and Ed’s Immediate Edge membership site are usually surprised by at least a few things they deliver in training. It came as no surprise that the GTrends method of market research they showed in 2007 was being taught by other marketers 6 months later.

This year is shaping up to be the most astounding yet. Ed and Dan have a great team and have managed to bring exclusive access to a brand new piece of software that shaves hours off the keyword research process. Market Samurai is the ultimate market research tool – not only does it suggest numerous keywords based on the LSI of the top web pages, it also tells you:

• how much natural traffic you could expect (if you reach the number one spot in Google)

• how much Adwords traffic you could expect (and what you should expect to pay for it)

• how many competing web pages there are for that keyword phrase

• and the approximate OCI (likelihood that someone searching for the phrase is an actual buyer and not just browsing)

And that’s just a section of the software. Each part is being added as we reach that stage of the training, but already we have the Market Research section which tells you what the top websites are for your keyword phrase and what on page and off page elements they are using that might hinder your chances of reaching a top position in Google (or, what elements they aren’t using that your could use to dominate that keyword). This is the best and quickest judge yet of whether it is worth pursuing a keyword phrase.

Today they rolled out the article research component, enabling us to search for relevant articles and blog posts optimized for that keyword phrase and analyse their age, backlinks, index count and more.

And we’re only on Day 5!

Previous years, much of this market research has either been impossible or extremely time consuming. In the first two years we had to use Google Adwords to test a niche. We paid out money just to gather leads and find out what the market wanted. Then we created the product and sold it to them (and unfortunately at this point could discover that it wasn’t a buying market).

But it’s more important than just 30 days of fun and new experiences. It is teaching a method of creating an online business that will last far beyond this month or year. Some of the techniques may be different each year but the overall objective remains the same.

This year, more than ever before, I am focussed on making this work for me. In previous years I have always put my heart and soul into the challenge and even created a product that sold quite well and led me to a new hobby and passion. But, as I mentioned in my previous post, my offline career was always there as my primary concern and income, and at the moment that is no longer the case.

My posts here about the Thirty Day Challenge will not be a step-by-step breakdown of the process but rather what I am learning from the experience. If you’re interested then they will always be posted in the category Thirty Day Challenge so you can find all the relevant posts by clicking on that over on the right of the screen. Or better still, add me to your rss reader for instant updates as soon as I post.

And if you are also doing the Challenge then I wish you every success and would love for you to share your experiences in the comments section.

Oh, and apparently tomorrow (or today as it is now in the UK) is the best day of all – I can’t imagine how it can get any better. You can imagine why it is so exciting to be a part of the Thirty Day Challenge.

Lisa

P.S. You can still sign up and follow the training over at Thirty Day Challenge. If you’re really keen you can still finish within the 30 days, but the training will still be there after August and you can take it at your own pace if you prefer.

Thirty Day Challenge 2008 is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. My Thirty Day Challenge: Halfway Mark
2. Another Thirty Day Challenge is Over…so How Did I Do?
3. Wordpress Direct – The Review: Multiple Wordpress Blogs in a Jiffy!

At the same time I was becoming quite well-known as a voiceover online, especially among Internet Marketers as these were the people I was hanging out with in forums and on Twitter/Facebook etc. I was often asked for advice on both outsourcing audio work and creating audio products themselves. At the end of 2007 I was so busy working as a voiceover I put everything else on hold. I just didn’t have time for the other stuff and decided I didn’t need it.

In January 2008 I noticed my voice wasn’t sounding or working quite the way it should – nothing too serious, just cracking occasionally or sounding a little tense. I decided it must be the result of a virus I had before Christmas and did everything I could to keep it in tip-top condition. By March 2008 it was clear that my voice was not working properly and producers/clients were starting to notice. I went to see a doctor and he referred me to a specialist. After having a mini camera stuck up my nose and down to my vocal chords (ugh) I was diagnosed with Functional Dysphonia (laryngeal tension) and sent to a speech therapist. By the time I saw my lovely speech therapist my voice was so bad I had stopped being able to work altogether. She gave me daily exercises to do, and we were confident my voice would be back in no time.

Without going into too much more detail, things haven’t improved. My voice has deteriorated to the point that I cannot even hold normal conversations. Definitely no quality voiceovers coming out of this mouth at the moment! The docs think they may have found a new reason for the problem, but I’m still waiting on confirmation. I have been keeping very quiet about this problem (literally – lol) because I kept thinking it would be temporary and I’d be back voicing very soon (and I didn’t want to lose work because of it).

I don’t tell you this to illicit your sympathies or make you feel sorry for me. I don’t feel sorry for myself so please don’t waste your own energy on those emotions. The biggest bummer of this whole situation is I lost out on a job to voice a full length video promo for Second Life in the UK (told you I’m a geek)! Oh, and I miss being able to chat like I used to (but my friends are enjoying the peace and quiet).

The reason I am telling you this is because it may explain this blog more. I have had more time to throw myself back into Internet Marketing, especially attempting to revive my online niche businesses. I continue to update my Audible Marketing blog and provide information on product creation/audio marketing there, but I find myself limited on what I post there. Those are rules I have placed on myself, but I feel that blog is better suited to remaining focused on those topics as much as possible.

I wanted a place where I could be more open about my endeavours online, and to be held accountable for what I am doing. I wanted to talk about other issues that I believe go hand in hand with Internet Marketing, such as mindset, prosperity and business management. And I wanted a place to post about my experiences of this year’s Thirty Day Challenge.

I hope this blog will be as useful to you as it is to me. It will be an evolving project and if you have any questions or want to suggest topics for me to cover here I would love to hear from you.

What this blog will not do: Internet Marketer bashing; misleading linkbaiting; endless affiliate promotions of products I have no experience of; or anything else that creates negativity. If you prefer controversy to rational conversation this is probably the wrong place for you.

What this blog will do: offer calm, reasonable (and hopefully balanced) posts on the subjects mentioned and others that may develop; include product reviews of products I use or have a good knowledge of, with affiliate links where appropriate (after all, I’m a business woman); make no apologies for the content of the blog.

I’d love you to stick around and see where this goes and help hold me accountable. This is going to be a lot of fun (and hard work)!

Life Unravelled a Little for this IM Geek Girl is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. IM Geek Girl is Go!
2. Who is IM Geek Girl?
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 19, 2010

My name is Lisa Hartwell and I have worked most of my adult life as a Professional Mouth! My family and friends will tell you it’s a job I was destined to do!

I went off to university planning to be an actress/singer. My ideas quickly changed and I left university thinking that TV and/or radio were more up my alley. Radio came first and after a year of working as a volunteer and then swing presenter (i.e. stand-in presenter…not what you were thinking), I was offered my first full-time gig at a radio station in Plymouth. Apart from 9 months spent travelling around Australia I have been here ever since, working for 10 years on various shows at both Plymouth Sound and South Hams Radio and making the transition in late 1999 to part-time then full-time voiceover.

My interest in Internet Marketing began back in 2004/5. I can’t remember which came first, but I found some of Yanik Silver’s and Jim Edward’s stuff online and I was also learning general marketing through Dan Kennedy’s books and training. At the time I had big plans to launch an information product for voiceovers in the UK. Thankfully, I learned very quickly to do my research before anything else and realised the UK voiceover market was too small to be profitable in that area.

The love of Internet Marketing took off from there. There are so many possibilities on the Internet that have still not been fully explored, utilised or even imagined. That’s what makes it so exciting. Of course, Internet Marketing should be about business building, so I take action as much as possible – I am a great believer in lifelong learning but there’s no point learning if you don’t do anything with it.

Originally, I pursued Internet Marketing as another string to my bow. Having worked as a freelancer in radio and then as a self-employed voiceover, I was aware of how important it is to diversify and have several strings of income. I also had long term plans to eventually work fully online so I could pursue one of my biggest passions in life – travelling. I love to travel both within the UK to visit family, friends and new places, and around the world and I want to have the opportunity to do it more and more often.

After I discovered the original Thirty Day Challenge material in late 2005 I became a huge fan of Ed Dale and Frank Kern and have taken part in all subsequent TDCs as well as being a member of their Ultra Underachievers membership site. When that ended I watched with interest as another Ultra Underachiever, Dan Raine, set his own challenge to make $15k in a month and only just missed out on managing it. He went on to create the Immediate Edge, which I have been a very happy member of ever since. The Edge is now a joint project with Ed Dale that utilises the skills of their lab and various teams/interns, and Ed and Dan have also joined forces on the Thirty Day Challenge (2007 and 2008).

Things went a bit awry for me this year (2008) which I will explain more about in the next post, where I’ll also give you more info on my plans for the IM Geek Girl blog.

Lisa

Who is IM Geek Girl? is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. IM Geek Girl is Go!
2. Life Unravelled a Little for this IM Geek Girl
3. Should You Only Write What You Know?

For a long time there have been things I have wanted to blog about that seem inappropriate on the Audible Marketing site. Sometimes I have blogged off-topic but most of the time I have just not posted it. AM was always supposed to run in conjunction with my voiceover business and be a learning tool for people who want to learn more about audio marketing, and how it relates to the wider world of Internet Marketing.

So, I finally bit the bullet and set up a new blog.

Why IM Geek Girl? Well, it started as a phrase some of my female online friends started using. We kept calling ourselves IM Geek Girls or IM Girl Geeks (as in Internet Marketing Geek Girls). Now, not one of us is a day under 30 (actually I have no idea how old we all are – that’s the beauty of the Internet, it doesn’t really matter) but I’m 35 and certainly not a girl anymore. But it’s a fun name and it stuck. We’re all women who met through our love of Internet Marketing, which we all use for our different businesses – information marketing, voiceover services, offline business promotion, coaching etc. That makes it sound like we are an exclusive club, but actually we meet new IM Geek Girls everyday on the Internet (usually through the Thirty Day Challenge, Immediate Edge and Twitter) and we just use it as a universal name to encompass all the fantastic (and often unsung) women who are working Online.

I’m not a tech head but I have friends who are. I do love new shiny gadgets but usually require someone to give me a quick lesson in how to best use them. I love using computers and the Internet, and you only have to show me something once and I’ll run with it. One of my best friends is a computer whizz and he says I’m a geek, so I’ll take his word for it – I think it’s because I’m the person he turns to when he wants to know about optimizing websites, social networking and finding good keywords. He also calls me the Queen of Google – if he wants something finding fast he’ll just ask me to Google it;)

This blog is going to be a bit more personal than Audible Marketing. Again, I always aim to be open and honest when writing posts but in the framework of the other blog there have been many things I have omitted.

So, I hope you enjoy my blog whether you are an IM Geek Girl or Guy (yes, guys are welcome too). I’d love to hear from you and read your comments – and don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed (just click on the orange button in the top right and add me to your reader).

Lisa

IM Geek Girl is Go! is a post from: Internet Marketing Geek Girl. Head over to the blog to read more..

Related Internet Marketing posts:

1. Who is IM Geek Girl?
2. Life Unravelled a Little for this IM Geek Girl
3. Internet Marketing Stuff I’m Loving this Week – June 26, 2010