Sample Content Preview

INTRODUCTION

Napoleon once said: “One bad general does better than two good ones.” It takes a moment for the sense of this to register, but it is the same as our modern saying that “too many cooks spoil the broth”. Having one set of instructions, even if they are flawed, is preferable to having two sets of perfect directions that, when enacted together without reference to each other, cause havoc.

This is the principle of leadership in a nutshell. It is all about maintaining focus and creating positive outcomes.

The same can be applied to individuals who strive to become leaders. There needs to be focus and determination. Advice can be given, but does not have to be heeded. History is full of leaders whose beginnings were disastrous, and had they listened to the naysayers of this world, the world would be a poorer place today.

Leadership can be learned. Some people are certainly born with leadership skills, but this is not a prerequisite for becoming a leader. More important is dedication to the art of leadership. Leadership involves understanding how to inspire, influence and control how people behave. It is not a simple matter of shouting, or having a deep and booming voice; or being great in physical stature; Gandhi possessed none of these attributes, but managed to lead a nation and inspire millions around the world.

Sometimes, leadership may be no more than having a poignant message for a receptive audience at an opportune moment. Of itself, leadership is neither good nor bad; the world has known more than its fair share of evil and charismatic dictators.

In the world of business, the perception of leadership has changed from its early days when it largely mirrored the military model of leadership from the top down, with powerful individuals dominating large groups of less powerful people.

Nowadays, leadership in business is far more knowledge-driven. The lowliest employee may end up effectively leading the direction of a vast corporation through his or her innovative ideas. Anyone with critical knowledge can show leadership. This is known as thought-leadership. In other situations, leadership can be about taking a stand for what you believe in, and trying to convince people to think and act differently.

Leadership has been variously described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”; “creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen”; “the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organizational or societal goals”; and “the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making, to establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to articu-late their own values and visions clearly but not impose them. Lead-ership is about setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that makes for substantive improve-ment rather than managing change”.

There is truth to all of the above definitions, but they all apply to the ideals of leadership.

So what of leadership gone awry?

UNDERSTANDING THE DARK SIDE

The dark side of any individual when allowed to go unchecked can create a rigid and dysfunctional personality that stifles creativity, and taints or ruins relationships.

When such characteristics are given reign in a leader, a self-righteous and bombastic person can result, who alienates the very people they are meant to inspire.

THE COMPULSIVE LEADER

Compulsive leaders feel like they have to do everything them-selves. They try to manage every aspect of their business, often refusing to delegate, and cannot resist having their say on everything. As they lack trust in others, they cannot let anyone else take responsi-bility, therefore they restrict personal growth in their team. Compulsive leaders have many other traits. They are perfection-ists who must follow highly rigid and systematized daily routines, and are concerned with status. Thus they strive to impress their supe-riors with their diligence and efficiency and continually look for reas-surance and approval. This can lead to them becoming workaholics, and their team is viewed as failing if they don’t keep pace. Spon-taneity is not encouraged as this bucks the routine.

Despite this appearance of total control, such leaders can be fit to explode on the inside, and this can be the result of a childhood envi-ronment where unrealistic expectations were placed on them. Their attempts to keep control are linked to their attempts to suppress anger and resentment, which makes them susceptible to outbursts of temper if they perceive they are losing their grip.

THE NARCISSISTIC LEADER

Narcissistic leaders are focused on themselves. Life and the world revolve around them, and they must be at the center of all that is happening. Whilst they exaggerate their own merits, they will try to ignore the merits of others, or seek to devalue them, because other people’s accomplishments are seen as a threat to their own standing. The worst type of narcissistic leader cannot tolerate even a hint of criticism and disagreement, and avoid their self-delusions and fantasies being undermined by surrounding themselves with sycophants.

Sample Content Preview

Chapter 1: Introduction

There was a time when running a successful online business or making passive income was new and unheard of. There was a time when it took a courageous and pioneering spirit to make a full time living from a blog.

But that's changed. Stories of people becoming extremely successful through social media and running a website are now commonplace. It's been happening for decades.
And yet it's still something that a lot of people don't understand and aren't taking advantage of.

This is a HUGE missed opportunity.

What's the key ingredient here? TRAFFIC.

That is a high volume of traffic.

And highly targeted traffic.

This isn't just for entrepreneurs and bloggers either. If you run a business with any kind of online component, then traffic is the key to making sales. Traffic is the lifeblood of any online business.

Let's say that you have an online store and you're currently using that sells hats. Right now, you get around 500 visitors to your site a day, which leads to 2-3 sales, or about $40-60 profit. It's a small side project that is earning you a bit of cash doing something you enjoy.

With the right strategies, you could easily increase your visitors to a similar 150,000 daily within a year or two. Those 2-3 sales now become 60-90 sales.

And what if you leverage that success to start selling other products? To build a successful YouTube channel or Instagram account?
The sky is the limit.

Even for a local business such as a restaurant, increasing your traffic has the potential to massively increase sales.
Right now let's say you get 100 orders every night, which is largely due to word of mouth. But what if your website was the first one to come up on Google? What if people could order through your site with a few clicks?

What if you had a thriving Facebook page or group and a strong community?

You could easily increase the number of orders you get.

None of this is easy, but none of it is hard either.

This book will serve as your guide. It will show you some of the most effective ways and methods of generating traffic to your website.

Chapter 2: Content Marketing

If you've been moving in digital marketing circles for a while, you've probably heard it said that 'content is king'.

And it's not without reason, because when done right content marketing is a mind-blowing powerful strategy.

How powerful? Well, research has shown that it can cost up to 62% less than traditional marketing and generate about three times as many leads.

If you want to start driving more traffic to your website, then there is one single thing that you need to be doing. This indisputable, critical aspect of your marketing is non-negotiable and has the biggest potential for increasing your viewers, your authority, and your engagement.

That is to apply content marketing.

What is Content Marketing?

Content marketing is about using media such as blogs, newsletters, social posts, videos and infographics to draw customers towards you. How? By providing value upfront. Content marketing flips the script on traditional marketing. Instead of roaring at your audience through a megaphone, content marketing transforms your business into a powerful magnet that pulls customers to your doorstep.

The reason this is so crucial is simple: the internet is built on content. Most of the time you spend online will likely be either reading or watching videos, both of which are examples of content consumption.

To find that content, you probably searched for a phrase or term in Google, and Google will then have matched your query to content that it had indexed.

Why You Need to Implement Content Marketing

When you add high-quality content to your website on a regular basis, you achieve a number of things:

- You provide free value
- You demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in your niche and become an expert
- You increase brand awareness and trust exponentially
- You provide Google with a means of understanding what your site is about
- You create more pages for your site, each of which can then act as a potential entry point to your site and your brand
- You gain a commodity that you can share on social media
- You increase the likelihood of people who enjoy your content sharing it with other people: thereby giving you free links and free exposure.

How To Write an Engaging Blog Post

One of the key ingredients to your success then is to write a high quantity of articles. The more you write, the more opportunity you create to be discovered. The more questions you can answer, and the more people you can engage with.

As a starting point, I recommend writing at least one blog post a week. This is far from ideal, though. Far preferable would be 3-4 posts per week, and potentially even a post a day.

What's arguably more important, though, is that you learn to write high-quality blog posts. If you get this wrong, then it doesn't matter how many you write!

Only a high-quality blog post will increase the likelihood of someone returning to your website, and only a high-quality blog post will increase the likelihood that your site will get shared.

So, what does the perfect blog post look like?

First and most important is that your post should not be derivative. This means you should not be sharing content for the sake of it. Every single post needs to have something unique to say.

Let's consider two approaches to fitness.

One blog post on fitness is an exclusive interview with the elusive and extremely in-demand Ido Portal. His is a completely unique approach to training and one that has set the social media world on fire for several years now (he's a real guy, look him up!).

The other is an article called "5 Exercises for Six Pack Abs."

Sample Content Preview

Do you feel stuck in your life right now? Do you know that there is much more to life than you are currently experiencing but you don’t know what this is? Do you feel that you are just drifting along in life and that you have no real purpose? If any of those questions apply to you then this is definitely the right guide for you.

Most people just drift along in life and complain when things don’t turn out as they want them to. They do not have any direction and just take the path of least resistance. A small percentage of people know exactly what the purpose of their life is and are constantly striving for fulfillment.

The secret to fulfillment and happiness in life is to know your true purpose and to set goals to support it. Some people know this but struggle to find their true calling. They will often experiment a lot in the vain hope that they might stumble on the right thing. This rarely works.

In this guide you will learn the importance of discovering your WHY. We will show you how to find your WHY by asking yourself the right questions. You will also learn how to create a compelling and powerful WHY statement.

Having a strong WHY statement is just the start. You then have to live by it to attain total fulfillment. We will show you effective ways that you can live by your WHY and keep it uppermost in your mind.

Finding your true purpose in life is something that everyone should strive for. You are so far ahead of most of the population by reading this guide and being willing to take action with what you learn here. Finding your WHY is a true “eureka” moment and you will be very grateful that you experienced it.

There is nothing more satisfying than realizing what your true calling in life is. This will provide you with the clarity and direction that you need in your life. So read every word of this powerful guide and start your journey to discover your WHY and communicate your purpose to the world.

There are probably many people who consider themselves “stuck” in their lives right now. Are you one of them? Do you know what the real meaning and purpose of your life is? Have you set goals and failed to achieve them? Or maybe you achieved your goals but felt that there was still something lacking in your life?

If you do feel stuck then don’t worry because you are not alone. It is a common feeling that a lot of people experience. Fortunately you had the foresight to grab a copy of this guide to help you move away from “stuck” to clarity, purpose and fulfillment.

The Problem with Goals

Very few people set goals so if you do this you need to congratulate yourself because you are certainly in the top 5%. A lot of people will set goals without fully understanding why they have set them.

If you do this then it is unlikely that you are going to achieve your goals because you do not have a driving force pushing you to overcome the obstacles that you will inevitably face so that you can achieve them.

Human beings do everything for a reason. What is the difference between a person that goes all out to achieve their dreams and someone that tries their best? Well the first person is completely driven – they are inspired and motivated to achieve their dreams no matter what. The second person is nowhere near as committed as this.

So what does all of this mean? What it means is that when you set your goals you need to have a strong reason as to why you want to achieve them. It has to be a strong reason because weaker reasons won’t cut it.

Here is an example. A woman decides that she wants to set a goal to lose 20 pounds in 3 months. She communicates this with her friends and family and they ask her why she wants to do this. She replies “I want to fit into that summer dress I bought a few years ago”.

This is a weak reason for her goal. How important is fitting into that summer dress really for her? It’s probably not that important right? OK she looked good in the dress and it cost her money but is this reason really going to motivate her to eat the right things and participate in an exercise routine every day?

Contrast this to a reason like “I want to lose those 20 pounds so I can feel super sexy and turn heads wherever I go”. Would that inspire and motivate you more than just fitting into an old dress? Of course it would!

Human Behavior is Driven by Emotion

We have thoughts in our heads and these make us feel a certain way. Some of these thoughts will stir strong emotions within us and make us take certain actions. A single man sees a beautiful girl at a party. He is captivated by her beauty and wants to get to know her. The thoughts in his head stir up different emotions.

On the positive side he can see himself walking around with this gorgeous girl on his arm. He would have so much love for her and literally do anything for her. The negative side of this is that he has seen several guys approach her and be rejected. Rejection is not something that he really wants to deal with. So what does he do?
He plucks up the courage and goes over to her. He comments on how nice her hair looks and that she shouldn’t be alone. While he is doing this his body is preparing itself for the feeling of rejection but he pushes through this. The girl likes him and they spend the evening together.

Why did the man choose the positive emotion over the negative? He did this because the feelings were stronger to him. Stronger emotions will always trump weaker ones when it comes to our behavior.

Think about the woman that wanted to lose 20 pounds. It is her birthday and someone brigs a delicious birthday cake to her house. She is salivating over this cake but knows that she shouldn’t eat even the smallest portion of it. After all she wants to fit in that summer dress again.

She rationalizes all of this in her head and then thinks “who cares about the dress it’s my birthday!” And of course she will eat some of the cake and put her weight loss progress back considerably.

If she wanted to lose the weight to be sexy and turn heads then do you think that she would respond in a different way? We think that it is more likely that she will reject the offer of the cake if that is her reason for losing the weight. The emotion is very strong in this reason and it will probably win the day.

You need a Strong WHY

We have all done things where we had to push through the pain barrier or overcome very big obstacles to achieve something. The thing that gave us the strength and tenacity to do this was the reason “why” we were doing it.

Sample Content Preview

Get Your Online Store Up Immediately

One of the major reasons that people use 3rd party sites to sell is that it's far easier to use someone else's format and templates to get a site live faster than to try to figure out how to do it on your own. Even though website programming has gotten a lot easier, it can still be a steep learning curve for someone who has never dealt with HTML or templates before. If they don't want to take the time to learn, many 3rd party sites are extremely user-friendly and have a working staff that can help people to get their stores up in record time.

POPULAR 3RDPARTY SITES

We'll discuss more in detail a number of 3rd party sites that others have found user-friendly and easy to get started selling online. You probably have heard of eBay.com as a highly popular way to sell, but there are many others, including Etsy.com, CafePress.com, Amazon.com, and many more. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses and will appeal to a particular audience.

MATCH THE INVENTORY TO THE SITE

The reason that eBay.com is so popular is because you can sell a wide range of products in an auction format, thus getting more sales. However, other sites like Amazon.com can also sell more than books; the public just isn't as aware of the many options available. Etsy.com tends to attract artists, while CafePress.com will appeal to people with an idea who don't want to create products as much as market those products that come from their ideas.

GET HELP ALONGTHE WAY

Take advantage of the many ways to get help from each of these sites. EBay.com has a large help support area that is quite responsive, as it makes its money by people selling things on the eBay site. It pays for the people of eBay to help facilitate your experience. It's not going to be a slam dunk, but it will certainly be easier than programming a website from the ground up.

Take a look at other sellers on the site before you get into your own site. See how sales are taking place. Place some of your own orders so you can see the process from the buyer's point of view too. Go into the community forum if they have one and ask your questions there. There's no reason to go it alone when you use a 3rd party site.

No Special Tools To Download Or Install

You will find that these sites are created to be extremely user-friendly. You don't have to download an update if one is necessary. It's all done behind the scenes. You don't have to know HTML, although it can help to differentiate your offerings from others. You don't have to install a specific browser, as they work with most Internet browsers. You don't have to be very technical at all for the most part. It's all done for you by the staff of the online 3rd party site. They understand that their users are not programmers, and they don't expect you to download software programs or to install them either. However, they will offer software features that anyone can learn to use, and you can become a super user without having to really become a technical expert.

OPEN YOUR BROWSER AND GET STARTED

All you have to do to get started with 3rd party sites is to open your Internet browser and navigate to their main URL. They will have an area where you can register with them as a seller, and it will be pretty obvious what button or link to click. Instead of running programs, installing software, or selecting templates, all you have to do is to set up an account by giving them some basic information that is already preformatted as a form for you to fill in. It's really that easy.

LIST YOUR PRODUCTS

Once you have an account, and they know where to send the check to, you can start listing your products. You will be limited to the terms of service for that particular site. No firearms are allowed to be sold on eBay.com, for instance. Know what you can and can't sell by reading the terms of service that comes up when you first register. If you try to sell something that is prohibited, your account will be suspended.

Aside from that, it's pretty easy to list your products, and the sites have tools that make this process very easy. For Amazon.com, all you have to do is to put in an ISBN number for it to pull up the book title, and then you can add information on the quality of the item in your possession that you wish to sell secondhand. That's definitely something you won't have with a standard website, yet with 3rd party sites, these types of tools are common. Whatever makes it easier for their sellers to list their products gets them to list more, which means more commissions for them. It makes sense to provide more tools to facilitate listings. If you make a lot of sales, premium tools are made available to PowerSellers on eBay.com. Third party sites will try to support your selling activities as best as they can.

Search-Friendly Listings

If you were to put up your own website and then get some good tools for listing your items, like an e-commerce cart, it still isn't going to give you the same exposure as a 3rd party site. The reason for this is that many of these sites are crawled by Google and other search engines frequently. They know that new sale items are coming up every day, and people want to find the listing if they input a description into their search engine for a particular site. That's why they're heavily favored in search engines, in some cases, especially eBay listings, due to the amount of interest and the credibility this 3rd party site has already established.

In comparison, your own personal website, while fancy and slick, needs time to build up the same credibility and interest from search engines. If you want to eventually develop your own site, it doesn't hurt to start by marketing some items on 3rd party sites and then having a reference URL back to your site. That way, you get the advantage of the search-friendly listings of 3rd party sites, but also start to develop your own personal following that will help you with search engines later on.

THINK LIKE A BUYER

When you build your listing, think like a potential buyer. Try to make it easy for your listing to be seen before others’ listings on the same site. Third party sites will sell their high visibility features, from bolding to highlighting, or featured listings. You can actually buy these, as well as buy multiple image files. You might get some of these items for free if you progress up their ladder of stellar sellers, but until then, you will probably have to buy the additional features. That's why it isn't just words that sell online; it's also how you use those words.

Include keywords that people are searching for in the heading and subheading of your listing. Try to describe your item in words as best as possible. Make sure the listing is accurate too, as you will be held to your word, and it can affect your standing in the community if you misrepresent a product that sells. Pay close attention to the heading, as this is what people see of the listing first.

Sample Content Preview

INTRODUCTION

Once you’ve got your blog in place and have added plenty of good-quality, search-engine optimized content, you may be wondering when the money will start rolling in.
If only it were that easy!

The thing about making money on your blog is that blogging is the vehicle for your actual business, not the business itself. Let’s say you own a flower shop. You have the physical location, you decorate it all cute, you install a cash register and take out ads in the local paper. You even stand outside the door, handing out tiny blossoms and busi-ness cards to people who walk by. That’s all well and good, but until you start actually providing value to your market, you’re not really in business.

The same is true for your blog. Until you actually provide a product or service that people can pay money for, you’re not in business.

This short report will give a brief overview of the top ten ways you can make money from your blog. Not every method may be right for you, right now – and that’s okay. Read through all ten, make notes, and pick one or two to start with. Then you can add on additional methods until you’re well on your way to making money from your very own online business – your blog.

Possibly the oldest business model of all-time is also the most familiar: Selling your own physical products. It’s a concept we’re all familiar with, and we see it play out from the corner lemonade stand to Mrs. Fields Cookies. I have something you want, so I sell it to you. Simple and straightforward.

WHEN SELLING ONLINE, however, there are a few questions to answer:

What am I going to sell?
How am I going to accept payment?
How will I let people know about my products?
How will I handle fulfillment and customer service?
LET’S look at each of those questions in turn.

What am I going to sell? Choose a product that is of interest to the majority of your readers. For instance, if you have a Hawaiian vacation blog, your readers won’t necessarily come to you for the brand-new flea collar you invented. A few might be interested, but keeping synergy between your blog theme and your product is essential. Any disconnect will lead to confusion on the part of your blog readers, and confusion leads to distrust. Sell those Hawaiian vacation dreamers your own ukelele music CD, or your audio guide to the Big Island, or posters you’ve made from photographs you took on your last excursion to Maui.

How am I going to accept payment? Ten years ago, would-be online entrepreneurs would have had to dream up some complicated work-around for customers to get them cash. Now, we’ve got a number of options. The easiest is PayPal, which will allow your customers to pay using their credit card, debit card, or PayPal balance. Go to www.paypal.com and click on “Business” for more information. PayPal can help you create “buy now” buttons for your site, issue invoices, and more, and it is easily integrated into your blog.

If you outgrow PayPal, there are a number of shopping cart services you can check out, including 1shoppingcart.com, Americart.-com, vshoppingcart.com, and many more. These services are more expensive than PayPal, but will add functionality you may eventually desire, such as affiliate management.

How will I let people know about my products? Marketing your wares is an essential part of your business plan. No matter how good your mousetrap, ukelele CD, or homemade cookies are, if no one knows about them, no one can buy them. You can spread the word through forums, search engine optimization (SEO), Google AdWords, Facebook advertisements, and a number of other methods. The key is to know beforehand how you’re going to tell people about your products.

How will I handle fulfillment and customer service? Unless you enjoy making numerous trips to the post office and answering calls 24/7, as you grow you will need to have a scaleable plan for shipping out orders and handling customer questions and complaints. You can outsource fulfillment to a local business or individual (try Craigslist.com), or through a service like Amazon’s amazonservices.com. Likewise, you can outsource customer service to a virtual assistant, or to a company that specializes in customer service.

Selling your own goods online can be a profitable and satisfying way to make your mark on the online world – and to make money! Many businesses of all sizes incorporate a physical sales component to their offerings.

Affiliate marketing is a great complement to any other business model. Basically, you recommend products and services to your readers, and every time one of them makes a purchase through your referral link (a piece of code inserted in your blog), you receive a commission. Commissions can range from a few percent of the purchase price, to upwards of 50%. Physical products usually have a lower commission rate, while digital downloads have higher commissions.

The upside of affiliate marketing is that it’s simple. If you’re estab-lished as an expert in your industry, you likely already tell people what products and services you use in the course of your business. You’ll continue to do the same… only now you’ll get paid for it!

BEST AFFILIATE PRODUCTS REVEALED!

FINDING THE BEST AFFILIATE PRODUCTS TO PROMOTE

The Internet has become a virtual world. There is nothing that you can do in the real world that you cannot do in the virtual world including buying and selling products. This has been a known fact for some time, and when you promote prod-ucts on the net it is called Internet marketing.

There are a number of websites that sell products and a few large organizations that dominate the market. Companies like Amazon and eBay are some of the most commonly known names although there are a few others as well.

While Amazon and eBay sell products, they do not actively adver-tise for them. Considering their sales volume and growth – Amazon grew 16% last year when compared to 2.4% for retail sales, it is possible that they feel that they do not need to advertise. Yet everyone knows the value of advertising.

This gave birth to what is called the affiliate websites. When you are selling a product, and someone comes to you and tells you that they are willing to promote your product, they are vendors. When they do this online, they are called affiliates.

Affiliate marketing works because it is a win-win situation for both parties. The affiliate takes it upon themselves to promote his website. He toils hard and puts in a lot of effort to increase his ranking on Google. The result is that any product that he is promoting for you will also get the increased exposure, and you have not spent one dime, or one minute of your time to do this.

The affiliate is paid a commission that can range anywhere from 4% to 30% on profits depending on the product that they are market-ing. He is paid only if any person who he directs to your site makes a purchase. You may miss your profitability per product here, but your overall profits will increase because of the increase in sales volume.

You keep track of who comes to you through whom by giving each of your affiliates a different cookie. This cookie has a definite expiration date and is installed in the system of any person who visits the affiliate site.

When said person comes to you, the cookie in his system will tell you who has sent him allowing you to keep track of both the number of people he directs to your site and the number of sales made. Most of this is automated and it is a system that works for everyone.

If instead of being the person who sells the product you are the affiliate, the process is the same, but in reverse. You contact the seller, get his cookie, and you are set. All you need to do is to put in the legwork to increase your web traffic because it is the basis of all conversions and ultimately the amount of money you make.

Because you go to such lengths, investing your hard-earned money and time into promoting a product, you need to make sure that the product that you choose is the right one. There are millions of products being sold online, but not all of them will give you what you are looking for. Then there are the scam artists who are out to cheat you.

This being the case you need to be careful how you choose the product that you want to market. There are a few ways to do this and we will discuss them in detail below.

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

This is the first thing that you have to think of. Either you will be creating a completely new website or blog to market a said product, or you will be integrating it into your already existing site. There are pros and cons to both of these.

PROMOTING products on an already existing site

If you already have a site or a blog up and running, you are lucky in that you would already have a certain ranking with Google. You can focus your attention on your one site and over time you can get quite a high ranking with all search engines. The advantage of this model is that you already have a certain amount of traffic that you are getting on a daily or weekly basis, which means that the chance of you getting a sale quickly is higher.

In addition, if you have more than one product in your site, even if you put in activity promoting one product, all the other products will reap the benefit. You just have to concentrate on improving the ranking of your one site so that you increase traffic. Once you do this, if you have made a good choice on the products and if you have designed your web page well, the sales will come.

Sample Content Preview

What Is Search Engine Optimization And How Can You Implement It?

THE CLASSIC DEFINITION

Search Engine Optimization, known with the acronym SEO, is the process of improving traffic and exposure to a website via search engines to get the website ranked highly in the resulting search results pages. It helps to build an online presence that is bigger and better than just slapping a static website up on the Internet and hoping that some people drop by the site. It is a strategy whereby how you create the site, what you do to promote it, and how you analyze the results of those actions that help the website owner to develop bigger and better online exposure.

GOOGLE STARTED IT ALL

Google is the main search engine that started it all. It was through their AdWords campaigns that Internet marketers became more savvy about using the power of the advertising model to help shoot certain pages to the top of the search results pages. They noticed that the same keywords that online businesses were buying because their research showed many people were searching for them could be used to attract those same people to other sites. Soon, it became a standard SEO strategy to include keywords in content that was used to get pages ranked highly in Google's search engine results pages (SERPs).

IT'S DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS TO INCLUDE MORE

Since then, a variety of services have popped up to help the online business owner compete against others for maximum website exposure. Some of these techniques deal with how the search engine classifies a page topic and what types of elements in a Web page create or obstruct high page ranking.

It wouldn't be fair to neglect mentioning that some SEO tricks are called “black hat” because they tend to exploit weaknesses in the search engine model and can lead to a site using “black hat” techniques to be sandboxed (dropped to the bottom of the SERPs). Marketers trying to game the system may get away with it for a while, but Google has been known to severely punish those that are caught, making it unwise to implement black hat techniques.

Other techniques, known as “white hat” or organic strategies don't carry the risk of being sandboxed. They use the guidelines that carry a sense of integrity and authenticity while gaining wide exposure through providing value and understanding SEO. These are the techniques that we are going to discuss in this report. To caution further, always avoid techniques like keyword stuffing, spamming people by sending unsolicited emails, and generating false websites with commercial links only and no content (link farms). These activities are considered black hat techniques.

HOW KEYWORD USAGE HAS S CHANGED

In the past, keywords were used in meta description tags to give a search engine the hint about what the page talked about. Black hat marketers began to exploit that vulnerability by adding highly searched keywords into that area and basically making that criteria useless to Google. Thus, Google decided to downgrade that criterion, and as a result, keywords are evaluated as a percentage of the actual content on the site for relevancy, not for just showing up in coding. If you know how the search engines rate keywords, you can still game the system a bit, but not without actually creating content that has some value. That's the entire point. Here are a few things to know about keywords when you are writing content for SEO.

STUFFING IS ONLY FOR TURKEYS

Stuffing tastes great at Thanksgiving time, but stuff too many keywords into your content, and you'll get a rapid case of indigestion when Google sandboxes your site. The moral is clear: Stuffing is only for turkeys. This might have been a great black hat technique in the past, but today, Google's analytics are so powerful that they not only look for relevant keywords on your pages, but they also determine how often and where you've placed them. On average, if you put more than 2% of your content as a single keyword, it will count against you, not for you. That means that if your page is a 500-word blog post, at most, any single keyword should not show up more than 10 times. Between 5 and 10 times is average and expected; anything else is considered as stuffing.

USE YOUR KEYWORDS CAREFULLY

You can put the keywords anywhere on your page, but they count more towards relevancy in the search engine analytics when they are placed in headers near the top of the article and are bolded. These actions indicate to the analyzer that the topic is important to the writer and will carry more weight in the search engine.
Matching keywords to powerful keywords that you've already researched as having a high searchability and low competition is also an easy way to get a higher ranking. It's not just the amount of times you use the keywords, but what keywords you use that determine your SEO ranking. If you use a highly competitive keyword, it doesn't matter if you follow all of the guidelines, as other people have mined that attention long ago. You'll automatically fall near the bottom of the SERPs. Pay attention to how to find good keywords in order to attain higher rankings in the search engines.

HOW TO SELECT YOUR KEYWORDS

When you first start out, you might want to hire a company to develop a list of keywords for your SEO activities. It's going to take some time for you to understand what makes a good keyword selection, and during that time, you don't want to put up content that has no keywords. As you use those, you can start to look at some of the tools and techniques to develop your own keyword lists that you can give to your staff writers to include in their online content.

THE GOOGLE KEYWORD TOOL

This tool is available online at: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. It is created to help online marketers using the AdWords program to create effective marketing campaigns. By entering a keyword or phrase, the Google Keyword tool will give actual metrics that have been measured by Google on various characteristics of that and other similar keywords. For finding rich keywords that can help you gain maximum exposure, it is a first stop for any budding Internet marketer.

After entering the keyword or phrase you are researching, the tool pulls up the advertiser competition and search volume as the default listing. You can modify this listing by pulling down the list box at the top that says, ”Choose columns to display.” From that list, you can expand the elements that are shown for each keyword and derivatives of that keyword to include CPC (cost-per-click), ad position, volume trends, and the time when the highest volume occurred. All of this is important information for figuring out if the market for that keyword has been saturated and the competition is too stiff to really help you with search engine placement. Take a look at this tool and see if you can find high CPC keywords with a high search volume and low advertiser competition. These are the keywords that will get you noticed quickly.

Sample Content Preview

BEST BLOG WIDGETS AND PLUGINS

MOST EFFECTIVE AND USEFUL BLOG WIDGETS AND PLUGINS

These days blogs seam to make the internet go round. In fact, the numbers are staggering- 50 million and growing every day. Bloggers come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. Whether you are keeping your clients abreast of the current real estate market or you are blogging about your pet, there are all kinds of effective and useful blog widgets and plugins that can make your blog more exciting and appealing.

Widgets are a simple, effective, and handy way to add a little flare and excitement to your blog. Since the number of widgets and plugins available is virtually endless make sure you don’t go overboard.

Popular Blog Sites

Before we start looking at the various widgets and plugins you can use on your blog, let’s look at some of the most popular blog hosts. Everyone knows about WordPress, the number one used blog site, but there are plenty of other options you should be aware of so let’s get started.

Danga Software Powered

Danga Interactic was the brainchild of Brad Fitzpatrick’s company that created Live Journal and the backend to drive that soft-ware. There have been a number of contributors to this software since its early inception. The following are three of the main sites that are Danga powered.

1. InsaneJournal.com

InsaneJournal offers both free and paid accounts, with additional enhancements. It is a simple online diary that is very customizable, built on open source software. InsaneJournal lets you keep in touch with friends and family. Don’t let the fact that it’s free fool you. This is an excellent tool and the community is very tight-knit and accepting of everyone young or old.

2. JournalFen.com

JounralFen is directed towards “fandoms” such as various TV shows or movies like Harry Potter. It is designed for those over 18 years of age and is considered a journaling service for fans of televi-sion, movie, and music, as well as other media entertainment forms.

3. LiveJournal.com

Live Journal is one of the most well known and well used blog hosts offering its users multiple account types including paid and ad supported. This vibrant virtual global community is a social media platform where passions can be shared. There are hundreds of communities. You can keep a journal, diary, or blog.

Themed Blog Sites

Best Blog Widgets and Plugins

Blogabond.com – This is a blog site dedicated to travel blogs and it includes map integration. Here you’ll discover tons of travel journals and photo blogs from individual travelers of the world. There is also maps, research, and plenty of resources if you are planning some backpacking.

BlogCheese.com – A video blogging site that’s packed with all kinds of great blogs. Whether it’s a blog on new electronics, the internet, or playing golf you’re sure to find one of interest here. It’s also a great space to start your own blog and get a little practice in.

BusyThumbs.com – This UK based blog site is designed for camera phone images and text messages. It offers free moblogs, which is a mobile phone web log or online journal that you send via a text message.

Registration is free. There are hundreds of blogs to choose from, and it ranks well in the search engines. You can upload from your phone to your blog in minutes, and is an excellent choice if you want to be able to Trippert.com – Create and share your blogs that are related to travel. This is a strong community with a strong following and a great place to start your travel blog no matter where you live or travel.

Ufem.com – This is a blog site for women. There are multiple themes and plugins to choose from, and if your blog topic focuses around women this is a great place to start. It’s a well visited site thanks to the great content and the additional resources relating to topics of interest to women.

WordCountJournal.com – This is a new blogging format. On day one you’ll write one word, on the second day two words, on the third day three words, and on it goes. By the end of the year, you will have written more than 65,000 words.

WORDPRESS POWERED

WordPress is one of the more popular blog publishing companies with a focus on usability, web standards, and aesthetics. There are a number of sites that are powered by WordPress.

Blogetery.com – Is a little-known WordPress platform used by more than 70000 blogs. There are more than 140 free customizable themes, brilliant plugins, free sub-domains, anti-spam, and plenty more features. There’s an opportunity to make money of your blog.

Edublogs.org – WordPress powered blogs for educators is a resource that continues to grow and attract new visitors. Whether you are a teacher or a student you can quickly customize and design your own blog to include photos, podcasts, and videos. It’s secure, safe, and easy to use.

WordPress.com – This site offers you free, easy to customize blogs. Everything including, backups, spam blockers, security, upgrades, and setup is taken care for you. However, you have to use one of their themes and you cannot use plugins. There are plenty of widgets you can add, and tags are easy to add. You are not allowed to sell anything unless you are an artist or author.

WordPress.org - This site requires more technical skills. It also has to be installed onto a server and upgraded by you anytime there are upgrades. You can sell things, post paid ads, and include a shopping cart. The software is free but hosting might cost you a few dollars a month.

Sample Content Preview

INTRODUCTION

From the time we are born, many will be educated to be a version of themselves that please others. Whether it comes from the way you were raised or how you were taught in school, we often learn to put a mask on and be an actor in our life.

Unfortunately, that behavior will not lead you to be happy and live a fulfilling life. You can discover the best version of yourself and transform your life so that you are no longer an actor in your life. Choose to live the life that was made for you.

In this book, you will have to commit to exploring yourself, try to be aware of your behaviors, and be honest with yourself. This book is for you, and no one other than yourself can know who you are.

With commitment, vulnerability, and curiosity, you will be able to be the best version of yourself and put away the mask that you’ve to wear for much too long. Are you ready to claim your power?

Then let’s start to explore your current life and see how much you are currently your true self!

“The power you have is to be the best version of yourself you can be so that you can create a better world.”

CHAPTER 1: BEING YOURSELF

The best version of yourself is being true to yourself, but what does this mean? It is sometimes easier to explain something by identifying what it isn’t. That said, here’s a list of what is not being the best version of yourself:

- Being true to yourself is not about pleasing others;
- Being true to yourself is not about hurting others;
- Being true to yourself is not about doing things you dislike;
- Being true to yourself is not about forcing yourself to do something;
- Being true to yourself is not about being hard on yourself;
- Being true to yourself is not about judging others and comparing yourself;
- Being true to yourself is not about being a victim of your surroundings;
- Being true to yourself is not about acting in a way that will attract more fans on social media.

Being true to yourself means that you behave and communicate in complete integrity with your belief, values, and, most of all, with what feels right in your heart. When there is an alignment with your inner self (emotions, states, and desires) and outer self (behaviors, communication, and relationships), you are the best version of yourself.

Assessing Yourself

Have you ever felt like your behavior and the way that you held yourself varied depending on who is around you and where you are?

We tend to play a different role when we are with individuals that we want to please or want to make sure that they like us. For example, you might behave in a completely different way if you are at work or with people you just met and want to be friends with them. We tend to be ourselves when we are at home or with childhood friends. That is when we let our guards down and become more vulnerable and less worried about how others might perceive us.

The following questions will help you identify which area of your life you are the best version of yourself. The answer is yes or no, pick the answer the closest to how you feel (mostly yes or mostly no).