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The InfoProfits Blueprint – How to Create a Six-Figure Information Products Business From Home

By Michael in Internet Marketing with Add a Comment

I’m putting the finishing touches on a special report titled: The InfoProfits Blueprint: How to Create a Six-Figure Information Products Business from Home.

In the report, I outline a simple business model you can use to create an online, information products (infoproducts) business that allows you to make a difference in peoples’ lives while creating an amazing lifestyle for yourself and those you love.

Although there are variations, it’s the same model used by successful infoproduct business owners around the world. It’s also the model I personally used to create my own six-figure infoproducts business from the comfort of my home office. My wish and belief for you is that by executing the steps in this report, you’ll be able to achieve similar results.

If you want to be one of the first to get your hands on it when it’s ready, just subscribe to my newsletter. You’ll see a subscribe box beneath this post or at the top of the home page.

Why Most Bloggers Don’t Make Any Money, and How to Turn it Around

By Michael in Blogging with 7 Comments

I’m not sure what the exact statistics are, but I’m certain most bloggers don’t make much – if any – money from their efforts. It’s a shame too. After all, you were so energized when you first launched your blog.

Perhaps you were inspired by the stories of successful bloggers. People like Yaro Starak, John Chow, Darren Rowse, Leo Babauta and other rock-star bloggers who “work a few hours per day from the comfort of their home, and earn a six-figure income.” Maybe you read their stories and thought, “wow, that’s for me.” Now, here you are, six or twelve months down the line, and still, you have little to show for your efforts.

I know how you feel. I’ve been there myself. I launched my first blog, Small Business Branding in 2004 when blogs were just starting to become cool. At the time, like many of you reading this, I worked a full-time job and devoted most of my spare time to building my blog. I wrote good content, did the SEO thing, networked with other bloggers, did link exchanges, created a podcast, interviewed other bloggers. The whole nine yards (almost).

Still, despite those good things, after nearly two years, I was earning less than $200 per month from my blog and still stuck in a full-time job that I hated.

And my efforts were somewhat effective. I developed a small readership of about 400 daily readers. I earned top five positions on Google for various search terms related to small business marketing, and at one point, the site garnered a PR6 Google page rank (it mattered more back then). I also scored a brief mention in Entrepreneur magazine as one of the “cream of the crop” marketing blogs on the Internet. Not a huge deal, but I was proud of it at the time.

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Bigger Life Radio Episode 4: Information Product Launch Strategy

In this episode, I speak with Tripp Lanier, who’s the host of The New Man Podcast, a professional men’s coach, an entrepreneur and artist. Tripp recently launched a premium membership site as a spin-off of his popular podcast, and I had a chance to work with him to help put the launch together. In the interview, we discuss some details of the launch as well as some important lessons learned.

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10 Empowering Quotes About Writing and Living the Creative Life

By Michael in Creativity, Quotes, Writing with Add a Comment

From Writing FAST by Jeff Bollow

“And the reason you hate writing so much is because you start analyzing your work before you’re done pouring it onto the page. Your Left-brain won’t let your Right-brain do it’s job … Your Right-brain gets the words on the page. The Left-brain makes them sing.”

From Escaping Into the Open by Elizabeth Berg:

“There are people who have never studied writing who are capable of being writers. I know this because I am an example. I was a part-time registered nurse, a wife, and a mother when I began publishing. I’d taken no classes, had no experience, no knowledge of the publishing world, no agent, no contacts … Take the risk to let all that is in you, out. Escape into the open.”

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Short Video Case Study: How to Monetize Your Passion

Here’s a brief video case study that shows how Dan Maynard makes money from his passion. Dan is passionate about piano and piano keyboards, so he built a content-rich website that not only helps other piano fans, but also provides him with a steady source of passive income. Hopefully, this will stimulate some creative ideas about how you could do something similar.

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Diary of a Recovered TV Addict: How I Reclaimed My Life and Gained Two Extra Months Per Year

By Michael in Optimal Living with Add a Comment

My girlfriend doesn’t own a TV; a fact that puzzled me when we met 18 months ago. What does she do for entertainment, I wondered. How does she get the news? Doesn’t she get bored? How can she live without Seinfeld?

I didn’t ask her those questions directly though, because I really didn’t care. In fact, on a deeper level, I respected and envied her for that choice.

Until a few months ago, I watched 5-6 hours of television almost every day. As evening approached after a long, hard day, I’d plant myself on the couch and vegetate till I fell asleep around midnight. Eight hours later, I’d wake up with the TV still on and me still feeling tired.

If you do the math, at that rate, it works out to around 2000 hours over the course of a year. That’s about three months. THREE MONTHS. In front of a TV. Hypnotized. Tuned in, but zoned out. Disconnected from the real world. Ahh yes, life was grand.

Actually, life wasn’t grand. In truth, it was quite the opposite, and TV had become a full-blown addiction; an escape mechanism. Medication for the deeper wounds and issues I refused to deal with in my life. For me, TV filled the void of an otherwise empty life; a life barely lived by a soul knocked to his knees and struggling to get back up.

“In its easy provision of relaxation and escape, television can be beneficial in limited doses. Yet when the habit interferes with the ability to grow, to learn new things, to lead an active life, then it does constitute a kind of dependence and should be taken seriously.” – Robert Kubey & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Scientific American (PDF)

There’s more to the story, of course, but that’s for another time. For now, it’s enough to say that – although my legs are still a bit wobbly – this soul is back on his feet and moving forward; due in large part to a commitment to gradually wean myself off television.

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Marketing that Makes a Difference: The Confidence Guy

Here’s a creative video that both informs and entertains. It gets a tad risque at the end, which makes it all the more memorable. After you watch this, ask yourself if you could do something as creative, bold and entertaining to get your message out to folks. From The Confidence Guy.

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Stephen King’s Advice on Being a Writer

By Michael in Video, Writing with Add a Comment

Who better to take writing advice from than Stephen King.

Bigger Life Radio Episode 3: The Most Important Skill for Living an Amazing Life

By Michael in Bigger Life Radio with Add a Comment

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer

I love that quote, and it seems so perfect to introduce this episode of Bigger Life Radio.

Still basking in the glow of my interaction with Brian Johnson, I took some time to really analyze what it is about him that makes him so successful at living such an amazing life. If you have 7 minutes, listen to this short podcast to find out what I think it is. As the title suggests, I think this is the most important skill you can develop if you want to live an amazing life.

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Bigger Life Radio Episode 2: Follow Your Bliss and the Hero’s Journey

By Michael in Bigger Life Radio with Add a Comment

Today’s episode is part 2 of my interview with Brian Johnson from PhilosophersNotes (listen to part 1 here). During this part of the discussion, we talk about the how Brian came up with the idea for PhilosophersNotes, as well as other cool topics such as:

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