There’s a wonderful European-style market and bakery in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas. They serve everything from made-to-order salads and sandwiches to chef-prepared, ready-to-eat meals.

But what I love most about the place is the sign on the door when you leave. It’s classic.

The sign doesn’t read “Please Come Again” or “Thank You for Your Business” or some other typical exit sign platitude.

It says . . .

“See you tomorrow.”

That kind of confidence is compelling and downright sexy. Sure, a fantastic product, service, or experience is the starting point from which confidence comes, but too many people play it scared and safe even when what they offer is truly great.

I’m not talking about arrogance. Arrogance is an indication of fear, not assurance.

Too many people, however, approach copywriting from a defensive mindset. You’re already back on your heels from the start, instead of proudly sharing your excellence with the people who can benefit most from it.

After all, if you’re not confident in your product or service, why should anyone else be? Confidence is a strong attractor because it assures people they’re making the right choice.

So, check out these tips for confident writing.

And we’ll see you tomorrow.

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and wants you to know that Thesis + Scribe = SEO Made Simple. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

Want lots more tips for producing confident copy and content? Sign up for the Copyblogger newsletter. It’s free, and it’s the smartest way to get the very best advice about how to effectively market online.

If you want the best network marketing books, then you’ll want to print a copy of this list. These are the most wished for books on Amazon. This means there is probably a book or two on this list your network marketing team would love.

As bloggers, we put a lot of effort into telling our readers how to do things.

We believe that if we can just give them enough informative content that they’ll subscribe to our blog and never leave. We try to become the best teacher we possibly can, instilling wisdom down into short, usable posts that our readers can put into action right away.

But what if that’s not what they really want?

What if they don’t want a teacher to tell them what to do?

What if all they’re looking for is a warm and understanding person who understands what they’re going through and is willing to love them, no matter what?

Someone like (you guessed it) Mr. Rogers.

Do you care how they feel?

Being a kid can be tough.

Everyone is always telling you to be quiet. No one wants to listen to what you think. Your parents make you go to bed, just when all of the fun is starting.

But not Mr. Rogers.

Fred Rogers made you feel like it was just you and him hanging out. He respected what you thought. He loved you, not because he had to (like your parents), but because he genuinely believed you were special.

After a while, you believed him. You felt special. You came back to the TV, day after day, just so you could feel that way again.

The best bloggers do that too. I read Copyblogger everyday for years before submitting this guest post, and it wasn’t just the information that kept me coming back. It was because, when I was done reading, it made me feel smarter, like I was one of the few people on the web who was truly in the know.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that’s a part of our job. Our job is bloggers isn’t just to inform our readers, but to make them feel special.

And yes, I realize it’s a little hokey, but I think Mr. Rogers can show us how. Listen to some of these quotes:

Lesson: For your audience to love you, first you have to love them. And they have to know it.

You know, I think everybody longs to be loved, and longs to know that he or she is lovable. And, consequently, the greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they’re loved and capable of loving.

How much do you care about your readers? I mean, really care?

Mr. Rogers didn’t just talk to children on television. He also visited them in person. On a regular basis, he would go out into public and ask kids about themselves. He would bend down and look little boys and girls straight in the eyes, so they knew he was fully focused on them. Then they poured their hearts out to him right on the spot.

No, he wasn’t compensated for that time, and neither are we. Most popular bloggers spend inordinate amounts of time reading every comment, responding to every email, and watching what people say on Twitter. None of this has any direct effect on traffic, but what it does is build goodwill. One at a time, your subscribers find out that you really care, and it transforms them from readers into raving fans.

Lesson: Before you can be a leader, first you have to be a neighbor.

Our world hangs like a magnificent jewel in the vastness of space. Every one of us is a part of that jewel. A facet of that jewel. And in the perspective of infinity, our differences are infinitesimal.

Mr. Rogers didn’t pretend to be better than the children who watched his show. He didn’t point out how young and ignorant they were. He didn’t appoint himself as an expert and command them to listen.

Instead, he decided to be their neighbor: someone just like them, who knew what they were going through, and was ready to help in any way he could, not because they were defenseless children, but because that’s what good neighbors do.

The same is true for bloggers. If you really want your audience to listen to you, you need to take the time to tell them your story, pointing out the ways you’re similar to them and inspiring them through your example.

Lesson: Create an environment where it’s okay to be imperfect.

I like you just the way you are.

Most kids are terrified, not just of getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar or their parents finding a bad grade on their report card, but of the possibility that they’ll do something so bad that their family will stop loving them. They believe that love is only for “good” children, and they worry that they don’t deserve it.

This quote was Mr. Rogers’ gentle way of correcting (and comforting) them. Over and over again, he would tell them that, “I like you just the way you are,” not just because it sounded good, but because it was what they needed to hear. They needed to know that love wasn’t conditional, and that they were safe enough around him to make mistakes and learn how to improve.

I believe it’s important for us to create the same environment for our readers. You may not realize it, but lots of your readers are probably intimidated by you, believing that they can never be as good as you are, and they’re afraid to reach out to you for help.

It’s important to remind them that you like them just the way they are. Maybe you don’t have to tell them as often as Mr. Rogers, but take a moment every few weeks to mention how impressed you are with the creative ways they’ve implemented your suggestions and how are honored you are to have them as readers.

It’s a small thing, but it matters.

Lesson: Keep what works, throw out what doesn’t, but always know what and why.

Propel, propel, propel your craft softly down liquid solution. Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, existence is simply illusion.

Every day, Mr. Rogers honed his craft, paying attention to even the smallest of details.

One time, he asked a fellow actor to say “the dog is going back home” instead of “the dog is going back to his owner.” He didn’t like the word owner because it was too possessive for the children viewers.

He also stuck with what worked. “Won’t you be my neighbor?” wasn’t just the theme song for the show; it was a way to set the tone at the beginning of every episode, getting children ready to listen. And so he repeated it, show after show for years.

It’s our responsibility as bloggers to hone our craft in the same way. You should experiment, not just with headlines or post ideas, but with new openings, new closes, new pictures, and even new words. It’s how you improve.

And at the same time, take a lesson from Fred Rogers and don’t be afraid to repeat what works.

Lesson: Seize your opportunity

When will your opportunity be?

Every day that communicate from the heart, you have a chance to change the world.

Back in 1969, Nixon proposed cuts to PBS, leading the Senate to hold a hearing that would decide the future of the station. And who do you think appeared before them and melted their hearts with words?

Mr. Rogers.

He wasn’t the CEO. He wasn’t a Washington insider. He wasn’t even well-known to the committee. Yet he showed up, spoke from the heart, and transformed some of the toughest, most hardened politicians in the country into raving fans.

It was the opportunity to create change that many of us dream of, and he seized it. But here’s the real question:

When will your opportunity be?

Watch this video, and think about it. Because when it comes, we’ll be counting on you.

About the Author: Karl Staib writes about building stronger relationships and being happy at work: Work Happy Now! If you enjoyed this article, you may like to subscribe to his feed, follow him on Twitter, or read one of his most popular articles: How to Write a Career List.

In less than 2 weeks, SocialFresh is coming to Nashville TN for their first event in 2010.

It is a one-day event on January 11th with a a pre-party the night before the event, and an after party the night of the event.

I am attending the event, and will be at both of the before & after get-togethers. From what I hear, there are still seats available – and I found a coupon code for you if you’re interested in going.

The list of speakers includes Jason Falls and Lisa Hoffman, among many others, and topics include: The Future of Connectivity, Real Twitter Results, Word of Mouth Marketing, Corporate Blogging and more.

You can get all the details at: SocialFresh Nashville

And try this coupon code: video44 – it worked for me!

Best,

p.s. If you are planning to attend SocialFresh Nashville, leave me a note below. I’d love to meet up with you at the event!

Dislosure: I purchased a ticket at full price (minus discount from the code) and became an affiliate for SocialFresh as well.

A lot of people think that social media is a trend. A fad to fade. Or at least that was the whisper up until this last year… when it became obvious that social media was here to stay.

There’s a lot more to social media than collecting friends and promoting your blog posts or products. Social media is changing the way we do business, and the way we live.

See this quick 4+ minute video by Erik Qualman discussing whether social media is a fad – or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution…

I picked up a copy of Socialnomics by Erik Qualman (aka @equalman on Twitter) last month, and have been reading it off and on for the last few weeks. I’d love to just sit down and read it all the way through in one sitting, but it’s been a busy month so I’ve been absorbing half a chapter here and there every chance I got.

You can get Socialnomics on audible, get it for the Kindle, or you can get a hardcover copy at Amazon for only $16.47. It comes in just about every flavor you could want. It has a 5-star rating on Amazon, with all but one review giving it 5 full stars.

(I still prefer to curl up with a good hardcover book)

Fresh, Engaging… and Thought-Provoking

There’s something super cool about a book so fresh that it references things that just happened earlier this year, and change that is happening right now.

Erik puts it all in context in the first 3 chapters and explains how social media is not a “time suck” or an insane distraction – as some of us initially thought, myself included – but rather a more efficient and deeper way to communicate.

I found myself nodding along the whole way, and really seeing the bigger picture – outside of online business and internet marketing. How social media is changing the way we talk, shop, learn, share… and even vote.

I can say firsthand that social media has changed my relationships with my friends, my children and even my mother. We still talk on the phone or sit down to dinner together, but it’s no longer a conversation of “how was your day?” or “what’s new in your life?” – because we already know.

Even if you barely know me on a personal level you probably know that my house got rolled on Halloween, I just bought a 4WD Jeep (and what color it was), that I have a good sense of humor , I’ve been reading Socialnomics, etc.

So what, right? The big argument has been… who cares what everyone else is doing, and how can I possibly keep up with everyone else’s life and their daily updates?

You don’t necessarily. Care or keep up, that is – or not with everyone at least, and not every minute. But you can filter updates by relationship, check in any time any day and see what your friends and family are up to via their profiles & update streams, or do a 2-second search to find specific conversations.

There’s a sense of transparency about social media that opens a million doors. Not just for marketing purposes, but for communication and relationships.

My stepdaughter knew that I was out dancing with her English teacher (oops!), I know who my teens are dating or talking to, and relatives who live far away get a daily glimpse into our lives without the hour-long phone calls every week.

“It’s not a 9-to-5 world, it’s a 24/7 world.”

In Chapter 3 Erik discusses “the fluid schedule” and finding balance between gadgets, updates and real life. While some may feel this makes you less connected and less productive, it’s actually exactly opposite.

You no longer have to sit in front of the television for an entire hour twice a day to get the news. You can select what type of news you want, and have it delivered to you instantly the minute the story breaks.

You no longer have to research products online for hours – you can get recommendations and links to peer reviews in a matter of minutes.

You no longer have to go it alone. You have the entire world at your fingertips – no matter where you are, no matter what time of day it is.

Social Media Marketing: Embracing The Change

I’ve really enjoyed Socialnomics from a personal perspective, but it also addresses brand marketing and social media success stories. Erik gives very specific examples of social media campaigns – and why they worked (or flopped).

How do you get loyal raving fans, and get them to talk about your brand online? That’s exactly what you’ll learn. “Consumers are taking ownership of brands, and their referral power is priceless.” (page 97)

Traditional marketing methods simply don’t work in the social media space. And in addition to changing the message and the method, there’s a whole new world of possibilities available thanks to this changing landscape. Be sure to check out what Erik has to say about Ebooks in Chapter 5…

The entire book is chock full of thought-provoking idea generators, from how to harness the power of the growing social media graph… to integrating advertising and monetization seamlessly into your content.

Socialnomics is fresh, current, and a must-read for anyone marketing anything online – less than 20 bucks, and definitely a smart investment in your business and your social media marketing plan (especially if you don’t yet have one!).

My opinion? You’re going to LOVE this book.

If you’ve been feeling out of the loop, or frustrated by social media options and opportunities that you don’t really understand, sit down with a copy of Socialnomics and enjoy the ride… You’ll be up to speed in no time.

Best,

p.s. You can read editorial reviews and consumer reviews on Amazon.com, and also flip through several pages of the book using their Look Inside! feature.

Grab a copy for yourself, and make sure you subscribe to the Internet Marketing This Week podcast as we’ll have Erik Qualman on as a special guest next week.

Another video by Erik, on the ROI of Social Media Marketing… Enjoy!

You know that “inner child” we hear so much about — the one that’s supposedly deep inside of all of us?

Well, I live with it. As a matter of fact, I call him “Austin.”

In the five years I’ve been a parent, I’ve realized that the notion of the inner child is more than just a neat psychological construct. It’s very nearly a literal thing. As we grow up, we don’t change so much as drape layer after complicated layer of adult emotion on top of that inner child. The child doesn’t vanish; he just gets obscured and filtered.

You don’t get an evolved, new mature being. You get Austin with fifteen blankets over his head.

Because that kid always remains at our core (and if you’ve ever caught yourself playing kids’ games with genuine enjoyment, you know that it does), our base motivations remain as well. They just get a little harder to see.

Kids ask for love; adults have complicated passive-aggressive relationships. Kids eat what tastes good; adults want the cupcake, but worry about it going straight to their thighs.

So you want to learn about marketing? Well, despite the complicated models and terminology that some of the gurus use, it’s actually quite simple. To see what works and why, all you have to do is look to my boy.

Make the customer “want that”

When the TV is on in our house, there are sometimes twelve sequential minutes of relative quiet. Then, as the commercials come on, we get a loud play-by-play as Austin begins talking loudly to nobody:

“I want that.”

“I don’t want that.”

“I want that. That last thing. Not that; the thing before.”

It’s easy to dismiss this as incredibly annoying, but if you think about it, it’s actually really revealing.

(OK, it’s incredibly annoying too.)

Without all of those complex adult filters, kids are a conduit to something we don’t normally allow in the adult world: pure desire. There are none of the shoulds and should nots, no rationalizations and thoughts of what is proper or responsible.

That kid is still inside everyone. So the dead-simple lesson is this: Every sale starts with pure desire. Customers either “want that” or they don’t. The rest is just mental gymnastics to justify that core emotion.

Know what your customer really wants

Recently, Austin stormed through a six pack of kids’ yogurt so that we’d buy more, because each six pack had a tiny, ridiculous comic book inside. Yoplait could have filled those containers with shredded paper and they still would have gotten our dollars if Austin had his way.

Did he want the yogurt? Not so much. He wanted the comic book.

Similarly, we sometimes go to McDonald’s because of the dumb little toys they stick in Happy Meals. Or because of the giant playlands they have everywhere.

I have this experiment I keep meaning to try: I want to tell Austin that McDonald’s serves food, because I think he may be surprised to learn it. We don’t go to McDonald’s for the food. We go for the Batmobile that fires a small plastic stick at the back of my head while I’m driving.

Now . . . Wendy’s? We don’t go to Wendy’s. Their kids’ meal prizes are audiobooks on CD. Bleh. Same basic food, but none of what the boy really wants.

Interestingly, as I write this, I’m sitting at a Borders book store. There’s also a Barnes & Noble in town, but they don’t have as many big poofy chairs to sit in, and their ambient music is too loud. Apparently both stores have the same books, but I wouldn’t know that because I just come here to buy a latte and work in a comfortable chair.

Don’t lie to your customers

Cheers to McDonald’s for recognizing that small toys will get kids in the door. But jeers to our local managers for failing the “implied contract with the customer” test.

Recently, my wife and I were assaulted by a barrage of McDonald’s requests because the current pieces of plastic junk that the clerks were dropping into Happy Meals were Bakugan figures, which are Japanese balls that transform into things. (Don’t ask.)

My wife took Austin once and he returned angry, showing me a nondescript plastic Pancho Villa-like figure with a spinning sombrero. Later, I took him and despite the display for Bakugan, we again walked away with a bogus replacement — a miniature stuffed monkey.

Twice burned, Austin’s McDonald’s lust backed off significantly. And, seeing as our son had been lied to twice, my wife and I instituted a temporary boycott.

Associative conditioning works

We often buy SpongeBob SquarePants macaroni and cheese. It’s terrible. For some reason, a complicated spongelike lattice doesn’t present cheese and pasta in a pleasing ratio. And yet Austin eats it and requests it again and again because SpongeBob is on the box.

I tested the limits of this adoration yesterday over dinner. Austin hates lettuce more than anything in the world, so I asked him if he would eat lettuce that had SpongeBob printed on the leaves and came with a free coloring book. He was all over it.

Then he got mad at me when I told him that such lettuce didn’t exist.

Of course, this only works on small children. Only kids are dumb enough to fall for such a simple trick, right?

Um, not quite. Most advertising is based around associative conditioning, which is taking something that you already like and pairing it with something that they want you to like. Or with someone you already like, in the form of a celebrity (or sponge) endorsement.

You may not buy terrible macaroni because a cartoon tells you to, but you buy Nikes because LeBron James endorses them. Or you buy a phone you can’t actually talk on because it’s white with a silver Apple on it. And if you don’t do those things, then I’ll bet you were buying Pepsi because of Michael Jackson back before they lit his hair on fire.

You may be standing up and denying angrily that you do any of those things, but billions of advertiser dollars say either that you’re quite unique or that you’re mistaken. Maybe you don’t come out and say, “Ooh, Tiger Woods. I want that!” but it happens anyway — deep down, at the inner child level.

Like so many things, marketing can appear way more complicated than it is. But marketing is simple — not always easy, but simple. In fact, it’s so simple that you may be overlooking the reasons it works when it does, and why it doesn’t work when it fails.

If you have kids, look to them. See what they like, and why they like it. See what pushes their buttons, because it’ll tell you a ton. Kids aren’t dumb. They’re just adults without all of those complicated outer layers.

About the Author: Johnny B. Truant is giving a free teleclass called Attract Clients, Lose the Stress, and Do What You Love tomorrow (November 12, 2009) with his marketing veteran mother. She knows Johnny’s inner child better than he does, because she lived with it for eighteen years.

Over the weekend I discovered a site called LinkWheel that got my attention. They offer a service that creates “link wheels” for you, which is basically the “hub & spoke method” you may have heard about before.

The concept is that you have a money site, and everything else you create is for the purpose of linking to and boosting the ranking of this money site. The money site being where you promote and sell something, the spokes or other sites being relevant content that funnels visitors into that site…

This model can be a lot of work in regards to creating and maintaining all of the content and properties, and getting the link structure right – to and from each property. Done wrong it can ultimately penalize your money site in the major search engines, but done right I’ve seen some marketers have great success with it.

Howie Schwartz came to mind as I was first browsing through the site, and interestingly he was mentioned right there on the main page.

LinkWheel uses more than 60 different Web 2.0 Properties across unique IPs in addition to article directories, pinging, RSS directories, unique YouTube videos, images, etc. They say that all of their work is done manually, not outsourced overseas, and that they are the only link wheel service using 100% unique content.

You own all of the properties they create for you, with full log-in access.

I’ve read through every page of the site, including the 6-page PDF they offer via opt-in, and everything looks to be in good order. They have one-time plans as low as $65, and monthly development & management plans starting at $165.

This post is an advertisement for LinkWheel, and I would like to take this opportunity to open the discussion on their service and on the concept of the hub & spoke model… I’d love to hear your thoughts & questons.

Best,

Netfirms, an accredited registrar and host, is leveraging the power of Twitter to make domain registration even easier for their clients. In their Netfirms Contest they are giving away new iPod Touches and a Macbook!

For a chance to win, you can do one of the following:

Tweet this:
“Win a #free iPod Touch or Macbook from the @Netfirms #contest. Domain registration services via Twitter http://bit.ly/yJfJK”

OR – Register a domain name via the Netfirms Twitter Domain Registration service for $7.99.

One retweet equals one entry per day. One domain registered equals one entry.

How Netfirms Twitter Domain Registration Works

You simply send a Direct Message to Netfirms through Twitter and ask them to register a domain name for you. If the domain name is available they will register it for you and automatically add it to your existing Netfirms Control Panel and bill to your current billing profile.

The only prerequisite is that you add your Twitter username to your Netfirms Control Panel. Please visit our tutorial with full details on setting yourself up for domain registration via Twitter. The instructions should be completed once only and you’re good to go after that.

It’s As Easy As 1-2-3:

1. Log in to your Twitter account (You can use any of the available Twitter apps)
2. Send a dm to @netfirms with the following: reg mynewdomain.com
3. We will confirm by replying to you via direct message at which point the domain will be added to your Netfirms Control Panel. The domain is now ready to be used.

- – – – – – – – – –

If you use Netfirms, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this new option. And if you don’t, does this option make you consider using their service? Either way, leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Best,

If you promote products as an affiliate, you’re going to love this post. I’m going to spill my secrets on how to write a product review that makes sales.

Product Reviews are responsible for the majority of my affiliate sales, and not just on the day that I write a product review. They get ranked in the major search engines and continue to make sales for years!

Here are some consumer survey stats* to whet your appetite:

• 83% of consumers say that product reviews influence their online purchasing decisions
• 70% of online shoppers actively seek out product reviews before they buy
• More than half of US online shoppers surveyed, read user reviews as part of their product research
• Nearly 9 of 10 US online buyers read reviews at least “some of the time” before making a purchase

Ready to learn how to write a product review that actually puts people in the buying mood? Great! Read on…

There are 7 elements that go into a great product review:

• Image/Video
• Product Description
• Buyer Description
• Proof
• Negatives
• Call-to-Action
• Keyword Phrase

Keep in mind that it’s the merchants job to sell the product. Your job as an affiliate is to pre-sell the product. A good product review will assist the visitor with their buying decision so that they buy the right product, and feel good about doing it.

You may choose to frame your product review around the visitors needs or wants, or you may choose to frame it specifically around the product you are reviewing. Either way, here is a description of each of the 7 elements you should include in your review complete with examples from some of my own reviews:

Product Image/Video

Always include an image and/or video of the product or service that you are reviewing. This helps your visitor visually connect your review with the product or need that they are researching, and draws them into your content.

You can take a photo of the product yourself, use an image from the merchant’s website, take a screenshot of the website, or use a picture of you using the product. Depending on the product, you might also include before & after pictures.

Video options include: screencasting for digital products: ordering/using/results, unboxing of physical products, or an explanation of the product (talking head video).

Product Description

Describe the product in detail: size, number of pages, features, ordering process, delivery/package details, benefits, expected results, your specific results.

People are wary of scams, and of the actual value of a product. They want to know exactly what they’ll get if they order this product today.

Include your personal thoughts and personal experience about the product or the decision to order the product. This helps your reader relate throughout the review, as they are now in the position that you were when you purchased that same product.

Example: TS2 is completely new. For those of you that have the original Traffic Secrets course on your bookshelf (here’s mine) – you’ll be getting a completely different course when you order TS2. It’s not just an updated or edited version, but contains brand new up-to-date marketing strategies and ideas. Traffic Secrets 2.0 Review

Buyer Description

Who is this product for? Who is this product NOT for? No one product is a fit for everyone (that’s why we have an entire wall of toothpaste to choose from at the store!) so don’t frame it that way. Be sure to describe the ideal buyer in a way that your reader can easily decide if this is the right product for them – or not.

The point of a product review is to make sure the right people buy the right product.

Example: If you are anxious to set up your first blog, but get frustrated with all the technical stuff… this course is for you. If you already have a blog and have no problem customizing it yourself, or learning the code on your own… this course is not for you. Beginning Blogger Review

Tip: If there are two similar products, you might include an alternate recommendation for people who need “xyz” instead…

Proof

There are two types of proof to include in your product review. Proof that you actually reviewed the product, and proof that the product works.

People are skeptical of product reviews and believe that product review sites are biased, and that reviews are based on payment or compensation. Your job is to prove that you have the product yourself, and have provided an unbiased review.

Proof can be achieved by using photos or video, by describing the product in more detail than can be found on the merchant’s website, mentioning unadvertised bonuses, and by addressing the negatives (see next section).

Example: I sat down tonight to submit my request for StomperNet’s special offer, and I decided to turn on the video camera and let you watch over my shoulder through the order process. StomperNet Review

People are also skeptical of results, so you should include proof on how the product works if possible. This can include images, video or details about your personal results with the product.

Example: It automatically loaded the project into the software so that I could archive it, review it or upload it to the web. Here’s an example of an illustration done with the Livescribe Smartpen… Livescribe Smartpen Review

Negatives

Pointing out any negatives with the product itself, or with the ordering process, will make your review objective – and will dramatically increase the ‘believability’ of your product review. If you don’t mention an obvious negative, it will increase skepticism.

Don’t be afraid to tell you readers the negatives! They are probably already thinking it, so this is your opportunity to address those thoughts and help them make an informed decision about making the purchase.

Example 1: The only real downside I’ve found to this gadget is that you have to upload your work to the Livescribe website in order to share it. The flash replay files are proprietary, meaning you cant upload them to other spaces on the web – such as YouTube or your own website.

I found a simple work-around as you can tell by the video above. Livescribe Smartpen Review

Example 2: At this point, the only negative thing I can say about this camera is that it doesnt have a flat bottom like the original (non-HD) RCA Small Wonder. No worries, I have a mini-tripod that I can use, but that does add a level of inconvenience. Isonic Snapbox Review

When addressing the negatives, immediately follow that up with the solution – or with the reason why the negative didn’t deter YOU from making the purchase.

Call-to-Action

Don’t forget this important element! Your call-to-action tells your reader exactly what they should do next, and it needs to be very specific directions with a smooth transition. For example:

• Ready? Click here for ordering instructions
• Get Free Shipping by ordering through Amazon.com
• Click here to download XYZ
• Click here to read more consumer reviews on Amazon
• Get the best deal on ABC by ordering online at XYZ website

Take a look at the landing page you’ll be sending visitors to from your product review, and frame your call-to-action in a way that encourages them to click through – and lets them know exactly what to expect when they do.

Keyword Phrase

As always, every piece of content that you create on the internet should be optimized for a specific keyword phrase – and reviews are no different. You may be optimizing your review for the actual product, or you may frame your review around a specific problem or need. Choose your keyword phrase so that you attract the ideal reader.

Examples:
- Starting a Home Business? Read this…
- Membernaire Review: Membership Site Help

It’s often easier to rank for the product name + review. For example, my Membernaire Review ranks #2 in Google for “membernaire review”. Simply use the product name and add “Review” at the end.

I also (still) rank #1 on Google for “opportunity.com review” and “traffic secrets 2.0 review”. This is a great way to continue to make sales on a product, long after the initial buzz or launch phase is over – particularly in the Internet Marketing niche.

Bonus Tip #1 If you share a lot of product reviews on your site or blog, make it a point to talk about what NOT to buy. Don’t be afraid to write negative reviews now and then. It’s important to prove that you are real, and that you can be objective. Your readers will appreciate you for it, and trust your opinion more.

Bonus Tip #2 Need more details for your product review? Go to Yahoo! Answers, or any forum or discussion site/area, and post a query for feedback on your product. This is especially helpful with physical products, such as a certain gas grill or home appliance. At the end of your query include a note that you may use responses anonymously in an upcoming report on the product, and that you’ll come back and share the link to that report when it is available.

Learning how to write a product review that engages readers and makes sales is a skill that will improve over time. Take this checklist and write a product review for your site or blog today!

Best,

p.s. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. You can also join us on my Internet Marketing Forum for questions about affiliate marketing, internet marketing, or setting up your blog or website.

* stats originally provided by Web Pro News, shared with me by Susanne of http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com

I just returned from yet another weekend with the crazy but brilliant Nicole Dean. I have had the pleasure of her company 3 times now this summer, in addition to communicating online.

It didn’t take me long at all to realize how brilliant she truly is, and to start picking up on some of her smart marketing strategies. It’s not just the things she says, but the examples you see through everything that she does online.

I’m going to tell you about the report you see over to the right in a second (no worries – it’s free), but first I want to set this up so you get where I’m going with all of this. You’ve probably figured out by now that Nicole Dean is my friend, but there’s more to it than that.

After getting to know Nicole a bit, a few lightbulbs started going off. I noticed that her strength is in her strategy, and specifically in the details from start to finish in any of her projects.

Small details. Things most of us should know, but usually overlook. Or details we are just too lazy to implement (guilty!). Or things we put off when we’re in a rush because we’re too focused on the release or launch…

I’m talking about details that take all of 5 minutes – and then pay you for a lifetime.

You already know I’m a huge fan of Passive Income. Of working once to get paid over and over again. I have been steadily growing my passive income streams over the last 5 years, and absolutely love the freedom I have achieved as a result.

But even though I have succeeded at that, and have more than 12 years of marketing experience under my belt, I am still constantly learning and analyzing – and looking for new ways to increase my income or streamline my business.

And lately I’ve been learning some new tricks from Nicole Dean.

At first I was just reading some of her stuff – blog posts, reports, tweets. Or just picking up tips & resources here and there over conversation while we were hanging out. But something she did or said got my attention (I wish I could remember what!) and I started looking more closely, reading between the lines if you will, and paying attention to how she was doing things.

There’s a lot to be learned from working examples. Sometimes even more so than the marketer or merchant will freely share. Not the case with Nicole though – if you’ve ever had opportunity to talk to her, you know that she is very free with her knowledge.

Anyway, it’s one thing to read a blog post or a report and agree with it – thinking yup I knew that, great tip, etc in the back of your mind. It’s quite another to stop where you are, and take action on it.

That’s exactly what I did.

I read along, nodding my head, and then I had that A-HA! moment and I stopped and implemented something she’d suggested. And you know what? It resulted in more than $1,400 additional profit in just over a week.

It was just a couple of those simple little details. Nothing new. Nothing you haven’t heard before, if not a hundred times before. I just stopped thinking “wow, that was smart” and actually got smart myself – and took action on it.

Action.

What is it Jeff Herring always says? GUTS: Go Use This Stuff!!

Nicole and I are actually very much alike in how we market, how we run our online business, and how we earn our income. It’s no wonder we became fast friends. The cool thing though, is that our strengths lie in different areas. There’s nothing mind-blowing or exceptionally brilliant about anything that we do – other than the fact that we actually do it.

So that’s my tip for today. Pick something brilliantly simple – and do it.

Figure out ONE thing you can implement today that will pay you for months, and even years to come.

- The Cool Freebie -

I promised to tell you about the free report. One of the hot topics between Nicole and I is re-purposing. We got on a roll talking about different ways we use PLR (content with private label rights) one night while we were hanging out in Atlanta, and she mentioned that she had a free report on the topic.

She sent me a copy of that report so that I could share it with you. You can download it from this link: PLR Secrets

I encourage you to pick ONE thing out of the report, and implement it today. You don’t even have to read the whole report in one sitting – I usually stop and implement, and then go back to finish a report. ACTION is where the profit is.

Best,

p.s. Nicole Dean has a PLR site called EasyPLR. If you use that link, which is my referral link, then you’ll be able to use this coupon code to save $5 on any PLR order of $25 or more: “LYNNROCKS” is the coupon code. (Heh – I like that one!)

You won’t just find great articles there, you’ll also find reports & e-courses

If you do download Nicole’s PLR, and you like what you see, you can also sign up for her referral program to recommend it yourself.

But first, read the report!