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How to Make Money Without Selling Out

December 16, 2009 By 5 Comments

photo of origami from on a bed of coinsIn web marketing, you either monetize or you don’t.

It’s dramatic when you consider the extremes between the two camps:

  • Some one-trick ponies monetizers are simply after your money and will stop at nothing to sell you out for their personal gain. They offer zero value, have no dignity and are largely anonymous.
  • The “purists” of the web can’t cross the line from free expression to market value. Instead of making money, they complain about those who do while obsessing over words like ”genuine”, “authentic” and “transparent.” [Confession: this was once me.]

So, dear reader, how do you make money without selling out? Here are 5 ideas to get you started: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business and Marketing, Mindset and Productivity Tagged With: , , , , ,

This Season, Give the Gift of Clarity

December 4, 2009 By 2 Comments

photo of diamond to represent ultimatenclarityAs we wind down what’s been a revolutionary year on the web, it’s time give thanks to all your supporters—your readers, social network friends and followers, your family and yes—even yourself.

And what not a better gift to give this year* than the gift of clarity. Everyone is sure to love and appreciate it for years to come, and best of all—it won’t cost you a penny.

Clarity is the single most important benefit and feature you can offer as a content marketer. It should begin with your intent and purpose, then with your strategy and then as part of your [Read more...]

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , ,

A Quick Guide to Sex, Love and Profit on the Web

December 3, 2009 By 1 Comment

sexy_coupleIf you’re looking to build a business on the web, then it’s time to put your efforts into context.

Do this: think of publishing (or content) as love, marketing as sex, and your work to profit from them as marriage.

By themselves, sex and love are very powerful, but they have their limitations: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

10 Brilliant Uses for Your Blog Other Than Making Money

November 25, 2009 By 10 Comments

cool birthday cake with 10 candlesSick of hopelessly blogging for dollars? Instead of taking the easy way and giving up, consider using your blog to:

  1. Make you famous, or at least position you as a bona fide expert in your field. Ideas can carry much more currency than dollars, especially when people trust you.
  2. Expand your brand. Sounds cliché, but it’s true. Look at Shoemoney: he blogs everyday without a hint of sales pitch. Yet, his brand is strong. In fact, if it wasn’t for his blog, Shoemoney wouldn’t have a brand at all. Money in the bank—yes—but no brand. Huge difference.
  3. Exercise your 1st amendment rights. Free speech is ever so precious. So why not trade in some of your inner capitalist for some outer expressionist? Stop worrying about the market and start speaking your mind to the world. It feels grrrrrreat, by the way. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , , ,

How to Stop Hating Mondays

November 23, 2009 By 3 Comments

photo of bored office worker in a cublie; presumably it's MondayIt’s Monday morning. You’ve coasted through another beautiful, short-lived weekend. Now you’re back at the office—slow, cranky and out of focus. Sound familiar?

Don’t let it be this way. Mondays are not the enemy. They’re just as precious as Tuesday through Sunday, but need some special attention.

Anatomy of a Weekend

Weekends are by tradition everything your working life is not: adventure, leisure, home improvement and time with the family. They are meant to give you a well-deserved break from your career so you’re “recharged” and ready to go come Monday. Hardly the case, right?

What usually happens is you get so enraptured in the free time fun that you lose your mojo, so by the time Monday rolls around, you have to spend the rest of the work week trying to get it back. A classic case of [Read more...]

Filed Under: Mindset and Productivity Tagged With: , ,
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