Some of them you can get what you need before the trial is up, but I’m guessing most of them you’ll want to invest in when you see how they make your life easier and empower you to make money.

1. Market Samurai

Market Samurai is our favorite keyword research tool. It makes it super easy to discover topic ideas for a new business and quickly test the profit potential of each. A number of our coaching students have been using it to pick a profitable  niche and choose a business name with lots of oomph in the search engines.

They also have an excellent series of video tutorials that walks you through the whole process. You can find them under the support tab. Having this tool at your fingertips makes it fun an easy to “pan for gold” online.

2. Roboform

Roboform is a simple and powerful password management software for PC (Mac users check out 1Password). I’ve used this software now for over a decade. It’s crazy to think about all the time this program has saved me. These days we all have dozens of log ins and passwords to keep track of. The usual way that people manage it all is to use the same simple password for everything.

But that is dangerous and a surefire way to getting your accounts hacked! At that point it’s a matter of when not if.

The best practice is to have a unique password of 14 or more characters that uses upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols. Roboform can generate these random passwords for you and track them so you don’t have to. Then you only have to remember one master password on your computer to access your Roboform database of log ins. You can even sync it across computers and mobile devices. I use it on my iPad as well.

Give the free trial a go to see how easy it is. It won’t take long to realize the peace of mind and time savings it brings — and time is money.

3. Aweber

Here’s where we get into trial software that can really make you money. The money making power of any online business is in the relationship you have with a list of targeted prospects and customers. The life-blood of your business is your ability to communicate with and manage that list.

With the right list and management software, you have the power to write your own checks. Last month we wrote four e-mails sent out over one week that brought it $16,000. We spent all of a couple hours on it. But that wouldn’t have been possible without Aweber.

The trial is actually $1, but that’s really as good as free. Whenever we are asked to look at someone’s site or business to give them feedback, the first thing we look at is whether or not they are building an e-mail list. If they aren’t, we point them right away to Aweber. Give Aweber a try to see how easy and powerful it is.

4. GoToWebinar

We use GoToWebinar every week to hold training calls with our coaching students. It’s a webinar service that includes conference calling (through phone or computer headset), screen sharing (so you can show slides or demonstrate things on your computer for everyone to see) and have a simple system for the attendees to send in questions.

You get a 30-day trial when you sign up, so here’s a powerful way to leverage that into money.

1. Survey your following to find out what the biggest problem is that they are facing
2. Sign up for the GoToWebinar trial
3. Schedule four weekly calls to coach students through the solution to the problem
4. Sell spots in the coaching group using Paypal
5. Make money before the free trial is even up
6. Use the recording feature in GoToWebinar to record the training to put into a product that you can continue selling online

5. Camtasia

If you’ve ever seen a video on our site or in the Academy, chances are we made it using Camtasia. It’s a slick software that let’s you record a video of what’s on your computer screen. We use it all the time to record PowerPoint slides that we use in our marketing and courses. If you don’t have PowerPoint you can always use the free Google Docs version.

You can download and try Camtasia out free for 30 days. Here’s how you can turn that into money.

1. Download the Camtasia trial
2. Survey your following to find out the biggest problem they face
3. Create a 5-10 video series that steps through answers to their questions and presents a solution to the problem
4. Sell those videos using Paypal

What else?

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

What if you could literally learn twice as fast?

Good news. You can! And here’s how.

With the help of three simple resources, you can consume audio and video at twice the speed. Now, you might be thinking that there’s no way you can listen to something that fast. I assure you. Give it a try. You’ll be surprised. You don’t jump straight to double speed. Start with 1.5 or even 1.3. Then work your way up. Before you know, you’ll be asking people to talk faster!

Here are the three resources you should grab right now.

1. My Speed

This software runs in the background on your computer and gives you a slider to speed up and videos playing in your browser. I use it ALL THE TIME. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

2. QuickTime and Windows Media Player

Good ‘ol Quicktime has playback speed that you probably never noticed. Under the Window menu you’ll find Show A/V Controls. That brings up a new window with a Playback Speed slider. You can also do this in Windows Media Player.

• Click the arrow below the Now Playing tab, point to Enhancements, and then click Play Speed Settings.
• Move the Play Speed slider to the speed at which you want to play the content, or click the Slow, Normal, or Fast link.
• To select speeds between the labeled play speeds, in the Enhancements pane, clear the Snap slider to common speeds check box.

3. Smartphone Tricks

When playing podcasts (like ours) on your iPhone, there is a button to select 1x, 0.5x or 2x. For non-podcast audio, you can use an app like Speed Up Player Pro. If you are using a different smartphone, check your app store and you are likely to find something.

What other tips and tricks have you found for accelerated and efficient learning? Share your ideas on the comments below.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

…NOTHING! And your heart sinks to the pit of your stomach.

Maybe you’ve been hacked. Maybe the server had a meltdown. Maybe a team member made one horrible mistake.

Such occurrences may happen rarely, but it only takes once  to wreak havok on your entire business.

By the time you get things back to normal (that is if you can get things back to how they were), you’ve lost hours of valuable time, paid hundreds to a freelancer to fix the damage and rained a gallon of sweat from the stress. And most people usually can’t get all their files back. They loose what amounts to hours of work creating content and endless audience comments overnight!

And that’s not to mention the potential of a personal computer meltdown.

But these kinds of things don’t need to ruin our day. With a little preparation, you can bounce back from the loss of data in a matter of minutes without even batting an eyelash. All you need are these two simple tools.

1. Backup Your Entire WordPress Site with Backup Buddy

There are a number of backup plug-ins out there for WordPress, but most of them only back up the database. While this would save all your content, it would still take a long time to piece together your theme, installed plug-ins and configurations.

BackupBuddy is the one plug-in that we’ve found that does a complete backup of your entire site, configuration, widgets, theme and database.

There is small cost, but it’s nothing compared to the insurance and peace of mind that it gives you.

You can automatically have your back up sent to you by e-mail or saved to and S3 account.

2. Personal Computer Backup with Mozy

We’ve all experienced or know someone that has experienced the panic that comes when you you’ve lost a critical file (or even an entire hard drive).

The answer is simple, but most of us fail to use it. Here are the tricks to a simple backup solution.

1. Set up an automated system that takes care of it without another thought about it from you
2. Use a system that only backs up files that are new or that have changed since the last backup
3. Set it to back up at night when you are not using your computer

There are numerous solutions for doing this, each with there own advantages. Here’s the one that we recommend.

Do It Now. Rest Easy Later.

Automated back up systems are cheap insurance. We all know we should do it. Now is the time, before tragedy hits and ruins hours of work and resources in a matter of seconds. Take thirty minutes and make sure your protected now.

• Backup Buddy
• Computer backup

What other systems do you use to protect and insure your data? Share your tips and questions in the comments below.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

Where else can you turn to fuel your drive for success?

Below are the top 5 internet marketing podcasts I’m listening to right now (and that I suggest you give a try as well), including a couple that you won’t see on any other list like this.

NOTE: If you’re new to this site or haven’t done so already, we recommend going to iTunes now to subscribe to the Internet Business Mastery podcast in order to get new episodes automatically delivered to you. It’s been the #1 internet marketing podcast since 2005.

1. Smart Passive Income

Pat Flynn is a long-time Internet Business Mastery listener and Academy member whose success has skyrocketed over the last three. He started out making money in the LEED architecture niche. Now his Smart Passive Income blog has become incredibly popular along with the accompanying podcast.

Pat provides down-to-earth advice for anyone who would like to build up a variety of income streams. The content draws from his own experience, so you know you’re getting the real goods from someone that walks the walk.

Smart Passive Income Podcast

2. Foolish Adventure

Don’t let the name fool you. This podcast offers solid advice across the board for starting and running a successful internet business.

As an Internet Business Mastery listener, you’ll feel right at home with Foolish Adventure. It’s hosted by two guys with an excellent rapport that are easy to listen to. They also have a strong emphasis on building a business that fulfills you.

Foolish Adventure Podcast

3. Automate My Small Business

As you can already tell, the emphasis of this show is on outsourcing and automation in order to build a successful business that doesn’t take over your life. While this is something we talk about a lot as well, this show focuses on it even more.

What I like most about Automate Your Small Business is that the two hosts have different backgrounds than me and Sterling, offering a fresh perspective on important internet marketing topics.

Automate My Small Business

4. Game Theory

OK. So the first three on my list were obvious fits for a top internet marketing podcasts list. But this one branches into new territory. iTunesU has amazing content provided by world class educational institutions, readily available for you to download and enjoy.

One of my favorite recent discoveries is a series from Yale University about game theory. Game Theory is all about how to make strategic decisions, especially when the outcome depends not only on your own actions, but also on the actions of others (like your competitors or partners).

This isn’t exactly a podcast, but you can consume it in much the same way. I came across this juicy content while poking around iTunes U. It’s available in both audio and video. I prefer the video, though I mostly just listen to the audio on the go, because now and again it helps to look at what he is writing on the chalk board.

The professor’s English accent and British wit make the class enjoyable to follow. The material can get a little heavy at times, but he also uses a lot of fun examples (e.g. military battles, soccer matches) to keep the concepts interesting.

Game Theory Video | Game Theory Audio

5. The Moth

This one might seem like it came from far out in left field. The Moth is a live storytelling event. The performers tell personal stories, without notes or scripting. It’s one of the most popular podcasts on all of iTunes.

So why would I include it in this list?

Well, besides being entertaining, it’s a great study in how to craft an interesting story. Storytelling is one of your most powerful tools as a marketer and content creator. Knowing how to tell a good story will significantly boost your ability to attract attention and influence people.

When I was studying jazz, my instructors had me listen to great soloists to learn how to improv. Storytellers can learn a lot by listening to great  storytellers.

The Moth

More Internet Marketing Podcasts

What other podcasts and content do you listen to on a regular basis to help you as an internet marketer? Share your recommendations in the comments below.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

Step 6:  Change your Admin User

“Admin” is the default user that is assigned when installing WordPress.  To change it you must use phpMyAdmin and then update your config.php file.

Step 7: Use a Strong Password

You’ve heard it before, but it must still be said.  Use a strong password, that includes letters, numbers, and even punctuation where appropriate.

Step 8: Choose a supported theme

There are a lot of WordPress themes available that are free, but before you use it make sure you can get help if you need it.  This also is an indicator that the theme will be updated and not become a problem when upgrading to the latest version of WordPress.

Step 9:  Choose Plug-in’s wisely, the fewer the better

WordPress plug-in’s are available by the truckload, but that doesn’t mean you need to use all of them.  The fewer you use, the better.  Plug-ins tend to be more vulnerable to hackers than your WordPress software, so hackers go there to infiltrate and take you down.

Step 10:  Hide your Plugin directory

Anyone can see a list of your plug-ins by going to http://mydomain.com/wp-content/plugin. To hide this folder, just open your text editor, create a blank index.html page, and upload it via FTP into the wp-content/plugin folder.

Step 11: Setup your Backup!

There are two things you need to backup, your database (all your posts and pages) and your design (your theme, layout, etc).

How often you backup is determined by how much you are willing to use. We recommend that you set your auto-backup for as often as you post.  So if you post weekly, backup weekly, etc.

You should also run an “on-demand” database backup prior to upgrading software (both WP and plugins), just in case something breaks.

In addition, plan on using your FTP to download your site periodically – especially before and after you make significant changes to your site structure, theme, etc (this kind of backup does not include your database).

Ask your host how often they backup as well, there have been times that we have been able to go directly to the host and have them restore the entire site from a specific date.  Some guarantee their backup, others do not, so go find out!

If your site is hacked, and you have a recent backup, you can have your site up and running in no-time.

Step 12: Protect Your Files and Folders

Setting proper file and folder permissions can make a big difference.  You may not realize this, but if a file or folder is writable, then it is also considered insecure.  Your host will have its own level of security, so you may want to consult with them.  In general, we use the following file permissions

-          Directories permissions of 755

-          All files should have permissions of 644

-          Theme files 666 (if you want to use the built-in editor).

Occasionally a plug-in will require something else to function.  You can review that on a case by case level.

The simplest way to change these permission is to use your FTP client, like Filezilla.

Step 13: Change to “No Indexes”

Most people don’t realize this, but anyone interested can browse your directory and see all the files and folders you have, unless you change your index manager to “No Indexes.”  If you don’t see it, then contact your Host support.

You can also make changes to your .htaccess file.  This is a sensitive file, so make sure you download it completely off your site, make a copy, and then make the changes.

For more information on directory browsing and how to change your .htaccessfile, go read this article at “The Internet Patrol”.

http://www.dialme.com/m/articles/view/How-to-turn-off-directory-folder-browsing.

Step 14:  Keep Your Software Current!

If you don’t upgrade your site to the most recent version, it is vulnerable.  It really is that simple.  If you can only do one thing to protect your site, upgrading your WordPress and WordPress plug-in software should be it.

Some web developers are concerned about upgrading to a new version without testing it with the current sites functionality.  This is a valid concern, but it shouldn’t keep you from waiting too long to upgrade.  We have had very few problems doing immediate updates, but it is not impossible.

However, if you have a very sophisticated site, then I definitely recommend setting up a test site.  Upload your current site into a test site, and simulate the version updates to ensure everything is going to work smoothly.

If you have a good Virtual Assistant, or Virtual Programmer, they can do the testing for you.  Incremental testing is the best approach.  That means you update one thing at a time so if something breaks you can tell what triggered it.

Regardless of whether you do a live update, or test the software first, you should do a complete backup.  This will give you peace of mind and save you from potential headaches that could come up.

Summary

Although, following these steps does not guarantee that your site will never be hacked, if you follow them it will strengthen your WordPress site security and reduce the risks.

Since applying these steps to our WordPress sites at the end of 2009, we haven’t had to repair any sites due to malicious attacks.

Some of the Resources Reviewed for this

http://www.noupe.com/how-tos/wordpress-security-tips-and-hacks.html

http://www.problogdesign.com/wordpress/11-best-ways-to-improve-wordpress-security/

http://blogbuildingu.com/wordpress/wordpress-security

http://how-to-blog.tv/security/wp-malwatch/

http://semlabs.co.uk/journal/how-to-stop-your-wordpress-blog-getting-hacked

————

AJ Yates is a Virtual Assistant providing creative business and web solutions for individuals and small businesses.  Fully grounded in traditional and online business needs, AJ helps her clients extend their office resources and get things done so they can focus on what they do best.  For more information on AJ and her Virtual Office Team visit VirtualOfficeAce.com

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

That being said, malicious hackers still break through and infect sites mostly because some simple security measures are not followed.

In order to protect our sites and the sites of our clients, we developed this 14 Step checklist to creating a hacker resistant WordPress site.

NOTE: Although most hosting companies offer automatic WordPress installation, we prefer a manual installation of WordPress, as it gives us more control over the setup.  For those of you who use an installations script provided by your hosting company, you may not be able to apply all of these steps.

Step 1:  Install the latest version of WordPress into a subdirectory, instead of your root.

Giving your WordPress its own directory will not only keep the clutter out of your root directory, if someone does hack into your site, your root directory is protected.

You can find instructions for a manual installation at http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

Some hackers target WordPress sites specifically, when installing WordPress, consider changing the default table prefix from wp_ as an advanced strategy for protecting your site.  If you use the Wp-Security-Scan plugin we mention later, it will also suggest this when evaluating your site for security holes.

Step 2: Change Your Index.php location

Changing your index.php location allows your blog to remain in the root directory, and creates a cleaner url.

Sign in to your wordpress site, and go to Settings, then General and change your “Blog address (URL) to the root url.  For example:  www.mywebsite.com.

Open your FTP client and copy the index.php file to from the subdirectory (where you installed WordPress), into the root directory.

Edit your index.php file to add in the WordPress subdirectory.  For example:

/** Loads the WordPress Environment and Template */
require(‘./subdirectoryname/wp-blog-header.php’);

If you have questions about this, there is link right next to this field that will give you all the details you need to do this right.

Step 3:  Protect Your wp-includes folder

This step is simple, just copy your .htaccess file in to the wp-includes folder.  You may need to set your FTP client to view hidden files in order to see this file.

Step 4:  Protect your wp-admin folder

Upload your .htaccess file into the wp-admin folder

Upload .htpasswd into the root directory

Go to http://www.htaccesstools.com/htpassword-generator/ to create a password.

Edit the .htaccess file to have the proper path to your .htpasswd file.

Step 5:  Upload and activate security plug-ins

Currently, we use the following security plug-ins to protect our site.

Login-Lockdown: this plugin helps prevent “brute-force password discovery” by disabling the login function if a certain number of login attempts and failures are detected from a given IP address.

WP-Db-Backup:  this plugin will backup your core wordpress database and other tables (usually created by the plugins you are using).  You can schedule your backup or issue an “on-demand” backup when needed.

WP-Security-Scan: this plugin will scan your wordpress site for security vulnerabilities (most of which should be fixed by following the steps we have posted here.

Wp-MalWatch:  This plugin scans your site every night for signs of foul-play and will alert you where to go look if it finds a problem.

We are also evaluating WordPress Backup by Blog Traffic Exchange, as it will backup the upload directory, the plugin directory, and the current theme directory.  It is important to note that the database backup plugin we listed only backups databases, and that backing up the theme and images, etc should not be overlooked (see step 11 for more)

In the next post, I’ll go over step 6-14, you can see that post HERE.

————

AJ Yates is a Virtual Assistant providing creative business and web solutions for individuals and small businesses.  Fully grounded in traditional and online business needs, AJ helps her clients extend their office resources and get things done so they can focus on what they do best.  For more information on AJ and her Virtual Office Team visit VirtualOfficeAce.com

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

To left is a screenshot of my start menu showing the applications that I launch most. Below I offer an explanation and examples of how I use each to give you an idea of what they can also do for you.

Mozilla Firefox

My preferred browser. Perhaps in another post I’ll talk about some of the plug-ins and tweaks that I like using.

Notepad

I’m a big fan of plain text files for quick lists and notes. Lately I use it as a weekly task list of the most important things I want to get done that week.

At the beginning of the week I dump my brain into a text file, pull the most urgent tasks from our project management system and look in my e-mail inbox to create a list of the most important tasks for the week. Then I use the text file to order things by priority.

From there everything gets plugged into my Google Calendar in specific time blocks so that my entire week is planned out in advance. Granted, things will change through the week somewhat, but I like to start Monday with a plan to get the most important things done. It has made me a lot more productive.

SmartFTP

This is a great app for transferring files to your site. I use it most for transferring the raw WAV file recordings of our content to server where our editor grabs.

The moment we are done recording, I open the FTP program and upload the files. That’s the last I deal with them until they are published to the site.

Calculator

At least once a day I pop this app up fast by hitting the Window Key and typing “calc” + Enter. It’s my way of doing quick calculations to estimate profits, payments or any other such quick number crunching.

I also use it to add up how I used my time at the end of the week. I have a number of categories I track to make sure I use my time most effectively. For anything more involved I use Excel.

Mindjet Mindmanager

Any content from Internet Business Mastery starts out as an outline in a mind map. It’s long been our preferred way to outline, plan, brainstorm, etc.

Though it’s not cheap, Mindjet is a powerful mind mapping software. One of the things we like about it most is there collaborative mind mapping workspace, Mindjet Catalyst. Other uses we have for it include:

• Agendas for meetings
• Weekly strategy meeting
• Brainstorming new products
• Creating launch timelines
• Checklists for projects
• “Getting Things Done” system management
• Capturing ideas for future content

Freemind is a free alternative for Mac or PC.

Skype

We use Skype to chat with each other every day as we’re working. The transcript of my chat history with Sterling goes back to before Internet Business Mastery was born and must be miles and miles long by now if printed.

We also use it to call each other for our strategy meetings and to hear each other while we record the show (though we each record our part of the conversation on our own computer for best audio quality).

In addition we use it along with Pamela to record interviews.

Google Talk

We have a few business colleagues that I chat with through Google Chat. I also use it regularly to chat with family members. When possible, I prefer to use Skype.

iTunes

I use this to see how our show is ranking, to download podcasts to listen to and sync my iPhone. I don’t really use it much as a media player, though.

It’s also the tool that our editor uses to add tags (e.g. name, track #, album, artist, etc.) to our show MP3 files before we publish them.

You can also use it for converting big audio files into smaller MP3s.

Zune

I listen to a lot of music during the day. Zune is my preferred media player for music. I have a subscription their monthly service that lets me listen to just about anything I want, plus I get to download and keep ten tracks a month.

If iTunes had a monthly subscription service, I would switch to that instead since I use an iPhone to listen on the go.

Camtasia Recorder

Most of the videos that you see on our site or in the Academy (such as this one) are recorded using Camtasia. It makes it super easy to capture a video from your computer screen or from a slide presentation. Our editors also use it to edit and render the videos for publishing.

You can use their free Jing service for shorter presentations. We also use Camtasia Recorder and Jing to create videos explaining tasks to our team. It makes working with remote/virtual employees a lot easier.

Safari

I use Safari now and again to make sure our web sites display correctly for Safari users.

Sound Forge

This is my audio recording software of choice. I teach people how to use Audacity because it is easy, free and work for both PC and Mac. But Sound Forge is something I have used for years, going back to my days as a recording musician.

It offers a number of effects and a streamlined interface that works well for recording any audio for our show or course content. After I record my audio I normalize and compress it using Sound Forge to give it a little nicer sound. Then I upload it for the editor.

Camtasia Studio

This is the side of Camtasia that does the video editing. It can also convert the video to a number of handy formats. Even though most of our editing is done by others, I still use it now again to produce videos for our team members or a quick video for a coaching client.

Microsoft Excel

I’m a spreadsheet junky. It helps me plan an predict my life and business. I’ll use it for things like…

• Financial forecasts
• Profit projections
• Expense estimations
• Timeline planning
• Monthly budgets
• Trip planning

…and anything else I can think of. I just love how easy it is to change different variables and quickly see how it affects the larger picture.

Microsoft Powerpoint

Our videos usually progress from a mind map outline to a slide deck in Powerpoint that we then record as a screencast using Camtasia. I also use it to create presentations for when I speak live.

In addition, it’s an easy way to create a bit of quick ‘n dirty motion graphics for a video by using the animation features.

What About You?

There you have it. Those are my most commonly used applications. Most of them I use on a daily basis.

What appliciations do you use on a daily basis to run your business? Include your tips, insights and questions in the comments below.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

Go here now to watch the video.

The video also shows how you can get three months of the Academy for only a dollar.

With the help of this secret weapon, the Academy started
making five-figures PER month from the very first week we opened
the doors.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

Sterling and I *don’t* just read a lot of books, we highlight and discuss them, then make mind maps about how to use the information. We thought it would be fun to experience and share this process with the whole community each month by choosing a book to focus on. We’re still working out the details of what to do with it, but here are the ideas that we have so far…

1. Recommend a book on the site and podcast
2. Have a giveaway each month where one or more people will win a copy of the book
3. Discuss the book on the blog or in the upcoming member forums (launching in the near future)
4. Find out what the you think about the book, what you liked most and how you plan to implement what you have read
5. Share with the community what we liked most about the book
6. Share with our private members (again, coming in the near future) a recording of Sterling and I discussing the book (something we often do anyway on the phone) as well as a mind map of our favorite takeaways and how we plan to implement the information in our own businesses

We’d love to hear what you’d like to get from this “book of the month” feature in the comments. So, that brings us to the inaugural Book of the Month.

No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy

If you’ve listened to the podcast for awhile then it’s no secret that Dan Kennedy is a valued mentor to both me and Sterling. He has significantly impacted the way we think, helping us to be smarter business owners, make more money and design our ideal lifestyle. It’s been said that Dan Kennedy is a millionaire maker.

Our pick for this month is Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs.

Read this book and in just a few months make more money than you have in years. Sound unbelievable? That’s Dan Kennedy’s specialty. Dan “Millionaire Maker” Kennedy has helped many thousands of entrepreneurs create “the wealth surge experience.”

This book is filled with Dan’s personal experience in building wealth for himself as well as helping thousands to do the same. We don’t want to oversell it, so we’ll just leave it at that.

We’ll be giving away copies of the book on this month’s podcast episodes. You can also look forward to the opportunity to get special content based on this book.

Buy the book here: No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs (No B.S.)

Discuss

So, if you’ve already read the book (or once you’ve read it) let’s hear it! What did you like best? What didn’t you like? What is one way you will implement the the information in your own life and business?

Please also leave a comment if you have an idea in general about what you’d like to see happen with the Book of the Month feature.

Thank you for subscribing to Internet Business Mastery feed. For instant access to your free audio gift and a risk-free trial of our proven step-by-step program for starting your own profitable internet business, please visit http://www.freeaudiogift.com.

To get our list of Mind Map solutions please go to:

http://www.internet-based-business-mastery.com/mindmaps/

What are your favorite ways to use a mind map? Do you use it for business development? Do you use it to flush out your personal goals? Lets see what all the different ways of using mind maps are so we can add them to our world!

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You can also download a higher resolution version here.

Now we’d love to hear from you. How do you implement your GTD system? What tools do you use?

Items mentioned in this video:

• Freemind
• Mindjet MindManager
• Mindmeister
• Mindomo

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That is, until several weeks ago when that magazine subscription I bought to help my daughters grade school earn money for this or that, finally paid off. I got a subscription to Entertainment Weekly, simply as a guilty pleasure, and there it was in all it’s glory! An article saying that Donald Trump was about to put on the Celebrity Apprentice and it was going to star Rock and Roller, Gene Simmons. This excited me for several reasons…

No, I’m not a KISS fan. Never like the music, but I do enjoy listening to Gene Simmons.

I mentioned before that I have really benefited from listening to the audio for Sex, Money, Kiss book, because of Gene’s insights into marketing and self promotion. I had just listened to his book the week before I saw the news.

The week before I listened to Gene, I had listened to Donald Trumps latest book, Think Big and Kick Ass. I listened to it 3 times in a row, actually, I really wanted to absorb the “Think Big” message.

The idea of seeing Gene go head to head with the Donald sounded entertaining to say the least.

Episode one was awesome, Gene was in charge from the very beginning. When the celebrity teams where supposed to sell hot dogs in New York, and the other guys on the team started trying to think of ways to sell hot dogs for 10-100 bucks, Gene just got on the phone and started calling his contacts telling them to bring ten GRAND down to the hot dog stand. His team killed in the end, because of Gene’s big thinking.

Episode two was more of Gene taking control and ended the same, in triumph. It was enjoyable to watch and actually made me walk away thinking, where am I not acting certain and in charge? Loved it.

Episode three… That is where the producers of the show as well as Donald Trump just wanted to slap Gene and say, “come on man, we want you on here as long as possible, you’re a entertaining asset to this season!” The Donald so desperately didn’t want to utter his famous catchphrase he nearly told Gene who to take into the boardroom with him so he wouldn’t have to can him!

I’m pissed at Gene Simmons. His actions robbed me of 10+ more episodes watching the extreme thinking of the “Benevolent Dictator”!

Did you see the show? What do you think Gene was thinking?

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So what’s the catch? It’s version 3.1.3. The current version is 5. But version 3 is nothing to sneeze at. So how do you get it?

1. Download the software from the Techsmith site here
2. Go here to register and get a software key

Of course, Techsmith is hoping you’ll get hooked on the previous version and upgrade to the latest one. That’s where the good news gets even better. Once you’ve a registered copy of Camtasia 3.1.3 you can upgrade to version 5 at the discounted price of $149 rather than the usual $299.

Thanks go to Paul Colligan for pointing this deal out to me.

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When I launched my first information product site I needed a hosting service (or services) that would provide me with:

• The ability to host multiple sites on one hosting account
• A shopping cart to interface with my merchant account
• Email list management
• Auto responders
• Affiliate sales management
• Excellent support

After days of researching and asking for referrals, I settled on using Third Sphere Hosting. They had all the features I was looking for, a very “internet marketing”-centric platform and endorsements from good sources. I was happy with their service for a few years, but since the beginning of this year, things have gone seriously downhill.

The biggest problem is that they don’t have phone support. They have a ticketed support system where you log in, leave your question and they get back to you within 24 hours (supposedly). The ticketed support worked for a long time, but as of a few months ago I never get a response.

Lesson #1: Never manage part of your internet business with a service that doesn’t let you pick up the phone and get quality support right away.

Two days before PodCamp NYC we couldn’t send critical information out to our list, because Third Sphere wasn’t working. I couldn’t get anyone to reply to me. Just this morning I sent and email out to my podcasting list. Thousands of people got nothing but a string of garbled letters from me in their inbox. Why? I don’t know. And I can’t get anyone from ThirdSphere to reply.

Lesson #2: Something will go wrong eventually and it will happen at the most inopportune time. Count on it. Be prepared. This is another reason why phone support is so important.

One of the reasons I signed up for Third Sphere in the beginning was that they had very reasonable prices and lots of features. Compared to the other leading services Third Sphere would save me about 50%. Now, I’m not just a “go with the lowest bidder” kind of guy, but such a good deal with good endorsements led me to jump and sign up.

Lesson #3: Be willing to spend the money necessary to set things up right.

So why have I hesitated to switch services? Why have I given them the benefit of the doubt? One of main reasons is that I don’t want to transfer my email lists over to another service. Any worthwhile email management service is very careful about letting people import lists from other sources. This is to prevent abuse of their system by spammers. It’s also for the sake of their other customers. The more abuse that occurs on a service, the more internet service and email providers will block any email from that service.

I know that in importing my list to another service I’ll probably have to send out an email to my current list asking them to opt-in again. Naturally this will reduce the size of my list. But really, it will just be a “cleaning” of my list. Yes, the total number of subscribers will be smaller, but the ones that stay on the list will be the most interested and responsive readers.

Lesson #4: Don’t be afraid to clean your list. Sure, the “ego-boosting” total size of your list will shrink, but the subscribers who matter the most will stick around.

Here are the services that I recommend and plan to use:

1ShoppingCart (email list management, auto responders, shopping cart, affiliate management and more)

Aweber (email list management and auto responders if you don’t need a shopping cart)

Globat (hosting that allows multiple sites on one account)

I feel like I’ve probably ranted enough, but for those still reading, here’s the list of my other grievances with Third Sphere:

• When I exported my database, only half the info was downloaded in a spreadsheet
• I tried everything I could to contact them without a response (support ticket, email, phone # on my credit card bill, etc.)
• In the last few years they haven’t increased storage or bandwidth limits despite the fact that the rest of the industry has
• The email system has embedded the wrong first name for a given email in the database
• They have sent emails that weren’t encoded right leading to garbage hitting people’s inbox with my name on it
• There system would tell me that a broadcast email had been sent when in fact it had not

I’m not sure what happened to Third Sphere. I was happy with them at one time, but things have gone seriously downhill. I won’t trust my business to a service that does not maintain quality or answer their support requests. Hopefully my experience will help you avoid similar problems.

Lesson #5: If you are using a service and start to see serious deterioration in service quality, jump ship sooner than later. Don’t let “giving the benefit of the doubt” hurt your business.

Lesson #6: Stay away from Third Sphere Hosting.

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If Sterling and I haven’t yet convinced you of why you should create and sell information products, then watch this short video from Brian Clark.

Besides their excellent information, I love these tutorials because Brian created them using some of my favorite tools.

1. Camtasia

Camtasia is a screen capture program that records your computer screen and audio. It’s the perfect way to make video tutorials. I’ve made an entire membership site before using Camtasia.

In full disclosure, I should mention that Techsmith, the creators of Camtasia, are sponsoring an event that I am helping to organize. In addition they provided me with free software to help them beta test the latest version of Camtasia. However, I was a fan of Camtasia long before that.

2. WordPress

The whole Tubetorial site is published using my favorite blogging software, WordPress. That the same software that runs this site and many other of my sites.

3. Mindjet

It’s no secret that Sterling and I love mindmapping software. We’ve recommended the free Freemind software in the past. In fact, if you sign up for our email newsletter, you’ll get Sterling’s video tutorial on how to use Freemind.

Mindjet is Freemind on steroids. When you’re ready to step up your mindmapping, Mindjet is the way to go. A great way to create your information product is to mindmap it and then record yourself walking through and explaining the mindmap, with Camtasia just like Brian has done in his tutorial.

—–

So give those tutorials and tools a try and see if they give you just the boost you need to create your first information product.

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What’s Your GTD Score?

First, it’s a great resource and review for anyone interested in the GTD productivity system. Review the checklist and determine your score.

A Magnet for Traffic and Inbound Links

This checklist is an excellent example the kind of foundation content that becomes a traffic magnet for your blog or site. People love checklists. Content like this is often called “link bait” (which is not as derogatory as it sounds). It’s the kind of content that web sites and blogs love to link to. It’s the kind of content that people like to submit to social networking and bookmarking sites.

All of this adds up to a lot of inbound links. The more inbound links you have, the higher your search engine ranking and the more traffic you get. Do you have strong foundation content on your site/blog that people will want to use, share and link to?

The Email List Optin

Notice that he has an email list right at the top of the email. If this was my site, I would provide the first 50 points of the checklist and then have people submit their email in order to get the other 100 points.

The Call to Action

Finally take note that this content is being used as pull marketing to find new coaching clients for the author. This method of marketing does several things for the author:

1. Brings targeted prospects towards him on their own terms (rather than him having to interrupt the prospect that may or may not be targeted)
2. Establishes his expertise
3. Begins a relationship of trust with the prospect
4. Makes his call to action more effective
5. Makes it much easier to close the sale when someone calls

I would put the call to action at the top as well as at the bottom. Regardless, this is an excellent example of what every business should be doing to attract new clients.

The Offer

Notice that he offers (at least at the time of writing this post) a session. This is something to entice leads to contact him. I also like that he attributes a value to the offer ($175). The only thing I don’t like is that it costs him time whenever a prospect contacts him. Whether it’s worth making this offer depends on how many of these inquiries he gets. Also, if he’s mart he offers more of a “what to do” session for the freebie and then sells them on signing up for more to get the “how to”.

I’m not saying that the free session shouldn’t offer valuable info, just that you have to structure it right to get maximum conversion of new paying clients. I do this with new podcast consulting clients. I give them a free evaluation of what they need done and by the end of the conversation they just want to hire me to make it happen.

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Just one good idea is all it takes to kick your internet business up a notch or two…or a hundred. Reading blogs from other successful internet marketers is one of the ways I fill my brain with these kinds of ideas. As promised on the last episode of the podcast, here are seven of my favorite internet marketing blogs in no particular order.

ProBlogger

Darren Rowse is an avid blogger. In fact, he makes his living from it. Everyday he posts tips that bloggers (or podcasters for that matter) can put to use to make better content, attract more traffic and make more money. Since I preach that every internet marketer/business should have a blog, I highly recommend you subscribe to and read ProBlogger.

Copyblogger

The skill that will increase your pay more than any other marketing skill is copywriting. Knowing how to write good marketing copy is like knowing how to print legal money and take it to the bank. No one will market your business as well as you could. Whoah! It looks like someone hit the marketing cliché button in my brain. Let’s move on…

Copyblogger by Brian Clark is a great reference for writing powerful online marketing copy. A daily dose of his blog will increase your bottom line.

SEOmoz

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is another one of the most valuable skills that an internet marketer can learn and employ to boost her traffic (and hence bottom line). Whether or not you hire someone to do your SEO, you should really have an understanding of the basics. There’s no better resource than SEOmoz.

Not only that, but The SEOmoz crew really get the importance of engendering community on a site. Anyone looking to build or strengthen an online community around a brand, should study this site carefully.

Alice Seba

Alice Seba is a single mom and successful online entrepreneur. I first discovered her blog after seeing her regular posts on John Reese’s internet marketing forum. I was very impressed by her down-to-earth, no nonsense and genuine approach to helping others succeed in their business. She really knows how to connect with her customers/readers. She also knows how to balance self-promotion with quality content.

Web Strategy by Jeremiah

Jeremiah is a smart guy. He really understands the massive shift taking place online. He works for PodTech as a web strategy consultant. His clients are corporate and so his content has that slant to it. Nevertheless, there’s plenty for small or solo internet business types to learn from him…especially when it comes to social media marketing.

I had the privilege of meeting and chatting with him at CES in January. He’s equally nice as he is smart.

Entrepreneur’s Journey

Yaro Starak is the second Aussie on this list (along with ProBlogger). I’m telling you, there’s something in the water down there (or is it UP there?). These guys are sharp.

Yaro’s blog gives you a look inside the life of a hard-working, successful internet entrepreneur who is striving for lofty goals and sharing his successes and failures as he does. His posts are always well thought out, full of very applicable information and often very motivating.

Jason Van Orden

OK. OK. This is my own podcasting tips blog. But what can I say? If you want to know my latest thoughts on how to use podcasting and social media to communicate with your market, then you should read my blog.

——–

There are plenty other blogs that I could have listed, but this is a good sampling of my daily reading. I highly recommend subscribing to and reading each of the blogs listed above.

Now…I know someone is thinking, “But where’s Seth Godin’s blog?” (NOTE: I really like Seth’s ideas and they have definitely influenced me, but his blog post titles drive me crazy. I can never tell what a post is about at a glance.)

So now I invite you to chime in and share your opinion. What internet marketing blogs are on your “must read list”?

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We have a gift for you–a digital copy of a classic book on how to write powerful ad. Many expert copywriters consider this book to be the foundation for their skills.

Also, are you wondering what gift to get the internet marketer in your life? Or maybe you need to drop a subtle hint your spouse as to what you want to get (and who says you can’t buy yourself a little something). In any case, we’ve put together an Internet Business Gift Guide with suggestions for any budget.

Go now to claim your gift and check out the Internet Business Gift Guide

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REMEMBER: Please take our Internet Business Mastery POLL and get a
FREE video tutorial on how to use the Mind Map.

Quick Update!

• Click here to see Jay’s favorite ARTICLE SUBSCRIPTION service!
• Dan Kennedy’s Latest book on Wealth Attraction!
• Sterling’s Top Recommendation

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Our holiday break has turned into a longer than expected hiatus, but we will be back next week with 7 Tips for Creating an Ebook that Will Generate Profit.

Until then, here is a great resource that we just had to let you know about right away. Take a listen to this brief episode to get the scoop, then go here to get it for yourself.

Update (Jan 15): Some people have had trouble signing up for the articles subscription service. There is an error with the article website. I will be checking into it and getting back to you. – Jay

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