Matt Blancarte dot Com » What I’m Reading

Link Time!

Matt — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:33:24 +0000

It is time for the Sunday tradition. Here are five posts that I read recently that I thought were awesome. Enjoy!

Jarkko Laine writes a great post about risk management. He makes a great point in the article that recognizing and managing risk isn’t just something we should do at our jobs, but something we should be doing day-to-day with normal activities.

Josh Buckley gets a double-whammy today. He has a two part series about selling sites. He has a great method, and I personally know it works. Make sure to check out part-two!

Brown Baron has found a bunch of crazy Simpsons gadgets. Does anyone know how successful the movie was? They marketed and advertised like mad before it was released…

Josh Mullineaux writes an inspirational post designed to make you work harder. Three words: Pain Before Pleasure

Adnan tells about his success with blogging. He makes a pretty good amount of money, and he has a ton of readers. Definitely a great read because you can see that when you put the effort into a good blog and stay consistent, it pays off… literally.

Link Time!

Matt — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 04:53:04 +0000

I am going to beginning a new tradition here for the blog. Every sunday, I will be linking to five blogs that I really enjoyed reading. Feel free to put a link in the comments if you feel like I missed a really good post that you found for yourself.

Nate Whitehill asks about what motivates people to blog. If you give him a 250-word response, he will link you! PR5 links are always a good thing. ^_-
Josh Mullineaux Talks about his experiences while leaving his day-job as a Personal Banker at Chase. Definitely an interesting read with some solid advice.
Darren Rowse gives some great advice. He says that taking the time to thank your veteran readers is a great marketing tool for your blog. It is all part of his “31 Day Project” series. Check it out.
Sam Breadstone poses the question, “Are link trains going to hurt my blog?” I think that trains are a gamble…what about you?
Carl Pei chats about an interesting arbitrage idea. I don’t think I would personally do this, but if you are looking for something different, take a look.

Enjoy!

What I’m Reading: All Marketers are Liars

Matt — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 06:45:55 +0000

All Marketers are Liars

What is the story that your company tells? It’s definitely an abstract question at first, but it is a pertinent concept to grasp for the success of your company’s ability to market itself. Written by Seth Godin, a man who plays too many roles in business to define just one, “All Marketers are Liars” is an interesting perspective on the new age of marketing (not advertising). Seth has a great blog, check it out if you haven’t already.He goes into detail about the importance of marketing, not advertising, your brand and company.

By telling stories to your customers that align with their world-view, allows you to speak their language and tailor to their tastes.Being able to communicate clearly with your customers is so key in marketing, but with all of the tips, tricks, and schemes out there for making money online, I think sometimes we may be looking at the small picture.What is creating a great business all about in my macro-perspective?

Having a great product, that is unique and useful to your customers.
Being able to connect with your customers intimately
Win-Win Scenario

-Having that product or service that is unique, and useful to your customers is a huge slice of the pie. If you want your customers to be interested in your pie of a company, the slice is going to have to taste great, look great, and be nutritional. Excuse my abstract analogy, but I think you get the point.

-Connecting with your customers is #1 priority. They are the folks that pay the bills. Connect with their world-view, and tell the story that they already want to tell themselves about your product. The person who does your taxes should be as concerned with how you feel and keeping your comfort level high, as they would be with the actual tax filing process.

-This isn’t always a must-have, but it is important to me. Having the situation end up where you, the company, are happy with the success you achieved, and your customers are happy with the product or service you have provided.

What would be the most effective way to get in touch with your blog readers? Do you really know them? Take the time to figure it out and take action, and you might just see results.

Taking Adwords to the Next Level

Matt — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:31:28 +0000

Google Adwords is one of the most revolutionary advertising mediums to be conceived in recent history. It allows the advertiser to make contact with a targeted demographic, but they don’t have to pay unless the consumer responds with interest (in the form of a click). How can you harness this model to your complete advantage? Well, I am reading a book right now that goes into detail on every essential concept that can put you far ahead of your advertising competitors.”The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords” by Perry Marshall has been an eye-opener for me. I am currently running several arbitrage MFA sites that have mediocre success (making about $500 per month profit). I am only 48 pages into this book, and I have a whole new set of solid strategies to try out. I’m not putting any affiliate links to Perry Marshall’s site, but I will give you a direct one. If you are operating, or thinking of operating an adwords campaign, I highly recommend this book.

The world’s most popular book for winning the Google AdWords game. Instant PDF download with quick-start manual & powerful bonus audio seminars in MP3.

I will be posting in several weeks to report on how well this book improved my adwords proficiency.