It was great, while it lasted. I ca truly say Blogger helped me understand and appreciate blogging.

Anyway, at last I've moved...

I've had a very extended period of trying to write a few postings while I got the Wordpress implementation of the new blog sorted out.

Now if you wait...

You'll see this blog automatically transform into the shiny new Wordpress one. It's still not completely finished as there's a fair bit of housekeeping to complete on the new blog.

Wordpress allows more flexible publishing so hopefully you won't get 2 or 3 posts a day. Although if I get over-enthusiastic please bear with me - normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

My Alexa ranking and page rank has plummetted dramatically, although when I started this I was sure I could keep my page rank!

Still the content remains as good as ever, or at least I hope you think so.

I've had a private members blog for a while too and I may open that up to allow a few more people to join after I've converted it to Wordpress too - let me know if you're interested - email me at secretblog at acornservice dot com.

The new Wordpress version of this blog is located at http://www.business-powerpack.com and it's called "Business Growth And Internet Marketing."

Check it out and leave a comment about it, it'll be most appreciated.

See you there

People have asked me why I keep the blogging to the bank banner going on this blog.

The simple answer is because at the moment it's the one thing that will pretty much definitely help people do better at blogging and at making money from their blog.

Does the book guarantee untold riches?

Not quite. In fact although it has a pretty good set of solid steps you can easily take to get blogging and making money it misses out one thing.

That one thing is the massive emphasis you need to place on choosing the right niche.

You can get a set of keywords that have 5,000 searches per month and you can have keywords that have 5,000,000 per month.

The 5,000 search niche might be ok to choose  if everyone buys compared to, say,  1 in 100,000 buying from the 5,000,000 search.

However, all things being equal...

The money you make depends on the traffic you're exposed to. Which in turn is linked to the size of the niche you have.

So it's essential you choose the right niche.

It had to happen.

If you know anything about Internet Marketing you know there are always seminars running that pluck one person from the audience and teach them step by step how to make money from the Internet.  And of course they do make money!

It's argued that television watching by the younger age groups is dropping as their attention is switched to the Internet.

The Internet Reality
TV Arrives?

The next logical step in teaching people how to use the Internet to make money in a seminar is to have an Apprentice-like competition, not on TV, but on the Internet.

So New York Times Best Selling author Joel Comm (The Adsense Code) is hosting an Internet-based reality show called "The Next Internet Millionaire."

Intriguing title.

The Contestants

And of course there are 12 contestants. They are:

1. Jason Henderson
2. Charles Trippy
3. Nico Pisani
4. Steve Schuitt
5. Thor Schrock
6. Jason Marshall
7. Jaime Luchuck
8. Carly Taylor
9. Christine Schapp
10. Debbie Ducic
11. Laura Martin
12. Alisande Chan

Plus, there's a veritable who's who of Internet Marketers who are mentioned in the trailer credits:

1. Mark Joyner
2. Armand Morin
3. Jeff Walker
4. Marlon Sanders
5. Mike Koenigs
6. Brad Fallon
7. Mike Filsaime
8. Ray Edwards
9. Dave Taylor
10. Perry Marshall
11. Rich Schefren
12. Heather Vale

Although noticeable by their absence  were Alex Mandossian, Dan Kennedy, Michel Fortin, John Reese, Ken McArthur and the ubiquitous Joe Vitale.

According to "The Next Internet Millionaire" web site  the whole thing kicks off on 15th August 2007.

And I'll be there to watch and comment on it...

...Only please let it be better than Tycoon!

I've said this time after time.

Yet it bears repeating because so few businesses actually do it.

You need to know the marketing cogs, or "the whys", that power your marketing machine.

1. Why is it in my interest to listen/read/watch you/meet you? Also known as "What's In It For Me"
2. Why should I believe you?
3. Why should I do anything about what you say or offer?
4. Why now?

The answers you give to those 4 simple questions tell your prospects whether it's worth their while continuing a dialogue with you.

Does Blogging Answer The 4 "Whys?"

I'm busy, yet I make time to write my blogs.

Why?

Look at the "4 Whys" again:

What's In It For Me?

A blog is one way of allowing you to decide whether you want to talk further with me. You will learn about different business growth techniques and strategies in the blog. Strategies and tactics that can power your business forward, faster, more profitably. Implementing them makes you more money!

Why Should I Believe You?

This blog provides an inexpensive way to get good business growth advice. You can test all the relevant advice in your own business. When you find it works you've answered the second question yourself.

Why Should I Do Anything?

As Yoda in Star Wars says to Luke, "Do or do not... there is no try." Which means you can either do what the blog suggests or not do it. If you do it you find out whether the advice is useful. If you don't you're doomed to simply read stuff off the Internet to while away your work day. At which point I'd suggest you stop reading this blog because I'd rather speak to people who take action.

Why now?

Of course you've heard the phrase "strike while the iron is hot." The reason is that as iron cools down it loses its ability to be shaped. Similarly if you don't take action from the advice on this blog, and others, or more directly through my coaching you'll miss the opportunities that I guarantee you have in your business right now that are staring you in the face that you may be dimly aware of and yet could make you more cash that you're making now.

So think hard. Why this blog? If you've found the advice I give valuable let me know. Equally if you've found the advice really stinks let me know.

And finally, the bottom line behind this post is that you need to get your marketing message sorted out. Just doing that puts you ahead of so many other businesses and gives your prospects something they can understand about what they get from you.

The latest business thinking is a phrase that marketers like to use when they're offering something that they want to appeal to people who must have the latest.

You probably know someone like that...

They must have the latest gizmo, drive the latest car, seen the latest film or used the most recent business school buzz phrase.

And of course the latest business thinking is a phrase that springs readily to an Internet Marketer's pen.

Particularly when talking about search engine optimization (SEO). Because SEO is a subject that gets talked about whenever a small band of people with web sites gets together.

And yet they all agree content is king!

SEO Self-Help

So how can they agree on that I wonder? "Content is King" and yet we still need Search Engine Optimization, surely that's not necessary?

Well of course SEO is necessary but it needs to be integrated with the content. So trying to "do" SEO on a web site or blog without paying attention to how you write copy is a complete waste of time.

There is so much that you can do to help yourself with SEO:

• Write a title with the keywords in
• Keep one page pretty much dedicated to one concept or product or service
• Research and use the appropriate keywords as you write the content
• make sure you do off-site SEO
• Encourage appropriate inward bound links

Above all, write great content, publicize your site and the hits will come.

Then Bob's your uncle and I'm the coolest guy on the planet still!

This story has been bubbling under for the last few days as Sir Alan Sugar and Sky agree details for Sky to buy Amstrad.

They've finally sealed the knot as reported in The Guardian.

Of course as an Amstrad shareholder I'm over the moon with the shares racking up a nice healthy premium.

And the good news for us Apprentice fans is that Sir Alan will stay in that role with Margaret and Nick as his faithful sidekicks.

Amstrad now becomes a division of Sky, still run by Sir Alan Sugar.

My immediate thought was that someone like Sir Alan may not take kindly to being told what to do. Because as an entrepreneur he's been used to having the buck stop with him.

Of course in reality, as he himself has said, his customers are the people who tell him what to do. So he is used to having a boss of sorts.

This purchase is definitely a "good" thing for Amstrad. The research resources and leading edge developers will help Amstrad get stuff to market for Sky more quickly.