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Over the weekend I worked hard on video presentations for the release of Blog Mastermind. Obviously the core topic of the videos is how to make money via blogging, however I’m introducing a new form of blogging for profit, something that can lead to income quicker, it’s more stable and in the long haul is a much better model for bloggers to follow.

I’ve got a name for this type of blogging that I will reveal when the video comes out but what I can tell you now, it is based on email marketing. I’m not the only person doing this form of blogging of course, but I’m one of very few compared to the total number of professional bloggers out there.

How The Humble Email List Changed My Business

Back in 2005 I started blogging. A few months later I began studying the work of some prominent Internet marketers and a trend arose - everyone talked about how you had to have an email list.

Strangely enough, I didn’t listen. Well, at least I didn’t take action, which is just as bad. I could see how having an email list was valuable, but my focus at the time was my editing business and I just didn’t see how email marketing was going to help it. My blog at the time was still more hobby site than a money maker.

Fast forward to the end of 2006 and I decided to finally launch an email list. However I still didn’t get it completely right because instead of leveraging my blog for continuous email opt-ins, I created an off-site landing page and wrote a few blog articles pointing towards it. At least it was a start.

When it came time to do a blog redesign I was well and truly convinced that I had to include an opt-in for my list on my blog. I asked my designer to put the opt-in in the right column at the top in the above the fold area. You can see it in action in most of the 2006 archives of my blog at the Way Back Machine.

Instantly my opt-ins grew and I quickly found myself generating an extra 20-50 new leads per day, which continued to increase as my blog traffic increased.

Since then, nearly every success I have enjoyed online has come thanks to making these decisions. I finally understood what Internet marketers were talking about when they said you have to have a list - and yes, that applies in EVERY niche online, not just the make money topics (email marketing is so good in non-business markets because not so many people use it well there).

How Email Will Make A Difference To Your Blogging

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Andy Beard reported on his blog that AWeber will begin to report email subscriber numbers to Feedburner.

This triggered a line of thought in me that I hadn’t considered before. Let me tell you why…

I’ve been an AWeber user for ages now and it’s been my RSS-to-email service of choice for forever too. I never used any other RSS-to-email service and it’s been clear to me for a long time that a real email list service is the way to handle anything that has to do with email marketing - it’s a “well duh” situation in my mind.

Why people would use a service that doesn’t focus on deliverability to deliver their RSS-to-email function is beyond me, so yes, I recommend AWeber to you too. You can read my full AWeber review for more about why it is a must-have tool.

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One of the most powerful forces in marketing is a deadline.

Like other skeptical observers of the techniques Internet marketers pull to land more sales, I feel a sense of discomfort when told that a product is going off the market at a certain date. Yet, at the same time, I feel compelled - if I really want this product, and that isn’t necessarily today, but any time in the future - shouldn’t I buy it now so I can lock in the cheaper price or secure my order because there is “very limited supply” on offer?

Now that I am an Internet marketer myself, I sometimes sit on the other side of the fence. I’ve played with the scarcity trigger like the best of them, telling my audience that there is only so many days or hours before a deadline comes, at which point things will change forever.

And wow, is it ever powerful.

Just last month I was faced with a decision. I knew Blog Mastermind, my membership site for bloggers, needed some changes made to the back-end that handled the membership and the affiliate system. During this time it would make things a lot easier if I did not let new members sign-up. There were also other elements that needed considering because of my plans for 2008 and the evolution of the Blog Mastermind program itself.

Needless to say, due to a variety of reasons, some I can’t talk about at this time because details are not cement, I decided the best plan of action was to close up shop to new members. I told my team the deadline so they could prepare for the technical changes and then proceeded to construct a plan for a mini-push to drive new sign-ups before the deadline.

Having been a participant, victim, casual observer and customer in many product launches dating back to the Butterfly Marketing launch in January 2006 and then conducting my own launch in June 2007, it’s safe to say I know product launches in the Internet marketing industry pretty well. Oh, and of course, I bought Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula home study course too (you can read my review here).

I never had a second thought about doing some promotion for my membership site once a deadline was in place, it was simply a matter of brainstorming what to do and then doing it. If you read my blog in early December or subscribe to my newsletter, then you already know what I did to convince people to join Blog Mastermind before the deadline, perhaps you even joined and are working your way through the program right now (hi students!).

Here’s how I rolled out closing doors promotion…

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This is the last blog post I will make about this. Blog Mastermind is closing to new members today.

I’ve been blown away by how many people have joined in the last week and I look forward to working with all the new members.

This is going to sound cliche, but I just had to restart the server (yes we crashed the server!), so if you had trouble joining or if you are a member and you had trouble accessing the resources in the last few hours, I apologize, it should all be working fine now.

If you haven’t come on board yet and are still considering, you have a few hours left to make up your mind. I’ll leave the doors open until Monday is over around the world.

You can view the video case study and the complete Lesson 11, both samples taken directly from within Blog Mastermind. If you find those two resources valuable then you will love what is inside Blog Mastermind.

You can also view the entire six month program outline and reviews from people who are currently in the program.

If you have decided to join and work with with me and hundreds of other student bloggers, please sign up by clicking here -

http://www.blogmastermind.com/

I’ll end this post with just a couple of unsolicited testimonials people have sent me through via email. I didn’t ask for these, they just came from people who wanted to send through their feedback, which I then got permission to publish as a testimonial.

I’ll see you on the inside.

I decided to sign up to your program because I was impressed with your expertise and sincerity through the e-mails and audio articles that I have heard. They gave me the impression that you are very honest, competent and dedicated to helping other people. Not only that, unlike many people in the blogosphere, you present things totally free of hyperbole and unrealistic expectations and I admire and value that greatly. My dealings with you on this issue totally confirm that impression so well done and many thanks!

– Nick Pagan

Thanks Yaro, by the way I’ve been doing a LOT of research and joining a lot of online programs. By far, the content I’ve seen you provide is the absolute best I’ve seen so far. Although the videos I’ve seen so far are only for beginners I’ve already been learning lots of little “tips” that I had little “DoH!” moments because I made the same mistake you mentioned in your blog reviews.

I’m really excited to check out the advanced stuff. Keep up the good work! I will not hesitate to recommend your course to anyone interested in this topic. Thanks.

– Paul Piotrowski

Sign-up: www.blogmastermind.com/

Now back to your regular scheduled blogging.

Yaro Starak
Blog Mastermind Plug-a-thon

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It’s been a crazy last few days. I sent out a lesson to Blog Mastermind students about direct advertising and it was a huge lesson, more than 5,000 words, plus an extra video and audio - there is so much to teach about making money with blogs!

In between finishing that lesson for the current students I’ve also been putting together a few resources to give to the public because I’ve decided to close the Blog Mastermind doors to new students on Monday, December 10.

Yep, that’s right - I won’t be taking on any new students from Monday and only the people in the program now or who join before Monday will get to complete their training.

I must say that the course has come together very nicely, I think there is something in it for everybody if you are interested in making blogging an income source and a lifestyle.

How To Market Your Blog With Conversations

I know a lot of people are not sure whether Blog Mastermind is right for them, so rather than send out a bunch of emails and blog posts telling people how good it is, I decided to release one of the lessons to the public and let you make a decision for yourself.

You can read and/or listen to the lesson here -

Lesson 11: Marketing With Conversations

The lesson covers the most popular topic in blogging - how to get traffic. It’s actually the very first lesson on traffic in the program and introduces you to some core concepts about building an audience and then teaches you one of the most powerful yet simple techniques available. I actually debunk a few myths about this particular traffic technique, because sadly, most bloggers get it wrong.

From that point forward in the program there are another eight lessons on building traffic, then the we dive into monetization.

If you want to see what sort of content and structure Blog Mastermind contains, this free lesson should give you a good idea. Note that most lessons also have a video or additional audio component as well (lessons come in audio and text format). All lessons have actions steps at the end so you know what you have to do after the lesson is done.

Remember, the doors to Blog Mastermind close on Monday, so if you want to join, you have to decide between now and then. There is a 30 day money back guarantee, so if you don’t like it, there is no risk, plus you can cancel at any point beyond the first month.

The program goes for six months and you get one lesson per week, plus lots of extra resources like interviews with professional bloggers, my Master The Mindset audio series, case study videos where I review the blogs of students and offer recommendations to help them improve their performance, plus loads more.

If any of this is appealing, please check out the free lesson and consider signing up. Here’s that free preview lesson again.

Lesson 11: Marketing With Conversations

If you have any questions about the program or the advice I talk about in lesson 11, leave a comment.

Yaro Starak
Blog Mastermind Mentor

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