I just reviewed my Adsense stats and am seeing a counter-intuitive pattern emerging.I have a few sites where I am putting all my adsense blocks below the fold. And these are turning out to be my highest converting sites!I think this must be due to my style of copy. This is something I have been struggling with for a while.Most adsense targeted articles tend to be perky and vague. Loaded with enough keywords to get the search engines' interest, and topped with a great attention getter, they are then filled with pap. This gets the reader clicking in search of more. This has posed a bit of an ethical dilemma for me. Play the game and get the clicks, or write something I can be proud of and have a longer copy.The problem with "above the fold" placement of adsense is that it is out of site by the time the reader gets to the end of my articles. And yes I'm assuming the reader actually get to the end of them. A lot of long copy articles are engineered to bore the reader early on. I try to keep the flow going and the interest steady.I'm going to play with this for a while and see if the theory holds. This way I can write something I am happy with and still get the clicks as the reader continues their research.Colin

Has anyone noticed the creep of Adobe's Air? 

How come Google Chrome gets all the press but application after application gets added to Air?

I feel frustrated and humbled.  Usually I have the proverbial ear to the ground.  But I have not seen any great promotion.  Just implementation.

Of course Adobe is big, and can shake the world at will.

I will have to investigate all this Air.  It is sneaking into my life.

Colin

I`m building some copy for Coach Roth.  Right now I`ve put a mock up on a testing site I have www.easyaha.com  .  This was thrown up after a day of technical glitches, so it is not perfect.  I was trying to find a way to put a mock up and share into without having to go live.  But in the end this is tha easiest way with my software.

I`ll come back and tighten up the text and form but would appreciate any feedback.

COlin

The winter rains are coming in sooner than usual.  My brain is dying with every dip in the barometer.  Pain is soaking me deeper than any downpour.  I wake every day with a plan of action, and finish each day with a shuffling stagger and  frustrated ambition.  Hate being sick.

Quick post, the day is evaporating!
Had a guy offer me a million dollars today.
Price? Hard work.
Potential? Proven
OK Brain are you up for it?

OH!
NO THIS IS NOT SOME COME ON FOR A MLM THING.
He offered it to me, not as some scammy program.
And, as it turns out...Google was promoting the same thing a few months ago.
It made me do some hard thinking on paradigms.

It is just that "work" part.
Winter is coming and my brain usually shuts down for the season.
Oh well, another goal and another turtle race.

Inch by inch I'll get there.

Colin

I was talking to a friend and mentioned that all successful people online had a persona.
They were willing to put their face out there and tell the world who they were.

I SAW FEAR IN HIS EYES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't  that the hardest thing of all?  To take on a persona?  To take on a label? 
For some it is sanctuary.
For some it it is hypocrasy
For some it is the descent into regions they hoped never to see.

IF I am right.... and we are entering into a new world of condensed reality....then

WHO ARE YOU?

There has been a paradox on the internet for some time.  You are anonymous but every detail of your life is available.

Ping?  IP?  Stealth spyware?  An innocent pixel you downloaded?
I know who you are.
DO YOU?

We are complicated beings on an eternal quest. 
We gather communities based on the path we are currently following.
There are those who continue with us and those who stay behind.
Both are good.  The secret is to leave and give blessings.

Some are there to tell the stories.
Some are there to live them.
All are honorable.
Wisdom is not passed from a dead warrior's hand.

Who are you?
Declare yourself.
Do not be afraid.

( a musing to think about   Oh OH got all poetic for a sec! )

Google loves me.
Every time I write something there is a spider knocking at the door.
Of course this has taken a few years for the relationship to get so cosy.

But Yahoo and I have been a bit frosty to each other.
Finally I decided to break the ice and spend some time in Yahoo`s neighborhood.
I spent a couple days in the Answers section, and
 I added my profile to their blogger network,
I took some of their code and put it on my www.websitebuildingforbeginners.com blog
And then I sprinkled the blog with links to some of my other sites.

Hello Yahoo!
I`m now seeing yahoo search results appearing on my stats for almost all my websites & blogs.

It is amazing what a little attention will do.

Kiss of death.  The realization of a scam.
What are you promoting?  Who are you promoting it to?
Do you respect the customer or just see that person as a unit of income?
Short term and long term.
WARNING: the internet has very very long claws.
Scam me and I will make every moment of my time dedicated to flaming you.

Give me surprise bonuses?  Shower me with gifts?
I will praise and defend you at every opportunity.

I've spent some time thinking about this.

POPULATION!!!!!!

Some people are used to dealing with large populations in their environment.
They get into the rut of thinking that " the guy they cheated will disappear and a new victim will turn up unaware".

Welcome to the Carny mentality.

Yes the globe is filled with new victims.  But the internet is the leveling field.

I am seeing a whole new paradigm emerge.  ( Warning I am a prophet.  Everything I have predicted has come true)

Instead of the great expanse of opportunity, I see the constriction of validity.

Who are you?
What do you promise?
How can you deliver?
What's in it for me?
What's in it for YOU?
Is it fair?

DISCLAIMER:  I am always ahead of my time.  Want quick money?  Follow the trend.  Want a respectable, sustainable income?  Then heed my advice.

ADVICE: Give more than you promise.  Build community.  Give value unimaginable.

I'm brushing up my new aweber account.  Putting all the nice features together and watching training videos. ( Hating every moment of it)

BUT! One thing is missing...the customer experience.

SO...I got to thinking like a customer/reader.

One thing that annoys me as a email recipient is that I cannot remember just who these people are!!!

I'm sure they must be great people, since my spam filter is very aggressive.  But after a while I get lost on who is who.

I know this may be a ego bust for some of you.  But really, there are just too many J's out there.
Joel,Jeff,Jason, Jay......
Did some baby book only get published with the J section?

The point is...and the point I am trying to figure out for myself..is how to tell the reader just who I am right away.

I'm thinking of starting every email with something like " Hello, This is Colin from......"

Then in that maddening fit of email deleting, which we all go through each day, I will stand out and be saved. 
IF!!!!
I am worthy.
But then, that is my part, isn't it.  Shall I be worthy? 

Are you?

Colin

This is going to be short. 
I`ll expand and give some constructive ideas in the Writer`s Group.
I just looked at my stats and saw that I sent over 1200 people to an affiliate and didn't get one sale.

My fault or theirs?

Both perhaps.
I sent interested people but they failed to close. 

My mistake was not getting them ready to buy.
Also ( and here is the biggie!) I was sending the wrong people to the vendor.
The website was designed for adsense.
  I found that most people were in the first phase of the buying cycle ( research).
I get great adsense income from this site because of this, and the search engines love it.
Now I'm thinking of pulling the vendor's ads off.
I just lost 1200 adsense hits.

Pepto TIme!

See you in the writers group after I bow to the porcelain god.
Colin

Yup, its official.  I'm certified.

 Upside and downside of the health system. 

The insurance company had me go to one of those mysterious "sessions" with a psychologist.  One where your every thought and move are recorded.  And yes the results are in.  I'm a genius, and completely useless.  I'm the possum of the mind.  I'm the idiot in your savant.  I wield a verbal Excalibur but tend to drop it at embarrassing times.

Yup, I beat Shakespeare!  ( OK Johnson, for you purists)

But how to work those weird code thingees? 

Draw a line, work the line, think linear....impossible.

See the line as a product.  Make you desire the line.  Help you see a new world awakening, if you follow this simple linear path....

Well, then you have met a master.

And yes I've been in the trenches.  I have sold product.

Dan Kennedy scares the stuffing out of me, but I was happy to hear him say that every copywriter needs to have a sales background.

There is an art and science in everything. 

This keyboard is a nice safe companion.  But every word I write is delivered to the reluctant door opener.  I don't stare at the keys.  I meet my reader eye to eye.

Hello
I am your friend and a trusted resource,
I see your soul, and know the answer you seek.
I am your friend.
How can I help?

Colin

I`ve been following Eric Holmlund`s new blog series on starting an internet business.  He warned that he was going to start at the very beginning and work through every tiny step needed.  This has been a great touchstone series for me so far.  I has made me look hard at each vital part of a successful business....online or off. 

I tend to be the guy who reads the first headline in a sales page and then scrolls to the bottom as fast as possible.  Eric's process has given me the leisure to do a serious audit of my practices.
You might want to check this out at Erics Tips.
Colin

I've just finished off an article on my Website Building for Beginners.com  blog.  I'm slowly adding all the technical  and (  yes Joel) structural elements into articles and blog posts.  The research part of the writing takes about as long as the actual creative writing and editing.

I've been encouraged to find and play with various voices.  Sure Frank Kern is the man, but we are not all Kernal material!

 And on a practical note I'm seriously thinking of adding another monitor screen to keep all the research up and avoid wasting printing costs.

Hmmmm $10 for paper and toner vs $200 for a monitor.  Better find a good selling point for my wife!

The good news is that I took a few days off to rack up as much sleep as I could.  I have to watch the signs of fatigue.  My last post was a good example of that.  Also I noticed that with all the opportunities on the internet, it is easy for me to get caught up in an artificial deadline.  But that topic is for another post.

Colin

I have recently been reminded of the need for structure.  Strengths and weaknesses....strength and weaknesses......

Give me a list of words and I can pound out a keyword dense article in no time.  Finding those keywords...well that is another matter.

There are also those analytical skills of copy writing.  Features vs Benefits, aka living in your customer's shoes.  The sales funnel....moving from attention to camaraderie to information, to desire, to unthinking response.  Manipulative or a bonding experience?   Perhaps it all comes down to who you think you are.  Look at yourself in the mirror, first thing in the morning and tell yourself who you are.

Congratulations to those who have slipped into the easy slots!  " I'm a marketer" "I'm a salesperson" "I'm a copywriter"
Life should be easy for you.  There are proven " paint by number" steps to success for you.

My condolences to those who came up with the fuzzy answers.  "I want to enrich others and enrich myself."  "I am successful and abundant in this abundant universe."  " I give quality, and am rewarded with riches."  etc etc 
Sounding familiar?  Bought a course on how to master this method?     I'll save you a few thousand dollars and give you the inside secret to the master course all the gurus teach...." Just friggin do it!"  Which actually means do what the folks above are doing....but with awareness.

This has been one of the hardest lessons of my life.  Be systematic , scientific, ethical, and finally... creative.

 Eban P. gave an interesting interview a few weeks ago.  He is known ( by another name) as a relationship expert, yet he was the typical wallflower in real life.  Now think about this....really think about it!  The guys out there, "scoring with the chicks"  may have stumbled on one or two tricks.  Eban...in the dark, against the wall, was able to watch  a variety of tricks being played out. 

His social disability was actually an asset. 

This flies against the concept that only those who have mastered a skill are qualified to teach that skill.  Many times, the skill is mastered in ignorance.  Ever hear the expression " Those who can't do, teach."?  It is usually used as an insult.  But perhaps it can be reworded.  How about " Those who truly observe, pass on the wisdom."?  Warriors are plentiful, and their fate is usually glory and death.  Generals and sages are few and live long lives.

Back to the mirror.

Who are you?
Look deep in those eyes.

Yes I am a wordsmith.  But I am also one who is willing to use all the tools of the internet.  I will meet each visitor at their own level and guide them in to a new experience.  Choose the subject, and I will be your guide.

Colin

I've just spent a few days tweaking some "instant" products.  In the process I have learned how to use a variety of editing programs.  But I have also been immersed in frustration.  On a positive note, I believe am learning a lesson and getting some personal insight.

I am a creative type.  I love to express myself  and play with the crafts I've learned.  Instant things are a frustration for me.  The time I spend tweaking templates is more than the time I would spend building them.  For me, the fist gets pumped in the air when I have learned a new skill.  Now granted, this is NOT the smartest business plan.  But hopefully I will get fulfillment and enrichment by following this path.

I recently read a comment by a commerce grad.  He could care less about learning technical skills.  He was focused on pumping out as much product as possible, and was looking to hire the experts to do it....even if it meant going into debt.  This guy is smart.  And I'm sure he will be rich in no time.  His joy is in the balance sheet.  I admire him and congratulate him.  But I don't think I'll emulate him.

The internet is a great place.  There are so many successful models and mentors.  The trick is to first know yourself, find mentors, build a model, and join a community.

I'm hoping this will be such a community.  There are many different skills and passions here.  The common spirit is a focus on action and success.  Let us then honour each other and help each other to great success.

I upgraded to XcitePro2 and imported all my websites.  Unfortunately, the  import feature had a bit of a bug, and it stripped all the javascript  off my websites.

So now it is time to slog through everything and put back the reporting code, and the Contact Station code.

I went to the forum and read a new post on fixes,and did an upgrade...lots of fixes.  Oh well.  Time to get into coding mode!
Colin

I took the past weekend off and went to celebrate my niece's graduation.  "Took Off"?  Yes.  Even though I'm limited by my disability, I still have a mind that is constantly working, devouring information and trying to figure out how to contribute to the internet world.  This was time to shut down and party!

However, I'm experienced in the workings of the subconscious; so, practical me decided to give my subconscious some work while conscious me enjoyed himself.

The question for the weekend was, " Should I stay in the TOP ONE NETWORK or graciously leave after my free month?

Believe it or not, the subscription fee is a challenge for me.  I'm on a limited, and diminishing income. 

Joel's advice has been helpful.

 However it takes me months to implement things that others can do in minutes.  Also, all income I make can be taken from me by the insurance company.

( That last paragraph was my wakeup call.)

On the flight home I decided.  There is a season for everything, and this is the season for change.  It is time to turn my back on the limitations I have, and focus on my abilities.  There are a gazillion gurus out there, but I like the approach Joel & his Team& Associates have.  They have earned my trust by giving value and practical knowledge.  So if I'm going to align myself with a team, this seems to be the best fit.

This then is commitment.

My vision is growing.   The determination is constant.

Colin