I reviewed Yaro Starak’s Membership Site Mastermind and just heard that he reopened the program for membership today.

If you are thinking about starting a membership site or a membership program I encourage you to read my review and to seriously consider enrolling.

Yaro Starak only reopens his programs periodically and limits the enrollment which makes it more manageable and a great experience.

If you are not sure about investing in the Membership Site Mastermind, at least go grab the Membership Site Masterplan (a free download) which is a fabulous, brief overview (72 pages) of what you will find in the course.

I’ve got a few more reviews to post on some other programs but have to say that of all those I have invested in, Yaro Starak’s are by far the most generous and the easiest to follow.

If you’ve already enrolled in this program I’d love to hear about your experience or your opinion of the program in the comments.

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Recently I’ve had the good fortune of doing search engine optimization for small businesses–working in conjunction with a great web design team.

But one of the things I’ve noticed is how many mistakes small business owners makes when it comes to their websites and when working with a web design team.

So what are those mistakes?

• Ignoring the professional advice of someone who does know.

This is not just an online mistake because I see people hiring professionals and then ignoring their advice. But when you do this online it actually sabotages the success of the online presence of that small business. When working with a professional web team–take their advice as it will save you time and money.

• Don’t put everything in the hands of the professional.

Many people want to hand off their online presence to their staff after the initial work is done.

However, the problem with this is that most staff members are already overwhelmed and most are not web specialists. The Internet and the nuances of working in it and the algorithms for traffic change constantly.

For instance, in my sphere of influence, I recently had someone ask about page rank. That person did not realize Google dumped it at the end of 2009. (We are waiting to see the new model that is likely to raise its head sometime soon.)

Also, during a recent crawl through an extensive website being handled by an in-house design team, I discovered it was not only hard to navigate but also not optimized.

Why? Because the in-house team listened to the owner (their boss) who had no idea about the Internet and how it works.

• Vary from the advice of the designer.

Looking great and working well are two different issues.

Some people want something that looks pretty but if it is not search engine or visitor friendly, it is a waste of time and money.

For example, a lot of blogs have huge headers that simply take too much valuable space when something less splashy would work more to their benefit and also put that space to better use.

It is one thing to get your website looking good and another to get it working well. Hopefully you can merge the two and benefit with the help of your web design team.

• Alter or change the configuration of the blog/website.

I periodically check up on my former clients and take a look at their websites. Some that stay with the team benefit because I regularly check the stats to see how they are doing and make alterations to help with their ranking.

In many cases, those who no longer work with me (or their original team) start adding pages where they shouldn’t and begin using terms that were not identified as proper keyword terms or phrases.

Ultimately this drops their rank and messes up their optimization which results in poor exposure and less targeted traffic.

• Believe they know what works.

Sometimes despite coaching or direct advice, people ignore it because they believe they know what is best.

When they ignore the advice of their web professionals (and insist on certain aspects) this can result in a poorly designed website and only fair results if they are lucky–and poor results and little or no traffic if they are unlucky.

• Try to micro manage.

Most web professionals cringe when people try to micromanage or overwhelm them with information. A web professional will ask for what they need and it works best when you send it all at once upon request. It also helps if you just give them what they need and do not overwhelm them with notes or additional materials.

• Don’t participate in the process.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are those clients who fail to participate. They don’t help the web team at all. This is a huge mistake because small business owners are the only ones that can tell the team their unique selling position and pass on the proper terms or reveal the products and services they offer.

Participation makes the project go quicker and get completed faster when they do participate.

Participation and information also gives their online presence a huge advantage over competitors.

• Attempt to pick different brains and then try to put together a project from that information instead of working with a good web team.

There are some people who shop around, talk to different web design teams and then try to put something together from what they have compiled from those discussions  instead of hiring a professional to tackle the job.

Unless you have a good solid strategy, this type of behavior ultimately makes a bigger mess and a bigger job when that project is handed off to a good team.

• Assume they know the “right” keywords.

Since I’ve been contracted to enhance the work of a team, my job is to identify the right keywords for each small business so that they are incorporated into the blog design.

I recently did extensive research on what terms would get a site to rank and bring in traffic. The client insisted that they knew the “right” keyword but were totally off base.

This is common because most small business owners do not understand what words will actually result in the right traffic–it isn’t always the words they think are appropriate or that will convert.

Also, some keywords get a lot of traffic but also have intense competition and websites that are securely ranking for those terms already. It is hard to take over and move a longstanding, successful site from a number one position.

So, don’t assume you know the right words but do send in what words are associated with your industry and what you think your customers or clients would use.

The purpose of this post is to encourage small businesses to cooperate with their web team because they are in business to help you succeed online.

Do you have any other mistakes to add? If so, leave a comment below.

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Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick from BecomeABlogger.Com just announced that they are re-opening their Become A Blogger Premium video training program and the purpose of this blog post is to get you to take advantage of two opportunities.

First, download the Become A Blogger Roadmap, and second, personally check out the program with the Become A Blogger dollar trial that is only available this week (February 4-9, 2010). If you missed this special, have no fear–you can still get into the program for the reasonable monthly rate.

To date, the Become A Blogger course is one of the most popular video blog training program out there, with over 2,000 people having already participated during the last two times the course was offered.

Why? Because it is easy to follow, easy to use, and although beginning bloggers can benefit the most, I learned a few new things during my participation even though I consider myself more of an intermediate blogger.

Like I mentioned, the big news about Become A Blogger is that on February 4th you can try their program for only one dollar. Mark that date to your calendar right now.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already downloaded the popular free report called, “The Roadmap To Become A Blogger” aka “The Roadmap” be sure to download your own copy now.

I have to agree with the statement, “If you’re new to blogging and still trying to figure out what exactly you’re supposed to be doing with your blog, this may be the most important report you’ll read all year!”

The reason I agree with this is because Yaro Starak’s & Gideon Shalwick’s Roadmap report covers two key concepts:

1. The step-by-step “formula” that Yaro used to create his amazingly successful blog, Entrepreneur’s Journey, and
2. Thirteen X-Factor strategies that you can implement immediately to put your blog into hyper-drive.

So just what is inside the Become A Blogger Roadmap?

• How to ethically exploit the biggest wave in technology since the invention of the telephone.
• How Yaro and Gideon stumbled upon the “X-Factor” and how it changed everything they thought they knew.
• Why not deploying the “X-Factor” in your blog could cause your blog to crash and burn, never to recover.
• Reasons why your blog will fail, unless you know how to take advantage of the intersection of two huge Internet trends.
• How a new way of using video, images and a blog turned a penniless actor into an Internet Superstar.
• 13 secret strategies to attract traffic to your blog, leave competitors in the dust, and help you see blogging success.
• And lots more.

Believe it or not there have been over 240,190 downloads of their complimentary videos from the Become A Blogger website.

I’ve worked with both Yaro and Gideon and love their integrity and business models. That’s enough proof for me but you might also find it comforting to know that hordes of people listen to these professionals.

Yaro Starak makes a very comfortable living from his blog and just launched a private coaching program. I’ve watched his business grow steadily over the past couple of years that I’ve been acquainted with him.

Most people cannot take advantage of his private coaching and so this is a great opportunity to learn from this blogging superstar without the heavy investment.

His partnership with Gideon Shalwick helped to leverage this essential information with clear, easy-to-follow presentation skills, and incorporating Gideon’s knowledge of social media and video.

This duo is a powerful partnership and they created a great environment for teaching others how to blog successfully.

So, if you have not downloaded the Become A Blogger Roadmap, you should do it now and read the report for yourself. It will open your eyes to opportunities you never thought possible.

By the way, there is some very time sensitive information inside The Roadmap To Become A Blogger report. If you wait too long before you get your copy, you may miss out on some very important opportunities.

Download the Become A Blogger Roadmap, or take advantage of the Become A Blogger Program.

Be sure to come back and let me know what your experience has been.

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When it comes to the Internet, Michelle has been around the block, so to speak. Today she is involved in white hat activities and can be found active in many social media venues.

You can hear her on Internet Marketing This Week and see her on videos helping out in the Thirty Day Challenge (a free program associated with Ed Dale).

While out on the Internet I’ve always liked how Michelle responded quickly to any questions and found value in the topics she presents–so I was excited when she made an offer to check out Crowd Mountain Bootcamp for only one dollar.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp is a sequential six week program on how to build a niche blog that works.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp doles the lessons in modules on a weekly basis and you have access to past recordings and to recorded discussions for members.

There are also monthly teleseminars for live Q&A’s with Michelle.

But let me get into the Crown Mountain Bootcamp program by Michelle MacPhearson and then tell you my final assessment.

Introduction

When you enter into the program, the first thing you view is the Introduction. I would have liked this Introduction to have been a little more in-depth with a link to a resource page for the questions about products or services.

Each module was broken down into sub-topics that include videos, workbooks, and homework.

What I liked is that Crowd Mountain goes into how to optimize with support tools, plug-ins and other short cuts.

Although I’ve studied with a few different blogging and niche marketing experts, this program was awesome due to the unique features it offers.

Personally, I do best in a format that includes a weekly module (or at least a guide) and scheduled tasks. This keeps me on target versus the types that let you go at your own pace.

In the Crowd Mountain Bootcamp program you can’t just skip ahead or get a glimpse into what is next because it is moderated according to your account.

As you progress you earn access to different tools designed to help you. These are proprietary tools so you won’t find them elsewhere.

There were a few things that I did not like such as the fact that my comments were moderated and weeks later were still in moderation mode–which did not allow me to get questions answered.

During my membership, Crowd Mountain Connect (similar to Twitter) was a nice addition for members to chat and share info. Using Crowd Mountain Connect worked better than the comments on the main area of Crowd Mountain Bootcamp.

I tend to like a forum option because I can commiserate with the other students and feel like I am part of a community. Crowd Mountain Connect was okay but it really didn’t do much for me.

Another thing that I didn’t like was that many of the plug-ins recommended did not work and there were no other suggestions listed. This was very frustrating as some of them had great potential to help on my sites.

The other weak point was that I didn’t like constant referrals to post my questions elsewhere outside of the modules. I would have rather been able to get an answer to my question then and there.

It might have worked better to disable the comments and put up a notice with the right area to post questions.

Finally, I hope she works on retention and directing students into another program or into staying longer by offering more tasks within Crowd Mountain.

Okay, now it is time to look at the module content…

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Module 1 Niche the Niche

The first module is basically how to get started in finding a niche and getting your niche blog up and running.

Idea Factory was about generating niche market ideas and qualifying them.

Money Factory taught how to find the hidden gems when it comes to keywords.

Keyword Research 1-3 involved identifying sub niches, working in niche markets, and how to work in a competitive market.

Domain Name Selection revealed where to get domain name ideas and what makes up a good domain name.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Module 2 Optimize for Size

The module was very valuable in that it taught how to set up your blog and optimize it with the best themes, plug-ins and other tools. Topics covered included:

• Intro & Objectives
• Install Wordpress
• On Page Factors
• LSI & You
• Latent Semantic Indexing=Other Keywords For You To Use!
• Wordpress Themes
• Get Yer Plugins!

The only real complaint I had here was that at least three of the recommended plug-ins did not work for my sites and there were no alternatives suggested–nor were there links to the plug-in development sites.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Module 3 Content Architecture

I already knew a lot of the information included in this module BUT what I found great were the tools and how to delve into the content architecture to form a more optimized blog.

This module gave me an “ah hah!” moment when some of the other information I already had connected with the understanding of how to best put things together—and some tools that I did not know about.

Essentially this module looks at the long tail of searching and learning about the niche and what content should be produced.

It talks about sites you can use (such as Google Reader) to find what type of content is in the top sites and just what questions people are asking in that niche.

One of the best tips here was how to use the Google Reader share option.

In addition, this module allows you to begin using the Crowd Mountain Snooper to look at competition and deeply into the niche.

Other topics in this module included how to find long tail keyword phrases, how to get the best titles out of content, the influence that other media has on ranking, and re-purposing content.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Module 4 Monetization

There are some people who are not familiar with the term, monetization. It means setting up your website or blog so that it makes money.

In this section all the elements that effect ranking are discussed but the gem is the hands-off monetization, how to find affiliate partners, and specialty link structures that will benefit your site.

I was thrilled to find the plug-in that automates affiliate links with multiple terms.

Additional topics include new visitor alert messages, Amazon stores, and email management via an auto responder.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Module 5 Search Engine Assault

Another “ah-hah!” for me was contained in the One RSS Feed to Rule Them All. I never really understood how to use Friend Feed and this section was a great revelation.

Crown Mountain shares sites where you can get photos and how to get the most mileage out of the content you do create. Awesome!

Other topics discussed included how to build niche links and finding trends while also assessing the competition…and:

• The Meat of Link Building
• Hands Off Niche Blog Links
• Become a Podcast
• Internal Linking

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Module 6 Power Networking

Michelle is a social media queen so this module had additional valuable tips and hints.

It covered Twitter, Twitter tools, video marketing, networking, connecting networks, and how to use Facebook and other social media sites so that they work for you.

She alerted me to a new resource I had no knowledge of and shared some insider secrets that would take ages to find without some help.

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp Tools

Finally, Crowd Mountain offers member access to some unique tools such as the Crowd Mountain Snooper and the Crowd Mountain Task Manager.

The Snooper helps you to find out more about a niche and keywords within it.

In the Task Manager Michelle assigns the tasks and you can keep track of where you are in the process. You can also set up your own task sheets.

Other Aspects of Crowd Mountain Bootcamp

There isn’t a lot of fluff in the content over in Crowd Mountain. It is quality content and tasks that are designed to get you going quickly and will keep you hopping.

At the end of each module you were to fill out the homework and listen to the Q&A for that particular section. This can keep anyone on task.

In addition, you could also submit your blog for review by Michelle. Alas, I left without this happening for me.

Another perk I forgot to mention is that optimized themes were posted each month for members to download and use.

Since my participation, Michelle MacPhearson has added more to the program. I’ve thought of contact tech support to see if I can resume but I have a lot on my plate and am in two other programs as I write this.

My Final Assessment of Crowd Mountain Bootcamp?

I really enjoyed Michelle MacPhearson’s Crowd Mountain. I learned a lot and still have to implement it on my other blogs (like this one)—which is part of my 2010 goals!

So, I recommend this program highly even though I was disappointed that Michelle MacPhearson disappeared during the last month of my participation. I had finished the course but opted to stay enrolled to see what was next or what new content would be presented.

It was quiet…

So the lack of communication, new content, etc., was the reason I stopped my subscription. I still don’t know what was up but she was away from her blog, her podcast, and her program.

In a month or so, Michelle emerged and things were hopping again.

So do I recommend Michelle MacPhearson’s Crowd Mountain?

Absolutely!

Crowd Mountain Bootcamp is worth the investment and time commitment.

The video tutorials, notes, and comments were valuable tools but it was the unique content, unique referrals, and insights that I found most vital.

Even if you have studied with other Internet bloggers or marketers, Crowd Mountain has some great content and I am sure Michelle MacPhearson will only add more to the mix as time goes on (she already has added Niche Trailheads).

Crowd Mountain is such a great program that I became an affiliate.

After reading my review, if you feel you could benefit (as I did) sign up for Michelle MacPhearson’s Crown Mountain Bootcamp program for $1 while it lasts.

I truly recommend Crowd Mountain and using my affiliate link above will support this blog and future reviews of other programs!

Update: February 18,2010: Michelle announced that she is closing the dollar trial this week and updating the content. Those who join now will be grandfathered in while future students will not have access to previous content.

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Dan Raine and Ed Dale have opened up the Immediate Edge for $1 trialfor two weeks and since the resources is not open for new members often AND is limited to how many people can be members–I’d suggest you take a quick gander to check it out during this opportunity.

I’ve been intending to blog about the Immediate Edgeso guess I’d better get going with that!

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I know I’ve been scarce but I have a review of another program to share along with a progress report on my projects…so stay tuned.

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Above: Screen Shot of NPC 2.0 Classroom Panel in late 2009

I previewed Niche Profits Classroom back in February 2009. Since that time it has changed.

If you are not familiar with Niche Profits Classroom 2.0 this program is for niche marketing which is different from blogging for expert status or about a particular topic to establish yourself as an expert.

This week Adam Short and Alen Sultanic offered a limited dollar special to come in and look for seven days–however they decided to reopen it again for two days–so if you are interested head over to NPC 2.0 now for the deal.

Basically, it teaches you how to set up profitable mini-sites to generate income over time.

Part of this is to develop one of your first products.

If my memory serves me, it was much easier to navigate the course back in February of 2009 and the responsiveness of customer support was great.

Now, there are more navigational aids than I like to have–and it is easy to get lost. But the content and course has been much improved since February.

Once inside it is a good idea to watch the NPC Roadmap, a video guide to the use of the NPC 2.0. This was a good addition because of the large expanse of the training center.

It is easy to get lost.

Having said that the layout is pretty clean.

One of the things I did not like was that there was an upsell that was not disclosed prior to joining (if it was I missed it).

So some of the areas are not accessible to standard members (and these have an * next to them).

However, standard members can buy some of the options should they want to.

NPC 2.0 includes:

Main Classroom

NPC Center
-Niche Profit Press
-Niche Profit Mastermind Webinars
-NPC Media Center
-Module X*
-Teleseminars & Interviews
-Read Made Niche businesses* (or upsell and every month *members get two free)
-Niche Profit Link Tracks* (or upsell)  they provide insight into sites that provide high PR backlinks
-Niche Profit Hot Markets*
-Niche Profit Hot List
–Reviews of products and services (only two posted on viewing)  and are things that have worked and given good results.

Software Suite Overview

-Niche Profit Leaders provide ongoing support, but members meet them in this Community Member List. NPLs are limited to ten people who are proficient in the areas being studied and selected from applications are submitted for the positions. Those selected moderate the forums and assist members.

Software

-Moneywords Keyword Tool (didn’t work for me and support didn’t get back to me until after I had left the program several days later).

-Market Scorecard (which helps define and locate markets that are worth pursuing)

-Market Profiler (an in-depth market research tool)

-Market Checklist (keeps track of your progress on each website you build)

-Sales Letter Wizard (awesome tool helps to create a sales letter in minutes)

Outsourcing*

Hosting (NPC 2.o allows you to host 15 domains with account)

T-Capsule (upsell for packages that you might have missed previously)

NPC Community (forum)

Partners (NPC 2.0 has a really nice affiliate center but I can’t access my account even with the password they sent me and support has not helped on this matter).

CP (where bucket management happens–a bucket is a storage area for research and tools.

Above: The Infamous Bucket Area

NPC 2.0 Course Modules
The course modules form the main area of NPC 2.0 and is where most of the daily learning takes place. (I am not listing everything since since only members should get the entire glimpse but this is a pretty comprehensive summary.)

Each module consists of an:
Introduction
Video Training
Resources
Action Steps

1-Introduction
Talks about Niche Marketing
Niche Marketing 2.0 Formula

2-Market Research
5 Core Attributes to a Golden Niche
6th is the passion you have for it
Brainstorming

Real World Market Research
Low to Medium Competition
Adequate Market Size
Long Term Potential
Good Target Audience (eager to buy)
Product Cost

3-Project Planning
Prospect Interests & Desires
Types of Info Products
Mind Mapping in 20 Minutes or Less
Do I have to Create My Own Product?

4-Graphics
Introductions to Templates & Graphics
Getting Templates Created
Sending Sample Graphics to Designer

5-Web Hosting
14 Part series by EarnersGuild.Com (which is a defunct website)
Registration
Hosting
What is it
Basic Hosting Terms
Different Hosting Levels

6-Domain Names
choosing and registering a domain name
12-14 total videos

7-On Site Articles
Articles & SEO
Life Force of the Internet
Money Word Matrix
Real World Keyword Research
Selecting Article Topics
Create Your Articles
Finding & Hiring Great Writers
ICA (Resources)

8-Project Creation
Pages for an Ebook
Royalty Free Images
Methods of Creation
Anatomy of a Good eBook
Creating an eBook
Hiring a Writer
Converting Finished Product

9-Auto Responders
Copyrighting
Web Site Building
Traffic Secrets
Profit Boosting
Bonus Training

10-Copywriting
Introduction to Copywriting
Creating Your Million Dollar Sales Letter
Outsourcing Copywriting

11-Web Site Building
Intro to Building Your Website
How to Build
Clickbank
Tracking Code
SEO
Selecting a Domain Name
Keyword Phrases
Keyword Research
Meta
Navigation
Internal Linking
Anchor Text
Image Links
Absolute & Relative Links
LSI
Keyword Density
Text Style
Real World SEO
Payment Processing

12-Traffic Secrets
Free Traffic for Life
Article Marketing Mastery
21 Day Traffic Blueprint
Set Up Your Affiliate Program
Day 22 & Beyond

13-Profit Boosting
Maximize List Value
Increase Traffic
Maximize Conversions Add Bonuses
Split Test
Gather & Add Testimonials
Expand Your Product Line Add Upsells
Add Back Ends

14-Bonus Training
Affiliate Cash Traps
Pre-Requisites
Choosing a Product
Affiliate Cash Traps SSM

Other Topics Covered:
Introduction to Email Marketing
Email Marketing 101
Action Steps to Maximizing List Profits
Add Traffic Channels
Intro to Bonuses
Creating Bonuses
Integrating Your Bonuses with your Website and Marketing
Split Testing
Introduction to Testimonials
The Testimonial Cruncher Method
Expand Your Product Line & Upsells
Add Back Ends

In addition there is a whole media center dedicated to specific topics.

Total videos claimed? 283

Okay, so what do I think?

If you are a beginner and want to target a specific niche as a business I think the NPC 2.0 program is an option.

My reasons for not joining:

1. that although I think it is a great value, I have other resources and people I am training under,
2. the glitches I encountered made me feel like I was one in too large of a group to receive timely answers and support when I needed them,
3. I also didn’t get answers when I emailed directly to the program email account as instructed, and
4. the program developers were not accessible as they are in other programs I am in/have been in, and
5. I don’t like giving up my credit card to systems that do not allow me to manage payments or termination of my account.

Now we all know that asking visitors to click over and over again is not a good thing and I was surprised that once inside I hated that I had to click, click, click.

There are a series of videos on each topic. Each is very short (which is good for some people) but after you click into the module then you have to click to load a video, then when that video stops you have to click again, and again, and again until the entire module is over…did I mention that you also have to also click the video to get it to play?

Plan on a minimum of three clicks to even get started. I tend to watch and listen while I am doing other mundane tasks so being attached to the computer was not something I appreciated.

Personally I would have preferred longer snippets or some sort of choice to view a longer video versus just clicking all the shorter ones.

I suspect this has to do with updates and changes being more easily done for the future but it keeps me at the computer instead of working on the things being outlined.

Another factor is that once inside each module, beyond the videos, there are more clickable options for Lesson Navigation–this means you click through to the Introduction, Video Training, Resources, and Action Step items.

If you are not paying attention you could miss this easily.

Videos are a bit annoying because if something stops them they reset to the beginning and I was unable to fast forward to the location where I was cut off.

However, you can pause and resume without a problem.

The other thing is that great topics are only available online in the center. I am used to training I can download and do offline–guess I am spoiled since I understand the reasoning behind the strategy–keeps people from snagging and disclosing.

A bonus to the program is that, every two weeks, the duo does online coaching and critiques for members.

Members sign up for the Webinar on the main page–but no registration on the webinar replay page–which I believe is an oversight.

I attend the webinar this week. It was a large event so things were a little glitchy but I was happy with the information. There was a lot of dead air that sometimes made me wonder if I was cut off or not. Eventually I just phoned in to listen.

My special interest was in the “hot seat” portion as I like to see real world examples of my classmates. Since the webinar went on for a while there were only a few.

Now, as I am right in the midst of preparing for a launch–I understand the glitches that happen–and my experience inside NPC 2.0 showed me just how important it is to attempt to avoid problems.

During this NPC 2.0 launch there were delays in getting a response from support and a few glitches–such as late delivery of a new product and the inability to use at least one of the software components–both of which I would have liked to have tested and was not able to.

But the slow response (and lack of response) from support was the biggest issue.

The upside to this program is that NPC 2.0 offers a lot of information for the money. It is a GREAT value if you want to learn proven techniques.

The program also empowers you by giving you two business packs a month to promote–everything you need (including the ebook) is provided. All you have to do is customize it.

Another great perk is the Niche Profits Press (now in a Pro Edition which I have not seen) which allows you to build niche profits sites with a ready made template that only needs customization.

They Money Matrix also helps you to determine just what niches and keywords would be of benefit to you in your niche.

Ultimately, for the monthly membership fee you really do get an amazing amount of resources, software, and support. When combined with the networking in the forums, the bi-weekly webinars, and other perks–despite what I thought were shortcomings–the program is a great value for anyone new to this type of online marketing and business.

Therefore I do recommend NPC 2.0 as a program for niche businesse novices.

If you are not sure, watch the Niche Profits Classroom 2.0 videos and opt-in for a while before you make your decision

If you join the affiliate program and manage to sell memberships you could certainly benefit and have those commissions pay for your course and more!

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If I could say anything about this project is that if anything could have gone, wrong it did!

More on that later…

One of my goals was to make the product profitable for affiliates AND more profitable for me.

This would accomplish two goals, it would help my affiliates drive traffic and sales while also increasing my profits over time—even if I decided to do a limited offer give away.

To accomplish this I hyperlinked to products and websites with traceable, analytic links so I could see which links would be most useful and popular.

One of the great tools out there now is Ninja Affiliate. This program allows you to create your website site specific affiliate links so they cannot be copied AND get you the affiliate referral credit.

After thinking about this more, I decided to include links to a couple of my social media profiles and my websites and created a fan page on Facebook (which was turned on live about a week before launch) and a Twitter identity just for this product.

In the ebook I developed an easily understandable concept for applying the strategies to address the problem and then outlined the content.

Things changed as I wrote but I put the final design work up for bid and submitted the manuscript to a few people for editorial comments and corrections.

There are a variety of professional freelance sites available out on the internet but I enjoyed the professionalism I found at eLance and so decided to use their services again.

The bids varied greatly and sorting through the portfolios was a daunting task. Bids ranged from as low as $50 up to $700.

Eventually I narrowed my choice down to three but finally decided on a provider that seemed to have the energy and extra personality that I was looking for at a midrange price.

Imagine my chagrin when she also asked for all the image files separately. It turns out that when images are placed into the Word program it alters their quality.

Yikes!

I had about 80 of them in a folder with lots of other images.

Disaster then struck…

Although I did extend the deadline for her, she announced a family emergency and that she was abandoning the project!

This does not sound too bad but it was a holiday weekend, I had just found two new competing titles, AND my second choice provider was unavailable, half my money was already paid out and the rest was tied up until the offices reopened almost a week later!

So, I hit the forums and located two professionals to help me. One who would design the mini site and another who volunteered to help me out AND gave me a great deal since I was already out of some money.

So, what can I recommend for anyone else working on a similar project?
I recommend naming the images according to the chapters and then the actual name of the image. You can also number them in addition to the chapter and name–but if you move them this becomes a nightmare.

Also, to help your graphics person, make an ordered list of the images in a text file under each chapter or section headers AND submit them in the order as they appear. If you can, set up a temporary account where your provider can access them online.

eLance has a message board where you can place all the files related to the project. (My new designer just had me email them over.)

Finally, make sure all the images were purchased, created by a hired graphics person, or were in the public domain to avoid any legal issues in the future.

The next phase of the project was to wait for design concepts to arrive and to begin working on the landing page and other requirements for the affiliate group I decided to work with…

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Some of you know that I have been working on getting my blog up to speed and also getting ready to launch a membership site.

At the moment I am currently recovering from the mad dash to get the finalized ebook (for profit product) ready for the marketplace.

The process has been long and daunting since, due to health challenges, I have limited energy and also limited resources when related to outsourcing.

I thought it might be useful to share a few of my experiences as I toddle down this road—many of my friends and colleagues have asked me to recount the experience so I thought it might be easy to do that here.

Foundation Programs
The outline on some of this process came from the Become a Blogger Premium (Gideon Sheldrick) and the Blog Mastermind and Membership Site Mastermind Programs (Yaro Starak).

Gideon’s videos are tutorials that actually assist people in the very basics of the process. I was beyond most of these but decided to do the premium program and was happy that I did since I actually found tips and hints that were very useful.

Although I was implementing the strategies as taught, things for me have been slower than for others.

Some of my fellow students in the programs stopped blogging or did not launch a membership site while others made it very big.

Me, I am plodding along and watching the income stream increase. My visitors and subscribers are steadily growing especially as I narrow my focus. Fluctuations tell me to readjust.

eBook Research

Although I have a free ebook product to entice subscribers, I also wanted to use my expertise to create a for profit product that was timely and of value.

The creation process took over six months. I began by researching keywords and traffic related to the topic.

I did this via Market Samurai and through Adam Short’s Niche Profit Classroom. I was surprised that my topic really had not been tackled yet and looked at a variety of keywords, potential competition, and decided that this project was certainly a good one.

Mapping Out the Plan

Next, I began to gather data and search for products and services related to the topic and mapped out a tentative topic outline using Free Mind software.

Finally I began to write the ebook and pondered how I could make it more useful and more profitable.

During this time an advisory on topic was released–not once but twice!

This made it timely but also very time critical to step up the release.

I’ll talk more about this next.

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Gideon Sheldrik’s Become A Blogger Premium 2.0

I wrote about Become A Blogger Premium late last year but have just  about completed the program and thought I would share some additional information.

My decision to write about this again is because enrollments started again today and the first coaching call is next week.

The program will not be reopened again in the near future so you have just a few days to decide if the program is for you.

It is also important to understand that this particular program is a great bargain and happens to be the most affordable blog training programs on the market.

Believe it or not, you can get professional online training with a monthly investment of less than a $50.

So, if you want to learn more about blogging and how to set up your blog–this is the course for you.

BUT it is important to know that the Become A Blogger Premium program is not for advanced bloggers.

I consider myself an intermediate blogger and didn’t think I needed the course since I had already done the Blog Mastermind Course with Yaro Starak but when I got the special offer–it was too good to turn down and honestly I am glad I enrolled.

The difference is that Become A Blogger Premium 2.0 is a video course that shows you how to do each step while also taking it to the next level with video and other techniques.

For me, it reiterated certain concepts and also introduced me to a few new resources I had not used before.

The entire course will currently deliver 60 video tutorial links right to your inbox.

If you are not sure, Gideon also has the free course, Become a Blogger that is also a great tool to get you started but the Premium is more in depth and empowers students with much more material than the ten introductory videos–and it won’t be available for long.

Here are the titles of the Become  a Blogger Premium’s Eight Modules:

Module 1: Get Your Blog Up And Running Fast And FREE
Module 2: How To Optimize Your Blog For Maximum Search Engine Performance
Module 3: How To Create Powerful Content For Your Blog, Consistently and Without Fail
Module 4: How To Use Images On Your Blog To Make You Stand Out From The Crowd
Module 5: How To Create A Different Dimension To Your Blog By Adding Audio
Module 6: How To Breathe Life Into Your Blog Using Online Video
Module 7: How To Create Multiple Streams of High Quality Traffic To Your Blog
Module 8: How To Make Money From Your Blog

The course also includes a number of bonuses such as

• How To Use The “X-Factor” Strategies To Put Your Blog into Super Drive (dispensed throughout the course),
• Ten part audio series on Mastering the Mindset,
• Access to the Become a Blogger Private Forums,
• Members only teleconferences.

When Become a Blogger Premium opened in late 2008 the fee was $77 a month and sold out quickly. The price has been reduced for a limited time only–$47 a month–but you only have 5 days to become a part of it.

There are two options:
1) You can either sign up on a month by month basis or
2) invest in it up front for the entire 6 months get a discount.

Here are some of the titles of the videos included in the Become a Blogger Premium course:

How to Get Banner Ads Onto Your Blog
How to Use Google Adsense On Your Blog
How To Create An Optin Box For Your Blog And Start Building Your List
How to Earn the Big Bucks with Your Blog
How to Monetize Your Blog with Direct Advertising
How to Monetize your Blog Using Affiliate Marketing part 1, 2,
How to Monetize your Blog: An Introduction
How to Optimize your blog for SEO (Detailed Instructions)
How to Install Google Analytics onto Your Blog
The Last Word on Traffic
44 Specialized SEO Strategies
Harder But More Effective Ways of Getting floods of Traffic
An Introduction of Getting Traffic
An Introduction to Traffic Generation
How to Make your Videos Clickable
How to Stream Live On your Blog
Killer Tips for Optimizing Your Blog
How to Get Your video Onto Your Blog
How to Edit your Videos Using Complimentary Software
How to Capture & Record Your First Video
How to Set Up Your Video Shooting Area
The Secret Formula for Creating Powerful Video Scripts
Video: Exactly What Kind Of Equipment You’ll Need For Creating Your Videos
X-Factor Video: Another Easy Way To Get Audio Onto Your Blog
Audio: The Lazy Way To Podcasting
How to Create Your First Podcast
Podcasting Secrets Revealed
How to Create a Twitter Profile that Makes Your Big Bucks & Drives Traffic to Your Blog
How to Do Professional Interviews for Your Blog
How to Stream Audio Straight from Your Blog
How to Create Your First Audio Recording for Your Blog
Why You need to Use Audio on Your Blog
How to Add Photos and Pictures to Your Blog
How to Edit Your Images for Your Blog
How to Create Authentic Content for Your Blog
Handy Writing Tips for Your Blog
How to Create Pillar content for Your Blog
Don’t be a Generalist-Find Your Focus
How to Set Up the Key Pages for Your Blog
Key Pages You Need to Set Up on Your Blog
How to Backup Your Blog 1, 2, 3,
How to Submit Your Sitemap to google.com
The XXX Plugin How to Install it
The XXX Plugin What it is and Why You Need It
The XXX Plugin How to Install It
The XXX Plugin What It Is and Whye You Need It
The XXX Plugin How to Install It
The XXX Plugin what it does and why you need it
XXX Plugin How to Install it
XXX What it is and why you need it
X Factor View An easy way to get audio onto your blog
The XXX Plugin and How to Install it
The XXX Plugin What it is and why you need it
X Factor Strategy Revealed
How to install the XXX Plugin

So, check out the Road Map to Becoming A Blogger report, and the ten videos at Become a Blogger to learn how to set up an optimized Word Press blog.

Don’t miss the video on rapid blog traffic growth, or the seven YouTube marketing tips, and if you like these resources you’ll really enjoy the Become A Blogger Premium 2.0 course.

Now, the other surprise for anyone who does sign up for this course–Yaro is offering a special package that includes Blog Mastermind AND Become A Blogger. Be sure to take advantage of this offer this week since it is a great deal.

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