Hey Everyone,

Last week I received 3 requests from Rick Byrd, Samith Pich and Simon Croft.

The request was to reveal how I create or make ebook ecovers.

The reason these requests arose was because in my last blog post, which you can see here, I mentioned that I create my own ecovers.

Should have kept my big mouth shut, ultimately I created more work for myself.

And god knows I don’t need anymore work, I have enough already.

Sometimes I feel like I am working two full time jobs, one offline and one online.

So anyway enough of my moaning…

Basically I create my own ebook ecovers, rather than pay an ebook ecover designer $17 a pop.

Now I know I should probably not be doing my own ecovers.

But I actually like creating ecovers.

And I don’t think 5 minutes of my time is a massive waste to be honest.

Plus If I ever need mini site graphics, or banners I pay to get them designed.

Now as you know I am always happy to help out a fellow blogger or Internet Marketer when I can, so I have just finished creating a free video showing:

• The software I use.

• The scripts I use and where you can get them.

• How much the scripts cost.

• And the exact steps I take to create an ecover in under 5 minutes.

Now, before you all start screaming the video is 16 minutes long not 5 minutes.

Let me explain…

It took more time to make the cd ecover because I was going slow in order that even Photoshop beginners could follow along.

I think the process of ebook ecover design is pretty simple and I hope you see that too from my video for you.

Easy as 1,2,3…

And I promise I am not a photoshop expert.

So there is no reason anyone else can’t do it if I can.

Like I said before, you could of course outsource your ebook ecover design and most probably should.

But when cash is not readily available, it’s good to be able to whip up a few nice ecover designs yourself.

Anyway, you can watch the video below, I hope you find it useful.

Note: A Larger Version Of The Video May Be Watched here.

Important Links…

In the video I mentioned that I would provide the following links:

Adobe Photoshop – Get A 30 day free trial here

Ebook Ecover ATN Scripts – Get Them Here

If you have any questions or comments simply leave them below.

Speak soon, Sally

Hey Everyone,

Quick update on what I done with my David Walker interview.

All I seem to do is quick updates lately!!!

Ok, so my interview with David..

If you don’t have a clue what I am on about, read this post

Sally’s First Interview with David Walker

That was my very first interview I ever done.

After I done the interview, I really didn’t have a clue what to do next.

Alex Jeffreys To Save The Day…

Although Alex was impressed with my interview, he even showed my blog post live on a student coaching call, he felt I was not monetizing the interview correctly.

Which I wasn’t, so he gave me a few tips.

I of course take everything Alex tells me as gospel…

Bonus Page…

First Alex told me to get a special discount or bonus to offer people who listened to the interview.

This would allow me to get a great deal for my subscribers and also make me some affiliate commissions at the same time.

So after twisting David’s arm up his back  he relented and gave me a special discount.

(I didn’t really have to do that, he was more than happy to allow me to offer a discount)

The bonus David gave me, allowed my subscribers access to his Blog Not Slog Breakthrough product at a fraction of the original cost.

You can see my special bonus page here: Blog Not Slog Bonus Page

Pretty cool I thought, so big thanks to David for allowing me to offer that.

His blogging course is amazing, I am currently working my way through it myself.

Get The Interview Transcribed…

Next Alex suggested I get the interview transcribed.

This would allow people the option to download a pdf of the interview.

Not everyone likes to listen to interviews so an ebook type report may be a preferred choice.

So my search for a transcriber online began…

After asking around a few fellow marketers with no real leads to a CHEAP transcriber, a fellow AJ student (Glyn Lafferty) suggested I try looking in the Warrior Forum.

Bingo!

This is where I found the lovely Kimberly from Fingers4HireTranscription.Com.

Kimberly transcribed the entire interview, which is just over 30 minutes long, for only $28.50.

Bargain of the century that was as I was originally quoted over $100.

Kimberly’s transcription rates are charged per minute ie. the length of the mp3, not a set rate, which is great.

She had my interview transcribed overnight and sent back to me in a word document format in under 24 hours.

Kimberly was fabulous and I highly recommend her, if you need a transcription service, at a low cost, just visit her site and tell her I sent you.

I believe Kimberly also transcribes videos too, so always good if you want a text version of a video tutorial you have created etc.

Then I simply used the free software Open Office to convert it to pdf.

Few Final Add On’s

Before I converted the word document to pdf…

I whipped up a quick cd cover image, I am not paying someone $17 when I can do it in 5 mins!

I added a little personal intro about myself into the report, with a link back to my blog for some traffic.

I also added my special bonus link in the header and footer, to hopefully make more sales.

Wrote a quick few lines saying the ebook can be sold or given away for free, to encourage it to go viral.

Put my special bonus link at the end of the interview content, again maybe make more sales.

Then I simply exported the document to pdf and I was done.

Almost…

The next thing I done was search around for a free brandable ebook.

An ebook I was allowed to give away for free, that would include my affiliate link to a product(s).

Found a great one over at Lee McIntyres Affiliate area.

So I downloaded the brandable ebook package and used the brander to add my affiliate links inside.

Then I added that branded bonus ebook into the zip file alongside my Interview Ebook.

Done(?)

You can download the zip file on my interview page here:

Sally Neill Interviews

Inside the folder you will see the ebook I created from the interview with David, and the bonus ebook that contains my affiliate links.

A pretty simple process really, but it was rather time consuming.

Just thought I would let you all know what I done, in case you are interviewing people and want to monetize your own interviews.

The process is still not completely finished, next I intend to…

Set up a squeeze page to collect emails for the interview/pdf download

AND

I am also considering submitting the pdf to the many hundreds of free ebook sites out there too.

No rest for the wicked!

Will be sure to post when I have completed the last final steps.

As always, if you have any questions, just pop them in a comment below…

Catch you all soon, Sally

Note: The payment button on the bonus page may be de-activated right now, or redirect to another link, as David is currently moving blog not slog breakthrough over to a monthly paid membership.

Hey Everyone,

Really short post, I am super busy with a ton of stuff but wanted to quickly mention this…

You may or may not remember that wayyyyyy back on Tuesday 12th May I wrote this post:

In It To Win It Blog Post

Basically, I had been on one of my Marketing With Alex Jeffreys student coaching calls.

We had been informed on the call that there would a competition…

To win, you had to get the most traffic to your blog over a 4 week period.

Well…. you will never guess what, I WON IT!

How cool !

I didn’t even know I had won.

I have not been on skype or the coaching forum for a few days as I am just back from a weekend in Liverpool.

PLUS I am trying to get everything sorted for my holiday to Gran Canaria this Saturday with my Mum and Jade.

Glyn Lafferty, one of my fellow students sent me an email congratulating me.

And I was like, what’s he on about???

So I hopped over to the forum and sure enough Glyn was right, I seen that I won.

Ecstatic is an understatement!

I was literally over the moon, buzzing yet again.

If you know me at all, you will know who I phoned…my Mum.

She actually thought I won $2000 cash ha ha, awww bless her.

But I explained it’s wayyyyy better than winning $2000 cash.

I will get a shiny new blog redesign and my own profit pulling platform.

In time, that will generate me much more than $2000.

Where did my traffic come from?

If you want to see my traffic results read this previous post here:

My Final Blog Traffic Stats Post

On the above blog post is a video named “Sally’s Secret Sauce Traffic Blogs“.

That video details the 10 blogs that sent my blogs the most traffic, so if you need traffic, visit those blogs.

Coaching Update…

This time around, working online has been such a steep learning curve.

I am completely out of my comfort zone, and feel like a newbie again.

I could never have imagined how much I would learn in such a short space of time.

But what I can say is that everything Alex has taught me so far is working a treat.

I am getting really encouraging signs that I will make a ton of money online.

If you are losing faith, please don’t, I have lost faith many times since starting this coaching.

But I stuck at it, and you need to do the same.

Keep working away, implement what Alex is teaching, and results WILL come for you.

Personal Update

I am currently writing a free ebook on my favorite wordpress plugins, which is taking longer than expected.

And I am soon to do my first interview with David Taylor.

He practically blackmailed me into doing it!

Because he asked so nicely, is a fellow student AND a fellow Scot, I felt I couldn’t say no.

Hopefully, I can share some good tips on the interview from what I have learned so far.

I am also writing a couple of testimonials for some products I was lucky to be given free access too.

PLUS I am trying to pack my suitcase for my holiday to gran canaria!

Who ever said they only work 2 hours online must be HAVING A LAUGH!!!

Well that’s all for now.

I don’t know when I get my new blog, but I will be sure to let you know when I do.

I will miss my little plain jane blog, it served me well.

BUT it just goes to show you don’t need a beautiful high tech blog, with all the bells and whistles to get a ton of traffic to it.

Plain blogs get traffic too.

Speak soon, Sally

ps. I will be sure to let you all know the exact methods I used to get traffic to my blog, so you can use them for your own blog.

Hey Everyone,

This blog post is just a quick update on what I have been doing.

AND ME MOANING AS PER USUAL…

I have officially retired from blog hopping… for now.

Shock, horror right?

I know, I know.

But I really need to concentrate my efforts elsewhere for now.

It’s kinda sad, I loved my blog hopping…

But needs must, and I need to focus elsewhere.

So this week (I have a week off work) I have been writing my first ebook.

See the nice shiny image above?

That’s my ecover, the ebook is not written yet…

I am happy to sit and design an ecover, but writing an ebook,  that’s another story…

Most people will think I love to write, and I do, but NOT to a deadline.

I DONT LIKE WRITING!

There, I admitted it.

I write when I want to, period.

I hate knowing I have to write blog posts, articles, squidoo lenses etc etc,

Seriously I do.

I have little bursts of writing and when held to a deadline, I cringe, hit writers block and can’t seem to write a single word.

BUT…

I will say a BIG THANKS to Jaycee of JanetChandler.com for kicking my butt into gear.

Yep, BUT v’s BUTT

When a fellow student, kicks your BUTT, you forget the other BUT.

You see, after a quick skype chat we made a deal.

To get our first ebooks written.

She already sneaked one out, the witch ha ha.

Grab a copy here : Internet Millionaires Summit – Revealed

At the beginning of the coaching with Alex we were set another challenge…

Do you remember?

The list building one, not the traffic one…

Well we were set a list building task too, and I bet you are not doing it.

But someone else is…

Nathan Rufus.

No seriously, we all have to be creating products and  building a list.

Nathan set himself a challenge on list building, and I think we should all accept it.

Read his post here: Nathan Rufus: The 60 Day List Building Challenge

Ok, so we wont get a $2000 blog redesign, but hey, we might just get a 2k list.

I have accepted Nathan’s challenge and I hope you all do too.

When I started this coaching with Alex Jeffreys I never really realized the impact the other students would have upon me, it’s really quite strange.

But it has had a massive effect on me.

I was not quite sure what I would “get” from my coaching with Alex, and I guess, silly me, I still kinda expected everything to be handed to me on a plate.

But it wasn’t.

It has finally sunk in, that if I want to find success online, I have to do some work.

Dammit!

When is this magic product or system coming!!!

NEVER!

We all know that by now right?

There is no magic solution.

No magic button we can push.

Plain hard work will give us everything we desire.

Well the hard work will have to wait….

This weekend I am off to Liverpool wih my friends to drink a ton of beer.

Next weekend I am jetting off to Gran Canaria with my Mum and Jade.

So hard work will have to wait I am afraid.

But, there is always a BUT right???

It doesn’t matter.

I need some “me” time right now.

I watched two videos that made me realize it’s actually ok to have a break and enjoy yourself.

Students of Alex can remember back to him telling us, breaks are important.

My own blog logo says “Burn Brightly Without Burning Out”.

I believe that.

Don’t sit, spending hour after hour, in front of your pc.

Take a break and enjoy life.

All this money making stuff will still be here when you come back.

If you have some spare time right now,  watch the two videos that made me have a re-think, just follow these links…

Rob – Really Important But Often Overlooked

Nicky – I can’t do this…

I wont be blogging until my return, don’t miss me too much,

Speak Soon, Sally

ps. Please tell the mosquitoes to leave me alone, I am sick of them biting me!

Hey Folks,

I am just off a skype call to my newest buddy, Jaycee of JanetChandler.Com.

Now I know I should be writing blog posts about my time spent at the Internet Millionaires summit but…

Jaycee is writing it all up in a report so I figured it would be kinda silly me doing the same thing right?

My Notes Were Full Of Doodles Anyway…

Plus I am sure her notes are wayyyyyy better than mine, I am a terrible doodler, especially when my mind starts to wander and I am not concentrating properly.

And for some weird reason I am obsessed with signing my own name and over and over again, not quite sure why?

Maybe I am imagining signing all those big cheques for when the cash is pouring into my bank account???

Anyway, I am leaving the Millionaire Secrets Summit update in the very capable hands of Jaycee, as I know she will do a top job.

There were many great speakers at the Summit, but my favorite was…

Mili Ponce

If you don’t know Mili she is the Social Media Marketing Queen.

Mili only went to her first Internet Marketing Seminar because a guy she fancied had a spare ticket and asked her to go with him.

She only went to her second seminar because her advances towards that guy didn’t work first time round!

That made me laugh!

I bet she is super glad she went now though.

Mili is currently making a ton of money online, after starting out with just a Twitter account which made her $500 in 16 days.

I was very impressed with her presentation, she shared a ton of top information for free.

She actually inspired me so much, that I took action and started a little hobby niche project on the side, so hopefully it brings in the cash.

I will keep you updated on that and if it works I will detail all the steps I took in a report for you to duplicate yourself.

As I don’t have a lot of time to spare right now, I shall only be dedicating a short amount of time on it, but as it is mostly on auto-pilot it should not be too hard to manage.

The automation was the attraction for me, I love the lazy ways to do things.

I know Jaycee will be speaking about Mili’s social media marketing methods in her ebook, so be sure to read it.

And if social media interests you, then you can download some of Mili’s free reports here:

http://www.socialmediaexperts4u.com/

Before Mili began her presentation, we were shown this video…

In case you couldn’t watch the video,  here is a quick recap of some of the main points…

• Over 50% Of The World’s Population is UNDER 30 years old.

• 96% of Millennials have joined a social network.

• Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.

• Social Media has overtaken PORNOGRAPHY as the No1 activity on the Web.

This is the amount of time it took the following to reach 50 million users…

• Radio – 38 years

• TV – 13 years

• Internet – 4 years

• Ipod – 3 years

Facebook hit 200 million users in under 1 year.

Wow, that’s amazing don’t you think?

I know most of my friends are facebook addicts, but I wonder, would it really work as a method of marketing your online business?

There is also quote in the video…

We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media… the questions is how well we DO it… “Eric Qualman”.

So I was wondering…

Are you currently using social media for marketing your online business?

Or do you think Social Media is a fad and a waste of time???

Sally

ps. In the video it says that some Universities have stopped issuing email accounts and are now giving out Ipads…. If you know which ones they are, please let me know, I am dying to get my hands on an Ipad!

The busy beaver returns…

Well, that’s me back home from my Internet Millionaires Summit in London this weekend.

From the 18th – 20th June I have been rubbing shoulders with some of the wealthiest marketers online.

Sadly, I couldn’t have rubbed hard enough as I returned with less money than I started with!

It was possibly the best 3 days I have had in a long time, packed with so much learning and fun, I liked the fun part more to be honest.

Now, whilst I would love to squeeze 3 days of my adventures into 1 blog post, I can’t.

There is just too much to tell you…

So I shall break it down into 3 parts, and post all about my weekend that way.

I have notes written down in a word document, from each day I attended the event, I also have a few photos and stories to share, so hopefully you enjoy them.

Super Slamming Tips…

I also have some super slamming tips that the “gurus” revealed to the audience in their presentations so I shall be revealing them too.

This is just a super quick post to let everyone know the busy beaver is back and is buried under a ton of emails and currently chewing her way out.

If you emailed me, and I have not replied yet, I promise I am trying to reply to all of them as quick as I can.

Why Is Sally A Busy Beaver?

In case you don’t know why I got the nickname of “Busy Beaver” (which I initially hated with a passion I may add) let me tell you a quick story…

As part of my Alex Jeffreys student training, I had to get as much traffic to my blog over a period of 4 weeks, I was blog hopping all over the internet and my comments were appearing on blogs all over the world.

I was even accused of blog hopping in my sleep ha ha.

If you would like to read more about my blog hopping antics and see the methods I used, plus how much traffic I got visit my Traffic Tips Category.

Anyway, in the forum Igor Griffiths said “Oh, it’s Sally again the busy beaver”.

I replied how rude and stated quite clearly, but in a fun way, I did not want my nickname to be the busy beaver.

I am just not a fan of the word beaver, can’t imagine why can you?

Probably has something to do with a Lesley Nielsen movie I watched a long time ago…

Can’t remember the title, think it was Naked Gun.

Anyway, he says to Priscilla Presley, nice beaver when she is up a ladder, in a short skirt, in a library.

She thanks him and hands down a stuffed beaver to him.

However, I suspect this was a bit of a tongue n cheek joke!

Hence the reason I do not want to be known as the busy beaver.

But when I met Cliff Truss at the Internet Millionaire Summit, he said something like “oh yeah, Sally the Busy Beaver”.

TUT!

So as I seem to be lumbered with this nickname I decided to embrace it and find a photo of a busy beaver and stick it on my blog post.

I don’t need a cool nickname to be a success online right???

As you will no doubt know, I am student of the wonderful and lovely Alex Jeffreys, whom I met at the weekend as you can see from the image below.

In the bar, Alex was telling me he likes reading my blog, and I said “yeah, that’s only because half the time I am writing about you in it!”

So if you want Alex to read your blog…. just write lots of nice lovely stuff about him ha ha.

Actually I do recall someone saying in a training session that the quickest way to get a guru to notice you online is blog about them.

Another surefire way to get their attention is get a ton of affiliate sales for their products too.

Rambling again sorryyyyyy….

Right, have a ton of emails to read so need to type quicker, in between sneezing and coughing as I caught a filthy cold at the Summit.

Can you believe London was actually COLDER than Glasgow!

I don’t mind the crap weather, as I had a fab weekend anyway…

Alex was lovely as always, was really nice to see him again.

All of the students were thrilled to meet him, as were many of the attendees of the summit, he is a millionaire mentor after all.

Alex Jeffreys Quitting The UK…

Sadly, Alex is quitting the UK for pastures new and moving to the USA in 5 or so weeks.

But he can’t get away from us that easily, and we shall hopefully see him at his event in Las Vegas.

Better start saving if I want to attend it, and I totally want to go and hope all the other students go too.

Speaking of Alex Jeffreys students…

I have quite a few photos from the Internet Millionaire summit, with quite a few of my fellow AJ students.

It was so so soooooooooo nice to meet them all and really did make the weekend worthwhile for me, they are such a nice bunch of people whom I am proud to call my friends.

Right, gotta flyyyyy….

Will write up my 3 blogs posts as soon as I can, will share my photos and all that lovely knowledge I learned too.

Speak Soon, Sally

Just a quick update about what happened after my interview with David Walker.

Basically Alex showed this blog post live on one of the Alex Jeffreys Student coaching calls.

A very proud moment for me!

I would love to say I got nothing but praise for the interview I done, but I didn’t…

It was tainted a little by some mistakes, or marketing potential I had failed to cash in on.

As well all know, life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows unfortunately!

There was quite a few important points Alex raised.

I guess that’s why Alex is the coach and I am the student.

Alex probably knows Internet Marketing better than the back of his hand.

Sometimes I wish I could just get a usb stick that contained all of Alex’s knowledge, and plug it directly into my brain and download it all at once.

My brain would probably explode with information overload though!

But sadly, there is no magic Alex Jeffreys usb stick.

I am just going to have to learn everything the good old fashioned way, learning over time, as one of his students.

Ok, back to my interview…

Alex nicely pointed out a few areas I had missed out on, I say nicely because he wasn’t shouting at me, was just trying to gently nudge me into the right direction..

Alex showed me that I was missing out on a few things , mainly monetization and list building potential.

To be honest I never really thought about these areas when I done the interview with David.

Sometimes I can’t see the wood for the trees!

One of the suggestions Alex made was to suggest that rather than me providing direct access to the interview, I could have posted a link to a squeeze page.

When a person read the blog post and was interested in the interview, they would visit the squeeze page.

On the squeeze page I could collect their email address and then provide a download link.

Super duper recommendation, which I will implement asap.

The next point Alex made was to suggest using the power of a one time offer.

Such an obvious idea!

But I never thought about doing that.

I could have kicked myself because I know about the huge earning potential of one time offers.

Basically a one time offer, is an offer made to a person immediately after they sign up.

For anyone who thinks one time offers don’t work, trust me they do.

I used them many times in my previous online business and they worked a treat!

When I first started list building I was not taking advantage of one time offers.

I was simply collecting subscribers emails and then they would receive emails sequentially from Aweber.

Way back in 2007 I stumbled up OTO Goldmine.

A site that basically helped people with nothing to offer, to set up an OTO using their products.

That was a major turning point in making money online for me.

I think the 3rd subscriber that signed up, after I started using OTO Goldmine, bought the ebook package at $37.

Possibly the easiest money I ever made online was from using that software, sales just rolled in.

However, whilst it was good to be earning money, I quickly realized setting up my own one time offer, with my own products would be much better for me.

The reason I needed my own one time offer was because although the packages I could use at OTO Goldmine were great, they were not specifically targeted to my audience.

If I could create a highly relevant package of ebooks for my audience and offer it as an OTO I knew I would make more sales.

Right Offer, Right People, Right Time…

All I had to do was get the right offer, in front of the right people, at the right time and I would make sales.

So I set up a package of ebooks, all containing MY links inside them, then sold them (with master resell rights) as a One Time Offer to subscribers after they signed up.

Now I did not personally write those ebooks.

I used FREE Private Label Rights ebooks.

I downloaded some free private label rights ebooks and just basically stuck my website name in the header and footer, plus put a small line of text at the beginning of each ebook saying “This Ebook Was Brought To You By Sallys-Ebooks”.

As each person bought the package three  things happened…

1. I built a list of buyers.

2. They would resell the ebooks they bought that contained MY links.

3. I got a ton of traffic.

That’s when I started to notice a BIG surge in traffic to the sites the ebooks linked to.

The ebooks would then be bought by other people who would resell them online and on eBay so basically my ebooks hit a viral ebook explosion!

Once an ebook goes viral you really do hit the traffic and commissions jackpot.

Now if you think that’s the end of it, it’s not…

People quickly realized what I was doing, and they would contact me to ask how they could get THEIR links inside the ebooks.

Again I could make money from this.

I simply told them I had got the private label rights ebooks for free here.

They would go sign up for the free plr ebooks, and then get offered an OTO of an upgraded membership.

Brilliant or what!

If they took the offer, can you guess what happened?

Yep.

I got an affiliate commission.

Easy Money Again.

That was when the easy money started to roll in basically all on autopilot.

The viral ebook explosion had begun…

I amended all the ebooks in my one time offer package.

Instead of just saying “brought to you by Sallys-Ebooks” there was now an additional line of text that said “get your links inside this ebook” with my affiliate link.

As the ebooks went viral again, my commissions jumped through the roof.

Implement One Time Offers Into Your Online Business

I hope you can see the potential a one time offer can have for your business and why Alex’s simple suggestion reminded me that oto’s are a vital part of any online business.

Remember to think about the whole picture.

Don’t just think about getting that first sale.

Concentrate on your back end, what will happen AFTER that one time offer.

Think about how you can use every part of your one time offer to work for you on auto pilot.

Remember Alex tells us constantly …. planning is crucial!

Don’t rush off and create a product.

Create your profit pulling plan FIRST.

I hope you found this blog post useful and that it helps you in your quest for online success.

Sally

ps. I have obviously taken the advice Alex Jeffreys gave me and I am going to run with it, so I will keep you updated on how I create a one time offer and how it works out for me.

Hey Everyone,

Just a quick blog post and a video.

I am super excited as this weekend I am off to London to attend the Internet Millionaires Summit, so if you are going please come say “Hi” to me.

When I reserved my ticket I was not aware quite a few of my Marketing With Alex 3.0 students would be going AND Alex Jeffreys himself will be going too, which is brilliant.

Over the past weeks I have been visiting many of my fellow students blogs and to meet some of the them in the flesh is really exciting.

I already feel like I know so many of them so well from reading their blogs, emailing and chatting to them on skype.

Pete Carr, has got us some Alex Jeffreys student t-shirts printed, so we are all going to wear them and get a group photo taken, I will be sure to a copy on my blog when I come back.

Should be fun anyway so I am looking forward to it.

Been a kinda strange week for me this week, I tend to have highs and lows as I do this coaching.

The highs this week…

I was on a high after Alex showed my David Walker interview blog post live on a coaching call.

Initially I was a little scared when I seen my blog live on the call, I thought oh oh… I have done something wrong and Alex is gonna kick my butt!

But luckily it was all praise so I was really pleased.

It’s nice to get praise from Alex, after all he is my mentor and coach.

The lows this week…

Not sure why I feel low sometimes, I think because everything is moving at such a fast pace I sometimes worry I can’t keep it up.

I have literally felt like I have hit the ground running and don’t have time to catch my breath!

At least the $2000 blog redesign traffic competition is over and I can go back to following my to do list and moving everything forward again.

Alex told us that our blogs should be “our story” like an online journal.

I remember Alex telling us to visit Dean Holland’s blog and read through all his posts and see how Dean became such a success.

Thinking about this, I wondered if my blog truly tells the story of my journey online so far.

And yes, I think it does so far.

I have learned how to :

• Plan for tomorrow today, using brain dumps and to do lists.

• How to generate traffic to my blog.

• Do my own video tutorials about blogging.

• Build relationships and friendships online.

• and I went from being a nervous wreck on live on calls to doing my first interview.

And each time I have blogged about it, so my blog is certainly my journal.

I hope my fellow AJ students are also documenting their progress through their blogs or there will be trouble!!!

I think Alex was right, it’s always good to be able to reference back to certain landmark points of your online journey.

I am still enjoying my coaching very much, I think it will be the turning point in my quest for success and I am truly glad I have the opportunity to be coached by Alex.

Before I sign off…

I have done a video about the secret sauce top ten blogs that sent me the most traffic to my blog over the past four weeks.

Just a little way to say thanks to those blog authors and give them a shout out.

The 10 blogs sent me lots of traffic, so grab a pen, jot down their url’s and be sure to visit them.

My daughter Jade helped me out, I promise I did not force her!

She wanted to help, she hates when Mummy does something she is not involved in.

Catch you all soon, Sally

Ps. Here is the video, with a list of the blogs that sent me the most traffic…

NOTE: If you would like to join me at MoreMonthly, you can get a $1 trial here, with your access you get a private members forum, free resell rights ebooks, free plr ebooks, free audio, free software, free graphics and much more, all updated every month, best money I ever spent.

*** UPDATE ***

After I recorded the video, in hindsight I thought I should have done 10 down to 1, rather than reveal the blog that sent me the most traffic first, would maybe have made the video more sticky, and had people watch right through to the end.

*** ANOTHER UPDATE ***

Keep getting questions about the plugin I used for the video, it’s here:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/word-press-flow-player/

A few of you may have noticed I have been quiet for the past couple of days.

Wouldn’t say they have been my most productive of days online, but hey ho.

But I did finally get to interview David Walker.

My very first interview ever, woohoo!

I was buzzing after I done it, straight on the phone to my Mum too ha ha.

My mum was very proud of me, she knew how much of a nervous wreck I had been about this interview and she was almost as excited as me that I had finally done it.

Was it as nerve wracking as I imagined?

No, it was not that bad, actually even enjoyed it a bit!

David was lovely, very patient and he is a top guy in my eyes, after my nerves settled I actually enjoyed the interview and even had a little laugh at some points throughout it.

So who is David Walker?

If you don’t know David Walker, he is a full time Internet Marketer, professional blogger and lover of Cardiff City Football Club!

He recently ran his own Joint Venture Giveaway themed around his 30th Birthday which generated him 3000 subscribers in just under 2 weeks, outstanding I say!

So I wanted to try and discover a bit about David’s background, failings and successes and maybe sneak a few tips from him for us.

The interview is added below for you to listen (it’s about 30 minutes long):

One last thing, in the interview I mention David’s prequel ebook “Blog Not Slog” you can get your free copy by clicking here.

Sally’s Skype Interview Survival Guide…

If you are considering interviewing someone just now or in the near future I detailed everything I went through below:

1. Essential Kit and Artillery

Ok, there are some components you will need before you can interview an expert, here are the ones I used:

First thing I needed was Skype.

Skype is a free software application that allows you to make voice calls over the internet, it also has instant messaging chat and video calls.

Calls to other skype users are free, calls to landline telephones and mobile phones require a fee.

Next I needed a microphone headset.

You need a headset with a microphone, so you can talk and listen obviously.

I just got a reasonably cheap USB one from online, now I would say my cheap one does not have the best sound quality so if you can, get a good one if you intend on using it lots.

Skype Call Recording Software

Next I needed software to record the calls I made on Skype.

For this I used Pamela for Skype.

There are lots of free software out there, but I opted for Pamela because it has lots of great features and functions.

You can get a free 30 day trial of Pamela, but I am not sure how long you can record a call for using just the free trial.

2. Get Your Target In Your Sights

Now obviously, if you intend to interview an expert you need to find someone willing to let you interview them and pump them for as much information as possible.

This was kinda hard for me, I was not sure who or how to approach an “expert”.

So I looked around in coaching forum area for advice.

I seen two previous Alex Jeffreys students who have found great success online, so they were my target.

I sent them a private message along the lines of this…

Hiya, my name is Sally, I would like to start interviewing some experts but I don’t really know how to approach them, can you please give me some tips or advice?

Both David Walker and Marcus Passey replied with the same sort of advice and an offer to interview them.

I genuinely did not think they would offer to let me interview them, so that was really cool!

Being a coaching student of Alex Jeffreys helped me greatly in this task, but I am quite confident I could get other experts away from the safety net of the coaching forum now.

The advice they both gave was not to feel intimated or scared of gurus/experts, to remember they are just normal people.

I would say that I didn’t message David or Marcus right off the bat, I had actually visited their blogs and left a few comments to introduce myself a little first.

Remember most blog authors approve their comments themselves, so it’s a good chance they will remember you if you are regularly commenting on their blog, I remember the people who regularly comment on my blog.

You need to know the person you are interviewing, do a background check on them so to speak.

Read their blogs.

Read any ebooks they have written.

Watch their videos.

Subscribe to their mailing list / newsletter.

Basically become their shadow and learn everything you can about them beforehand.

Ok so now I had my target in sight it was time to move on…

3. Mission Objectives

I had to decide what my objective would be for the interview.

The main objective was to pump the expert for some super duper marketing tips obviously.

But I also wanted to reward the person allowing me to interview them too.

I had to gather some links for any products they had and remember to mention them in the interview.

Mentioning their blog or site is the least you can do as they are allocating their personal time for free after all.

Now I have never interviewed anyone in my life, so it was all kinda new to me, I wasn’t quite sure what I should ask etc etc, but I think the more I do it, the better I shall get.

So for those of you out there, scared like me, there is light at the end of the tunnel I promise.

Just remember practice makes perfect.

4. Planned Precision

Your interview should be planned to precision.

I am not saying you plan out your whole day like:

0800 hours: shower

0830 hours: brush teeth

0900 hours: breakfast

But you need to plan every detail of your interview.

You have to try and be as flexible as possible with the person you intend to interview.

You need to work around their schedule not yours.

Of course there will be some come and go, but essentially try to let them decide the time.

You need to compose a set of questions to ask.

Really, I think questions will vary depending on who your interview, so I wouldn’t say there is a generic set your could use.

I wrote out my questions and sent them to David prior to the interview.

What rights will be attached to the interview?

David and I agreed on joint rights, meaning we can both use the interview how we please.

Who will record the interview?

You?

Them?

Decide before you start.

These might seem like petty details, but they need to be established before the interview.

Planning is key.

5. Search And Destroy All Distractions

Distractions must be eliminated before the interview.

Seriously, go around the room you intend to use for the interview call and get anything out that can potentially disrupt your interview.

Get kids and pets out of the room.

You don’t want to be live on a call and have your child running in screaming “Mummy, Mummy”.

I had to move Jade’s Guinea Pig (Rose) into the other room while I made the call, it’s a noisy little thing!

Turn off all phones, that means your house phone and your mobile phone.

Set skype status to busy, so you don’t get any distractions from that either.

Plan ahead and try to avoid all of these distractions.

Now I am not saying all plans will run smoothly, they didn’t for my interview with David.

He was busy, I was busy.

Finally we got a time set, but there was a booby trap lurking beneath the surface which leads me on to the next part…

6. Booby Traps

Now you know this was my first interview right?

It did not go to plan, and I thought I had planned for everything…

The interview with David happened at the second attempt, and it was my fault.

First Booby Trap…

I never tested that my headset and microphone was working correctly with skype and it wasn’t!

There is a test feature on skype, to test your headset and make a dummy or test call, don’t be like me, use this before you call the person you intend to interview.

Second booby trap…

I never learned how to use Pamela.

I thought I just clicked record and that was it, turned out it was configured properly.

Each time I pressed record I got an error saying the output file could not be created.

I later found out I had to click on a setting to configure the mp3 codec.

Third Booby Trap…

I couldn’t find my questions I wanted to ask!

I had emailed them to David, but could I find them on my pc…. NOPE.

Print off your questions and have them close at hand.

After all of the booby traps were fixed, I was ready to start the interview and guess what?

Another bloody booby trap.

I had not wrote an introduction for starting the interview, god give me strength.

All through each booby trap David was very patient with me, thankfully, but after that catalog of errors we obviously ran out of time.

David had plans for that evening, so we had to ditch that attempt and rearrange another time…

7. Mission Accomplished

Finally the interview took place.

No more booby traps, nice and smooth phew.

Of course once the interview was done I then had the added problem of how on earth to get it onto my blog.

That was kinda simple though, nice little plugin named wpaudio and it was uploaded in a jiffy.

If you want to blog and not slog, then remember to grab your free copy of David’s prequel ebook “Blog Not Slog” by clicking here.

So there you have it, my very first interview, yet again littered with mistakes but got there in the end.

Now you should have a good idea on how to conduct your own interview, so go forth and find someone worthy of your own very first interview.

Good luck,

Sally

ps. I would like to get the audio transcribed, so that’s my next “mission” finding a good transcription service, so if you know one please leave a comment below and save me a little bit of google searching!

***UPDATE***

Now Found A Transcription Service, will add in the next post once I know it’s a good one.

Important – Switched to EVP for my audio button, no longer using wp plugin.

It’s the 4th of June 2010,  3.06 am and I am shaking like a leaf.

I am live on the Marketing With Alex coaching call with Alex Jeffreys and my fellow students as I type this blog post and I am not going to bed until I finish it…

Brocha Weiss brought up the subject of her cold mailing list, if she thinks her mailing list is cold, she has not seen mine!

I sent a message through the chat box to Alex, saying:

Alex this is really helping me as my list is cold cold cold right now, glad Brocha brought this up, have some great ideas on how to improve my emails now Sally

Alex replied:

get on phone now …

I actually felt sick when I read it, because I knew I would have to speak live again, which I hate to do.

I know I need to face these fears in order to become a success online but it’s really tough.

A few weeks of coaching does not transform you into a new person, all your old fears still remain.

Anyway I forced myself to put my hand up on the chat box and waited to speak to Alex Jeffreys.

This time I didn’t wait long, I think Alex knew he had to get me live on the call fast before I put my hand down again!

On the call I described how I disappeared from the Internet Marketing Scene for over a year after my eBay eBook business went bust when eBay banned digital downloads.

When I had my eBay ebook business I had built a mailing list of just under 10,000 subscribers.

I was earning around $2000-$4000 monthly from working online, so anyone that thinks it can’t be done is wrong, I am living proof  that it can.

But build a business on shaky foundations like I did and you will end up like me, with no business.

Back in my ebay selling days my mailing list was really responsive and warm.

Anytime I sent out an email I had a high open and click through rate but after a year away my list had dropped down to around 7,000 and my open and click through rates are way down to a pitiful 3%.

I guess that just proves the point that list size does not matter.

It’s how responsive your list is, and frankly mine isn’t.

The rule of a dollar every month for each subscriber means I should be earning $7000 a month and clearly I am making no where near that.

Over the past few weeks I have watched my fellow students post in the student forum their detailed plans mapping out their online career.

I have never made a post in that section of the forum because I don’t have a plan.

Then the other day I read a blog post on Darren’s blog, he asked everyone to post their perfect lifestyle.

My comment was:

Hey Darren, that’s so weird I ordered the 4 hr work week audio book from Amazon this morning!

My ideal life….hmmmm……

That’s a tough one, and I will be completely honest, right now I do not know what my perfect lifestyle would be.

I have never been a money orientated person, money is not the be all and end all for me, nor are material things.

I guess just to see my family happy and comfortable would be ideal for me.

I am aware I need to know where I want to be, before I can take the steps to get there, just need to figure out what I really really REALLY want.

Sally

So you can see, I was wandering along with no real direction.

I was very aware I had no direction, I just didn’t know what to do about it.

Back to the call….

So I went on the coaching call and Alex asked me a few questions, and I told him how my list was cold and unresponsive and it was like he was reading my mind.

Alex told me to start all over again, I think I knew that’s what I needed to do, I just needed Alex to tell me I should do it.

That’s one reason I need a mentor I guess, because I need someone to tell me what to do right now.

I am not ashamed to admit I need help right now.

So I am starting afresh.

Like Alex told me it’s Sally Neill 2o10.

Not Sally from Sallys-Ebooks and the good old days of Ebay Ebook selling.

A fresh new start, with a new direction.

Clinging on to a successful past has done me more harm than good, I can finally see that.

I have been chasing the same success I had, but times have changed and I need to change with them in order to find new success online.

The days of selling on ebay taught me a lot and I am truly grateful for those experiences, I made a lot of money from that business and I helped lots of other people make money too.

Plus it took me on a path that let me meet Alex Jeffeys, and for that I shall be eternally grateful.

But it’s gone now and I need to let go of the past.

I need to look forward and not back.

So what does 2010 hold for me?

God only knows!

I honestly don’t know and it’s kinda scary.

But I am also relieved in a way.

The dead weight of my previous business has been lifted from round my neck.

It’s no longer holding me back, I AM FREE.

The coaching has been running for several weeks now and FINALLY I KNOW WHERE I AM HEADED.

Took me long enough, but I got there in the end.

2010 is going to be a magical year.

In fact it’s going to be a magical year not just for me, but for my fellow students too.

I can see so many students progressing at such a fast pace it’s frightening.

Everyone is feeding off each other.

Driving each other forward.

Willing each other to succeed.

I can honestly say I have never been a part of anything like this before.

It’s all new to me, it’s weird to actually trust people online again after seeing so much dishonesty in my journey online so far.

Last time around I done everything by myself.

This time I have a great coach and mentor in Alex Jeffreys and I have the best support anyone could ask for in the form of my fellow students.

It’s now 3.45am, I am tired, but happy and going to bed.

Tomorrow I can start to put my plans into motion…

Goodnight everyone, Sally

ps. Can I just say thank you to Janet Chandler and Mirko Gosch for the kind comments they made whilst I was speaking, was really sweet of you both, thank you so very much.