Right now there is a huge Podcast Awards competition going on.  So, I am writing this blog post because I want you to vote for Pat. (Instructions on How To Vote below).

But first...

Here's why to Vote For Pat.

I think most people would agree that the Smart Passive Income Podcast with Pat Flynn is certainly one of the best (if not the best) internet marketing podcasts out there right now.

What sets the Smart Passive Income Podcast (SPI) apart? Glad you asked.

1. SPI is real. Pat is a real guy that really makes money online. Pat talks about what he really does and reports real numbers about real thing like traffic, conversions, and income. It's all real.

2. Pat is honest. He tells you like it is, and does not pretend to know about things that he does not know about. He talks about real stuff that really happened to him in the hope that it will help people. No B.S. from Pat -- ever.

3. Pat is relevant. Pat is not talking about stuff that worked for him 10 years ago when everything was different. Rather, Pat is talking about stuff that worked this morning, last week and yesterday.

Bottom line is that SPI is my favorite podcast right now.

I want you to show Pat some love by voting for Pat.

You see, the 7th Annual Podcast Awards kick of today, and I wanted to give you a heads up so that you can vote for Pat (and so that you do not miss the event).

This is a big deal (and a great way to say thanks to Pat), as the 2010 event attracted over 1 million listeners to the voting site.

The 7th Annual Podcast Awards Ceremony will be held in Los Angeles, during BlogWorld & New Media Expo from Nov. 3-5. Pat will be there as a speaker, and nothing would make me happier than to see Pat get an award at the show. It's just to perfect.

So, go vote. I would consider it a personal favor.

Voting Instructions.

2011 Nominations Now Open!
Nominations close @ 2359 September, 30

Please vote for Pat in both the People'c Choice and Business categories.  This is VERY IMPORTANT.

Don't forget to add your details at the bottom of the form.

That's it!

Thanks,
Mark

One of the great things about understanding internet marketing is being able to realize when marketing is happening to you.  As marketers, we are marketed to all the time.  If you pay attention to the marketing that’s happening in the world around you, you can get a lot of great ideas about how to run your business.

Recently I became acquainted with a podcast expert named Cliff Ravenscraft over at PodcastAnswerMan.com. I have to tell you, Cliff has what I consider to be a near perfect sales funnel in operation there.

Here’s how I experienced Cliff Ravenscraft…

The First time I heard about Cliff was from an authority in the podcast space, Jason Van Orden, over at InternetBusinessMastery.com. He talked about Cliff as an expert on podcasting gear and I needed some, so I went over to Cliff’s website. That’s the first part of the sales funnel.

I found out that he had an outstanding website with all kinds of excellent free information. It was clearly an authority site on podcasting. After reviewing the website, there was no question that Jason was right about Cliff, absolutely an expert on podcasting gear and podcasting in general, for that matter.

So, naturally I did exactly what Cliff wanted me to -- and you can see from his website that he’s set up for this --  I subscribed to his podcast. After listening to several episodes of his podcast I was completely hooked and knew this was the guy for me when it came to podcasting tech.

So, what did I do?

Well, I bought all my new gear from Cliff.   That’s exactly what he wanted me to do. He’s got affiliate and drop-ship relationships with all of these products and manufacturers that he actually uses.  When I bought the gear, I was so pleased with the free advice that I had gotten from Cliff that I made sure that I bought the gear either directly through Cliff or through his affiliate link.   Pure reciprocity.

To be honest with you, I bought stuff that I did not even know I needed.  I bought exactly what Cliff uses, and I purchased through his links on purpose.

Following that, of course, I needed help setting up the gear. So, what did I do? I bought some online courses from Cliff about how to set up all this complicated new podcasting gear that I had just purchased.

I have two degrees in electrical engineering, so there is no question that I could figure out all of this stuff by myself -- eventually.  But that would take time.  My time is worth a lot more than what Cliff is charging for these products, and I get the additional benefit of knowing the best settings and best configurations that Cliff has been able to determine.   I could do all that, but it would take me FOREVER.

Now, this very important, because it’s something that all affiliate marketers can do. Cliff is an affiliate for great products.  But all products have gaps -- many times these gaps are in the form of training of missing information on how to get the most from the product.

Cliff has recognized gaps between what the customers need and what those products are offering and he is filling them with digital products. This is a key idea for affiliates to grow their internet business and one that Cliff does amazingly well.

What’s Cliff missing? Well, I wouldn’t say he’s missing anything, but of course the next step would be for Cliff to have some massive high end product. Oh wait a minute… this month Cliff is actually offering a soup to nuts podcasting course over at PodcastAnswerMan.com.  It's very high end and everything you need.

Now, I’m not offering an affiliate link for that here, although I’m sure it’s an awesome course. You can go over to Podcast Answer Man on your own and figure out if that’s for you if you’re interested. If you do sign up, be sure and tell my friend Cliff that Mark sent you.

Watching the world around you for examples of great marketing is a good way to get a free education on the things that you can do in internet marketing to improve your own business. Have a great day!

One of the great things about having a blog is that you can have great readers that are really fun to get to know.  Susanne Myers is one of those, and she creates excellent content.  So, I was thrilled when she read my post from January 1 and asked to guest post.

Her post below is excellent -- but there is something even better here.  I published my other post on the 1st of January (3 days ago).  On the morning of the 3rd of January (yesterday), Suzanne had an excellent guest post written and in my inbox.   She even put my affiliate links to her products in the post (her stuff is really good by the way).

Anyway, the lesson here (for me and for you) is to take action.  Be like Susanne.  Whatever it is, just do it.

Growing Your Affiliate Niche Site in 2011

By Susanne Myers – www.AffiliateTreasureChest.com

I loved Mark’s post on online business resolutions and how we often focus on the wrong thing. His analogy that internet marketing can be a lot like losing weight was spot on and I thought I’d take it one step further today and give you some tips on how to grow your affiliate niche site this coming year, focusing on the important things like providing  a lot of value and serving your readers.

Adding Content

A great place to start is by adding more content to your site on a regular basis. I find that my larger sites not only get the most traffic, they are also talked about more, get more comments and my lists are growing faster. There’s a bit of a snowball effect going on here… the more people know about your site the more talk about it across social media sites, on their blogs etc.

Does this mean you should get into autoblogging or throw a bunch of rehashed junk on your site? Of course not!  What it does mean is that you should take some time out each week (or ideally several times per week) to write some good content and share some interesting tips with your readers. It helps to have a schedule for this. Take a few minutes to figure out how often you can realistically add new content to your site each week. Then create a content schedule and plan out the first few posts or articles. Then make it a priority to get that content added and watch your site and your traffic grow.

Building Your List

Next, I suggest you spend some time building your lists. Lists allow you to get back in touch with your readers regularly and provide them with even more value. Over time you build a mutually beneficial relationship with them and your readers will quickly learn that they can trust your advice and the offers you present to them.

While money should never be the main focus or goal when you’re building your business, it does come in handy, and even in 2011, the money is still in the list. Let’s make this the year we really grow those lists.

Start by taking a look at your lists and optin boxes. Are there things you can improve? Are you split testing your optin forms to find the ones that convert best? Are you following up regularly with your readers? Are you sticking a good balance between providing them with valuable content and making offers?

Expanding Your Reach

Last but not least it’s time to expand your reach. Sure, blogging regularly will get you some traffic and keeping in touch with your list will continue to send them back to your site, but unless you also spend some time marketing your site, you’re missing out on a big chunk of traffic.  Here are some things you may want to start doing this year:

Guest Blogging

Write a few guest blog posts for other blogs in your market place. Email the blog owners and ask them if they would consider publishing them on their sites. You can quickly and easy expand your reach with just a few guest posts.

Article Marketing

Article Marketing still works. Get in the habit of writing and submitting articles regularly. I like Mark’s recommendation or Automatic Article Submitter to help you spread your articles far and wide. Again, this is about capturing and audience you wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

Link Building

Both article marketing and guest blogging are excellent ways to build links. Other things you can do are inviting readers to link to you, create “link magnets” (exceptionally good content that people will link to automatically), participating in social media, commenting on other blogs etc.  Make an effort to build some links to your site on a regular basis.

If you are ready to learn more about this, take a look at my link building program where I share what I’m doing to build thousands of links that help me improve my search engine rankings and send me traffic.

Viral Reports

Combine some of your articles and guest posts and even your own blog posts into short reports that you can then give away. You could also write something completely new, but I find it more effective to reuse my content this way. When you’re done, post the report on your blog, submit it to ebook sites and of course send it out to your list. Don’t forget to invite readers to share it with friends.

You can make your reports spread even further if you make them brandable. If you have your own products, you can allow people to “brand” the links in the report with their affiliate links. If you don’t have your own products and are strictly an affiliate marketer, allow them to brand some of the links in the report and keep some in there with your own affiliate links. Don’t forget to mention your name and your main site in there as well and link to some of your pages or blog posts were appropriate.

Here’s an example of a brandable report I’ve created recently with my friend Nicole Dean

http://www.brandablestuff.com/tools/weight-loss-blog/

Keep in mind that it’s all about sharing useful information that will help people.

Podcasting

Now here’s something I haven’t  done but Mark does really well and I think it has helped him not only extend his reach, but also contributes to his expert status.  Take a look at his podcast here:

http://www.masonworld.com/category/podcast/

Next I want you to consider creating and recording your own podcast. It’s definitely something I’m considering doing this year.

For now, keep adding content to your site regularly, build that list and then do something each and every week to expand your reach and watch your affiliate business grow in 2011

And now I’d like to invite you to take a look at my affiliate marketing blog at www.AffiliateTreasureChest.com . While you’re there, take a moment to sign up for regular email updates so you’ll never miss a thing.

And yes, I am taking my own advice and will be providing lots of great content on the blog throughout 2011. Let’s make this the most profitable year yet!

Just a quick recap on the week to let you know what I have been working on. Man, has it been a crazy week.

• Attended Aaron Abber's mentoring class. Still getting a lot out of that at very low cost. This is a great value if you want to learn about list building and lead blogging from a pro.
• Logged some time at the Member site over at Coaching With Josh.
• Published a guest post over at Garry Conn's Make Money Online blog on Article Marketing.
• Started work on a super-secret link building experiment (don't tell anyone). I am really not sure about this one. More on this later if it works.
• Worked on integrating Yahoo Pipes, WordPress and phpBay. No luck yet.
• Worked on www.historyofelvis.com. That project needs to be restarted, and I am trying to get it going again.
• Attended the killer Jason Van Orden Podcasting Teleseminar. Will definitely be blogging about that. It was great.
• Started working on an updated MasonWorld Roadmap.  Man, I have be doing this Internet Marketing thing for over six months now, and I am really starting to get an idea about what I want to be when I grow up.  More on that in another post.

There is more to tell, but I am out of time (still doing that day job thing).

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Regards,
Mark

I just spent $27 of my own money.

Those of you that have been following me know at least one thing about me: it is not very often that I will promote something sight-unseen on my blog.

This is one of those times - I am excited about this product.

The Community Magnet Teleseminar

You see, I have listened to almost every Internet Marketing podcast on the planet (well it feels like it anyway). As part of that journey, I have come to know Jason Van Orden -- one half of the Internet Business Mastery (IBM) Team of Jay and Sterling.

Jason is also the brains behind the best Podcast about Podcasting: The Podcasting Underground.

I have gotten to know Jason through his podcasts, and his blog -- and more recently through private conversations on email and twitter. (Note that I am currently the undisputed world-record holder for IBM Podcast Rate of Consumption (PRC) at over 20 podcasts per day).

I've been on the inside. Before the Teleseminar, (when Jason started writing his Community Magnet eBook,) he asked me to review an advanced copy, and I was stunned.

Now, Jason says this Teleseminar is the most important content that he has ever created -- and I agree.

I hope this blog post reaches you in time because I just made a special arrangement to get you a $70 discount on a special teleseminar. Jason's teleseminar reveals how to magnetically attract a following of loyal customers with an easy and inexpensive marketing strategy...podcasting.

Because I'm a partner in this teleseminar, you can attend as an insider guest for $27 rather than the normal $97 list price. But you have to hurry because the call takes place this Wednesday, June 4th.

I have no idea what the actual numbers are, but I think a lot of people get into Internet Marketing because they want to land in the Internet Marketing lifestyle. Everybody wants to be the guy on the beach with a laptop making $4 million a year. Topics around the Internet Marketing lifestyle have been discussed extensively in the mainstream media lately, and the focal point for a lot of the discussion has been the book "The Four-Hour Work Week". (That's a great book, by the way).

Of course it's one thing to talk about the Internet lifestyle of your dreams, and it's another thing to actually live it. So, I was excited to find that Melanie Van Orden had finally launched her much anticipated website about living the "travel lifestyle of your dreams without being filthy rich." She calls her blog JetSetNow.com. The blog is brand-new, but from the looks of it Melanie plans e-courses, podcasts, regular blog posts and an e-mail newsletter. Phew. She'll be busy.

I don't really know Melanie, but I'm familiar with the work of her husband Jason Van Orden. Jason is the brains behind The Podcasting Underground podcast and is also half of the Internet Business Mastery team. If Melanie's stuff is half as good as Jasons, JetSetNow.com will be a blog to watch. You see, Jason and Melanie are currently living in Buenos Aires Argentina, having recently moved there from New York. Their niche is their passion and their blog, and you can follow along with them in their adventures across the globe.

Check it out you be glad you did.

I spend a lot of time in my car, so one of the best ways for me to learn about things is through audio recordings. In the past, this has meant buying "books on tape" -- more recently "books on CD." The explosion in podcasting in the last five years has really changed everything. You can find podcasts on everything from the bible to neurology to health and fitness.

Of course, it is no surprise that you can find tons on internet marketing podcasts on the internet. As of this writing, there are hundreds if not thousands, of search results in iTunes for the search term "internet marketing.". One of the first internet marketing podcasts that I found on iTunes was the Internet Business Mastery (IBM) Podcast. I found it because it is currently the most popular Internet Marketing podcast on iTunes. I personally think it is the best IM podcast on the net.

Since that time, I have loaded my iPod up with subscriptions to several IM podcasts so that I have enough content to fill in between IBM episodes. Actually, some of the content that I have been able to find is simply excellent and a great compliment to the IBM podcast.

Here is my current list of top 5

• Internet Business Mastery Podcast with Jay and Sterling
• Podcasting Underground Podcast
• Internet Marketing VooDoo
• 10 Golden Rules of Internet Marketing Podcast
• Marketing Online Live with Alex and Paul

You can search for these on iTunes -- they are easy to find.

I like Yaro Starak's podcast, but it is not on iTunes (at least I could not find it) and I usually do not bother with stuff that is not on iTunes. With Yaro, I was able to add his RSS feed to iTunes and that seems to work pretty well.

In my day job, I do a lot of public speaking -- this makes me want to launch the MasonWorld Internet Marketing podcast. Will have to see about that. If I did a podcast, it would be all about how to get started in internet marketing. I have found that much of the existing content is targeted a people who have been in IM for some time, making it hard for beginners to get up to speed. Since I can barely find time to post, I think I will hold off on launching a podcast for a while...

So, do you listen to any great Internet Marketing podcasts that I missed? Let me know.

Regards,
Mark