Making a Living Writing Ebooks: Here’s How It Works Today

By Sonia Simone

"An excellent ebook can provide both revenue and a doorway to greater things." – Sonia Simone

Once upon a time, there was a straightforward solution to “monetizing” your website when you got tired of trying to make AdSense work:

Write an ebook!

Having something of your own to offer, even a simple $7 ebook, virtually always beats trying to monetize your traffic with advertising.

And that’s still true. (In fact, sales of ebooks hit $9 billion in 2015.)

But as more and more people have taken that advice, we need to get a little more strategic to build strong businesses around ebooks.

It can still be done, and I’ll be talking about folks who are doing it. But you …read more      

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The Latest SEO Trends You Should Ignore

By Neil Patel

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Given that Google changes its search algorithm 500-600 times each year, it’s not surprising marketers get confused sometimes.

Speculations about the latest SEO trends run rampant and are a breeding ground for many myths.

For this reason, it’s sometimes difficult to tell fact from fiction.

Of course, the Internet provides the perfect framework for misinformation to spread at an alarming rate.

As a result, many marketers waste their energy and resources implementing useless tactics that don’t get any results.

Or worse, some implement harmful techniques that get them penalized.

It’s a bad deal either way.

In this post, I’d like to address some …read more      

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How to Unlock the Door to Effective Content with Your Creativity

By Sonia Simone

How to Unlock the Door to Effective Content with Your Creativity

We definitely had a creativity thread weaving through the week, both on the blog and the podcasts.

On Monday, I continued our “Quick Copy Tips” series by talking about the difference between benefits and features. It’s one of the first topics covered in nearly every copywriting book, but even experienced writers often get it wrong — because it can be so tricky to see with fresh eyes. I gave you a fast way to do exactly that.

On Tuesday, Stefanie addressed that nasty creativity killer: perfectionism. It takes many forms and hides in many disguises. She reminded us …read more      

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Think You Got Hit by the Google Fred Update? Here Is What to Do

By Neil Patel

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Arguably, the biggest Google algorithm shakeup of 2017 occurred on March 8.

Of all things, it was called…Fred.

The sheer randomness of the name and the massive drop in traffic that many sites experienced have left a lot of marketers scratching their heads.

What happened, who was affected and why?

More importantly, what steps do you need to take if your traffic took a plunge?

In this post, I’m going to cover all the details of the update, explain how to recover from its negative consequences, and talk about what you need to do to avoid future penalties.

Why was it called Fred?

Let’s start from the …read more      

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2017 Content Excellence Challenge: The August Prompts

By Sonia Simone

Content Excellence Challenge: August Prompts

Happy August! It’s time for our pair of prompts to make you more creative and more productive.

For those of you who haven’t joined us yet, each month in 2017 we’re providing a pair of prompts: one to make you more productive and one to improve your creativity or writing skill.

Feel free to try one prompt or both. You can join the fun anytime you like. And let us know about your experiences in the comments!

The August Productivity Prompt

This month’s prompt is inspired by Jessica Abel’s excellent book for creative souls, Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus …read more      

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