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OK… Didn’t get those 10 comments, so… you lose. Can’t give you the rest of that really, really cool advice. But, I’ll give you another chance.

You win!

I’m doing a call about blogging for business with Rick Burdo for his Disabled Veterans Teleseminar Training Series tonight. I’m kicking things off!

So, if you’d like to hear what I have to say, along with 11 other smart speakers, including Tellman, Erik Stafford, Kyle Battis, Mike Purvis, Jeff Mills, and a bunch of other cool people…

Click Here to Sign Up for the Disabled Veterans Teleseminar Training Series that starts at 8 p.m. EST tonight!

Oh, yeah… it’s free. How cool is that?

Something that comes up time and again in calls, in email, on the phone with clients is that they can’t get started because there’s so much stuff coming at them all the time from people whose lists they’ve joined. They’re overwhelmed and unhappy and why aren’t they making all the big bucks they’ve been promised?

OK… I get that. I’ve been in this game for almost 6 years now, and I felt the same way at the beginning when I was a newbie. But I wanted to learn. I wanted to be the smartest and best damned Internet marketer on the planet, and I wanted to make all that money and have that Ferrari – Beachside – Buy Anything You Want, Anytime lifestyle, too. It was all so much fun and I figured it would all just gel in my brain one day.

And it did.

But though I knew a LOT of stuff (and still do, BTW), want to know how much good it did me?

NONE!

I was trying this and that. I had four blogs going. I was driving traffic ineffectively, and though I knew a ton of stuff, I wasn’t making ANY money! It was frustrating and time consuming and I couldn’t look away for an instant because well… I was sure that I would get the big break any second, and I really needed the extra money, and well… it just never happened.

In my case, I was lucky. Tellman happened, and my IM life was transformed.

Want to know how?… Come back on Monday and I’ll tell ya.

But, only if I get at least 10 good comments. (No “nice post” comments will do. Tell me your thoughts or what you’re feeling about all this right now!) Make a comment and the secret will be revealed. Otherwise…  Hmm… I guess you’ll just have to keep being overwhelmed.

OK, so I’m the project manager for The ListBuilding Club and totally love, love, love it. And why wouldn’t I? I’ve helped create it, have maintained it, and work on it 100% of my time for Overcome Everything. I’m prejudiced. But we have hundreds of people, if not thousands who would agree with me.

The site starts at the beginning with picking a niche, getting a domain name, setting up a blog and so on. I mean, it’s step-by-step video training that anyone can follow. It just rocks and we’re constantly working on what we have to offer to make it better and better. We really care that people love it and are able to use what they learn and take it to the bank.

But that’s not why I’m writing here.

I’m writing to tell you about our affiliate program. It’s awesome! I mean, where else can you get $20 – $29 a month from every customer you refer and pays for his or her membership? That keeps on coming! It’s an awesome site to promote, and something you can be proud to represent.

Want to join us?

http://EasySEOTricks.com/AA

Sell 50 memberships to the LBC and then, you can apply to be an affiliate for our high-end coaching programs that bring in MUCH bigger commissions. Show us you know your stuff and you stand to make a great deal of cash!

But here’s a cool thing:

Even if you’re new to this whole affiliate marketing environment, we’re there to help you. Every Friday, we’re putting on training teleseminars that will teach you what you need to know to promote and make money with our system. You’ll love it!

So, sign up now and be part of the team. We’re waiting to help you make the cash you need to get by in these tough times.

Oh wait???? What’s that? I mean, really. If you’re a good affiliate marketer, there is no recession. It’s awesome!

If you’re not a big name in the Internet marketing world, it may not be as easy as you like to get subscribers for your list. Here are some ways to encourage people to sign up…

Wow! Amazing the things you find when you go looking for them.

Andy Bland did a pretty sweet review of my new SEO product “Spider Language” at http://r.ecommended.com/product/10193/spider-language

Thanks, Andy!

Only problem… your price is right, but only for 1 month. It’s introduced to you at $4.95, but to continue monthly lessons it’s $47 a month.

Otherwise, thanks for the 4 stars. What could have made it a 5-Star product for you? Just wondering. Always looking to make things better.

We’re working behind the scenes to improve some things at Spider Language, so sign up now while the first month is so inexpensive. You’ll be glad you did!

Go to http://SeesMic.com and open a free account!

Keep in mind that the quality of my webcam isn’t that great. If you have a better one, your mileage may vary.

Search for PatMarcello, and be my friend. I have about 70 videos in there now that answer various questions about Internet marketing.

Be my friend, and I’ll check out your videos, too!

OK… Time for a Pat smackdown, people.

You know, I’m sick and tired of people asking me obvious questions. I mean, sure, “getting” this whole Internet marketing biz is hard when you get started. Trying to figure it all out is daunting and overwhelming, especially if you go off chasing after every pretty new thing that comes down the block.

STOP!

Do you think that I buy every product out there? Hell no. I bought one yesterday, tried it, liked it, and wrote to you about it here. But I don’t buy anything unless I know it will help me to move my business forward. And you should be the same way. Otherwise, your credit cards will be maxed out and you’ll be crying because it will take you seventeen years to pay them off.

But here’s the thing…

If you do buy something, USE it! READ it! Don’t join a club and then ask obvious questions about what’s inside it. This happens all the time with The ListBuilding Club and with Blogging4Boomers. People have legitimate questions, of course, but the ANSWERS are right there in front of their noses. Yet, they have never taken the time to go through the material in the course.

Guess what, people?

You won’t make it.

Why?

Because you don’t know how to find the answers you need. Nobody is going to hold your hand through this and show you every little thing you need to know. They just aren’t going to do it for you.  If you want to be successful, you have to do some looking and learning on YOUR OWN.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love doing Q&A. I do it twice a month for Overcome Everything and twice a month for my own business, and I love the calls. But I also get lots of emails. I must have answered at least 1,000 questions already this year and it’s only January. That’s awesome! I love helping people and I love to see them make progress and money. It’s a thrill to be able to help when folks just need something extra, and they often do.

But please… If you already have the answer–right in front of your nose, take some initiative and go find it! Otherwise, you’ll be frustrated and angry and you’ll never make it.

Part of this business that’s really important is that you have to learn where to find the answers. If you can do that, you’ll never be daunted. You’ll always know where to turn, and you’ll find success.

Don’t expect success to be handed to you because it won’t happen. Sorry. That’s just the deal.

People are always asking me about my books, and since I have to come up with a video for the Overcome Everything channel each week, I decided to show folks my prior life. I did a lot of bleeding from the soul for these. You’d think that an accomplished author would be wealthy and famous…

Not

So, I came online to help sell these books, and now, look at me. Raving SEO, Internet marketing afficionado, and making more money than I ever have in my life. If I can come from an academic background (more or less, I was a banker for 20 years before writing) and be successful at this Internet marketing biz, you can, too.

‘Course, I wouldn’t have done it without Tellman. He was my mentor, which made all the difference. The cool thing is that you can have Tellman as your mentor, too. Just go over and Join The ListBuilding Club. It will set you straight down the path to IM success… I kid you not.

Anyway, check out this video and let me know what you think…

Today, I got an email from one of my customers, who wanted a refund. No problem. That happens.

He bought my writing book, and said it was about writing, that he was more interested in tagging and article marketing and stuff like that. OK, I do have a free report that gives my exact article marketing strategy for getting to the top of the search engines at Pats7Secrets.com. But it really doesn’t say much about tagging because when I wrote it, the social bookmarking sites or folksonomies (which means collections of tags), as they’re sometimes called, were just beginning to take off.

Amazing how things change so fast in cyberworld, isn’t it?

Anyway, people don’t seem to get two concepts that are very, very simple. Yet, not many of us “specialists” talk about these terms. Let me ease your pain.

First, tagging is nothing more than creating categories for whatever it is you’re tagging — articles, blog posts, videos, press releases, etc.

Tags are created by you. The search engines pick up on the terms if you use them in your work all the time.  Yet, they are simply words that people might search for, specifically in Web 2.0 sites that have something to do with your work.

For example, I’ll tag this post, “seo, search engine optimization, tagging, pinging, Web 2.0, folksonomies, Pat Marcello” and maybe a few more in a second or two. I’m interested in classifying my post for anyone who cares to search for it, no matter what they type in to find it. I’m also promoting me. I want people to find me, so I’ve decided to create a “Pat Marcello” category.

Someone can go into my Delicious account and find that my biggest tags are internet-marketing and ADHD. I studied that a lot when I was writing about it for Tellman. Very interesting stuff, but you can see what my major interests are when you look at my tag cloud.

That’s another way that you can help people to find you. People click on a cloud and find everything you or anyone else has written on the topic. Of course, if you own the cloud, like some people have tag clouds on their blogs, you’ll get back all the work that you have tagged with that word.

Tag wisely. Just decide all the categories that your work falls under, and tag it!

But let’s dive right into pinging. All that means is you’re nudging the blog search engines and telling them that you’ve made a new post and that they should go to your blog and find out what it’s all about.

You can ping manually by going to sites like Pingoat.com or Ping-o-matic.com and just plug in some information and BANG! You’ve pinged!

Or… if you’re smart like me and you have a WordPress blog, WordPress can do it for you. Just plug in the services you want to ping.  Here are mine:

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://api.feedster.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/ping
http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2
http://ping.feedburner.com/
http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php
http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc
http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc
http://coreblog.org/ping/
http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2
http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates
http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/
http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc

All you need do is copy and paste that list into your WordPress blog under “Settings” (on the right) and then, “Write.” Then, scroll all the way at the bottom of the page. Select the pingomatic URL because it’s already in the list. And paste the ping list above right into the blank. Save.

Then, you write a post and sit back and put your feet up. WordPress does the work for you.

Tagging and pinging are pretty easy, eh? Well… now you know.

So, I opened this free site last week called EasyBlogTricks.com, right? It’s all about the tech stuff when it comes to blog. Just simple stuff, like installing a blog on your own server, using plugins, changing your theme and stuff like that. Easy for me, but hard for people who aren’t experienced, and so…

Everything was working until I got an email from one of my site members saying that the video wouldn’t play. I’m like, “Sure it does. Just let it load.” Mea culpa. I didn’t check the site in Internet Explorer, a HUGE duh on my part, and something I never remember to do.

So, then, the trial became how do I do this so that the videos play in Internet Explorer, right?

Grr…

It is very difficult to find out how to do that online, and so I thought I’d give you the simple, down and dirty.

Down at the bottom of your HTML page for the video, there is a <–comment–> that says:

“<!– Users looking for simple object / embed tags can copy and paste the needed tags below.”

and it makes this block of code all comment because it ends with –>

So, I’m thinking, OK (and while we’re at it, let’s just say I’m a very good PHP guesser. I haven’t a clue how to write it. I understand what it says, and over time, I’m sure I’ll be clicking away writing code, too. Don’t know why, but I just think it’s a good skill to have.

Anyway, I copied this whole block of comment, and added it into the HTML Write window of WordPress, it didn’t work. So, I looked at the code, and realized that I needed to add the full path to my video, so it’s like this:

<div id=”media”>

<object id=”csSWF” classid=”clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000″ width=”400″ height=”318″ codebase=”http://active.macromedia.com/flash7/cabs/ swflash.cab#version=9,0,115,0″>

<param name=”src” value=”ping.mp4″/>

<param name=”bgcolor” value=”#1a1a1a”/>

<param name=”quality” value=”best”/>

<param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”/>

<param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”/>

<param name=”scale” value=”showall”/>

<param name=”flashVars” value=”autostart=false”/>

<embed name=”csSWF” src=”ping.mp4″ width=”400″ height=”318″ bgcolor=”#1a1a1a” quality=”best” allowScriptAccess=”always” allowFullScreen=”true” scale=”showall” flashVars=”autostart=false&color=0×1A1A1A,0×1A1A1A” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash”></embed>

</object>

</div>

But here’s what I did wrong…

All I needed to use was what’s inside the <embed></embed> tags, and center them. Then, put <div></div> tags around it, so make it look like this:

<div>
<center><embed name=”csSWF” src=”http://yourdomain.com/video/video.mp4” width=”400″ height=”318″ bgcolor=”#1a1a1a” quality=”best” allowScriptAccess=”always” allowFullScreen=”true” scale=”showall” flashVars=”autostart=false&color=0×1A1A1A,0×1A1A1A” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash”></embed></center>

</div>

Notice the path to the video. Just tell the browser where the video lives, give it the URL.

And voila! It worked. I should have saved the page that, just in passing, mentioned that you only use the portion that says <embed>.  Argh! I mean, it was obscure information. Why should it be so hard?

I’ll bet you that there are programmers having a good laugh.

But you know, being stupid about a subject is great! You get to learn every single day. I learn by doing, so the more I do, the more I take chances and mess around with this stuff, the more proficient I become. It’s great! Learning things is what really turns me on. Love to learn.

What’s that Nike used to say?

“Just do it!”

Wow! There’s a very cool article in the Web Success Diva’s blog today about…

Social marketing.

First she takes you on a tour, and explains the power of Social Networking. Not all of this is obvious. I mean, you and I know that social media is important for getting yourself out there with a target audience. Bang! Big boost for your brand, right?

But did you think about how cool social marketing is for SEO?  If you search for me right now, the first two entries are this blog and My Blog Log. My videos are on that page, including a horrible audition I did last year for Thor Schrock for his Top Affiliate Challenge. That was a kicking and screaming event. It was the end of a long day and it’s just impossible to say no to Thor, but I digress…

Aside from my own sites, there’s LinkedIn, GoodReads, Facebook, and on and on… all social media sites. Anyone who wants to know more about my brand, which is me and blogging, can do that easily.

The Diva also shows you how to use social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Plaxo. And tells you how to find even more stuff specific to niche marketing. You really should go over and read her post. It’s a winner!

Read Social Networking Taken to the Next Level Here.  And tell her Pat sent you.

People always ask me… How can I install a blog if I don’t have cPanel or Fantastico?

Simple:

Click Here to Download the Checklist in the Video

So, today is Monday, and as with every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc., I’m working like crazy. I totally love what I do, but our company is growing and there are tons of interesting things coming up.

Today, Tellman launched “The Tellman Show” on video, for example. (You can see it at http://www.viddler.com/explore/Tellman/videos/10/ )

He’s just incredible and has more ideas and energy than any person I’ve ever met before. I love being part of his company–Overcome Everything, where I have the awesome job of being Content Manager.

To be honest, I’ve never worked with a group of people that I respected and cared for so much. It’s very cool, and after two years, I wouldn’t trade what I do at OE for any other job.

So, here’s the thing…

I’m to the point where I need people, so I’m gathering a team.

• I need a videographer who can make Camtasias and work with Sony Vegas, for example.
• I need writers… People who can write articles, special reports, or whatever else that’s not copy.
• I need graphics savvy people who can dress up a report or physical product.
• I need people who are comfortable with fulfillment and getting all that together.

Might YOU fit the bill?

Are you looking for some extra income, albeit sporadic? This isn’t like a job, it’s like extra help when the time presents itself, like when we’re doing two launches simultaneously, or rushing to get the latest newsletter down the pipeline. I need people for when the work just gets too heavy for me & Brian to handle. Brian Edmondson does an awesome job of creating videos, but he’s only one guy, too.

So, here’s what I’d like you to do:

Post your resume online. Then, come to the blog here and post a comment, letting me know where it is. I’ll happily check it out, and if I can utilize your incredible skills, I’ll contact you. Please remember to add your email address to your CV (resume).

And… Here’s a trick so you don’t get spammed…

Make your email address an image. Use screen capture software to take a picture of your email address and make the picture clickable. The spammy robots will never know.

Anyway, if you’re interested and have the skills, let me know! I need someone who knows English very well and is pretty well versed in Internet Marketing, too. So, keep that in mind. Not every project will be about that, but when the project requires IM knowledge, it’s important that you know what we need.

Looking forward to working with some of you! It’s always a blast!

Had a call last night with Nancy Hults. She grilled me about blogging, and I told her tons of great stuff.

I love to do calls because I can interact with people. We don’t often get to do that. We sit in our offices (actually, mine is a corner of my bedroom, which is pretty big, but still… I digress.) and we type away or code away or video away or whatever. And NOBODY is there to connect with.

Anyway, I spilled my guts–again. If you enjoyed the call I did with Erik Stafford last month, this one may be even better. I encourage you to go and listen to the replay:

The replay details…

Bridgeline: 712-432-6190

Passcode: 58643#

recording code: 114#

You won’t regret listening. If you’re interested in ways to make your blog better, in ways to make it profitable, and ways to make it search engine friendly, grab a pen and some paper and dial in.

And enjoy!

There’s a pretty cool offer at the end of the call, too. Worth $100 to you. So… check it out.

I have a new system that I’m testing.

I’ve been following Matt Bacak’s plan of writing an article, turning it into a Power Point, making a video from that, writing a press release and sending that off, and on and on… If you don’t know the system, Matt sent it in an email, but I know it’s on his blog: “Slap Google Like a Ragdoll.”  I think it will be quite powerful, and well, if Matt said it works, I’m sure it does.

So, how do put yourself on the cutting edge? That’s the deal, right? You need to be on the ball with the fastest and the mostest.

Do it all. Set up a routine where you do specific tasks each day. Like

• Monday, I do the Power Point and video.
• Tuesday, I distribute it with Traffic Geyser and write a press release.
• Wednesday, I distribute the press release, and get the video or the article into Squidoo.
• Thursday, I work on some blogs.
• Friday, I do the content sites, Tumblr, Gather, Ning, and PBWiki.

And all of it gets bookmarked.

Just started the system a few weeks ago.

Let’s see how it works.

This was totally cool! Check it out… I’m a “star.”

So, what’s the very most important part of creating your online business?

Hmm… You know already.

KEYWORD RESEARCH!

Why would you start anything online if nobody is looking for what you want to sell?

Monday evening at 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central, 6 p.m. Mountain, and 5 p.m. Pacific, I’m doing my very first slide presentation at Xiosoft and hoping it comes out well.

I’m totally excited! I did this cool Power Point that lays it all out, and I’m rarin’ to go.

So, if keyword research is something you haven’t mastered yet, you absolutely HAVE to come.

But there’s a catch…

Yep.

You have to be a Lifetime Member of Blogging4Boomers.com

If you come on over, you’ll get…

• 40 + Videos to Show you How-to, Step-by-Step
• Nearly 40 Articles About Blogging to Get You Going  in the Right Direction
• Audio Interviews with Some of the Brightest Minds in Internet Marketing
• 10 Mindmaps to Guide You Through Technical Aspects of What You Want to Accomplish
• Pat’s Personal Plugins and Ping List
• A Web 2.0 Directory to Point You to the Hot Sites
• 13 Great Bonuses to Help You Succeed…

And most importantly, you get me. Twice a month I get on the  phone and answer questions about blogging and Internet Marketing for my members. They’re an awesome group that wants to act on things and become successful, and I’m thrilled and honored to be part of their quest.

I think I’m a born teacher, though I never realized it.  My bosses always shoved me into the role from my first job to well… my current job. If you’re a member of Tellman’s ListBuilding Club, you hear me twice a month there answering questions, too. I love it! It’s probably my most favorite part of the job. ‘Course I love it all, but interacting with people is really fun.

But come on over to Blogging4Boomers.com, and check me out. Sign up, and if you absolutely hate everything, there’s a 100% full money-back guarantee. But you won’t. I think you’ll be happily impressed.

Let’s get busy and crack the Internet marketing code together!

I had a call with Erik Stafford, the Faster Webmaster, last night and it totally rocked!

If you want to hear it…

Go to…

http://easyseotricks.com/PatSpillsAll

You’ll get a lot of great content:

• Learn how to get your blog onto the first page of Google!
• Learn how you can have a blog and not write a word.
• Learn all about anchor text and why it’s important.

and lots, lots more.

It’s a gas! We had a blast, and I got a ton of new members into Blogging4Boomers.

I can’t wait to work with them.

I love the first Tuesday of the month. That’s when Kyle Battis, Brian Edmondson, and I do the monthly “Marathon” calls. We call them that because they last for three hours! During them, we answer questions about the content for the month in the ListBuilding Club and Internet marketing questions in general.

Why do I love it?

I just love helping folks who are new to this business. If I’d had The ListBuilding Club 5 years ago when I started with Internet Marketing, I’d be so much further ahead than I am now. And the ability to ask experts questions about what I was doing would have been invaluable.

The people on the calls are generally stuck with something. Either they need to focus on a niche, they have a technical issue that is easily solved by someone who’s been around a while, or they need explanations of the who, what, when, where, and why. I totally love being able to part the clouds for them. Some of the simplest things can be so danged frustrating when you start!

That’s what makes the ListBuilding Club so awesome. You can have a business up and running in a very short period of time, if you just watch the videos and take action! That’s the thing most people leave out. They watch and go, “Yeah! I should do that,” but they never do.  What’s cool about the members of the ListBuilding Club is that most of them take the time to DO, and they’re finding varied levels of success.

It’s awesome!

And I have to say that Brian Edmondson is awesome with video. His instruction is simple, but not simplistic. He’s straght-forward and has a good camera presence so that people warm up to him instantly. He makes the learning painless.

I could go on and on, but it’s because I’m kind of high right now. No, not THAT kind of high… The kind that makes feel good about helping people.

Love it!

Isn’t that just like Web 2.0? Constantly changing and morphing into something we want it to be? Well, my theme wasn’t behaving like I wanted it to and…

The pink theme was “pretty” someone told me. Well… It was too girly. I guess I’m a girl. Well, last time I checked, eh? So, now, it’s down to bidnez.

I’d worry that I’ll confuse readers, but I know a) that my readers are really smart and b) oh well. The other theme just wasn’t working with WordPress 2.3.1 and there’s another update that my web host doesn’t have yet. When I change that, things may go all kaflooey again. Who knows?

But thanks for putting up with me. I figure that if Jack Humphrey can change things a lot, well, so can Pat Marcello. Of course, Jack has way more blog traction than I do and he’s way more famous than little me, but heck. Follow the masters, right? Isn’t that so, Jack?

What’s on the agenda today?

Long-tail keywords. I just wrote something about that for Tellman’s blog (http://listbuildingblog.com) and I mentioned that they work, and they do. I’ve used them for Tellman’s sites and for outside clients and they will pull in some traffic. You just have to be aggressive in using them.

But never use any keywords, unless they make sense. Don’t ever try to stuff in keywords and make your writing sound silly. People hate that, and so do search engines.

So, I digress…

Nancy Andrews has a video that says long-tail is B. S. that you can rank without using long-tail phrases and says she does it all the time. I agree with that, too. If you have great backlinks out the wazoo like she does, then you’re bound to do better than a site that uses long-tail keyword phrases without great backlinks.

I say it’s a combination of both. If you go to SEO Digger at http://seodigger.com and plug in “InstantADDSuccess.com” you can see how many keyword phrases we rank for, and many of them on the first page. Do those keywords get any traffic? Some of them do, yes, and it’s the combination of hits from various keyword phrases that get us on page 1.

We don’t have a lot of backlinks, but we do have some that are good. I worked on that for a long time, too. So, what works?

Whatever works for you. I say a combination of things. Long-tail and not long-tail keywords; getting one-way backlinks, especially from quality directories; articles using your keyword phrases; and blog postings using the keywords, too. You just have to keep the system going.

Even when you get on page 1, guess what?

There’s another SEO trying to knock you off.

So, keep on keeping on. That’s about all you can do.