Managing Multiple Blogs With Gmail and Posterous

Coming up on my second year of blogging and internet marketing and I find myself with dozens of domains and at least 12 blogs that I want to keep up to date with fresh content.  Until recently this had been a major challenge but I have finally come up with a process that simplifies the task.

Using only gmail, Google reader and Posterous, I can now easily post to two or three blogs each day.  

To accomplish this takes a about 30 minutes to an hour set up for each blog that you want to manage but the set-up time is time well spent as it will save you many hours in the future.  Here's the basic steps to get started with your own Blog Management System:

1. If are not already using gmail, sign up for a gmail account to use has your master account.
2. If don't already have an email address specifically for your niche, sign up one with gmail.
3. Redirect your mail from this address to be redirected to your master account.  (This will allow you to view all incoming mail in one place)  To do this go to Settings: Forwarding and POP/IMAP: Add a Forwarding Address.  This is a two step process as you need to verify the address from your master account and then come back and Enable Forwarding.  You can at this time elect to Delete the mail from the original box or Archive a copy after forwarding. 
4. The next step is to add your niche address to your master email account as a Sending From address.  This will be done from the Settings tab in the master email account.  Just pick Send From Another Email address and add your niche address.  Again this will have to be verified.
5. The next step is to create a Posterous account for your niche, using your unique niche email address.  Add at least a half dozen sites to autopost to, including your blog in this list is optional.  Some experts believe you publish to your blog separately.
6. Now you are set up to add content to any of your Posterous accounts directly from your master email account simply by selecting the niche address as your Sent From address when emailing a post to post@posterous.com.  
7. You can also add your master account as a Contributor to your niche Posterous account by going to Autopost page and selecting Contributor tab, adding your master email account to each niche Poserous account.  Doing this will make it possible to post to any Posterous account (and it's related autopost pages) through the Email this options in Sharoholic or some other quick email key.  When using one of these choices you must email your post to post@nichename.posterous.com...  where nichename is replaced with your Posterous page name.    For example:  I can post this article to My Favorite Online Business Tools directly from my email account or by emailing the article to post@posterous.com from one of the email addresses listed as Contributors for that account.

Setting up my blogs to post through Posterous and Gmail allows me to use the Google Reader to research and study my niche and  and using the Email button in Google Reader I can direct a comment on a article in my Reader to any Posterous account that has my master account is listed as a contributor.

If you run into a problem following these directions, please let me know.  This is my first attempt at outlining the procedure...there may be glitches.

Can A Listbuilding System Be TOTALLY Automated?

I know we're all a bit sick and tired of promises of "automated software" that will make us rich before dinner.

And I'm always the first to be skeptical of these kinds of outrageous claims.

But today I may have to actually eat my words.

Because I just picked up a listbuildilng system that really is incredibly fast...,

And the traffic actually does keeps flow in on auto-pilot.

It's a pretty new tactic on the scene that I've heard of.

But I never really knew how to implement it.

Then I found this:

Free Plug N Play Listbuilding System

At that link 7 figure marketer Bill McRea is GIVING AWAY this listbuilding system totally free...

It's his way of getting some buzz going for his upcoming product launch (apparently he's go another system up his sleeve that's even better than this)

In any case..

I went and got this myself and it's totally legit.

There's nothing scammy about it all.
It's just a way to instantly create a win-win offer that potential JV partners can't refuse.

Bill hand you EVERYTHING you need to make it work. And I mean EVERYTHING.

So if you know the power of having a mailing list..

Do yourself a favor and go get this.

Do it now: Free Plug N Play Listbuilding System

I mean...you can't beat the price, right?

P.S. There is one catch to this...you'll have to help spread the word. But that's easy for me because I've seen this strategy in action and know that it works.
You should get Free Plug N Play Listbuilding System now!

Download a free copy of FTS's Smart and Safe Backlink Building Guide.

Blatant Lies And Product Launches - So True

Blatant Lies And Product Launches

It’s time for a rant …

You may have noticed it is becoming more and more common in IM launches for the sales page and launch emails to use blatant lies and broken promises to imply scarcity.

via the-success-project.com

I agree wholeheartedly with Rosie on this one. I HATE any sales pitch that tells me if I don't act RIGHT now I will lose out on the sales price or product entirely. Yes, there are some legitimate "limited" offers and most often they involve personal coaching offers where it is reasonable to restrict the size of the group to what the mentor can handle but how many packages and conferences have you seen limited to a certain number, only to be expanded by popular demand later on in the launch?

Why I Am NOT Buying Affiliate Marketing 2.0

How many emails did you receive this morning for the launch of Affiliate Marketing 2.0?  I deleted at least six before starting this post.  I read two because they came from folks I really like and have met personally which goes to show that relationships (ROI) do work.

So why am I not jumping on the Early Bird Link and signing up? 

Reason 1: If you watched the first four videos you will noticed they touched on the necessity to pick a strategy and sticking to it.  That is exactly what I am going to do.  It is not that I think Affiliate Marketing 2.0 is not an excellent program.  It looks GREAT.  It is just that I am already following a great program and I am convince that any of these wonderful programs advertised online and via email will lead to success IF a person starts at step one and follows through to the end of the program.   So that's what I am going to do, stick with the one I am currently do until I have completed the entire process.

Reason 2: Reason 1 is really the motivation of my actions but I am giving reason two for disclosure purposes just so someone doesn't call me later.  Affiliate Marketing 2.0 doesn't accept affiliate partnerships with folks like me who don't have a list of at least 5000 followers so even though you will find links to the program in this post they are one of two things, links to contest that is running along with the launch, and yes I get points if you enter the site from that link or links that will take through the affiliate link of one my favorite marketing gurus, Bill McIntosh.  So if you are not currently working through a marketing program and you decide that Affiliate Marketing 2.0 is the package that you want to buckle down and work through and you buy it through Bill's link be sure to follow up and send Bill a copy of your receipt so you will get his bonuses along with your purchase.

So that's it.  Whatever your choice, good luck on your business adventure!

ps..  Photo of AF logo was blatantly borrowed from AffiliateDotCom site, hope they don't mind .
As mentioned above, I may get contest points or brownie points for the above links and thus may receive prizes or cash as a result if you decide to purchase through one of the links.

Missing the Mark in Mobile Marketing

You know how it is when you watch one of those promotional videos and some guy demonstrates how he brings in thousands of dollars over night with just the drop of a hat?  You sit and think, well maybe this is finally the answer to your prayers, may this is the program that take you out of debt and over the top in this Internet marketing business.   Last week I thought just that.  I had watched the the Mobile Monopoly video through a half dozen times and it seemed like a sure thing but I still resisted the urge to jump in feet first.  It wasn't until I saw the same results demonstrated in a live broadcast done by a marketing pro I knew and trusted that I finally bought the package and set up a trial run of my own.

Not having a lot of cash to play with, I set up three different tests and my results were much less impressive.  A total investment of $100 (not counting the cost of the program) generated 55 leads in one niche and 16 in another.  This calculates to 71 cents a lead.  Not the outstanding results shown in the demos but the difference in results is likely due to my inexperience at copy writing and page design.  If I work at improving my followup emails I can see a good possibility that I will regroup my investment over the course of the next month.  Not a overnight success, but I do now have the beginnings of a niche related list and it includes people who have already demonstrated they are interesting the topic.  A step forward, however small.

My final vote on Mobile Monopoly is thumbs-up.  Even if my results are less than overwhelming, I think the program offers a great tool and educational videos on how to get started in marketing to the five billion cell phone users.  It is certainly the next move in marketing and MM is well worth the purchase price.

A couple of tips I picked up on my first efforts:

• Your display page is critical, keep to light backgrounds and clear readable type fonts.  It is a good idea to view your landing page on a cell phone.  You can see what it looks like on a mock phone display on http://testiphone.com.
• Research you niche first.  I failed to check sales in the niche on one product.  A second look showed a very low gravity on Clickbank products in that niche.  This should have been a clue that people were looking to buy answers in this field.

Mobile marketing has no where to go but up so it is definitely worth investing both the time and money to get in on the ground floor.  Remember though to run tests and analyze your results.  Don't be afraid to make changes or pull the plug if you run into a dead end.  Last but certainly not least, if you want to avoid the pitfalls of floundering on your own, seek the assistance of an experienced Internet marketing professional.  Sometimes a small investment now can save you big in the long run.

As a affiliate marketer I will receive compensation if you should choose to make a purchase through one of the links incorporated in this page.
Photo used under cc licence provided compliments of Kit Cowen/Flicker

Is Facebook In Your Toolbox?

The question is, how soon until Facebook takes on Google directly?

Places is the latest example of Facebook adding a feature that knocks a would-be competitor out of center stage. Foursquare, Gowalla and other location-based "check-in" services have to take a back seat to Facebook's, since most iPhone-owning Facebook members in the U.S. will automatically have access to this soon, if not already.

or so says Wilson Rothman in his latest commentary on MSNBC Facebook is the New Google

The Challenge is how do you best use Facebook as a business tool without burning out your friends and family members who have no interest in your business posts?