Does Modeling Equal Blogging Success?

The book "Unlimited Power" by Anthony Robbins discusses the topic of how to achieve the same success as others. In his book, Robbins suggests that if you model your actions, techniques and/or thought process as close as possible to the successful person's, you too should achieve a similar success. It's not always true, but it can produce great results.

For example, Michael Jordan is one of the greatest, if not greatest all-time NBA player. Future stars such as Kobe Bryant and Lebron James credit their success to studying Jordan while growing up, mimicking his style and basically putting in the hard work he did to succeed. Many NBA players even go as far as hiring Tim Grover, who is MJ's personal trainer. Grover gets them in top physical shape with grueling workouts just like he did for MJ. You see in this example, how players study the legends and in effect become the next legends.

I feel the same can be said of John Chow, Shoemoney and Problogger among other "A-List" bloggers. Here's some things I take away from their success, simple and broadly stated concepts:

- They all are dedicated to their niche, and blog at least daily.
- They all have their blogs self-hosted.
- They've all had their blog sites designed by pros.
- They all offer something different with their blogs, whether it be John Chow's dining photos, or Shoe's UFC predictions. Each blog is unique and speaks to audiences on many levels.
- They continuously test and implement new monetization strategies to see what works best.
- They realize their blog readers are extremely important for their bottom-line results, and they do everything they can to reward them.
- They benefit at times from the use of guest-post bloggers.
- They don't stop with what they have. You see John Chow has hit a $30,000 a month level and claims he won't stop there. Is this greed or purely incentive to always improve, always do better?

These are just 3 A-List bloggers, and there's many more out there in various niches. There's also many up and coming bloggers who will set the blogosphere ablaze with great new blogs and material. I feel we can all take away from the concept of modeling. This isn't to say copy their exact blog designs and steal their material, but it is to say following most of the above concepts will help you on your way to blogging success.

Find a blog in your niche that is doing very well and study it. It may even be your biggest competitor who is outdoing your site. See what it is that has them doing so well, and model to improve your blog in those areas. Are they higher up in search results? Do they have more content posted? Do they get more reader feedback and if so why? There's plenty of things you can look at then attempt to model those techniques for your blog.

I hope this provides some quick food for thought on how to make your blog even more successful than before.

50 Suggested Success Classics

A great way to pave your way towards success is one of the easiest things to do, and it's far from a secret. It's the good ol' fashioned concept of reading. Reading books on subjects such as success, biographies about perserverance and money making, as well as business and entrepreneurial titles can really charge you up. As many say, if you find at least 1 new nugget of wisdom in a book it can very easily pay for itself many times over.

The following is a list of "50 Success Classics" from butler-bowdon.com. Right now Monetizer is on a mission to read all 50. I'm about 1/5th of the way through the list. The titles with links are those that I've read, and recommend all of these. Maybe give yourself an assignment to read a book a month, or a week, or if you're a fast reader 2 a week. In no time you'll be giving yourself a great foundation for success!

50 Success Classics

1. Horatio Alger Ragged Dick (1867)
2. Warren Bennis On Becoming A Leader (1989)
3. Frank Bettger How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success in Selling (1947)
4.Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson The One Minute Manager (1981)
5.Edward Bok The Americanization of Edward Bok (1921)
6. Claude M Bristol The Magic of Believing (1948)
7.Andrew Carnegie Autobiography (1920)
8.Chin-ning Chu Thick Face Black Heart (1992)
9.George S Clason The Richest Man in Babylon (1926)
10. Robert Collier Secrets of the Ages (1926)
11.Jim Collins Good To Great (2001)
12.Russel H Conwell Acres of Diamonds (1921)
13. Stephen R Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)
14. Michael Dell Direct From Dell (1999)
15.Henry Ford My Life and Work (1922)
16. Benjamin Franklin The Way To Wealth (1758)
17.Timothy Gallwey The Inner Game of Tennis (1974)
18.Robin Gerber Leadership The Eleanor Roosevelt Way (2003)
19. John Paul Getty How To Be Rich (1961)
20.Les Giblin How to Have Power and Confidence In Dealing With People (1956)
21.Baltasar Gracian The Art of Worldly Wisdom (1647)
22. Earl G Graves How To Succeed in Business Without Being White (1997)
23. Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich (1937)
24. Napoleon Hill & W Clement Stone Success With a Positive Mental Attitude (1960)
25. Tom Hopkins The Official Guide to Success (1982)
26.Muriel James & Dorothy Jongeward Born To Win (1971)
27. Spencer Johnson Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)
28. Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997)
29.David Landes The Wealth and Poverty of Nations (1998)
30.Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz The Power of Full Engagement (2003)
31.Roger Lowenstein Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (1995)
32.Nelson Mandela Long Walk To Freedom (1994 )
33. Orison Swett Marden Pushing To The Front (1894)
34. JW Marriott Jnr The Spirit To Serve (1997)
35. Margot Morrell & Stephanie Capparell Shackleton's Way (2001)
36. Donald T Phillips Lincoln On Leadership (1992)
37.Catherine Ponder The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity (1962)
38.Cheryl Richardson Take Time For Your Life (1998)
39. Anthony Robbins Unlimited Power (1986)
40. David Schwartz The Magic of Thinking Big (1959)
41.Florence Scovell Shinn Secret Door to Success (1940)
42. Thomas J Stanley The Millionaire Mind (2000)
43. Brian Tracy Maximum Achievement (1993)
44.Sun Tzu The Art of War (4 th century BCE)
45. Sam Walton Made in America (1992)
46. Wallace Wattles The Science of Getting Rich (1910)
47.Jack Welch Jack: Straight From the Gut (2001)
48.John Whitmore Coaching For Performance (1992)
49.Richard Wiseman The Luck Factor (2003)
50. Zig Ziglar See You At The Top (1975)

If you've read any of the above and particularly enjoyed them, drop a comment here to let others know your thoughts on the title. Here's to your success!

The Battle of the Browsers!

Let's face it folks, Internet Explorer is yesterday's news. What used to dominate our web surfing is now being taken out by the new kids..Since the Monetizer likes to test out new tech toys and web stuff, I've been testing several of the other browsers. Some I've used longer than others, but others I recently downloaded I'm enjoying quite a bit. Today we'll take a look at IE replacements: Firefox, Safari, Opera & Google's Chrome. Most of the browsers listed below are available for PC and Mac users, meaning things are becoming even more compatible online. I'll reveal my favorite browser below, but each of these browsers offers fun, fast and fancy ways to surf the web.

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Firefox (by Mozilla) - The baddest of the bunch, it's been taking over IE for some time. In fact I urge you if you're reading this post on IE, consider a switch to Mozilla Firefox. The current version is Firefox 3, a free download. It runs much smoother, spell checks your typing on sites, and has some great add-ons. I personally like the color finder (finds a HTML code for a specific color on any site), and Screen Grab (grab a whole web page or part of it, save it or copy it to an art program). Trust me folks, if you're using IE and not Firefox, you're limiting your surfing :)



Features offered:
- One-click boomarking
- Improved performance
- Smart Location Bar
- Password Manager
- Instant Web Site ID
- Full Zoom
- Platform Native Look & Feel

Check out Firefox here!

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Safari (by Apple) - The Monetizer fell in love with Safari as a Mac/Apple user. It was a great day when I discovered Apple had launched the browser for PC users as a free download. What I like most is the speed of this browser, as well as its futuristic Chrome look. Sometimes speed is all in the mind, but Safari does seem to move quick when browsing or using a site. You can also download Safari for the iPhone, perfect for Apple's tech toy. Safari's ultra-futuristic and makes you feel like your browsing in the year 2010..in a few years you will be!



Features offered:
- Fast performance
- Easy bookmarking
- Tabbed Browsing
- Built-in RSS
- Forms AutoFill
- Private Browsing

Check out Safari here!

Opera - What used to be your grandmother's favorite event to attend is now a uniquely named Web browser. The Opera browser would rank 3rd behind Firefox and Safari, but it may be a tie with Safari in the minds of some. I haven't used it quite as much as the other two, but I am using it to create this very blog post you're reading. What I like most Opera's "Speed Dial" (see screenshot below). It has thumbnails of your 9 favorite (or most visited) websites for when you first launch Opera. You simply click the square which shows the site you want and BAM! you're there. You could set up Blogger, Myspace, Google, eBay, Amazon, or whatever sites you frequent for even easier access. And there's also the standard bookmarks, tabs and much more. The browser also seems faster just like Safari for browsing use. It also offers a Download Manager with BitTorrent, a link synchronizer between your PC and mobile device, widgets, customizations and much more!



Features offered:
- Quick Find
- Opera Link
- Speed Dial
- Download manager with BitTorrent
- Tabs and sessions
- Content Blocking
- Zoom & Fit to width
- Built in e-mail & newsfeeds

Check out Opera here!

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Chrome (by Google) - Google loves to be involved in everything we do nowadays, and they also want to out-do everyone else. It's the biggest search engine known to mankind, and also our beloved Adsense resides there. In fact it seems they will one day have micrchips installed into our own human flesh, so we can be Google mapped, run ads and do telepathic emails. All kidding aside, this is the newest of the browsers, but as of right now I'm not using it quite so much because it's a BETA. Since it's still being developed, the features on Safari, Opera and Firefox appeal to me more.

Chrome does look like it has potential though, in a freaky way. The browser will actually adapt to your surfing patterns and at some point when you launch the browser, it will show your "most visited" sites, for easier access. It's similar to Opera's "Speed Dial" mentioned above" as it offers thumbnails of the sites for you to click on and access. There's a quick app launch feature, to allow you to launche your favorite web apps straight from desktop.Also Chrome offers the "crash control" feature. I've already noticed on just a few uses of Chrome, it tends to crash on certain sites. Since it's new, I expect it to be upgraded with bug fixes, but for now I'll stick to Firefox, Opera and Safari. Gary Conn has even written an interesting "conspiracy theory" blog post about Chrome, discussing its information collecting powers and why it runs slow. Google Chrome Scares The CHROME out of me… by Garry Conn



Features offered:
-New Tab page
-Application shortcuts
-Dynamic tabs
-Crash control
-Incognito mode
-Safe browsing
-Instant bookmarks
-Importing settings
-Simpler downloads

Check out Google Chrome here!

As mentioned above, with the exception of Chrome, the other 3 will work on a PC or Mac. Also, all of the above browsers are FREE!

You'll find overlapping features in many of the browsers above, such as tabs and recovery of your last session. The web browser you use for your internet activities is really a matter of personal preferences. Each of the above offer similar features and functions for web browsing capabilities, and may offer you great features for blogging and money making. I highly recommend Firefox to all those not using it, but would advise bloggers to consider downloading a few of the above. This way you can make sure your blog is being viewed accurately across all browsers. The last thing you want is your blog to look great on Firefox and IE, but look like trash on the other browsers! So collect em' all, and trade them with your friends! Whatever you do, kick IE to the curb!

(Note: Don't ignore IE competely, keep it around for viewing your blog to make sure it looks ok to those who haven't made the "switch" just yet).

Take the Mascot Quiz and Get Rich with Mr. Buffett!

(Above: Will the real Ronald please step forward?)

It's Sunday, so time to let loose and have a little fun here at the Monetizer blog. It's going to be another busy day for the Monetizer between blogging and setting up ebay auctions, among other endeavors. Here's some random fun and thoughts for your day.

AOL Money Presents the Company Mascot Quiz

This is a fun one, it's a 20 question quiz to identify the correct mascot for each company. Some of the all-time greats are represented like Mr. Peanut and The Pillsbury Doughboy. Try your luck and see if you can guess which of the 2 similar-looking images is the correct mascot! (Note: Monetizer scored 17 correct of 20...Toucan Sam got me! ;O )

Take the AOL Money Company Mascot Quiz!

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Warren Buffet's 10 Ways to Get Rich

In today's Parade there's a very interesting article on billionaire Warren Buffett which presents his "10 Ways to Get Rich". Part of the article discusses how Buffet had hundreds of thousands of dollars by his mid-20's! In the Parade article, Buffett lists out his secrets to moneymaking. Some may be common knowledge to you, other ideas might be eye-opening. There's a new Buffett book coming out as well called "The Snowball - Warren Buffett and the Business of Life" written by Alice Schroeder, set to hit stores in October. Parade offers a chance to win one of 50 copies of the book here.

Here's Buffett's 10 Ways to Get Rich:

1) Re-invest your profits
2) Be willing to be different
3) Never suck your thumb
4) Spell out the deal before you act
5) Watch small expenses
6) Limit what you borrow
7) Be persistent
8) Know when to quit
9) Assess the risks
10)Know what success really means

There's more detail given for each tip on the Parade site. Perhaps the biggest of these to apply to blogging are "Re-investing profits", "be willing to be different" and "assessing risks". If you're making money on a blog, consider taking some of it and putting it back into the blog in the form of advertising, new logos, design, branding, or anything that may relate to your blog topic (example: better camera if you run a photo-themed blog, etc).

Being different is something many of the A-list bloggers recommend, as well as The Monetizer. Why blog what everyone else is already blogging? A common issue addressed with all the "Make Money" blogs there are is that it's just a recycling of the same material over and over. I've yet to read Chow, Problogger or Shoemoney, but I doubt they have the "Mascot quiz" up today! :)

Also, the risks are something we all should assess with our Blogs. Are you putting enough time in to make your blog a profitable one? Are you putting too much into it? Are your profits measurable with the effort you're giving? Is the competition ahead of you? Does your blog topic have enough of an audience? Should you tweak that Adsense ad, or try another advertiser? These are just some of the risks you might weigh when you have a blog or website for profit. Get some more ideas on Buffett's money-making strategy by reading the ten tips explained.

Read the full Buffett article here at Parade.com!

Stay tuned this week for more on how to set up your own Ebay seller's business!