Blog Tyrant is Being Copied: What Would You Do?

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They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And as a blog grows you’ll find that more and more blogs start to flatter you. Blog Tyrant, like some of my other blogs, is being copied in some very overt ways and I just don’t know what to do about it. Do I get legal? Do I ignore them?

In this post I want to talk to you all about the plagiarism issue and some of the hot problems that can arise when someone starts to copy your work. I’d really like the amazing Blog Tyrant community to weigh in on this one so once you’ve finished reading please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Hopefully we can come up with some good ideas about how to deal with blog copiers.

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Why I Added Some Audio to My About Page

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Think about it for a second. When it comes to blogs and blogging you are the brand. People want to read about you and your experiences with the subjects you write about. That’s how they relate to it. And that’s how you get them addicted.

The About Us page is usually the first or second thing that people look at when they first encounter your content. So why not use it as a personal introduction to your brand? Why not give people something more than the usual plain text verbatim?

In this post I am going to tell you why I added some audio to my About Us page, how I did it and why you should do it too.

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Make an eBook: How to Easily Create a PDF eBook that Rocks

If you own a blog you probably know by now that one of the best ways to get subscribers is by making and eBook and giving it away for free on your blog in exchange for an email address. In fact, despite being used by thousands of bloggers around the world the old free eBook technique is still working wonders.

That is, if you do it right.

I often get emails from people asking me why their eBook isn’t getting downloaded. And when a good friend sent me an SMS last week asking me if I’d written about how to make an eBook I thought I would address everything at once.

I’m going to show you how I do everything when I make and eBook from brainstorming ideas to defining concepts, designing the layout and cover to finally uploading it to your blog or website.

What’s in this article?

Let me just start by highlighting a few of the major points that will get covered in this article on how to make an eBook.

• What program to use to write your eBook
• What file type your eBook needs to be (hint: its a PDF)
• How to convert your eBook to a PDF
• Where to find royalty free images to use in your eBook and how to edit them
• How to develop concepts, titles and content that rocks
• How to design and make an eBook cover
• How to deliver your eBook to your readers
• How to promote your eBook for free using my funnel strategy

Of course I am going to miss out on something so if you have any experience with making an eBook please stop by and leave a comment giving your advice and words of wisdom. Blog Tyrant articles seem to get indexed really well on Google nowadays so your comment will quite likely be seen by a lot of people over the years.

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Blog Critique #3 – Ciao Florentina and Her Favorite Things

This Blog Critique has a major focus on how to make more money by recommending things to your readers. Its non-invasive, helpful and almost completely passive.

Ciao Florentina was the winner of the third Blog Tyrant Blog Critique – the random number generator choosing her Tweet out of about 200 entries. As always, please watch the video, visit her site and get stuck in to her in the comments section. The more feedback and discussion that happens the more often I will do these things. Like I’ve said a hundred times, I only want to do them if they are useful to you.

What’s in the video?

I kept the video short, sharp and extremely shiny. Youtube kept rejecting my videos for being too long so I decided to focus in on a few key areas as opposed to picking through everything. Some of the things that get mentioned include:

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Podcast 3: How Blogging Can Make You Money Away from Your Blog

A lot of bloggers are struggling to make money from their blog. They use all the regular methods like Adsense, advertising and affiliates but still aren’t bringing in enough cash to pay the bills or work from home.

Well there is hope.

In this Podcast I show you three methods that I use to make money using my blog but not directly on my blog. These are methods that have helped me through tough times and given me the base income to quit my job and work from home.

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Click here to download the podcast (right click and save as).

If you like this Podcast I would really appreciate it if you left me a nice honest review here on iTunes. You can also subscribe on iTunes using that same link or by RSS here.

Are you making enough money?

I would really like to know whether you are making enough money from your blog to support yourself or your family. Are you still working another job or do you blog full time? Finally, if you have ever made money from your blog but not directly on your blog please leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear about it.

photo credit: Wesley Fryer

4 Vital Gravatar Tips to Get Your Comments Clicked & Noticed

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I have noticed a lot of my readers don’t have Gravatars yet. Shame on you. This tiny little picture is an important part of your branding and as such you need to get away from the default and start using something memorable.

For those of you who do use a Gravatar to get a little image next to your comments; well done. Hopefully this post will give you some extra hints to consider.

In this article I am going to give you some tips for your Gravatar to make sure your comments get clicked and noticed. This miniature picture can actually prove to be quite important for your traffic, branding and reader loyalty. Especially if you are using my comment strategy.

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Office Feng Shui: How to Use Feng Shui to Increase Wealth

photo credit: Randy Son Of Robert

Did you know that many Asian billionaires consult Feng Shui experts before moving office or buying a property? In fact, there are stories about hotels and companies on the brink of collapse that reworked their Feng Shui and now make a fortune. Malarkey? Possibly. But when you work for yourself from a home office you will try anything.

In this post I am going to talk to you about how to Feng Shui your office to increase your wealth. I did it in my office and it seems to be helping.

What is Feng Shui and why do I care?

Let me preface this post by warning you that I have a little bit of an Eastern obsession. I practiced Kung Fu for ten years, travel to the Indian Himalayas fairly regularly, am fascinated by Buddhist philosophy and prefer to read about Chinese emperors and dynasties than wizards and sexy Vampires.

Feng Shui was a natural progression for me.

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Above the Fold: How to Take Advantage of Impatient Traffic

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Did you know that you have less than 1.5 seconds to convince a reader to stay on your blog? Internet traffic is notoriously impatient. And it is getting worse.

This means that what you put above the fold is more important than ever. In fact, it can be the difference between the success and failure of your blog, website or squeeze page. In this article I am going to show you a few things I know about how you can take advantage of impatient traffic by manipulating where stuff appears on your blog.

SPECIAL NOTE: Make sure you read (or skip) to the end as I have a special announcement to make that will help a lot of you with this issue.

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Flow Chart: My Guest Posting Strategy for Mass Subscribers

In the last six months I have had guest posts on Copyblogger, Problogger, Smart Passive Income and much more. A few of them have gone viral. Almost all of them have caused me to get a massive influx of traffic and sometimes up to 400 new subscribers in a single day.

Magic huh?

Well, not really. It was just a little bit of strategy and a lot of long-term relationship building. So for all of you who want more information on how I did it I have created a graphical flow chart to give you a basic plan. This flow chart is an extension of what I talked about on Problogger here.

It is my guest posting strategy for 2010 and 2011.

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Podcast 2: Flipping Blogs: How to Sell a Blog for $20,000 Plus

The first post that ever went viral on Blog Tyrant was called How I Sold a Blog for $20,000 in 8 Months. It hit the front page of Delicious, got tens of thousands of visitors and even got noticed by some newspapers and A-Listers like Rand Fishkin. Blog Tyrant was born.

In this second Podcast I chat about how I have sold several blogs for similar price tags and about how you can do the same. If you don’t want to sell your blog don’t worry, a lot of the Podcast is dedicated to how you can increase the revenue and community on your blog as quickly as possible.

Some of the things that get mentioned in this Podcast include:

• How much you can expect to sell your blog for
• Why you need to monetize your site from the very beginning
• Why WordPress is a necessity
• What to do if Google bans your site
• How to use language, emotion and friendship when selling your blog
• Much more

Now, I know a lot of you are really interested in blog flipping so I am going to be doing a lot more to help you out with this in 2011. Make sure you are subscribed to be a part of it.

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Click here to download the Podcast (Right click and Save As).

Top 20 on iTunes?
I just thought I’d let you know that the Blog Tyrant Podcast went to the top 20 hottest podcasts for business last week. That, my friends, is 100% because of your support. If you like today’s Podcast I would really appreciate it if you visited iTunes and gave me a nice little review as it will help to get me back up the top. You can also subscribe to the Podcasts on that page or by RSS here.

Question time?
If you have any questions about how I have sold blogs for $20,000 I am happy to answer them here. Just leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.

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