Okay, I’ve been online for quite a while now and blogging for about three years and without reading any further, I already knew what this post was going to be about. Ironically, that post itself was a post similar to three or four other posts I’ve read before, but those were put in a much more elegant way… and I’m sure if you’ve been blogging for awhile, you probably know what this article was about as well.

In case you’re new to blogging though, let me explain.

Every now and then you’re going to come across some seasoned blogger’s blog and see an article telling you the following things:

• Everything that needs to be said has already been said online
• Stop writing what everyone else has already blogged about
• Why don’t you come up with your own ideas once-in-a-while for an original blog article
• I hate blogs about blogging tips–there are 10 billion blogs out there about it already (same for making money online blogs)

…you get the idea.

Aside from the more seasoned and successful bloggers being extremely limited on time because they are busy making money online, realize that one of the reasons why they typically won’t stop by and comment on your blog is because chances are if you blog about blogging tips, they are way ahead of you in that game.

But I’m here to tell you that it’s okay. If you want to blog about making money online or blogging tips, then blog about it.

Let me tell you, in my 35 years of life on this Earth, I’ve learned a few things. Such things as:

• Follow your heart, but be mindful of the logic in your brain
• It’s impossible to keep everyone happy, especially if you’re trying to make money
• People don’t always know what’s best for you
• To be successful, you need to discover your true self and build from there

If you’re blogging about blogging tips, these seasoned bloggers aren’t going to be your target readers anyway.

I’m not saying what they are saying doesn’t have merit, because it does to some degree. Unless you’re coming up with something really unique, then many of these bloggers are just going to skip you by and read someone else’s blog.

But so help me if you don’t write an article on using banner ads on your blog simply because blogger A tells you not to.

New Blogger’s Game Plan

The first thing you need to understand is that unless you’re writing on a very rare subject, like Keeping a Healthy Bearded Dragon, it almost doesn’t matter what you blog about, somewhere online someone has probably already hit on the subject and the only way you can “be different” is by mixing your own experiences into it.

Also, realize that you’re not going to make everyone happy, so brush that off your shoulder right now. In fact, I can’t think of anything really that will make everyone happy.

Here’s the secret ingredient for being successful online. Are you ready for it? Okay, here it comes…

The secret ingredient is, good research and planning.

Yes there’s more to it than that, but without that… that “secret ingredient”, you will work really really hard and probably get somewhere really really slow. It’s only after you’ve done your due diligence in researching your target market that you can move on to pissing off the people I mentioned above and moving on to being a success.

Good research and planning might include:

• Clearly defining your goals
• Getting a clear understanding of who your target blog readers (and customers) are going to be
• What your blog is going to be about (create a quick elevator pitch)
• Researching forums and taking a look at the kinds of questions and concerns your target readers are asking
• Going to Amazon.com and searching for best selling books in your target market. Look at the Table of Contents and be sure to hit on those topics on your blog
• Using the Google Keyword Tool to see what kinds of things your target market are searching for

The list goes on, but I think you get my point.

To be successful online, it takes having a good attitude, planning, strategy, heart, tools of the trade, and execution. I’m sure there’s some A-list blogger out there who has a better list, but that’s mine.

So to those bloggers who tell new bloggers, “Stop F’n writing the same shit”, I say to them, “Stop F’n telling people what to do with their lives”.

Okay… so there’s my rant for the day.

Related posts:

1. A-List Bloggers & Everyday Bloggers, They Do Things Differently
2. New Regulations For USA Bloggers May Be Around The Corner
3. John’s Top 5 Crash and Burn Blogger Mistakes Which Keep You Poor

I don’t complain much nor do I rant about many things. In fact, I think this is my first rant in two years of blogging.

During my 3 week or so break from blogging, one of my tasks was to get my wife’s beaded jewelry store up and running. It’s an e-commerce store powered by Magento Commerce. Magento is a CMS program kind of like WordPress. Its rivals are osCommerce and ZenCart (ones you may have heard of).

Now I know WordPress inside and out, but Magento is a new beast I have yet to conquer.

So the first thing I did was browse online for a suitable template just like I’d do for WordPress. I found one I liked on a site called HelloThemes.com and purchased it for $99. A couple things persuaded me to purchase a theme from them.

1. Their site seemed friendly
2. They seemed to know a lot about Magento
3. I liked their themes
4. And there seemed to be a ton of support for their themes

They even appear to have an online chat support just in case you run into any issues.

Problem is, as you can see in the image to the right and above, their chat is Offline . . . all the time! I’ve visited their site numerous times at all hours and their chat support is ALWAYS offline. Always.

Why even bother putting that on the site then?

I’ll tell you why. It’s so people like me and you feel safe with this company. They want us to feel reassured and comfortable buying from them. And it worked because I spent $99 with them.

I ran into all sorts of issues with the theme I purchased, most notably that it comes in three color choices but no matter what I tried, only the default color would show. I attempted to contact HelloThemes numerous times through email (contact us), their blog, and hoping one day their online chat would be, online.

The template I downloaded also came with a “how to install your theme” tutorial. At the bottom, here’s the last thing you will see: Hope this helps! If you still have any questions and concerns please don’t hesitate to contact us at support[at]hellothemes.com.

Yeah . . . I tried 3 or 4 times. What kind of response did I get?

I received nothing but silence. Not one email. Not one response. Nothing.

This is nothing but poor customer service and a lack of respect for those who actually spent money with your company. HelloThemes is probably just a couple of people who got together to try and make some money online all the while having little care really about you and me. It’s more about just a way for them to make money now.

Obviously, this is no way to run a business. If you sell products or provide a service, you need to provide some kind of support. Even if you are unable to help the person, at the very least respond to emails. Otherwise, you might find you piss off the wrong people (like a blogger who knows how to write seo blog articles). It’s just nonsense to never communicate with your customers.

If you sell a product or service, it’s best to provide some kind of support. Even if you don’t really support it and all sales are final, you need to communicate with those who are keeping food in your mouth.

Ok, my rant is over. I could seriously go on and on, but I’m pretty sure at this point most of you read the first part of this rant and then skimmed the rest

Related posts:

1. My Rant On Someone Else’s Rant About Bloggers
2. Gas Prices and Product Costs vs. Service Costs

How many times has this rung true for you? Whoever first spoke those words was a wise person.

About a week ago a close friend went on Craiglist.org, Las Vegas looking for a rental home. They quickly became excited when they ran across a home advertised for rent in an excellent part of town for a monthly rent price $300 – $400 less a month than similar homes.

They quickly replied to the post and soon after they received a reply from the supposed owner of the house in a message that looked like this:

Good hearing from you am Dr Eric Neville,the Leaders of (WHO) world health organisation appointed by the World Health Assembly on 9 November 2006..

We own the House and also want you to know that it was due to our transfer that makes me and my family to leave the property and was post on craigslist.com to give it out for rent. We are looking for a reputable person that can take very good care of it, as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own.

We are a Multi-Million Organisation authorized by the UNICEF AND UNITED NATION HEALTH GROUPS. Our work is to travel around the world, we supply food, drugs, and shelter to the poor,our organisation is known worldwide due to our good work and faith. we want to know if you also have love for the sick and poor around the world.We are in conjuction with Susan Collins the Senator of United state of America.

So right now we are in West Africa. with the keys and the document of the House. We try to look for an agent that we can give the keys and documents before we left but could not see any trusted and responsible agent and the only person that we trust was dead last year on plane crash,so we have nobody that can give the keys and documents before we left and we are as well don’t want our house to be used anyhow in our absent that is why we took it along with us. You can drive by to view it from outside at 11761 Via Vera Cruz Ct Las Vegas, NV 89138.

So get back to us on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in renting home.please let us know If you are staying for a long period of time, We are okay with one month deposit payment of ($1,250) including the security deposit,looking forward to hear from you.Our rental form has been attached to you that you will have to fill to qualify for this rent.

Looking forward to hear from you with all the application details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt for you and contacting you.

Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how the keys and documents would be ship to you via Fedex company.

Thanks Remain Bless

Dr Eric Neville
Cell
+234-80xx-xxx-xxx
Office
+234-xxx-xxxx

If you read all that you probably noticed numerous grammatical and spelling errors for someone supposedly from Las Vegas, NV USA.

However, my friend realized that for many people English is a second language and as I’m sure you’ve experienced yourself, not everyone is so great at writing coherent emails. They emailed back and forth with this supposed Dr. Eric Neville ignoring all the red flags popping up, such as not being able to walk inside the house because the keys would have to be FedEx to them and the whole strange “We’re in West Africa” thing.

Their problem was they got too emotional. They let the “possibility” and “dream” cloud their logical judgment.

The final red flag was when my friend mentioned they were a little nervous because of all the scams out there and also when this scam artist mentioned how the first month’s rent would be paid (and then the keys would be sent).

. . . ok,i can understand your feelings and i want you to believe that no negative things that would happen to you concerning this ret i know that there are alot of scam that goes around the internet and i want you to have faith and believe in God . . .

. . . right now you can not view the inside cause the keys and document to the house are all with me here, i also want to call to your notice that i will have to send the keys and the documents to the house to you via Fedex delivery to your residential address, and you will be making the payment via Money Gram Swift money transfer system . . .

This is the part where you hear a spinning record screech to a halt.

Wisely, my friend finally realized that he was too emotionally attached to this house to make a logical decision and asked both my family and me for advice.

Of course none of this looked good to us so we did two things. First we did a little research and then had my friend send some security questions to this guy (like what is the gate code, has the house ever been rented before, do you own any other properties in Las Vegas, etc.) and second, we looked up his name on the Internet.

We didn’t find anything bad on his name, however, we did find the real ad for this house from the real Eric Neville on Rentals.com for a higher monthly charge and luckily, Eric’s phone number.

My friend called the number and left a message. Meanwhile, the fake Eric emailed back answers to my friend’s security questions and you guessed it – he answered them wrong. Shortly after the real Eric Neville called back and confirmed some guy in Nigeria, West Africa has been posting on Craigslist trying to collect up front rent money using his good name.

The Lesson About Emotions

In business, emotions can make or break you.

When Emotions Are Good

When you’re passionate about your product and/or service people see it and feed off that energy. Your strong emotions and confidence in your service builds excitement and confidence in your customers.

That’s when being emotionally attached to your business and product can be good.

When Emotions Are Bad

The problem with emotions is they can severely cloud your rational judgment. If you’re too close to your product or too close to that home you want to buy, the right hemisphere of your brain (the creative and emotional side) will kick and scream to get what it wants. The constant battle between the logical left hemisphere and illogical emotional hemisphere of the brain work overtime when you find something you want really bad.

When To Use Your Emotional Side In Business

When building your business, product line, or finding investment properties in real estate, try to know when it’s a good time to listen to your emotional side. The times you might want to listen would be when you’re trying to sell your product or investment property. Because then you’re hoping that customer is listening to their emotional “buying” side and can feed off your emotional selling.

When To Use Your Logical Side In Business

The best time to rely on your brain’s logical left hemisphere is to flip the idea I just mentioned above.

Use your logical side when you’re buying or evaluating a product or service. This will help you evaluate profits and losses and base your decision on a sound judgment.

If you’re like me, though, that’s all easier said than done – especially when it comes to buying your personal residence.

Related posts:

1. The Art of Persuasion (Part 2 of 3): Knowledge, Timing, Listening