Stuff That’s Awesome

Hello all! Here is an awesome list of books and resources I recommend, what blogs I read, what products I use, etc.

Blogging platform that all the cool kids are using

I am a happy user of Wordpress. I recommend you use Wordpress as well.

Beautiful Wordpress Themes

  • Headway is my current theme, and I can’t see any reason to switch. It’s powerful like a Lamborghini. It’s simple yet also divinely complex at the same time. Like a good wine. You can do anything with this theme. I love it. They could charge several times what they do…but let’s not tell them that :)
  • Thesis is a classic that continually remains at the top, for good reason. It’s a true SEO-powerhouse, highly flexible and oh so sweet to look at…even straight out of the box.
  • Thematic is the best free theme on the planet. If you’re comfortable using CSS (it’s really not that hard, trust me) then you can do pretty much anything with it. It’s one of those things that they could charge $80 for it…but they don’t. Last time I checked, free is still very cool. If you’re on a budget and want power, this is your answer.

Email Marketing

If building an email list is a goal of yours, don’t do it without Aweber. The last thing you want is to email your list and be left wondering if the email was even received. With Aweber you can track results of everything you send. You can build multiple, targeted lists. You can easily create really cool opt-in forms with no programming knowledge required. It’s just one of those tools that makes life so much easier :-)

People that Rock

If you’re interested in learning more about internet marketing, copywriting, blogging or social media in general…these people will steer you straight. No seriously, go subscribe to these blogs right now…

Michael Martine  – wordpress SEO mastermind. This guy is an actual jedi knight when it comes to both the technical and social aspects of blogging. He’s one of the few who can truly do it all. He’s a blog consultant in high demand, and he’s earned every bit of his success.

David Risley – a prominent blogger with two high profile and highly successful blogs. If you want to learn a thing or two…or five, every visit to his personal blog David Risley dot com will deliver. I keep thinking I know stuff, and then I visit David’s blog and remember there is ALWAYS more to learn.

Lisa Irby – a fun and truly genuine blogger who really seems to earnestly care about her readers and providing huge value to them. Few pro-bloggers are as engaged and responsive as Lisa. If you’re interested in affiliate marketing, blogging or running a business online in general, a stop by her site will prove worthwhile. I guarantee it.

Michel Fortin – this is my kind of guy. A true business man. A family man. And he plays drums in a rock band. And he knows how to sell stuff…LOTS of stuff on his websites. He’s a highly successful copywriter, and he’s so in-demand that he charges $10k to work with you. Thing is, it’s worth every penny. If you’re short on cash and want top rate information on how to make your website convert better than ever before, read his blog. It’s free, dude.

Seth Godin – if you don’t know who Seth is, all you need to do is friggin Google the word “Seth”. He is genuinely caring and works his arse off to help people. He is a true thought-leader. His blog is mostly very short posts, nearly every single day, and it is regularly profound and thought-provoking. Few people can continually produce material of this caliber. Seth can.

Sean D’Souza – Sean is badass and genuinely psycho. He is truly the right man to be running a site called PsychoTactics. He creates way too much value for his readers and charges way too little for it. For general small business marketing with a focus on internet marketing, visit his blog. But only of course if you want to totally change the way you think about your business and become more profitable than ever.

Darren Rowse – Darren is pretty cool. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

Maki – Maki is an interesting blogger. He doesn’t post much at all lately. But when he does, it’s comprehensive and really helpful. And of course the archives on his site are full of beautiful information. Much of it was a big part of my beginning education in this business.

Brian Clark – so you have a website. So what? So does everyone else, right? If you actually want to engage your visitors and get results, you need to study copywriting a bit. There is a lot of science and technique behind it, and Brian’s blog Copyblogger tackles the entire subject head-on. No holds barred one of the most valuable blogs to any business owner, period. It’s no surprise it’s one of the most successful blogs on the planet. It deserves to be.

Books that will make you better at what you do

    The E-Myth Revisited is one of the best books on succeeding in business ever. If you run a business of ANY kind and haven’t read E-Myth, you are placing yourself at grave risk. Reading this book might save your business, and I actually mean that.

    Darren from Problogger wrote a book about how to succeed at bloggingblog tips image. The fact that Darren Rowse wrote it pretty much makes it mandatory reading. His clear, fun and helpful writing style makes this a serious winner.

    How to Win Friends & Influence Peopleblog tips image is a classic. Every time I open it, I learn something new about how to succeed, crush competition, make more sales, get more chicks (kidding…although YOU could do that if you want) or generally enjoy my life more fully. Few books, even good ones, are worthy of reading again and again. This is one of those few.

    Secrets of Great Rainmakersblog tips image taught me some truly beautiful insights into what it takes to not only improve sales but also how to lead others. If you work with sales people, affiliates, are in a position where you need to lead production-oriented people in any fashion, this book with make you happy.

    The New Rules of Marketing and PR was one of the first books I read on new media. It truly gives you a picture of how how powerful blogging and social media in general can really be for your business. If you or someone on your team is not convinced blogging is important, force feed them (or yourself) this book. You won’t be the same, and I can almost guarantee you will write me a thank you letter for making you read it :-)

    Robert Kiyosaki wrote Cashflow Quadrant a while back, so does that means it’s out of date? Uh, no. Nothing on this list is out of date. Most people don’t have a clue how money works, and when that comes to running a business that’s suicide. What if your business is very small? Even more so…you need to know how money works. What is cash flow really? How do you control it? How do you get some of that cash flow? Are you one of the millions of business owners out there who thinks they’re doing really well, when REALLY you’re digging yourself into a hole…deeper and deeper each day? This book answers all those questions and more.

    Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!blog tips image: so what are you going to do with all that cash you make from your internet business marketing? Spend it on a Cancun vacation? Maybe a cool Rolex? Maybe you don’t want to keep schlepping your whole life and want to actually learn to INVEST, so your money can work for you, instead of you always having to get out there personally to make things happen. This is not a comprehensive guide to investing of course, but it teaches you what it is (not what YOU think it is…what it REALLY is) and how it works. It shows you how to get started.