by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's note: To get yourself in the mood for this article, go to any search engine and find some of the tunes of Gladys Horton and her Marvelettes, particularly "Please Mr. Postman" or "Don't Mess with Bill." Kick off your shoes and remember Gladys Horton was all about a catchy rhythm and grooving at the soda shop with your main squeeze. Put on your head phones, close your eyes, and it's 1961. Gladys Horton, just 15 years old, is on top of her game...
To think of Gladys Horton, you must first of all remember her times. Dwight David Eisenhower still cast his mantle of security over the nation, although as Gladys' tunes hit the top of the Hot R & B/Hip-Hop Songs and the crucial Billboard Hot Singles, John F. Kennedy was getting himself nominated for President, spending daddy's money lavishly.
It was a time when good girls were expected to fight for their virtue in a known ritual that left that virtue intact... and their boyfriends exhausted. Good girls did.... but only after securing a tangible token of the boyfriend's affection. And it all occurred against a background of music, including that all important dance music... loud, raucous, catchy, blaring in every teenager's life.
Denizens from those mellow years like to call them innocent, romantic, simpler... and perhaps they were. But if you were a poor black girl from Inkster, Michigan they were anything but uncomplicated. For you had your way to make in the world with just your slender talent... and your one shot was a new record company situated on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
This was Motown, and though America didn't quite know it yet, this was about to become the most important place in the world for teenagers everywhere. It was ground zero for that frustrating, elusive beat that Motown executives needed and which they became so very good at finding.
Gladys Horton, in 1961, was in the right place at the time right. And, right from the get-go, she was lucky. She came as part of a quintet... but though Motown eschewed groups of 5, ordaining that only groups of 3 were welcome.... this day they made an exception and allowed this larger-than-usual group to audition before Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. Gordy was looking for his first Big Hit... and he had a feeling about these girls.
They passed this audition... and this break proved to be their launching pad. So far... so good. A second audition was scheduled.
The second audition got down to the business of finding a song for the group now called the Marvels. Pianist William Garrett had a few ideas for a blues tune he titled "Please Mr. Postman." It was unfinished, only a few words, no music. That didn't matter. Motown was about to prove it knew the secret of spinning dreams (and money) from next to nothing. It's what made them great. Gladys Horton (and Georgia Dobbins who wrote their first song, although Garrett got the credit) helped show them the way...
"Please Mr. Postman" was the result. It was sweet, it was snappy, it had the right "good girl" message... and most important of all, America's teens could dance to it and let themselves go.
Gladys Horton and the soon-to-be-called Marvelettes began the high flying ride of their lives and, for this exceptional moment, they were living their dreams... while they relied on the unflagging energy that comes with youth... to show themselves to a nation that just couldn't get enough of these peppy girls, their simple message, and that beat, that wonderful beat. "Please Mr. Postman" was their elevator to heaven and for a while, that wonderful while, it took Gladys and the Marvelettes where they all wanted to go: up!
That was the good news.
The bad news, although they wouldn't know it for some time, was that that sweet little tune, their first record, was destined to be their most popular and biggest seller. In other words, the moment when life was sweetest would prove be a flicker, a tease. They had peaked... and they weren't even 17.
Still, they didn't know this yet and Berry Gordy and Motown remained committed to these girls... for a while. After all, they had delivered when he needed a hit and needed it Now. And so, in due course, there were 21 Hot R & B/Hip-Hop Songs and 23 Billboard Hot 100 hit singles. Of these hits 3 were Top 10 Pop singles, 9 were Top 10 R & B singles; their debut was #1 on both charts.
It was good... but it wasn't quite good enough. And, besides, there were the usual cat fights, personnel problems, and mistakes, including an embarrassing gaffe on American Bandstand in 1962.
None of this would have mattered had the girls had Talent, that elusive je ne sais quoi that no one can quite define... but which we all know when we see it.
A girl named Diana Ross had it... Gladys Horton didn't, quite. But without Gladys Horton and the 6 other girls who, at one time or another, were members of the Marvelettes, there might not have been a Diana Ross. Berry Gordy, after all, cut his teeth on them... Katherine Anderson, Wanda Rogers, Anne Bogan, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, Georgia Dobbins.... and Gladys Horton. They helped build a great empire that transformed American culture at a time of American greatness. Moreover, when all is said and done, they had a longer and more fruitful run than most of these fragile, evanescent girl groups and their boy group counterparts.
Now Gladys Horton is dead too soon of a stroke, January 26, 2011, aged just 66. But (some of) her music will live on. My favorite is "Too many fish in the sea." (Released 1962). It has legs... look it up... and dance! You won't be able to help yourself; your toes will tap...the true legacy of the Marvelettes... and Gladys Horton.
For more information, see Girl Groups, Girl Culture: Popular Music and Identity in the 1960s. Routledge; New Edition February 2007 by Jacqueline Warwick.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books and an avid art collector.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com
Check it out
Please Mr. Postman
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Saturday, February 19, 2011
The great age of commentary is here. Here's how to take advantage of it and make your blog distinguished and profitable.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
When I was growing up, America's opinions were shaped by a handful of influential people whose advice on any subject under the sun (but usually national affairs and politics) could be read, first, in newspapers... then heard on the radio and television.
These are great names, masters of pungent comments, wry humor, intelligent observations, and refined styles all their own. Here is my (partial) Honor Roll... one could add many others, the very best of the very best:
Westbrook Pegler of the United Press (died 1969).
H.L. Mencken of the Baltimore Sun (died 1956).
Edward R. Murrow of CBS (died 1965).
Walter Winchell of New York Daily Mirror (died 1972).
Paul Harvey of ABC (died 2009).
And now another name, destined for greatness and the prosperity that generally accompanies it, can be added to the list:
YOU!
I'm here, your advisor and friend, to assist your rise to global eminence, as Internet blogger and meaningful commentator par excellence.
The Internet has made it possible to become such a commentator. You now have a power, and at your fingertips too, previously reserved to the few; now available to anyone.
You are now able to comment on and draw forth the true meaning of events great and small, events of cosmic significance and the little secrets that someone (usually office holder or government official) didn't want anyone to know, thus motivating the commentator to be sure to disclose.
Now you can be a new, soon to be important voice... a voice of humanity, intelligence, stern admonitions and home truths, resoundingly delivered. In short, you can be an unceasing engine for truth, justice, and the improvement of mankind, in a style and with a spin all your own. Kool.
Here's how to begin and prosper.
Most bloggers, think small, picayune, trivial. You cannot.
Their authors, that is, chew more than they bite off. (Sadly, I cannot take credit for this telling mot. Mrs. Henry Adams rendered this artful observation on the ponderous American author Henry James. She later killed herself, but probably not as a consequence of this remark.) Your view must be different, broad, cosmopolitan, catholic in the best (non-sectarian) sense.
If you want an important blog, write on important subjects. This formula is tried -- and true.
Always talk directly to your readers.
The great commentators of any age and culture never address the world en masse. They talk directly to you, as in a personal conversation between someone with Something Important to say... and someone anxious to learn it, all of it.
Use your blog to tell stores.
People need more than facts, assertions, and (worst of all) windy pontifications to attract them, though this is what they get from most blog writers.
People have always liked... and will always like... interesting tales. Great communicators like Jesus, Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln were expert at capturing the full attention of their audiences... and what's more, keeping it with stories with a beginning, middle, end.
Develop a format. Make it your signature.
All the great commentators, like the ones listed above, delivered their comments in a certain, defined way which the folks who followed them immediately recognized. You must do the same.
Enter into the lives of the people you are commenting on... and the ones you are delivering your comments to.
The best commentators enter into the situations and conditions, nay into the very skins and brains, of the people they are writing about. This is what gives their comments an edge and credibility.
The goal of the great commentator is most assuredly not to set up a card board effigy of the person he is writing about. That's unfair, inadequate, infra dig.
The objective, instead, is to show that you truly understand the people and events you are writing about... then make your comments about them, pungent, fair, honest, aphoristic accordingly.
This is not easy to do... but it is what great commentators do... and which makes them irresistible to readers.
Avoid pedantry, but never the chance to instruct.
The purpose of a blog is NEVER to show how smart you are. It is to inform, educate, edify and instruct your readers, all done with the lightest, but always sure, touch. In short, it about enhancing their smartness...never merely dazzling with your own.
Thus, don't use your blog as the opportunity to demonstrate how clever and intelligent you are. Commentators are not, and always eschew the opportunity to be, ponderous. That's the role of too many professors from the Academy. Such people do not flourish, in blogs or elsewhere, because their readers flee andante.
You must capture and enthrall them, not as professors do by forcing attendance, but by entrancements, the apt selection of topics, the masterful presentation of what you have to tell... and the unique way you present it.
Master the great information sources you will come to rely upon to glean critical facts for your comments.
Read, on line now, the New York Times and Washington Post, to name but 2 key sources. These publications, soon to be history because of the Internet, will inspire you with both facts and story ideas. Scrutinize them closely.
Use too the Associated Press reports and those of UPI and Reuter's. They are crucial for providing both story ideas and the hard details which give your commentaries backbone and grit.
Learn to master the art of searching the great search engines, where the crucial supporting information is available whenever you require it,which means whenever you want a comment taut, never flaccid, girded by fact.
Use the Wikipedia, one of the greatest information sources ever. It is a noble idea, essential to commentators, ever available. Bravissimo.
One last thing. Set your blog publishing schedule... and stick to it.
Your readers want, indeed insist upon, predictability and regular delivery of your blog. Give it to them. If your publishing date is each Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time... adhere to it, religiously. "Punctuality," as King Louis XVIII of France observed, "is the courtesy of kings."
Nowadays your readers are the sovereigns, each and every one. Succeed with them... and your results and benefits, financial and otherwise, are assured, abundantly so. These are your masters, your audience. Treat them accordingly and soar.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com
Check out Blog Cash Cl;ick Here
When I was growing up, America's opinions were shaped by a handful of influential people whose advice on any subject under the sun (but usually national affairs and politics) could be read, first, in newspapers... then heard on the radio and television.
These are great names, masters of pungent comments, wry humor, intelligent observations, and refined styles all their own. Here is my (partial) Honor Roll... one could add many others, the very best of the very best:
Westbrook Pegler of the United Press (died 1969).
H.L. Mencken of the Baltimore Sun (died 1956).
Edward R. Murrow of CBS (died 1965).
Walter Winchell of New York Daily Mirror (died 1972).
Paul Harvey of ABC (died 2009).
And now another name, destined for greatness and the prosperity that generally accompanies it, can be added to the list:
YOU!
I'm here, your advisor and friend, to assist your rise to global eminence, as Internet blogger and meaningful commentator par excellence.
The Internet has made it possible to become such a commentator. You now have a power, and at your fingertips too, previously reserved to the few; now available to anyone.
You are now able to comment on and draw forth the true meaning of events great and small, events of cosmic significance and the little secrets that someone (usually office holder or government official) didn't want anyone to know, thus motivating the commentator to be sure to disclose.
Now you can be a new, soon to be important voice... a voice of humanity, intelligence, stern admonitions and home truths, resoundingly delivered. In short, you can be an unceasing engine for truth, justice, and the improvement of mankind, in a style and with a spin all your own. Kool.
Here's how to begin and prosper.
Most bloggers, think small, picayune, trivial. You cannot.
Their authors, that is, chew more than they bite off. (Sadly, I cannot take credit for this telling mot. Mrs. Henry Adams rendered this artful observation on the ponderous American author Henry James. She later killed herself, but probably not as a consequence of this remark.) Your view must be different, broad, cosmopolitan, catholic in the best (non-sectarian) sense.
If you want an important blog, write on important subjects. This formula is tried -- and true.
Always talk directly to your readers.
The great commentators of any age and culture never address the world en masse. They talk directly to you, as in a personal conversation between someone with Something Important to say... and someone anxious to learn it, all of it.
Use your blog to tell stores.
People need more than facts, assertions, and (worst of all) windy pontifications to attract them, though this is what they get from most blog writers.
People have always liked... and will always like... interesting tales. Great communicators like Jesus, Gandhi, Franklin Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln were expert at capturing the full attention of their audiences... and what's more, keeping it with stories with a beginning, middle, end.
Develop a format. Make it your signature.
All the great commentators, like the ones listed above, delivered their comments in a certain, defined way which the folks who followed them immediately recognized. You must do the same.
Enter into the lives of the people you are commenting on... and the ones you are delivering your comments to.
The best commentators enter into the situations and conditions, nay into the very skins and brains, of the people they are writing about. This is what gives their comments an edge and credibility.
The goal of the great commentator is most assuredly not to set up a card board effigy of the person he is writing about. That's unfair, inadequate, infra dig.
The objective, instead, is to show that you truly understand the people and events you are writing about... then make your comments about them, pungent, fair, honest, aphoristic accordingly.
This is not easy to do... but it is what great commentators do... and which makes them irresistible to readers.
Avoid pedantry, but never the chance to instruct.
The purpose of a blog is NEVER to show how smart you are. It is to inform, educate, edify and instruct your readers, all done with the lightest, but always sure, touch. In short, it about enhancing their smartness...never merely dazzling with your own.
Thus, don't use your blog as the opportunity to demonstrate how clever and intelligent you are. Commentators are not, and always eschew the opportunity to be, ponderous. That's the role of too many professors from the Academy. Such people do not flourish, in blogs or elsewhere, because their readers flee andante.
You must capture and enthrall them, not as professors do by forcing attendance, but by entrancements, the apt selection of topics, the masterful presentation of what you have to tell... and the unique way you present it.
Master the great information sources you will come to rely upon to glean critical facts for your comments.
Read, on line now, the New York Times and Washington Post, to name but 2 key sources. These publications, soon to be history because of the Internet, will inspire you with both facts and story ideas. Scrutinize them closely.
Use too the Associated Press reports and those of UPI and Reuter's. They are crucial for providing both story ideas and the hard details which give your commentaries backbone and grit.
Learn to master the art of searching the great search engines, where the crucial supporting information is available whenever you require it,which means whenever you want a comment taut, never flaccid, girded by fact.
Use the Wikipedia, one of the greatest information sources ever. It is a noble idea, essential to commentators, ever available. Bravissimo.
One last thing. Set your blog publishing schedule... and stick to it.
Your readers want, indeed insist upon, predictability and regular delivery of your blog. Give it to them. If your publishing date is each Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time... adhere to it, religiously. "Punctuality," as King Louis XVIII of France observed, "is the courtesy of kings."
Nowadays your readers are the sovereigns, each and every one. Succeed with them... and your results and benefits, financial and otherwise, are assured, abundantly so. These are your masters, your audience. Treat them accordingly and soar.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com
Check out Blog Cash Cl;ick Here
Friday, February 18, 2011
Ali Khamenei's cur. The rise and ultimate fall of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Imagine that you are Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the elect of God and the Prophet. You are a man of decided views, regarding the theocracy that masquerades as the Islamic Republic of Iran as the dernier mot in acceptable governance.
You are the Anointed One; you are a man of discernment, learning, sternness because sternness is demanded by God, the ultimate authority on belief, the faith, right and wrong, and who shall live or die.
You are accustomed to giving directives... but need others kow-towing to your powers derived from God to implement them. You will not soil your hands... but your work is pressing. You must stay remote, unapproachable by mere mortals, never by infidels.
Such a man needs, as such men throughout history have needed, a cur of his own, a loyal, unquestioning mongrel, useful not least because he can, in an instant, for whatever reason, be disposed of without difficulty or remorse.
The man you have chosen is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6th and current president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. You imagined him, you have chosen him, you give him his daily orders... and he gives you obedience. But the winds of change started in Egypt are now blowing in Iran, and the whole world is watching your dangerous regime to see what you and your hand-picked president will do.
Tehran situation report
Valentine's Day to the rest of the world, February 14, 2011, was a day of massive anti government demonstrations in the Iranian capital. Just how massive we may never know, since the first thing this controlling regime did (learning from Cairo) was to curtail the Internet as much as possible and drastically limit where foreign journalists could go and under what circumstances. Limiting, restricting Internet access is the first thing threatened autocratic regimes do, making it abundantly clear that freedom of information is the early casualty of the insurrection. Despite such measures, dozens of home videos have appeared on Youtube, and these have given the world a very clear sign about what is going on.
Still, reports have varied on how many demonstrators made the boldest statement of their lives by standing tall for the kind of freedom in Iran that the fall of the Mubarak regime makes possible in Egypt. Whether those appearing measured tens or hundreds of thousands wasn't the point; it was the fact that massive demonstrations were happening at all in a land where the power emanates from the Supreme Leader, never from the people, who are viewed as obstreperous, dangerous, in need of constant chastisement, and always maximum control.
Demonstrations have occurred in Tehran before, of course; the latest happening in 2009, stemming from widespread public dissatisfaction and disgust at Ahmadinejad's hotly contested re-election, generally viewed as rigged. But this new round of protests is already fundamentally different from those taking place in 2009. Then the protests largely concerned the re-election of Ahmadinejad. This time they have significantly broadened; they are not merely about the president. They are also aimed at the very idea of an Islamic Republic and thus the rule of the Muslim conservative establishment epitomized by Khamenei.
Obviously both the Iranian president and Supreme Leader view this transformation with alarm, particularly given the huge number of demonstrators. But, this time round, they faced a tactical difficulty: they could hardly respond with the massive police and special forces presence which is the regime's knee-jerk reaction to any popular unrest). After all, they had just praised the way matters had been handled in Cairo (not least because of the opening for the previously outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which always looked to the Islamic Republic for inspiration and support.)
Having so praised Egypt for its "gentle revolution", Khamenei and his man were forced to limit the number of police (and thus the stream of violent, bloody images hurtful to the regime) and take other measures.
Thus, February 15, while Ahmadinejad was claiming the protests were not home grown but inspired by foreigners inimical to the regime (Israel implied but not mentioned), members of Iran's tame Parliament urged immediate death sentences (with decapitation or hanging always possible) for at least three of the most prominent demonstrators and regime opponents, Mir Hussein Moussavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and former president Mohammed Khatami.
At the same time the ghastly means available to all autocracies (including mass arrests, detentions, beatings and official brutalities of every kind) were begun, the better to dishearten and dismay the demonstrators and every freedom loving Iranian.
In the past such actions worked and worked relatively fast. This time such sustained suppression by the regime may well work, too. Or not.
Ahmadinejad has been living on borrowed time since the nation erupted in demonstrations not merely because he was re-elected but because the re-election (however dubious) was certified by the Supreme Leader. Khamenei might well have reckoned that such a move, while saving his cur, ultimately threatened him and the entire regime. So necessary to the fastidious, cloistered Supreme Leader is Ahmadinejad that Khamenei risked everything by standing by his man -- then.
And now, for an instant, we must consider that man, discovered, crafted, owned by Khamenei. Ahmadinejad was raised in poverty rising to become an engineer and teacher. Pliant when it counted, he could be the seeming pit bull the reclusive Supreme Leader needed. He rose, like so many before him, by doing what he was told, while providing complete cover for the real decision maker, a true asset for a reclusive cleric with a taste for classical Persian poetry.
Under this arrangement, Ahmadinejad blustered about Israel, the United Kingdom and United States; made reckless statements on many subjects (not least denying the very existence of the Holocaust), and made himself quite clear on Iran's right to nuclear power (and by implication The Bomb). At first his presidency was applauded, not least because of his lavish social programs, sustained by Iran's ace in the hole, oil.
But Ahmadinejad's position since his disputed re-election has noticeably deteriorated. His bluster, once arousing, is now seen as hackneyed and contrived. His economic missteps have been notable, with social programs slashed because of the poor financial condition of the country. His reputation amongst the poor has plummeted accordingly, and it bears mentioning that for the first time, anti-government demonstrators came from these districts, an ominous development.
The Supreme Leader may now have concluded that the cost of his cur is greater than his utility. If so, Ahmadinejad, the president who was never presidential, will fall fast, just as he rose. Khamenei will see to that. For after all, such a cipher as Ahmadinejad, no matter how helpful, can always be replaced by another, suitable cur. But to replace one Anointed by God and regularly in contact with Him is unthinkable.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
<a href="http://WeBroadcastToYou.com"
>http://WeBroadcastToYou.com</a>.
Check out The Money Tree
-> http://www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=uv9hWuN4
Imagine that you are Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the elect of God and the Prophet. You are a man of decided views, regarding the theocracy that masquerades as the Islamic Republic of Iran as the dernier mot in acceptable governance.
You are the Anointed One; you are a man of discernment, learning, sternness because sternness is demanded by God, the ultimate authority on belief, the faith, right and wrong, and who shall live or die.
You are accustomed to giving directives... but need others kow-towing to your powers derived from God to implement them. You will not soil your hands... but your work is pressing. You must stay remote, unapproachable by mere mortals, never by infidels.
Such a man needs, as such men throughout history have needed, a cur of his own, a loyal, unquestioning mongrel, useful not least because he can, in an instant, for whatever reason, be disposed of without difficulty or remorse.
The man you have chosen is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 6th and current president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. You imagined him, you have chosen him, you give him his daily orders... and he gives you obedience. But the winds of change started in Egypt are now blowing in Iran, and the whole world is watching your dangerous regime to see what you and your hand-picked president will do.
Tehran situation report
Valentine's Day to the rest of the world, February 14, 2011, was a day of massive anti government demonstrations in the Iranian capital. Just how massive we may never know, since the first thing this controlling regime did (learning from Cairo) was to curtail the Internet as much as possible and drastically limit where foreign journalists could go and under what circumstances. Limiting, restricting Internet access is the first thing threatened autocratic regimes do, making it abundantly clear that freedom of information is the early casualty of the insurrection. Despite such measures, dozens of home videos have appeared on Youtube, and these have given the world a very clear sign about what is going on.
Still, reports have varied on how many demonstrators made the boldest statement of their lives by standing tall for the kind of freedom in Iran that the fall of the Mubarak regime makes possible in Egypt. Whether those appearing measured tens or hundreds of thousands wasn't the point; it was the fact that massive demonstrations were happening at all in a land where the power emanates from the Supreme Leader, never from the people, who are viewed as obstreperous, dangerous, in need of constant chastisement, and always maximum control.
Demonstrations have occurred in Tehran before, of course; the latest happening in 2009, stemming from widespread public dissatisfaction and disgust at Ahmadinejad's hotly contested re-election, generally viewed as rigged. But this new round of protests is already fundamentally different from those taking place in 2009. Then the protests largely concerned the re-election of Ahmadinejad. This time they have significantly broadened; they are not merely about the president. They are also aimed at the very idea of an Islamic Republic and thus the rule of the Muslim conservative establishment epitomized by Khamenei.
Obviously both the Iranian president and Supreme Leader view this transformation with alarm, particularly given the huge number of demonstrators. But, this time round, they faced a tactical difficulty: they could hardly respond with the massive police and special forces presence which is the regime's knee-jerk reaction to any popular unrest). After all, they had just praised the way matters had been handled in Cairo (not least because of the opening for the previously outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which always looked to the Islamic Republic for inspiration and support.)
Having so praised Egypt for its "gentle revolution", Khamenei and his man were forced to limit the number of police (and thus the stream of violent, bloody images hurtful to the regime) and take other measures.
Thus, February 15, while Ahmadinejad was claiming the protests were not home grown but inspired by foreigners inimical to the regime (Israel implied but not mentioned), members of Iran's tame Parliament urged immediate death sentences (with decapitation or hanging always possible) for at least three of the most prominent demonstrators and regime opponents, Mir Hussein Moussavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and former president Mohammed Khatami.
At the same time the ghastly means available to all autocracies (including mass arrests, detentions, beatings and official brutalities of every kind) were begun, the better to dishearten and dismay the demonstrators and every freedom loving Iranian.
In the past such actions worked and worked relatively fast. This time such sustained suppression by the regime may well work, too. Or not.
Ahmadinejad has been living on borrowed time since the nation erupted in demonstrations not merely because he was re-elected but because the re-election (however dubious) was certified by the Supreme Leader. Khamenei might well have reckoned that such a move, while saving his cur, ultimately threatened him and the entire regime. So necessary to the fastidious, cloistered Supreme Leader is Ahmadinejad that Khamenei risked everything by standing by his man -- then.
And now, for an instant, we must consider that man, discovered, crafted, owned by Khamenei. Ahmadinejad was raised in poverty rising to become an engineer and teacher. Pliant when it counted, he could be the seeming pit bull the reclusive Supreme Leader needed. He rose, like so many before him, by doing what he was told, while providing complete cover for the real decision maker, a true asset for a reclusive cleric with a taste for classical Persian poetry.
Under this arrangement, Ahmadinejad blustered about Israel, the United Kingdom and United States; made reckless statements on many subjects (not least denying the very existence of the Holocaust), and made himself quite clear on Iran's right to nuclear power (and by implication The Bomb). At first his presidency was applauded, not least because of his lavish social programs, sustained by Iran's ace in the hole, oil.
But Ahmadinejad's position since his disputed re-election has noticeably deteriorated. His bluster, once arousing, is now seen as hackneyed and contrived. His economic missteps have been notable, with social programs slashed because of the poor financial condition of the country. His reputation amongst the poor has plummeted accordingly, and it bears mentioning that for the first time, anti-government demonstrators came from these districts, an ominous development.
The Supreme Leader may now have concluded that the cost of his cur is greater than his utility. If so, Ahmadinejad, the president who was never presidential, will fall fast, just as he rose. Khamenei will see to that. For after all, such a cipher as Ahmadinejad, no matter how helpful, can always be replaced by another, suitable cur. But to replace one Anointed by God and regularly in contact with Him is unthinkable.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
<a href="http://WeBroadcastToYou.com"
>http://WeBroadcastToYou.com</a>.
Check out The Money Tree
-> http://www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=uv9hWuN4
Massive Passive Income: Does Autoblogging Really Work?
Autoblogging is quite a hot topic these days in the Internet Marketing social circles. In case you have not heard all of the recent buzz and are scratching your head about what autoblogging is, it's a method for creating blogs in a ?set it and forget it' kind of way that have plugins in place to automatically post content daily. This essentially takes much of the labor out of creating unique content and posting daily or even every few days. But, the question of the moment is, does autoblogging work? Can you really generate a ton of passive income just from setting up these little niche blogs and then leaving them to fend for themselves?
Here are some things that you might hear about autoblogging:
Autoblogging is nothing but a scam
Most likely written either by folks who have tried it and failed, or who simply dismiss the concept out-of-hand because they firmly believe that they only way to blog is by creating unique content daily.
Autoblogging is your gateway to untold Internet Marketing riches
At the other end of the spectrum you might here claims that autoblogging is your ticket to riches and fame. Those messages are most often promulgated by those who are selling an autoblogging product.
The truth about autoblogging
Somewhere in between the idea that autoblogging is a black hat scam, and the idea that you can auto-blog your way to untold wealth is the truth that falls somewhere in between those extremes.
With autoblogging you use automated plugins that grab content based on your keywords from RSS feeds, article directories, your own stash of PLR content, and videos. You are aggregating all of this content and presenting it under your chosen category along with adverts that would appeal to the particular audience that you are targeting with your content.
You also need the tools and technology to make setting up and maintaining multiple blogs simple and straightforward. Wordpress is the perfect platform for your auto-blogs because it allows you to host multiple, individual blogs with their own domain names on a single installation of the Wordpress software on your server.
Autoblogging has many moving parts, so it's good to have a proven system to follow to help ensure your chances for success. Trying to patch together a solution and work through trial and error on your own can cost you valuable time and money.
If you follow a proven system and if you are willing to invest some time, thought and strategy on the front end, you can set up an empire of auto-blogs that will generate a healthy stream of passive income for you.
If you are serious about getting started building your own autoblogging empire, you must check out
Massive Passive Profits, which is a mass deploy autoblogging format that completely automates the creation of Wordpress multi-user blog and feeds them with tons of content.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
<a href="http://WeBroadcastToYou.com"
>http://WeBroadcastToYou.com</a>.
Check out Blog Cash
http://www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=by8W9Juw
Here are some things that you might hear about autoblogging:
Autoblogging is nothing but a scam
Most likely written either by folks who have tried it and failed, or who simply dismiss the concept out-of-hand because they firmly believe that they only way to blog is by creating unique content daily.
Autoblogging is your gateway to untold Internet Marketing riches
At the other end of the spectrum you might here claims that autoblogging is your ticket to riches and fame. Those messages are most often promulgated by those who are selling an autoblogging product.
The truth about autoblogging
Somewhere in between the idea that autoblogging is a black hat scam, and the idea that you can auto-blog your way to untold wealth is the truth that falls somewhere in between those extremes.
With autoblogging you use automated plugins that grab content based on your keywords from RSS feeds, article directories, your own stash of PLR content, and videos. You are aggregating all of this content and presenting it under your chosen category along with adverts that would appeal to the particular audience that you are targeting with your content.
You also need the tools and technology to make setting up and maintaining multiple blogs simple and straightforward. Wordpress is the perfect platform for your auto-blogs because it allows you to host multiple, individual blogs with their own domain names on a single installation of the Wordpress software on your server.
Autoblogging has many moving parts, so it's good to have a proven system to follow to help ensure your chances for success. Trying to patch together a solution and work through trial and error on your own can cost you valuable time and money.
If you follow a proven system and if you are willing to invest some time, thought and strategy on the front end, you can set up an empire of auto-blogs that will generate a healthy stream of passive income for you.
If you are serious about getting started building your own autoblogging empire, you must check out
Massive Passive Profits, which is a mass deploy autoblogging format that completely automates the creation of Wordpress multi-user blog and feeds them with tons of content.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
<a href="http://WeBroadcastToYou.com"
>http://WeBroadcastToYou.com</a>.
Check out Blog Cash
http://www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=by8W9Juw
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The son also rises........not. The t last, most fervid supporter of the ancien regime, Gamal Mubarak, the man who would be king
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
It was all arranged by the new and emerging powers that be in Cairo.
These people, many once ostentatious pillars of the regime, felt they had given the old man, octogenarian Hosni, more than enough time, to secret his billions and save his face. Unanimously they agreed, civil and military, it was time to move on before things got really out of control.
They all gathered before their television sets Thursday, February 10, 2011 ready to savor the victory at hand, certain they were about to hear the historic pronouncement they all wanted, something along these lines:
"I, Hosni Mubarak, having done my best for my beloved country these 30 years, now acquiesce to the people's desire for change. I now give them that change... and I ask for my country's blessing on me and forgiveness for any mistakes I may have made. Long live Egypt! Long live the Egyptians!"
It would, indeed, have been a classy end and made certain that what many were calling the "gentle revolution", ended gentle indeed.
But it was not to be.
One man was determined that any such words, at any time, at any place should never be uttered. And that man, Gamal Mubarak, constantly at hand in these waning days, had the dictator's ear. This was Gamal, omnipresent Gamal, the man who would be king. He was the Heir Presumptive, for whom Egypt was patrimony, not nation; the family business, not a sovereign people.
And he was determined that his father with all the trappings should remain in power until he, Gamal, was anointed; for to lose Egypt and the succession now was to lose them forever.
Credentials? Gamal Mubarak took the trouble to be born.
Autocracies, dictatorships, monarchies all suffer from one gigantic problem that democracies do not. In a democracy the people are trained to select and have the constitutional duty to elect each new president at given intervals. It is their right, often won at bayonet's point, and they protect it zealously.In such constitutional regimes, leaders emerge from the grass roots up, the chosen of the people.
Not so in autocracies. There leaders are foisted upon the people from the top down, by autocrats (all too often sustained by the military) who regard the selection of their successors as their God given right. In fact it often means nothing more than forcing upon an already long- suffering people the least dim member of the autocrat's addled brood.
And so it was in Egypt.
Hosni Mubarak, a man born into the lowest level of the scrimping lower middle class, quickly developed a taste for the finest things in life. They were, he reckoned, the just rewards of his very demanding position. The arc of his rule went something like this:
* first get into power * then remove all opponents * control police and military by lucrative deals * create a system of mass espionage * use terror and state sponsored brutality to maintain your rule...
.... and, having worked so long, so hard, hand pick your successor and give him everything a la MacBeth.
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be king What thou art promised.
And so Hosni Mubarak, the man who had everything but the successor to give it to, set about the immemorial task of autocrats of every epoch: to turn inadequate family members into autocrats, too.
This is a very demanding, almost impossible task, indeed, because the circumstances that forged the autocrat and turned him into a nation-running entity are not present in the heirs... who famously lack the wiles, the grit, the determination and the drive to subdue a people and control them.
And so it was in Mubarak's Egypt, a textbook case of the seasoned dictator who had been given nothing and had mastered the art of taking everything... attempting to give it all to someone who had never had to take anything because he was given everything.
It was so with the lion's whelp, Gamal.
Gamal became the Heir of Egypt by default; his elder brother, Alaa, declined the honor which then fell upon the second son. But Gamal, an educated man, a man who was trained to understand the making and movement of money, was an improbable candidate to continue the autocracy and protect the Mubarak legacy and money siphoning enterprises.
Gamal lacked everything that had enabled his father to control a great nation and to reach grasping fingers into so much, so lucratively.
He wanted Egypt all right... but he overlooked the inconvenient truth that to control that seething land meant having skills investment bankers like himself never have and can only imagine. He was fastidious, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, lacking both the guts and gumption of his old man. In short, he was not a chip off the old block.
He was also deeply unpopular with the people of Egypt; no surprise this. After all, who likes the spoiled, pampered rich kid who has been given everything and worked for nothing? We aim to trip him up every chance we get... and a nation was waiting for that chance.
But if Gamal could not control Egypt in the way of his father, he could control... papa Hosni. And he strained every muscle to do just that.
In Mubarak's last days an ancient drama played itself out, the drama whereby heirs without support or the talent for securing it, do everything to control the autocrat who controls everything else before that autocrat's regime passes into history.
The autocrat himself, one senses, having shown the world that he was no paper tiger, but a man who gave way only to force majeure, was prepared to leave..... even content to do so. But at every turn there was Gamal, importunate, insistent, insinuating. He was not so prepared to depart.
And so he, with the last supporters, plus royaliste que le roi, gave his father the worst of services, changing the last address from one of statesmanlike withdrawal to bluff, unsustainable bluster. It was worse than a crime; it was a blunder, humiliating, embarrassing, futile, stunningly reversed in a day... thereby fully demonstrating why the son was manifestly inadequate.
No doubt the exiles, as they left Cairo in a caravan stuffed with hastily packed riches, gave way to the themes of the remainder of their lives, recriminations, reproaches, regrets. And Gamal? He peered out the window and saw his dreams of empire fading fast away, and forever; doomed to remember everything that might have been, to forget nothing.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books and an avid art collector.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com
Check out Blog Cash
http://www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=by8W9Juw
It was all arranged by the new and emerging powers that be in Cairo.
These people, many once ostentatious pillars of the regime, felt they had given the old man, octogenarian Hosni, more than enough time, to secret his billions and save his face. Unanimously they agreed, civil and military, it was time to move on before things got really out of control.
They all gathered before their television sets Thursday, February 10, 2011 ready to savor the victory at hand, certain they were about to hear the historic pronouncement they all wanted, something along these lines:
"I, Hosni Mubarak, having done my best for my beloved country these 30 years, now acquiesce to the people's desire for change. I now give them that change... and I ask for my country's blessing on me and forgiveness for any mistakes I may have made. Long live Egypt! Long live the Egyptians!"
It would, indeed, have been a classy end and made certain that what many were calling the "gentle revolution", ended gentle indeed.
But it was not to be.
One man was determined that any such words, at any time, at any place should never be uttered. And that man, Gamal Mubarak, constantly at hand in these waning days, had the dictator's ear. This was Gamal, omnipresent Gamal, the man who would be king. He was the Heir Presumptive, for whom Egypt was patrimony, not nation; the family business, not a sovereign people.
And he was determined that his father with all the trappings should remain in power until he, Gamal, was anointed; for to lose Egypt and the succession now was to lose them forever.
Credentials? Gamal Mubarak took the trouble to be born.
Autocracies, dictatorships, monarchies all suffer from one gigantic problem that democracies do not. In a democracy the people are trained to select and have the constitutional duty to elect each new president at given intervals. It is their right, often won at bayonet's point, and they protect it zealously.In such constitutional regimes, leaders emerge from the grass roots up, the chosen of the people.
Not so in autocracies. There leaders are foisted upon the people from the top down, by autocrats (all too often sustained by the military) who regard the selection of their successors as their God given right. In fact it often means nothing more than forcing upon an already long- suffering people the least dim member of the autocrat's addled brood.
And so it was in Egypt.
Hosni Mubarak, a man born into the lowest level of the scrimping lower middle class, quickly developed a taste for the finest things in life. They were, he reckoned, the just rewards of his very demanding position. The arc of his rule went something like this:
* first get into power * then remove all opponents * control police and military by lucrative deals * create a system of mass espionage * use terror and state sponsored brutality to maintain your rule...
.... and, having worked so long, so hard, hand pick your successor and give him everything a la MacBeth.
Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be king What thou art promised.
And so Hosni Mubarak, the man who had everything but the successor to give it to, set about the immemorial task of autocrats of every epoch: to turn inadequate family members into autocrats, too.
This is a very demanding, almost impossible task, indeed, because the circumstances that forged the autocrat and turned him into a nation-running entity are not present in the heirs... who famously lack the wiles, the grit, the determination and the drive to subdue a people and control them.
And so it was in Mubarak's Egypt, a textbook case of the seasoned dictator who had been given nothing and had mastered the art of taking everything... attempting to give it all to someone who had never had to take anything because he was given everything.
It was so with the lion's whelp, Gamal.
Gamal became the Heir of Egypt by default; his elder brother, Alaa, declined the honor which then fell upon the second son. But Gamal, an educated man, a man who was trained to understand the making and movement of money, was an improbable candidate to continue the autocracy and protect the Mubarak legacy and money siphoning enterprises.
Gamal lacked everything that had enabled his father to control a great nation and to reach grasping fingers into so much, so lucratively.
He wanted Egypt all right... but he overlooked the inconvenient truth that to control that seething land meant having skills investment bankers like himself never have and can only imagine. He was fastidious, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, lacking both the guts and gumption of his old man. In short, he was not a chip off the old block.
He was also deeply unpopular with the people of Egypt; no surprise this. After all, who likes the spoiled, pampered rich kid who has been given everything and worked for nothing? We aim to trip him up every chance we get... and a nation was waiting for that chance.
But if Gamal could not control Egypt in the way of his father, he could control... papa Hosni. And he strained every muscle to do just that.
In Mubarak's last days an ancient drama played itself out, the drama whereby heirs without support or the talent for securing it, do everything to control the autocrat who controls everything else before that autocrat's regime passes into history.
The autocrat himself, one senses, having shown the world that he was no paper tiger, but a man who gave way only to force majeure, was prepared to leave..... even content to do so. But at every turn there was Gamal, importunate, insistent, insinuating. He was not so prepared to depart.
And so he, with the last supporters, plus royaliste que le roi, gave his father the worst of services, changing the last address from one of statesmanlike withdrawal to bluff, unsustainable bluster. It was worse than a crime; it was a blunder, humiliating, embarrassing, futile, stunningly reversed in a day... thereby fully demonstrating why the son was manifestly inadequate.
No doubt the exiles, as they left Cairo in a caravan stuffed with hastily packed riches, gave way to the themes of the remainder of their lives, recriminations, reproaches, regrets. And Gamal? He peered out the window and saw his dreams of empire fading fast away, and forever; doomed to remember everything that might have been, to forget nothing.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books and an avid art collector.
Republished with author's permission by Sylvia Kinzie
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com
Check out Blog Cash
http://www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=by8W9Juw
Monday, February 14, 2011
The art of creating blogs that get results right from Day One!
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Blogs are in! Blogs are omnipresent! Blogs are the future of the 'net!
All true but what is a blog... and how do you profit from it?
Purists may offer a different definition (purists usually do)... but to me, the complete capitalist, a blog is and always will be about one thing: making money. Every day. All the time.
Let me say this another way because for far too many people blogs are an unbridled (and correspondingly horrifying) excess of vanity, self-gratification, arrogance, not to mention an avalanche of incredibly boring stuff and Things You Don't Want To Know. Yes, too many smart people use them as a cheap form of venting and therapy.
But (my recommendations in hand) you won't. You'll stay forever focused on the main chance: using your blog to generate prospect leads... and make money. Now... dig in. I am about to deliver an embarrass du choix for big blog bucks.
Train your readers to be responsive.
If you intend to use your blog to make money, you must train your readers to be responsive. Otherwise, you will dramatically curtail and limit your responses (and blog profits)... which is the exact opposite of what you want.
The Internet is, at its best, the best interactive tool in the galaxy. But what if readers don't understand that? Why, then, mon frere, you must remind them of their duty... you must remind them that yours is a fully interactive endeavor and that the responsibility of EVERY reader is -- to respond. Ensuring this result is your #1 objective.
A blog is NOT a standard newspaper or magazine... as readers must be told and trained to use.
Consider the case of your morning newspaper. It is packed with articles. How many do you respond to? Silly question, right? Periodical readers, except on the occasions they have a bee in their bonnets and write a Letter to the Editor, never respond to articles. They just read 'em.
But a blog is essentially different. You want to bring articles and information of interest and importance to your readers; you want them to respond. In other words, blog content should trigger a continuing stream of reader commentary... and help build knowledge about these readers as well as build the relationships that deliver business effortlessly.
Establish a confidential tone from the get-go
Your readers (whether they ever say so or not) will read your blog (as opposed to a million others) because you give them interesting copy that the rest of the world cannot deliver. It's not just that Enquiring Minds Want To Know: it's that these minds want to know things they cannot easily get anywhere else.
Thus your tone is everything: let the reader know that yours is a fresh, new, entirely compelling voice. The more you let them know that yours is an "insider" place, a locale of smart commentary delivered with wit, insight, good humor and progressive outlook, the better.
Always use the second person -- YOU! -- in your blog content.
Blogs are the most person-centered of media. Thus, you must always speak to your readers in the second person, that is with an explicit or implied "you" (the blog reader). This will immediately establish the right tone... and the right focus. Your readers must understand that you are writing to them, for them.
Whenever possible, too, use your blog as a means to speak to individual readers BY NAME, just like Ann Landers, the famous "gossip" columnist used to do, with such devices as "Special for Lola Mae in Seattle." You should regard each issue as incomplete that does not address some pertinent, personal comment to at least one reader by name.
Share (select) personal data and reflections about yourself.
Remember, blogs are, by definition, personal. That means you should share (some) personal information with your readers; asking them to share (some) personal data with you.
This policy, while establishing stronger and more enduring links with your readers, also has in it the seeds of embarrassment,discomfort, even disaster. Reason? It's easy to put things in your blog about yourself which are too personal, too intimate. And by the same token, your readers might share such things with you, for publication.
Actung! Cuidado! Beware! Think long and hard before you publish. Once you hit the send key, your thought and candid revelation belong to the world.
Ask especially for reader comment on all articles you publish.
The articles you publish in your blog may be, of course, on any subject you regard as significant. But blogs by business people should be about how to run such a business with such-and-such products for maximum profit. In other words, if you're selling automobiles... blog articles ("content") should be germaine to this topic, above all.
As you publish such articles, ask readers to comment. As comments come in be sure to use (and then later reuse) them. What people say in reference to your blog content is worthy of publication... and your comment.
Make sure that you request responding readers to include complete name, business name (where appropriate), email address, and phone. Remember, reader comments are not so much about the substance of the comment, as they are about getting the reader to respond, tell you what interests her, and provide complete follow-up details. This is absolutely essential.
Follow up blog comments and responses at once.
What more business? Following these steps ensures you will get a steady stream of the best prospect leads in the world... from people who already "know" you (or at least think they do), are interested in what you offer, and have provided you with complete follow-up details.
Thus, pick up the phone and call readers (now prospects) who respond to you... unless, of course, you have been the smartest cookie, given them your phone, and advised them to CALL you.
The telephone, you see, is essential for making your blog profitable for you. You must say and constantly reiterate the need to call you, as Jeanette McDonald sang, "I am calling you................ will you answer true.......? Get the picture?
Last words
Face it. Blogs are here to stay. People love 'em. Thus, the real question is: will you do the necessary to ensure that the time and money you invest in your blog pays off? To ensure that it does, implement these recommendations ASP... if not sooner. Then blog your way to profits that increase as fast as your list.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online.
Republished with author's permission by
Sylvia Kinzie
Check out The List Edge
Blogs are in! Blogs are omnipresent! Blogs are the future of the 'net!
All true but what is a blog... and how do you profit from it?
Purists may offer a different definition (purists usually do)... but to me, the complete capitalist, a blog is and always will be about one thing: making money. Every day. All the time.
Let me say this another way because for far too many people blogs are an unbridled (and correspondingly horrifying) excess of vanity, self-gratification, arrogance, not to mention an avalanche of incredibly boring stuff and Things You Don't Want To Know. Yes, too many smart people use them as a cheap form of venting and therapy.
But (my recommendations in hand) you won't. You'll stay forever focused on the main chance: using your blog to generate prospect leads... and make money. Now... dig in. I am about to deliver an embarrass du choix for big blog bucks.
Train your readers to be responsive.
If you intend to use your blog to make money, you must train your readers to be responsive. Otherwise, you will dramatically curtail and limit your responses (and blog profits)... which is the exact opposite of what you want.
The Internet is, at its best, the best interactive tool in the galaxy. But what if readers don't understand that? Why, then, mon frere, you must remind them of their duty... you must remind them that yours is a fully interactive endeavor and that the responsibility of EVERY reader is -- to respond. Ensuring this result is your #1 objective.
A blog is NOT a standard newspaper or magazine... as readers must be told and trained to use.
Consider the case of your morning newspaper. It is packed with articles. How many do you respond to? Silly question, right? Periodical readers, except on the occasions they have a bee in their bonnets and write a Letter to the Editor, never respond to articles. They just read 'em.
But a blog is essentially different. You want to bring articles and information of interest and importance to your readers; you want them to respond. In other words, blog content should trigger a continuing stream of reader commentary... and help build knowledge about these readers as well as build the relationships that deliver business effortlessly.
Establish a confidential tone from the get-go
Your readers (whether they ever say so or not) will read your blog (as opposed to a million others) because you give them interesting copy that the rest of the world cannot deliver. It's not just that Enquiring Minds Want To Know: it's that these minds want to know things they cannot easily get anywhere else.
Thus your tone is everything: let the reader know that yours is a fresh, new, entirely compelling voice. The more you let them know that yours is an "insider" place, a locale of smart commentary delivered with wit, insight, good humor and progressive outlook, the better.
Always use the second person -- YOU! -- in your blog content.
Blogs are the most person-centered of media. Thus, you must always speak to your readers in the second person, that is with an explicit or implied "you" (the blog reader). This will immediately establish the right tone... and the right focus. Your readers must understand that you are writing to them, for them.
Whenever possible, too, use your blog as a means to speak to individual readers BY NAME, just like Ann Landers, the famous "gossip" columnist used to do, with such devices as "Special for Lola Mae in Seattle." You should regard each issue as incomplete that does not address some pertinent, personal comment to at least one reader by name.
Share (select) personal data and reflections about yourself.
Remember, blogs are, by definition, personal. That means you should share (some) personal information with your readers; asking them to share (some) personal data with you.
This policy, while establishing stronger and more enduring links with your readers, also has in it the seeds of embarrassment,discomfort, even disaster. Reason? It's easy to put things in your blog about yourself which are too personal, too intimate. And by the same token, your readers might share such things with you, for publication.
Actung! Cuidado! Beware! Think long and hard before you publish. Once you hit the send key, your thought and candid revelation belong to the world.
Ask especially for reader comment on all articles you publish.
The articles you publish in your blog may be, of course, on any subject you regard as significant. But blogs by business people should be about how to run such a business with such-and-such products for maximum profit. In other words, if you're selling automobiles... blog articles ("content") should be germaine to this topic, above all.
As you publish such articles, ask readers to comment. As comments come in be sure to use (and then later reuse) them. What people say in reference to your blog content is worthy of publication... and your comment.
Make sure that you request responding readers to include complete name, business name (where appropriate), email address, and phone. Remember, reader comments are not so much about the substance of the comment, as they are about getting the reader to respond, tell you what interests her, and provide complete follow-up details. This is absolutely essential.
Follow up blog comments and responses at once.
What more business? Following these steps ensures you will get a steady stream of the best prospect leads in the world... from people who already "know" you (or at least think they do), are interested in what you offer, and have provided you with complete follow-up details.
Thus, pick up the phone and call readers (now prospects) who respond to you... unless, of course, you have been the smartest cookie, given them your phone, and advised them to CALL you.
The telephone, you see, is essential for making your blog profitable for you. You must say and constantly reiterate the need to call you, as Jeanette McDonald sang, "I am calling you................ will you answer true.......? Get the picture?
Last words
Face it. Blogs are here to stay. People love 'em. Thus, the real question is: will you do the necessary to ensure that the time and money you invest in your blog pays off? To ensure that it does, implement these recommendations ASP... if not sooner. Then blog your way to profits that increase as fast as your list.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online.
Republished with author's permission by
Sylvia Kinzie
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com
http://WeBroadcastToYou.com.
www.WeBroadcastToYou.com/?rd=vs1pR9Mx
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