Or at least, not only a book.

One reason people don’t get published by commercial publishers is their idea is not really a book. It may tell how to do something, but it’s not unique enough to stand out from a crowded niche. Publishers (and authors who self publish) invest a lot of money upfront for a physical book.

These days, there are other days to get information out, if it’s pretty much just information you are offering.

And these ways are faster and more profitable than publishing a book.

What I”m talking about is creating information products, which can (and should) take any number of formats. It can be video, audio, printed, or a combination thereof.

Another important and wonderful  thing about information products is you can create them quickly. Conduct a series of interviews (or even one interview), record a video of you giving a talk–and potentially, you have a product.

Then it’s a matter of the mechanics of setting up to sell online (the best way to sell info products), marketing, and making the sales.

All of which can be daunting, but not if you have a blueprint. And Mark Joyner, one of my favorite mentors, has just launched a “13-Day Info Product Creation Kit” that will show you exactly how to do everything you need to know.

And it’s risk-free.  If you do what he says, and don’t make money, you get double your money back.

I have taken several of Mark’s Simpleology courses, and they all follow the same fun, multi-media format, are very practical, and really do work.  I’ve never even considered asking for my money back, because I’ve always gotten great value. (And I can only say this about a handful of courses.)

So if information is your thing, and you want to get on the fast track with exactly how to do it (including setting up a website and writing a sales letter–he gives you the templates), check out this course. The price is extremely reasonable for what you get. (As all the Simpleology courses are–especially Simpleolog101, which is free!)

OK, so I get an email from Facebook saying, “You haven’t been back to Facebook recently. You have received notifications while you were gone.” (Naughty me!)

So I click on the link. Ask trusty Roboform to fill in the password etc. Didn’t work.

Strange. It always did work. It worked on Tweetdeck.

So I click around some other ways and FINALLY get into Facebook. (Somehow, don’t ask me what finally worked.)

So, where are these friend requests? Not a clue. I click Friends and see I have some Suggestions. I click on some people I know I’d like to be friends with. Every time I click, I have to

type two (difficult to read) words for verification. If it takes 20 seconds to type in those 2 words (more for the less readable ones), for those 35 people I’ll spend 12-15 minutes just sending requests.

Then they have to go and try to do what I tried to do above. Just to “connect”?

BTW, I still can’t find the people who have requested my friendship.

Can someone please tell me why Facebook is so popular?

If you want my updates, to go twitter.com/DianeEble please. Twitter I can handle.

Now, why am I bothering to write this?

See if this next snippet gives you a clue.

My husband came home from work telling me they got a new copy machine at the office. One that takes special training to figure out. One that needs a MANUAL to figure out how to use. He still hasn’t been able to do the (formerly simple) task of making a copy to then fax to someone, though the machine is supposed to do it.

The old machine worked just fine, he says. He’s not the only one for whom the new machine is a source of frustration and time wasting.  Everyone is complaining about it.

Do you see anything these two situations have in common?

How about uncritical acceptance of technology that sucks time and does not measurably add anything to one’s life? In fact, too often all it  adds is frustration and stress.

So here’s my humble theory of why the economy is in shambles:  We’re all too busy trying to figure out and/or keep up with technology that we can’t get any truly productive work done!

The main thing is, we’re not asking ourselves the right questions BEFORE we jump into The Next Cool Thing (like whiz-bang copy machines or the latest social networking thing that EVERYONE uses, after all).

Don’t get me wrong. I use a lot of technology and what I use makes my life measurably better. Like Roboform, Evernote, my XSite Pro software that allows me to create and manage websites quickly and easily. Two weeks ago I got new software that I LOVE that truly helps me be more productive. I don’t know where I’d be without these great tools.

But always I ask: “What will this REALLY do for me, and what is the REAL cost in terms of time and energy?”

Another question: “Does this ‘fix’ what ain’t broke?” (Sorry about the grammar, but sometimes slang is more effective.)

Are you asking the right questions? The economy depends on you! (LOL)

It’s the WordPress Blog Security Strategies class taught by Cathy Perkins, “the WordPress Wizard,” now in a home study version.

You will be able to get your Action Guides, listen to the class when it’s convenient to you, and/or read the transcript.

Lest you think keeping your sites secure is scary “techie” stuff, let me reassure you.

I’m not at all technical, and I was able to follow everything. Cathy gives screen shots of every single little step you have to do, so there’s absolutely NOTHING intimidating about this.

It will give you the peace of mind of knowing that no hacker will be able to get at your sites.

Having had my blogs hacked twice now, I can tell you,

it’s a MOST UNWELCOME intrusion into your life when it happens.

Not to mention the trust that’s destroyed when someone goes to your site and gets a big ugly red warning message that the site has a virus and is dangerous to your computer.

I shudder when I remember. It took me a couple of days to get it all fixed.

Even then, I didn’t know how or why it happened, or how to fix it.

Now I do.

By the way, Cathy covered much more than how to keep a WordPress blog safe. She covered security strategies of all kinds, including your own computer.

Lest you think, “I have a Mac, I’m immune,” think again. Right in the middle of the course, someone contacted me about how she got a message that one of my sites had a virus. No one else could see that warning. It turned out HER COMPUTER had the virus, not my site!

I checked this with my hosting company to make sure. This person thought she was immune because she had a Macintosh computer. Not so! They too can get infected with malware, sypware and all the rest.

So none of us is immune. If you have a blog at blogger.com, you are not immune.

If you hire a webmaster to take care of your sites, does that person know how to make sure your sites are secure? Find out. Really dig, since most webmasters would likely be reluctant to admit to not knowing how to do this. Urge them to take this course. Remind them that it can be a selling point for their services. (“I can make sure your sites are bullet-proof from hackers.”)

So check out this course now, for yourself and/or your webmaster.

Remember, the price goes up in 48 hours or so.

(I don’t know what you pay your webmaster per hour, but if your site is hacked, it will be much more than the cost of this course, I can tell you.)

Note: If you do nothing else, listen to the Publishing Coach Weekly teleseminar I did with Cathy a couple of weeks ago. You’ll get a few of the strategies, anyway.

It’s been very frustrating, but enlightening.

Frustrating because, of course, so much of what I do is dependent on being able to hook up to the Internet. Whether it’s research, email, Twitter, connecting to the various accounts that allow me to get my work done, I must be connected or I’m “up a creek without a paddle,” as the cliché goes.

It’s also been an enlightening experience because

it’s caused me to consider what I’d do if connection to the World Wide Web were permanently severed. It’s made me ponder the nature of most of my work now–dealing with information, connecting with people and networks through technology.

I’ve been trying to recall what life was like before all this technology. Can you recall what it was like not to have any email to check? Not to have to deal with dozens if not hundreds of emails in my inbox, not to mention Twitter and Facebook updates? Not to have to figure out cable connections and computer settings and how a modem and Linksys box are configured? (When did the word “configure” even enter into my vocabulary?)

Time has felt different these past few days. It feels like there’s more of it. Funny how much time slips by when you’re online.

So what did I do instead of the work I would have done? I cleaned out clutter. I attended a wedding and a graduation party, relaxing with friends. I bought some flowers and would have planted them, if it had not rained. I called a friend. I cooked better meals. I took my daughter shopping for clothes.

I also went to the library and used public access. (Unfortunately, it was closed most of the weekend, since it was a holiday.)

What I couldn’t do: pay my bills (I do it online), research for new waterbed mattress, update Twitter and Facebook, read my emails (I trust my friends understand), listen to a teleseminar and catch up with the training I’ve been trying to get to for weeks, and get much of my work done.

Ah well. There are gifts and blessings in everything, I believe. I’m pondering what the gifts in this experience are, but I think I’m getting close.

In fact, I recall a verse from the well-known Psalm 23: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” Emphasis on “makes me.” These past several days, I’ve been forced to “lie down” and the pastures have, in fact, been green.

So for that, I’m grateful. The “abundant gift” has been rest of a sort. I guess God knew I needed it.

It would have taken me 5 minutes at most to do the same thing in XSite Pro, the web design software I use for most of my sites.

People keep telling me WordPress blogs are better, so easy to use.

My experience has been: I could not even have a WP blog without Cathy Perkins, “the wordpress wizard.” I listen to her free weekly teleseminars and without those, and her expert help when needed, I’d be lost.

On the other hand, I’ve had very few issues with XSP. I can put up a web site in minutes. This one I put up in 10 minutes. The template came with the program. It was a matter of copying and pasting the copy I’d already written in Word. (And unlike copying and pasting from Word to a WP blog, I have little to no issues with formatting.)

What about search engine ranking with XSP vs. WordPress? Well, when I put in the keywords ‘develop your audience” into Google just now, my WP blog (this one, which I’ve been posting on for years) came up 3rd, and my NEW site (the XSite Pro site, www.developyouraudience.com) came up FIRST.

That’s because the search engine optimization is built into XSite Pro and it’s entirely controlled by me. Very easy to do, too. With a blog, supposedly it’s “built in.” There are plug-ins you can use to optimize. But that involves, again, a whole lot more work than what I have to do with XSite Pro.

AND, the work I did do on my new blog page, I had to know html to figure out how to format the look. I don’t have to know one thing about html to use XSite Pro. If you can use Word, you can use XSite Pro–they are that similar.

So, again, I have to say I much prefer XSite Pro web design software. It’s a very small investment to make for software that will save you gobs of time on creating a website. You absolutely do not need any webmaster with XSite Pro. Their support is fantastic if you do have problems. It’s honestly one of the best products and companies I’ve run across–period.

And I’m pretty picky.

There’s a reason some people get published and others don’t, and usually it has to do with the fact that published authors have put in the effort to gain expertise, build an audience, and actually write the book or get a good ghost writer to write it. They go through the work of putting together a good proposal, they don’t quit when they get rejected, or they self-publish intelligently.

My goal with this blog and my other resources is to give you the tools that can lead to your becoming a successful author. However, a hammer does no good in itself. Only in the hand of the carpenter does it hit the nail on the head.

Read Seth’s blog. To suggestion #2, I would amend, if you want to become a successful author, spend your 120 minutes:

• writing an article and posting it to article directories
• coming up with some free “Special Report” on your topic that you can give away to start relationships with people (ask them for their email addresses to get the report)
• setting up a blog and writing 2-3 times per week
• finding other people who are already talking about your topic (Ning groups, Yahoo groups, blogs) and enter the conversation by posting. Put your Special Report offer in your email signature line when you do post.

Everything else, listen to Seth!

wanting to learn how to successfully market your book and/or other information online …

confused and suspicious of all the so-called gurus out there and wondreing whom to trust …

read on for one of the HANDFUL of people and courses I can recommend without reservation.

What You Really Need is

a Tested System

You’ve heard me quote MIchael Cader many times, that the Internet is the ideal medium for us authors to “connect with our customers, share our information, allow us to develop deep, targeted, meaningful, individual relationships, and sell our products with less friction all at the same time.”

However, there is a SYSTEM for doing all this effectively.

And as I’ve studied the various gurus (and as you no doubt know, there are MANY), I’ve narrowed it down to a handful who are worth listening to.

The ones who are worth listening to all teach a SYSTEM, and they teach you the WHOLE system. (The ones who only want your money teach you bits and pieces, yet charge for them. You’re left with too much information and nothing usable.)

One of my personal mentors teaches such a system, in about the clearest terms possible. His name is Jimmy D. Brown.

Jimmy is about to start his 4-week e-coaching course on Monday, August 11, in which he will personally mentor you over the next 4 weeks in his system for creating a six-figure income in only 3 hours a day.

Why I Recommend Jimmy without Reservation

I’ve taken this course (and many others), and I can vouch that it’s superb. (Remember, I only recommend things I’ve personally taken and have benefited from.)

Jimmy’s courses (along with Alex Mandossians’) have been my prime reasons for success online. Jimmy is a superb teacher who has a gift for making things very simple (not simplistic) and doable.

This particular course–Six-Figure Formula 4-Week E-Coaching–cuts through all the “information overload.” In fact, since I took Jimmy’s course, I have been able to ignore most of the emails about Internet marketing I receive. Jimmy taught me just what to pay attention to, when, and how. His course gave me the steps I need, and I can confidently ignore most of the pitches that stuff my email inbox.

In fact, Jimmy taught me exactly how to assess any pitch that comes my way!

Now you have the opportunity for Jimmy D. Brown to personally mentor you, as he did me. (Where do you think I got the idea for creating a mini-course?) His System is something I go back to again and again. It’s amazing what you’ll learn in 4 short weeks!

Check it out now.

Because you get personal coaching from Jimmy, he limits the number to 50. He has a huge list, and registration fills up fast. That’s why I dropped everything to tell you about this now. Plus it’s the last time he’ll be teaching it this year.

Please consider taking this course. If it’s right for you, you will not be sorry. (And you do get a chance to get your money back.)

As I said, Jimmy D. Brown’s teaching comes with my highest recommendation. If you can afford this, do seriously consider it. This is the last time Jimmy will be teaching this course this year.

If this is beyond your budget for now, here are some other courses of his I recommend that will get you on the right track for less. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says, “Also recommended.”)

Helen asks:

“I am a teacher working with kindergarten children for 50 years. I would like to publish books relating to children and others. I have no knowledge how to start. Can XSite Pro help me who knows nothing about website or the internet? Please advise, Helen”

My answer:

One of the great things about XSite Pro web design software is that

there are ready-made templates you can use “right out of the box.” You get 200 choices of website templates (i.e. designs you can use as is), so if you like any of these, all you do is choose them, add the name of your site, add some copy, and publish your site. (You do have to have a domain name–the “web address” where people will find you online–and a web hosting company where your website “resides.”)

XSite Pro has very good instructions. If you’re in the middle of a task and you don’t know what to do, you just click the ? at the top of your screen and a screen pops up with detailed help.

And I mean HELP. They don’t only show you how to use their features, they educate you about how to create a website.

If you’re serious about creating a website, XSite Pro is a great way to start.

I just watched a webinar (which you would have access to if you get the program) that laid everything out very clearly. Two more to come. You can snag a brochure that tells a lot about what XSite Pro web design software can do, here.

I honestly have never been more impressed with any product or company than this one. Any product. Any company. Not only is the product top-notch, but the support to use it is phenomenal. They have a walk-through tutorial to get you started, 260-page Instruction Manual with the “essentials.” and a 100-page Reference Guide which you will dip into as you grow in your knowledge.

Also, their help desk is prompt in answering questions (they work 24/7), and there’s a forum that’s comprehensive.

Having said all that, Helen, if you truly are not at all familiar with the Internet or web sites, I suggest you take some time to get a little more comfortable with the Web. (You did find this blog and fill out a form, so you’re not that much of a newbie!)

Go to google.com and type in some words on topics that interest you. Look at the sites that pop up. Take a few notes on what you like, what you don’t like about web sites you visit.

This will be very helpful when you are ready to create your own site.

You have to use the Web to communicate on it. So don’t try to build your own site until you feel comfortable with the Web, and develop a sense for the kind of site you might want to create.

Then when you , you might want to get XSite Pro.

Having a web site is a great way to start testing ideas for your books. Start with articles and information that you think is needed, see what the response is. Another great thing about XSite Pro is that there are easy, built-in tools that show how to make your site both reader-friendly and search-engine friendly. So people will be able to find you much easier than a site you tried to build without these tools.

One more thing. A friend recently told me, “I don’t want to be a webmaster.” MY answer to her was, “I don’t either. With XSite Pro, I don’t feel I need one.” A lot of people are intimidated by the idea of “creating a web site,” because it has been complicated in the past and web masters who make a living at it have a vested interest in making you think you can’t do it.

If you can create Word documents, if you can write emails, I believe you can create and manage web sites with XSite Pro. I don’t think you ever do anything more complicated that point, click, cut and paste. Ever.

Otherwise, move on. I know your time is precious.

Sunday at 3.p.m ET is the last webinar to explain how XSite Pro web design software can help you build great-looking, search-engine optimized sites fast.

I was thinking about how much money XSite Pro has saved me.

I spent $110 to get the basic web site for Words to Profit designed (via someone at elance.com that a friend recommended).

And … that’s it!

With the basic design for www.wordstoprofit.com, I could create the variation you see as the header to this blog.

Then, I decided it made more sense to change the header for two of my sites, from Words to Profit design to Your Book Publishing Coach:
http://www.writingsecretsrevealed.com
http://www.writeyourbookrightnow.com

It took four clicks to change, save, and publish each site; 1 minute 22 seconds for the whole process.

And I did not need any web master to do it.

If you like the templates you’ll get with V2 (full sites, sales letters, product pages), you won’t even need a designer. Attend the webinar or just watch the video to see all the things you get “out of the box.”

If you already have a header or logo, you can just use that.

What I did NOT have to spend anything on:

• extra graphics. The library has all sorts of cool graphics, and V2 has an additional Clip Art gallery.
• expensive Search Engine Optimization. There’s a great feature built into XSite Pro that not only enables you to set each page up so search engines find you–it has a whole section that tells you how to improve it.
• software to redirect links. I know friends who bought some software to create pages like http://www.wordstoprofit.com/xspweb.html. I didn’t need to pay extra. It’s built in to XSP.

This same feature saves me money on unique domain names as well. I could try to think up an easy-to-remember domain name to send you to XSite Pro, and spend $6.99 or more, or I could in seconds flat create this url redirect:
http://www.wordstoprofit.com/xspweb.html

It still makes sense to you, it’s not ugly, and it gets “wordstoprofit.com” before you again. So, even though my domain names are inexpensive–well, $0 is still less than $7, right? It all adds up.

I also don’t need a web master to insert codes such as web forms for people to sign up for your newsletter. Or audio or video.

In V1, it was cut and paste–very simple. In V2, however, it’s even easier. Everything is done from within the program, without even having to cut and paste!

The new version of XSite Pro web design software has some other very cool features, such as the fact that your web site can show up on someone’s mobile or iphone when they search for sites. How great is that? You can also use widgets and RSS feeds.

And if you don’t even know what widgets and RSS feeds are–don’t worry. There’s a manual that explains everything clearly, and you can learn a lot about all the possibilities of Web 2.0 web sites from reading the Manual. When you’re ready. It grows with you.

To get you started, there’s a Tutorial to orient you quickly.

You also have access to the Forum, and a great Helpdesk system, for support. You’re not left on your own.

Sign up for the webinar to find out more about the amazing new features of Version 2 (which I myself am now exploring, having just upgraded):

Two caveats:
1. It does not work on a Mac. Sorry!
2. Check the system requirements (download the brochure). Happily, I just bought a new computer that has XP on it, and XSP is “made for Windows XP.” It is Vista-compatible, and a friend is using it with Vista, so I know it does work. But when your site gets very large, as my wordtoprofit.com site is, if your computer has limited memory, it can take forever for your computer to load, save, and publish your XSP site.

You’ll be seeing changes in my own sites based on the new features of XSite Pro web design software, so stay tuned!

But I hope you’ll consider trying it yourself. You will be amazed at the great-looking sites you can create … the fun you’ll have learning cool things you can do … the added exposure you’ll get from higher rank in the search engines … and the money you’ll save as well as make from your site.

If the webinar is over by the time you read this, go here.

That got me going, because XSite Pro web design software is one of the BEST programs I’ve EVER used. I could not do my online work without it!

Last week, I created the following web sites in a matter of minutes:

• http://www.writeyourbookrightnow.com (with all the subpages)
• http://www.writingsecretsrevealed.com
• http://www.virtualbooktourexpert.com

I also made a new site out of what was a page on my site:
http://www.virtualbooktourexpert.com

I use XSP for almost all my sites, except my blogs. Here are a few examples:

• choosingyourbestsellingtitle.com
• abundantgiftsbook.com
• jumpstartyourbook.com

(This Your Book Publishing Coach blog and my www.abundantgiftsblog.com blog are WordPress. I do like WordPress, too, but honestly–it’s easier to work with XSP.)

I just upgraded to Version 2 of XSite Pro. The latest version seems amazing, and I already think XSP is amazing. To read my full review of this software that, in my opinion, is the best software I’ve ever bought, click here. I actually describe and demonstrate some of the tasks you can do, and tell how long it took me to do them.

To get straight to the web page for XSite Pro, go here. I read every word of that site with my usual skeptic hat on. Honestly, none of it is hype. The program does all it says it does.

There are some webinars coming up that will make even clearer all you can do with this program. Check it out and sign up here.

If you want to create web sites where you can post your own articles (search engines love this), sell your products, and get known–easily, quickly, without even having to understand how blogs work–get this program. Honestly, it’s one of the best products I’ve ever bought in my life. Certainly the best software package. (The most profitable one, too!)