Wow guys and gals!  We, the students of Dean Holland’s, Starting With Marketing Academy are already on module 5, called, ” World Wide Winners”.  Time just rushes by, doesn’t it?

In this module Dean taught us how to branch out across the internet to start getting some outside exposure for our blogs.  Previously, I mentioned that, “blog hopping” was a way to get people coming to, and commenting on your blog by getting your URL in the comments area of other blogs for other visitors to see and click on. We started blog hopping amongst our own Starting With Marketing group, and now we are going to branch out to other blogs in our same niche.

When you submit a comment the form will ask for your name and URL.

Once you submit, your name becomes a clickable link back to your site or blog.

Dean reminded us that first impressions are everything.  Have you ever been to a blog that looks great, only to find nothing in the comments section?  What most people assume is that the blog is no good, the content must be terrible and they leave without giving the blog a chance.  So what we have done within our Starting With Marketing group is create interest in our blogs by leaving comments for each other, so that people stop, read and realize that our group actually does have interesting things to say.

Hi everyone!  This module, like the other modules, was excellent.  Dean does a great job with the instructional videos and again with the follow-up webinars.  Here’s the scoop for this module.

Module 4, List Lingo, consisted of 14 videos.  Seems like a lot, but they were all short and to the point.  The first video is worth mentioning as Dean Holland stated something that may come as a shock to some of you.  Have you ever heard the saying, “The money is in the list”?  Well, it’s not.  Dean mentioned that although it’s great to have a list of subscribers, you have to nurture a relationship with them.  Give them value (for FREE) and don’t just try to sell to them all the time.  The money; therefore, is in your relationship with your subscribers – HUGELY important.

Another video in this module taught us about the power of AWeber.  AWeber is an email auto responder that automates several tasks for you.  These automated tasks include, collecting names and email addresses for you,

My friend Huddson Lee from Dean Holland’s, Starting With Marketing Academy tagged me to come up with the following list. I have to admit that it was tougher than I thought to come up with 25 things, but I finally did it. Thank you Huddson for picking me as one of the people to do this, sorry it took me so long, but here it goes.

#1.  I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 12th, 1968.  Lincoln’s Birthday; that explains my brilliance and modesty.

#2.  Like Dean Holland, I’m an only child.  Always wanted siblings, but never happened.  It’s funny, but usually people with brothers and sisters wish they were the only child.  For Dean and I it’s the other way around.  We wanted siblings.  Go figure.

#3.  I cannot stand rude people!  My mom always taught me to say, “Please and Thank You”.  My momma raised me right.  Thanks mom.  See, I “thanked” her.

My mom enjoying Thanksgiving

#4.  I worked retail security for several years and have arrested several violent shoplifters.  One of them stabbed me twice in the arm, bit me 4 times and slashed my hands when I tried to arrest him.  He got 15 years in prison because it was his third strike.  I considered him rude.

Way rude!

Have you ever had one of those day?  You’re late to an appointment.  Your car runs out of gas.  You bounce a check.  You… “fill in the blank”.  I have.  That’s when I stop and think about all the things that I’m grateful for in my life, and stop thinking about the things that might going wrong, that will soon pass anyway.  That’s also when I intentionally stop and consciously create an, “attitude of gratitude”.

I coach little league baseball, and over the years I have noticed that kids and, many times, coaches act like it’s the end of the world when something doesn’t go their way during a game.  This is why, before we even have our first practice, I give the kids on my team a homework assignment.  I ask them to watch the video below, and answer some questions.  Once they have done their homework, I ask them to remember Nick when they think things are going bad for them during a game, but especially during the challenges in their day to day life.

I’ll stop at that.  The video speaks for itself.  Nick is inspirational, and if you are ever down in the dumps or you’re facing something you consider “difficult”, then I challenge you to think of Nick an create for yourselves an, “attitude of gratitude”.  Once you are grateful, then you can succeed.

At times we can look at a goal and say to ourselves, “that’s impossible”. It might seem insurmountable, and in our mind we think about all the reasons we can’t do it. I’m too short. I’m too fat. I don’t have the right education. I don’t have the money. I’m not smart enough.

When you think this way it’s known as a, “self fulfilling prophesy”. When you say, “I can’t”, your mind slams the door to any other possibility. It stops searching for ways to attain that goal, and basically gives up.

One of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford and it says,

Dean Holland released his third module today. The module is called, “Traffic Tanks” and it’s one of the most important steps in the Starting With Marketing Academy training.

In his first video he mentions, and we all know, that the biggest challenge that people have when it comes to internet marketing is driving traffic to their website. This module alone is worth the price of what his students paid for the entire Starting With Marketing Academy.

Dean Holland showed us his Google Analytics account and the fact that he drives

Dean Holland’s, Starting with Marketing Academy is awesome. Just to recap, we have been through two of Dean Holland’s modules; “The BBB Formula, and “Social Slaughter”.

“The BBB Formula” stands for the basic building blocks. After completing Dean Holland’s BBB Formula, I was able to create this blog that you see before you. That was only the first module.

The second module was called “Social Slaughter”. I actually started a new Twitter account specifically for my business. If you want to look me up you can find my Twitter page here. Because of what Dean Holland has taught us in his Starting with Marketing Academy I was able to go from zero followers on July 31st, to 1,009 followers as of today August 8th. Dean’s Starting With Marketing Academy rocks!

Internet marketing can be puzzling sometimes, but we are learning more and more each module. By the time I complete the Starting With Marketing Academy I expect to have the internet marketing puzzle solved, and I then I will teach you.

I made this short video just to introduce myself to you and talk about Dean, Starting With Marketing, and this confusing internet marketing puzzle. It’s my first video blog, so please be kind with your comments they will get better the more of them I do.

All the best,

Ed

They say that if you want to be successful you should surround yourself with successful people.  As I think about the students in our Starting With Marketing Academy I already feel that I have surrounded myself with successful people.  If we follow Dean’s lead by taking action we will all be successful online, but remember to never give up.

I am a little league baseball coach, and it’s one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.  When I look into the eyes of a new team every year I see potential for greatness in each and everyone; however,

Dean Holland’s, Starting With Marketing Academy is off to a great start. We were given our first module to complete, a series of videos called, “The BBB Formula”. The “BBB” stands for the Basic Building Blocks, and it’s exactly what it sounds like – the basics.

In this module Dean showed us, via video tutorial, how to create our first blog.  The module included the following: