Make Money Blogging is a nice overview for the beginning blogger. The information is concise and to the point and it’s a quick read. In fact, I must have found it engrossing because I was surprised when I got to the end. In spite of this being a quick overview, it is filled with links that one could spend several hours on. For instance the link on creating a logo from 99designs or the link on understanding Google’s TOS are things one could spend a day on.

A couple of  things, I liked about the eBook, were that he started from the beginning. Instead of trying to push his web hosting link on the newbie blogger he actually suggested starting out with a free blog service like Blogger or WordPress.com.

This is actually what I did when I began blogging. I created a family blog on WordPress.com. This enabled me to become comfortable with writing and web publishing, and to familiarize myself with WordPress, before I moved on, to the more complicated challenges, of purchasing a hosting account and domains, and dns, and ftp, and all of that fun stuff.

He is also honest and says that you might as well start learning HTML and CSS because you will need this knowledge when working on the web. I see so many gurus who say that anyone can make money online with no technical knowledge at all. It’s true that you don’t have to be a coder to setup WordPress and create a simple blog, but sooner or later, you will have to start learning, how to use some coding skills, to modify your theme and create links and ads and many other things as well.

Another thing I like about Daniel is his story. He started blogging in 2005 and quit his job in 2006 to blog full time. Today he owns several successful blogs and a membership site, and makes a 6 figure income. If you are interested in learning how to begin blogging or have some gaps that need to be filled in then Daniel’s free Make Money Blogging eBook is definitely worth taking a look at.

Stephane has a blog called Follow Steph and is the owner and creator of Landlord Max which apparently is the easiest property management software available. I am actually a landlord as well,  so I can relate to Stephane on a couple of fronts.

In Blog Blazers Stephane profiles 40 top bloggers. He gets them to share their secrets to creating high-profile, high-traffic and high-profit, blogs by asking each blogger a series of 23 questions.

What I found interesting about this, was how so many of the bloggers, had the same answers for certain questions. For instance; “Which websites do you recommend for any new bloggers starting to blog?”, the overwhelming response for this question was Darren Rowse of Problogger.net.

There were other similarities between the bloggers answers as well. One of the things I enjoyed about this list is the list of bloggers themselves. Many of these blogs I have read and have even been subscribed to at one point or another.

But some of them, were blogs that I hadn’t heard of, so I got an opportunity to check out a new blog, plus get a little background information on the blogger themselves.

One of the blogs featured in the book which I had heard of, but had actually never visited, was Manolo’s Shoe Blog.  After reading the entertaining and quirky responses of Manolo of the Shoe Blogger.

I was pleasantly surprised and had to check out the site. It is fun and entertaining, and might teach you a little about fashion. One of the features I found especially entertaining was the Gallery Of Horrors.

I’ll admit that I don’t know a lot about fashion, and I am still a bit confused on this point. But, I believe that Manolo The Shoeblogger and Manolo The Designer are two different people. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

 Never the less, these two individuals have more in common than Italian Accents, they are both creative and interesting individuals who are publicly sharing their gift.

Many of the other bloggers featured in Blog Blazers were people whose blogs I have been subscribed to at one time or another. Although, I’ve been trying to ditch my feed reader for a long time. Since, I need to do more work and less reading for pleasure.

 A recent move to a new computer has enabled me to start fresh with a feed reader with close to zero subscribers and I plan on keeping it that way.

If you are a blogger, and you need inspiration and insight, Blog Blazers is the perfect resource. It will not only give you ideas, but you can learn the views and tips from the pros.

Learning from example can be a lot faster then learning on your own. If you are not a blogger you may even get more out of this book. It will be a nice introduction to several successful blogs and the inside scoop on how the creators think.

There really is nothing better than reading a good book and then writing a review about it. Except maybe going on a couple of Italian Lakes Holidays. When many picture Italy they think of monuments and quaint cobble stone villages, or beautiful ocean scenes. But have you ever heard people talk about vacationing at Lake Como this is one of the Italian lakes in the Northern Region of Italy, along with lake Garda, Maggiore, Lugano.

These lakes have long been  favorite vacation spots of the rich and famous, and I think it would be fabulous to vacation there as well.

This is review #5 in my free book review series. I enjoy personal development books and websites. I like it when I’m encouraged to think and look at things in a different way. So when I had an opportunity to review “A Life Worth Living”, by William F. Giruzzi, I seized it.

This is a rather short book at 114 pages, that revolves around the main theme of our thoughts creating our situations.  Therefore my review will be somewhat short as well. The beginning of the book starts with an example asking us to draw a line between two points on a piece of paper. Most everyone draws a straight line. Even though the pathways between the two points are actually unlimited, everyone draws the same path.

So why were we limited to this one path, when so many exist? These limitations seem to exist in our minds. These same limitations in our minds limit the way in which we choose to live our lives.  This concept, I enjoyed, because I do believe, that how we think, affects our actions, and our actions are what create our circumstances. So far, I’m in agreement.

Then it gets even better and talks about how people spend 30 or 40 years working in jobs that they say they hate. They complain at work, and complain about going to work, and dream about, quitting time, weekends, and vacation time. Then the author asks, “why people continue doing something they don’t really enjoy for such a long periods of time”? Why would they choose this? Then a light bulb goes off, they must of thought they had no choice at all.

Which makes a nice point about how the choices we choose create our way of life. Each chapter builds with examples, from illustrations to short stories that emphasize new points and concepts along this line. There are also exercises and questions at the end of each chapter to help the reader discover their own thought processes.

Then things get a little more complicated when the concept of a creating a new paradigm is introduced. Saying that what we are experiencing now is our life in this design. This design of life that was created by our thought processes and those before us.

I love the concept of our decisions creating the life we currently have, and changing our thoughts can change our lives, or even better, we can use our thoughts to create the life we want. But, I get a little lost when Giruzzi starts speaking of creating a new paradigm. A paradigm, so that our way of life is designed so that good things happen naturally for people.

From the middle on this is the main point of the book. And that all sounds well and good. But I almost feel like I’m missing a concept. Good things happening naturally for people sounds great. Giruzzi emphasizes this new paradigm several times.  I almost feel like I am missing part of the puzzle, or he is intentionally leaving out part of where he is going with this.

Over all this book poses some thought provoking questions and creates some nice points that I agree with. The good things happening naturally for people plan sounds nice but didn’t quite resonate with me for some reason. But it’s a quick read, and getting people to think differently and open their minds is a good thing. It’s possible that my life experience is so different than Giruzzi’s that his new paradigm doesn’t work for me, or maybe I’m just reading too much into it.

If you read the book you can decide for yourself. You can find out more about William F. Giruzzi and A Life Worth Living at his at A Life Worth Living Now.

1. Set limitations.
2. Choose the essential.
3. Simplify.
4. Focus.
5. Create habits.
6. Start small.

By setting limitations, we must choose the essential. So in everything you do set limitations. By choosing the essential, we create great impact with minimal resources. Always choose the essential to maximize your time and energy.

By following the first two principles we are on the path to simplifying and accomplishing more. Every thing else in the book is really just an extension of these two principles. Depending on, where you are in life, each person will get something different out of this book.

What stood out to me, was using my time more wisely and simplifying the clutter in my life. I really like the idea of deciding which goals are actually important, in my life, and then breaking them down to smaller more accomplishable tasks.

In order to get the important things done we need to focus on one task at a time, and do the most important things first. If you want to create a new habit in your life choose one new habit for a thirty day period, make it easy, and measurable, after thirty days you can move on to the next habit.

I also like the concept of breaking difficult tasks into easier, small tasks, that can actually get accomplished. Another tip, I picked up from the book was to set filters on my email. Now those PayPal receipts and newsletters, automatically get filed away in their own folders.

Having the Power of Less, to refer to, will help motivate me to focus, when things begin to get out of hand. My first task after reading this, is to finally organize the papers in my office, and some closets and drawers, I’ve been neglecting.

I believe it was Oprah, who once said, “success is being ready when an opportunity presents itself.” When you get rid of distractions and learn to focus on what is important, you will be ready when an opportunity presents itself. Thanks Leo, for a great book, with such an inspiring message.

Plus, part of the proceeds of the book, are donated to charities involving horses, such as therapeutic riding and racehorse rescue organizations. The book was illustrated by 4 students who did an amazing job. The artwork is beautiful. I only wish, I could draw and paint that well.

The artists were: Amy Hafner, Charla Woodard, Ali Cater, and Katelynn Swaner.

“Why Worry”, is the first in a series of adventures of Bay Bob A Loo Bop. Who has a pretty good life on Farmer Bob’s, Full Circle Farm. But, he is prone to worrying and when he hears a change may take place, he gets concerned, and learns the unique perspective, of each of the horses, on the farm.

He discovers that his fears were unfounded and there is no point in worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet. If you have a child who is prone to worrying, this will be a nice lesson for them, as well.

If you go to the authors website, KHensler.com, there is a video of the book and free coloring pages that can be printed out. Since the artwork is so nice, I think this is a great touch. There is also a contact form if  your child is interested in doing some of the illustrations for the next book in the series.

The second book in the series is going to be titled, “I’m Too Busy,” maybe the lesson in this story is aimed at adults. Anyway, if your child likes horses and drawing this series will be a great edition to their book collection. 

When I found out that his first book Personal Development for Smart People was being published and he was looking for reviewers I jumped at the chance. I was excited when the book arrived in the mail. It was hardcover and a little bit thicker then I had anticipated.

251 pages, no pictures, and I had to wear my reading glasses. Like one of Steve’s Raw Vegan Meals, this book would take a while to digest.

The book is divided into two parts. Part one has 7 chapters focusing on the 7 Fundamental Principles of; Truth, Love, Power, Oneness, Authority, Courage, and Intelligence. Part two is the practical application of how these principles affect our Habits, Career, Money, Health, Relationships, and Spirituality.

When I read this, I kind of rolled my eyes, all of these abstract principles and applications. How is he going to pull this off? Well he found a way. Each principle builds on the other and they are all applied in the practical applications.

I found this book inspiring and encouraging. I felt and still feel motivated by reading it. Steve’s a smart guy and has not only devoted a lot of his life to personal development, but he is constantly experimenting to see if his conclusions are accurate.

To sum up my review of this book. I liked it! I was especially impressed with the principle of Truth. Such a simple concept. Being honest with others is a fine trait to have. Being honest with yourself is essential for building the life you desire.

You can use this principle along with your power of prediction to make decisions and create goals in your life. I already wrote about this principle in an earlier post about Making Better Decisions.

You can also use the principle of truth to guide your choices in life. How are you going to deal with your debt? How do you respond to an old friend or relative trying to get in touch with you? Do you attempt a career change?

If you are honest with yourself, and use the principle of truth your decisions and values will be aligned. You can trust your feelings and instincts to tell you if these things are in alignment. So many people are paralyzed with decision making, and yet we all have a fool proof method at our disposal.

I enjoyed reading Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growthand I intend to reread it, when I need motivation, for keeping my life in alignment. I would recommend this book to anyone who is encouraged by thoughtful discourse, and wants to gain control, of where their life path is leading.

It’s Write Now, is now offering free book reviews. If you are an author and would like your book reviewed, please use the contact form on my Book Review page to contact me. I recently reviewed Content Rich by Jon Wuebben, and I’m currently reading Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina, in order to create a review.

If you have a book you would like reviewed this is your opportunity. I’m hoping that this will be a useful, and mutually beneficial new offering on this site.

Once I got into this book it was a very easy read. He starts out with the basics such as what is SEO, and why does it work. Then he moves on to analyzing your site for SEO copy and usability. He talks about the how’s and whys of keyword research, and includes information about many current tools used for keyword research.

He also touches on, on page optimization, which includes using keywords, in titles, text and meta tags. And the all important off page optimization which includes getting links, promoting through articles, and social media, and web 2.0.

There are also chapters on writing press releases, pay per click ads, landing pages and banner ads. One of the things I enjoyed most about reading this book is that it got me excited about writing web copy. It helped get me motivated when it comes to creating optimized keyword rich content. Which is really what web writing is all about.

If you are already an amazing writer and an SEO expert, then you probably won’t find anything new in this book. Aside from sound advice and the motivation factor. But if you are a business owner who needs to create, or redesign a web presence for your business. Then you will hit the jackpot with Content Rich.

Most writers and web designers will find something of value in Content Rich, it covers all the bases and puts everything together nicely. It also contains case studies, tips for finding writers and outsourcing. Along with information on being a copywriter for a career and the future of copy writing.

Another valuable thing I discovered about this book, was the appendix. It contains links to tons of valuable web writing resources. From tools to keyword research, to the latest news, and forums.

This is a new book and all of the information and links are current. But we all know that on the web things change fast. Jon has taken care of that as well. Everyone who purchases Content Rich gets access to bonus materials to stay current on all aspects of web copy.

Some of the bonuses include, free online access to the next two editions, free access to the members only portion, of the Content Rich Book blog, a complimentary web site copy inspection, and more.

I found Content Rich to be a nice overview of web copy writing, and will be a valuable resource on my bookshelf that I will definitely refer back to.