I just finished reading the book, Problogger - Secrets to blogging your way to a Six Figure Income. It was actually a book I won in an online contest but is one I highly recommend anyone buy. Don’t let the title fool you. This book is not a get rich quick scheme using blogging. The principles laid out in the book not only can help you be a better writer but also a better business owner if that is where you are in life or looking to go. Of course as a small business owner and blogger I was thinking of both while reading this book.

The book is co-authored by Darren Rowse of Problogger.net and Chris Garrett of Chirsg.com . Two of the most successful bloggers today. I would describe both Darren and Chris as real. Real individuals who are passsionate about what the write about but also are completely honest about how much work blogging takes if you want it to be a profitable venture. It wasn’t long after I started reading the book that I realized the things they were saying were a lot of the hard lessons I have already started learning as a business owner. Some of those aspects include finding a niche, income and earning strategies, promotion and marketing and creating a worthwhile product.

Another thing I discovered in my reading was they used a term we already use in our business mission statement, Compelling Content. However a big point they made was that just having compelling content without marketing is talking to yourself.

The buying and selling of blogs is also covered in the book. That whole section confirmed things we have told customers when it comes to having a web site that has value. I read things in that chapter that apply to any business. I dare say the entire book is really a handbook for the entrepreneur of business person will professional blogging as the prime example. Of course I as a part of our business we encourage our clients to blog as a way to communicate news, tips and ideas about their industry however you may want to take your blogging or desire to blog from hobby status to a professional venture, If you are a small business owner or looking into starting a small business or If you just want to be a better writer who will connect with your audience, buy this book.

Have you read Problogger? What were your thoughts? I’m also interested in hearing what other books you may have read that could apply beyond the title.

If you are reading this blog you may have noticed two new ads in the sidebar on the right side of the page you are reading. In the past 30 minutes I received notification via my RSS reader that both 37 Signals and Buzzoodle Marketing were starting affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are a means of being financially rewards for recommending products and services of third parties. First and foremost we are in the business of creating our own products and services for our clients however they are other products out their that we highly recommend as we have also used them to grow our own business.

You can find a variety of products that will help you effectively market your business through what is known as “Buzz Marketing” and Employee Evangelism through the Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing Catalog. We highly recommend the Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing book for starters as we own it ourselves and is a great resource. I want to thank Buzzoodle’s founder, Ron McDaniel for calling me as I the first person to sign up for his affiliate program. That was some excellent “Buzz” Ron!

Another set of online tools we use extensively is the products by 37 Signals. We use Basecamp to manage our projects from web sites to print product projects as well as our audio and video projects. We use Highrise as our online contact management program to keep track of clients, leads and other people connected to our company. The third 37 signals product we recommend you check out and consider using for your business is Backpack which is for sharing calendars, to-do lists, etc. It’s important to have these tools available online as we have access while traveling and are not tied down to any one computer. We recommended that 37 Signals provide the opportunity for an affiliate program a while back and are really excited to see it become a reality.

Of course we still recommend you bookmark and checkout our Amazon Store which has a listing of books, software and other products we feel would make a positive impact on your business and life.

2007 was a turning point year for SpinningSilk Multimedia and our parent company, SpinningSilk, LLC and the first month of 2008 seemed to have as many positive milestones and the whole year of 2007. February 2008 is looking great as well!

Milestones reached in 2007–

Established downtown Greenville office
Became a LLC after a few years as a sole proprietorship
Became more active in the PNC–involved in two networks
Became an active organizer of the Upstate Entrepreneur’s Forum
Established a business partnership with CHIC Magazine
Increased sales by 48% for the year!

Milestones Jan. 2008

Joined the Greenville Chamber of Commerce
Participated as a stop in a virtual book tour and interviewed Seth Godin
Prepared to launch E-mail defense service
Launched new Blog & Business Card package

Future 2008 Goals…so far

Our first in-company podcast
podcasts for our clients and our own original shows
Selling managed services to protect and restore your valuable content
A seminar for local business people on the importance of new media in their marketing efforts

In the past couple of weeks I have mentioned Seth Godin’s new book, Meatball Sundae. SpinningSilk Multimedia is pleased to host a stop on the virtual book tour for this book. In the past few days the tour has stopped at Brand Autopsy, Make It Great! and Brand Mix.

Excuse the pun but after I started reading Meatball Sundae I ate it up. While a literal Meatball Sundae is meant to be unappetizing the book Meatball Sundae was a treat and gave me food for thought for the year ahead. After reading the book I asked Seth the following questions. I hope you find some of them to be unique and whet your appetite to read this book.

1.)Patrick - I found the acknowledgments section in the book fascinating and that’s very unusual to say that about a book. I hope to research those you credited to get a deeper understand of this subject area. Our business already uses the products of 37 Signals so I definitely know about them. Other than the obvious book titles mentioned do you have some additional resources you would like to direct people to?

Seth - I think you’re giving me too much credit for unlocking a treasure chest of resources. In my experience, most people don’t suffer from a lack of data, they suffer from too little insight and too little willingness to take what feels like a risk. How much do you need to now? If the people seen today as successes online had known everything they needed to, it’s unlikely any of them would have actually gotten started.

There are literally dozens of blogs that you can glean great info from… and my guess is, you know what they are. Sometimes, though, reading my blog and hundreds of others can lead to a sort of paralysis that leads to too much analysis and not enough hard decision making.

2.) Patrick - While reading the book I realized how important a tool the Internet is in regards to new marketing, appealing to niches and engaging people in conversation but I couldn’t help but think of “pre-internet” examples where impassioned individuals sold a product despite being “killed off” by large corporations. The one that springs to my mind immediately is the letter writing campaign that not only brought Star Trek back but eventually made it one of the most successful franchises in history. What can we learn for this in our current age of new media marketing tools to learn from this?

Seth - Star Trek benefited most, I think, from having an obsessed and uncompromising creator. Gene Roddenberry did lots of things differently than you or I would, but he had a singular vision. He refused to create something ordinary. As a result, he touched people. Not a lot, but enough. And then it spread. This is almost always what happens, in fact.

3.) Patrick - I often hear the term “story” mentioned in your book. Can have expound on the term “story” in terms of marketing our products or services?

Seth - People don’t buy products or features or even benefits. What they buy is a story that they can tell themselves. It’s all about the way things make us feel. That’s why placebos work… the story matters. So, you as a marketers can facilitate that by telling and living that story directly.

4.) Patrick - I have a feeling a lot of business people may fear a lot the ideas mentioned in the book even though what they are producing is not about them. What would you say to someone who is afraid of “losing control?”

Seth - I’d tell them not to worry about it–they can stay in control if they like. BUT, if they do, they should stay in the meatball business. There’s plenty of room for money and excitement there. Sometimes, you can even have a fashion-based hit like the ipod (itunes is a different story). If you want a different kind of growth, the new kind, the kind that’s fueled by the new marketing, I think you have to give up some of the old-time top-down control.

5.)Patrick - I’m learning more and more the Internet and new media marketing is driven by niches. What would you suggest to someone who is “multi-talented” or is a “big picture” person who either struggles or fears concentrating on a particular niche they or their company excels at even if it means giving up or putting other things on the back burner?

Seth - Most things in business that are worth doing feel risky. So they get avoided, which is precisely why they are worth doing!

6.) Patrick - I recently told someone about your book but I was careful not to tell them to “forward” my e-mail. My experience with “forwards” is that over 90% of the forwards I receive are interruptions that I consider “spam” which goes against what the new media tool of e-mail is all about. I know more often than not I am getting a form letter and the words are not those of the sender but hastily endorsed. do you feel the availability of the forward button on e-mail programs hampers people from telling their story?

Seth - I think viral forwards are a whole different kind of spam, one that’s less morally reprehensible than the real kind, but annoying nonetheless. The ‘Forward’ button wasn’t invented by viral marketers, but it could have been.

Thank you Seth for agreeing to the interview and thanks to the Idea Sandbox for choosing the SpinningSilk Multimedia Blog to be a part of this virtual book tour. Visit the 800-CEO-READ blog tomorrow for the next stop on the virtual book tour.

Note: while this interview is scheduled for Thursday it’s still Wed. in my time zone as I post this. However I have already had requests from people in time zones ahead of me where it’s already Thursday so out of respect for the future time zones across the World Wide Web I am releasing this a little early my time.

In case you haven’t noticed I love to use Flickr to share my photos. I was pleasantly surprised to get word today that Flickr is being used to spread good word of mouth or should I say, “vision of eye” for a new book that has come out. Scott Kelby recently published the 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 . A group has sprung up on Flickr showcasing how people are using Scott’s 7 Point System for Adobe Photoshop 3. Scott didn’t start the group but it looks like his publisher has. What a great tool for promoting a book! Are you taking advantage of services like Flickr, You Tube, etc. to promote your work?