1.

Types of Blog Posts (via Franklin Bishop at http://franklinbishop.net/5-types-of-blog-posts-for-more-traffic/)

Controversial Posts

This is actually one of my favorite kind of posts and it will sure bring you loads of traffic. There are many different ways to be controversial when writing an article. Having a strong opinion on something is okay even if people do not agree with you. That is basically the point. When you get on topics such as is it professional or not to disclose your online earnings, tell people whether a link is an affiliate link or not, whether it’s okay to photoshop your feeds subscriber count, etc. you’re tapping into controversial topics.

2. Death by Blog Post

The posting of a particularly controversial blog post within the owner’s niche, intended to finally “kill” a blog the owner has either lost interest in, or they believe is not receiving the recognition it deserves.  The decisively controversial blog post is designed to create conflict, make everybody upset, and comfort the blog owner by assuring them they are not 100% responsible for closing their blog. ie: “It’s what everybody wants.”

Akin to “death by cop.”

In no particular order, I am proud of…

IMPOROMPTU STUDIO
www.impromptustudio.com

When I first met Daniel he was just a guy working at the Great Ape Trust making a vending machine for a gorilla.  Next thing I know he is pioneering co-working in Des Moines.  While I haven’t had the opportunity to actually work for any length of time at Impromptu, I want to. The place oozes creativity and energy.

TWEETUP BADGES
www.tweetupbadges.com

When Chris Pirillo came to town, Rich made little badges for those in attendnace with their twitter handle.  This idea grew and became a sub-business of his “day job.”  This is the kind of innovation and keying in on trends that really make me proud to be part of the Des Moines tech community.

SMARTY PIG
www.smartypig.com

Ok, so they outsourced their web site to HappyCog, but they are still an Iowa company. Shortly after launching, their site design was hijacked and the DM community rose to the challenge and helped bring awareness to the infringement, and helped push down the search engine rankings for TrustyPig – the infringer.

BITMETHOD
www.bitmethod.com

Ok, so we’re back to Daniel Shipton again.  Diving this time into app development with Igor Dobrosavljevic and Neil Roberts, BitMethod has released several apps and have several “in the labs.”  They already look top-notch with their products and their site, with a little more staff and time, they could really be an app powerhouse in the area.

ROB JENSEN
twitter.com/jensenrf

I throw Rob into the mix because he has been instrumental in trying to organize big events in the area.  He and Aaron Webb (and others) helped organize one of the first barcamps a few years ago, tried to bring a podcamp here (or did we actually have one?) and understands the value of collaboration with unconferences.

LAVA ROW
www.lavarow.com

Ok, so I give Lava Row a lot of indirect flack.  Mainly because I know founder Nathan T Wright can handle it.  We Ames people have to stick together. When I was hearing about firms out East such as Crayon, there was Nathan starting something similar here in Des Moines.  That deserves a lot of credit.

So there are just a few of my top “nods” to Des Moines companies and people making the tech scene what it is.  If yo aren’t listed, it’s not that I don’t like you or think you are important, its just I had to start with a “top list” and after thinking about it, these bubbled up to the surface.

The great thing about Des Moines tech companies is the variety of services they offer, and the different ways they implement their customer’s needs.

This city has a lot of promise, I hope we can keep moving it forward.

The article I am referring to is this one, announcing the arrival of a new social media firm: One Social Media. With this addition, Des Moines has almost as many social media firms/consultants as the birthplace of social media: Boston.

Whereas Boston has CC Chapman, Chris Brogan, Chris Penn and others, Des Moines now has Lava Row, One Social Media and Catchfire Media – and others.  A lot of others.

What is it about Des Moines that is a breeding ground for so-called Social Media Experts? Is it the corn?  Can the city support three social media firms, and countless wannabes who think they have all the answers?

I don’t think so.   Something has to give.

But more importantly, I want you to look closely at the comparison above.  Notice the names from Boston, then notice the names from Des Moines.  See anything… different?

I do.

CC Chapman, Chris Brogan, Chris Penn.   Bam Bam Bam.  Three powerful names.  If you had those names on a conference (which I was lucky enough to meet all three at Podcamp Boston 2) you would have a great event.  Period.  CC Chapman is presenting at Blogworld this year, I wouldn’t doubt Chris Brogan makes an appearance as well.  Chris Penn is one of the co-founders of Podcamp (along with Chris Brogan.)  There must be something in the water, besides tea, that makes Boston the hub of social media.

Then there’s Des Moines.  With one social media expert per 1,000 population, it remains… stagnant.  Full of inbreeding, and mutual pats on the back, its social media leaders stay close to home, giving lectures to college business classes, attending or throwing tweetups (drink-ups) / and meetups on a local scale.

Boston – takes their leadership in social media to a global scale with big conferences, keynotes around the world, writing books and being leaders in the industry.

Des Moines… you get the drill.

But why is this?  Why can’t Des Moines with its 3 (at least) social media firms, step up into world-wide recognition and first-class status?  The answer is hidden above, but I’ll recap it below in a nice form that can be quoted.

Answer:

The Des Moines social media scene is concerned more with being local leaders than global.  They fight with/over each other to be the definitive “expert” while simultaneously patting each other on the back to make themselves feel good.  They throw tweetups for the sole purpose of getting wasted (no real networking happens there anymore) and care little about what is really going on in the world around them.

The Boston social media scene thinks globally.  They write books.  They give keynotes around the world.  They go to conferences like SXSW to actually network and not to party.  They aren’t trying to one-up each other, they are just trying to move themselves and their businesses forward.  If anything else, they are collaborative and supportive of each other.  Plus they extend that collaboration to others through their blogs, talks, and books.

Maybe that’s the biggest difference.  The Bostonians give back to the social media community, not really looking for their own accolades.  While Des Moines experts seem bent on making a name for themselves any way they can.

And they are.  I just don’t think it’s the names they want.

What do you think?  How can Des Moines hold so many social media “experts” like Boston, but not be known as a hub for social media like Boston is?  Is there a Chris Brogan type “expert” in Des Moines ready to break out and actually be a leader?  Thoughts?

There is only one reason for dabbling in Google Adsense – to make money.  But one of the lessons I have learned from Joel’s experience over the years is this: Products created to genuinely HELP others will make you far richer than those created for a quick buck.

You see, even though Joel created his Adsense Secrets eBook to make money, he also created it to pass on the knowledge he collected to others so they could make money too.  And that eagerness to share and to help others are an important cornerstone of not only his info products, but his entire business at InfoMedia.

There are a lot of rip-offs out there, and people who copy other’s work in order to make a quick buck.  Sometimes you don’t see it until after the purchase, which is unfortunate.  Other times the author’s true motives are apparent from the get-go.

It’s no secret that I have been trying affiliate programs and Adsense for years.  And while I could always use “more money” – it goes beyond that for me.  More money = more funds I can donate to my favorite charities.

That is why I am finally putting my experience to use and will be launching “Twitter for Nonprofits” – a quick start guide to leveraging Twitter for nonprofit organizations.  It should be available here in the next month or so.   I plan to donate 50% of the sales to our local community theater where I am President.

No matter how much (or how little) you make, you can afford to donate to charities in your community.  I hope my Twitter for Nonprofits report is well received, and that it will not only help others, but in turn end up helping our theater.

By the way, Joel is giving away his Adsense Secrets ebook away for free.  Download Yours Here.

That conversation led me to quote one of my favorite Commodore 64 SID tunes (transcribed by Bobbye): Harry Chapin’s “Flowers are Red.”  In the song, a child is told over and over that “flowers are red, green leaves are green.  There’s no need to see flowers any other way than the way they always have been seen.”

Mike Sansone’s eyes perked up, and after a few keystrokes he pulled the following blog post from 2008 up on the screen:

It’s The Way Things Have Always Been

Mike narrates the song along with pictures in a great slideshow.

At Captain Jack Communications, my friend and co-worker Anthony Clifton and I are sometimes seen as wanting to do things the way they have always been.  But in reality, we are constantly trying to find new ways to reinvent ourselves, our business, and bring out the creativity in the office.  The key is never losing focus on the thing you really ARE good at, so you can continue to pay the bills.

Changing a business model that works, in favor of one untested is a pretty stupid thing to do.  But introducing new ideas, techniques, technology, and maybe a few silly-ish thing into the mix can lead to not only a more productive workplace, but a more creative one as well.

With thanks to @jadehandy, @mikesansone, @dmevolve, @thebrandchef, @rhs76 and @clairecelsi

Click here to view the embedded video.

And I do mean every month.  See, before I read Adsense Secrets, I was only making enough on Adsense to get paid every other month, or sometimes every three months.  But after reading Joel’s eBook, I have had a check each and every month for the past year.

Joel and the team at Infomedia Inc. are now releasing The Elevate Blueprint.   This is, quite simply, their own company’s blueprint for success.  They have whittled down the core things that have turned their company from a one-man operation to over 30 employees.   What Joel and his team put into the DVDs is exactly what they do.

From getting that first idea, to launching a product with upsells, to conducting a seminar, the Elevate Blueprint is an intensive course for those trying to get ahead in any business online.

If you act today, you will get $100 off the normal price of the Blueprint.   But act fast, tomorrow the price goes up.

UPDATE: The price is still low – click on the DVDs below to find out more and to order!

Also, come back to troyrutter.com and find how I apply the lessons on the DVDs in creating my own info product and growing my online presence.

My Ed McMachon story takes place in 1997 or 1998, I was working for Universal New Media in Burbank at the time, and we were doing “Real Interviews” – typing  up interview questions as Ed McMahon answered them, and also broadcasting in Real Audio.

At the conclusion of the interview, Ed proclaimed, “I give Troy Rutter 4 stars with a bullet!”  Which was a great honor for me, since I always wanted to be on Star Search.   From that one hour long interview, I was able to glean that McMahon was a person of highest integrity, and just a nice person.

Thanks Ed, for the great memory!

Here is the official chat transcript, sadly the audio no longer works;

http://tinyurl.com/l2w2gh

So, I am officially looking for an adsense mentor.

I have read all the books, tried all the programs (for creating VRE, niche sites, etc) and have all the practical knowledge on building web sites, but am missing “something” – I am looking for a mentor to help talk me through making it to the next level of Adsense earnings.

Precisely, I am looking for:

a) a 1-on-1 daily coach available for email and IM communication
b) Someone currently making more than $1,000/mo. in Adsense earnings
c) Someone who preferably has already mentored others into achieving the $1,000/mo or more target
d) Someone who wants a great testimonial if they can help me meet that goal

In return, I will give a great testimonial to the person who helps me meet my goal of $1,000/mo.   I will also “pay it forward” and pass on the knowledge to another, thus carrying on the tradition of the mentor relationship.

In addition, I will promise to donate 15% of my Adsense earnings each month to charitable causes in my community.

I have already asked Joel Comm himself, but I think he is too busy, and that may have been too ambitious.  If you are interested, or know somebody, please direct them to this post and comment to contact me.   Comments are always moderated, so only I will see it.

Won’t you be mine, would you be mine, won’t you be…. my Adsense Mentor?

The book, a second edition is called

• Age of Conversation 2
• Several of the authors are local to Des Moines
• You can buy (hardcover or paperback) or download a copy
• All profits (after expenses) go to Variety, the international children’s charity, and the 1st edition raised $15,000

Pricing for The Age of Conversation 2 is:

• e-book: US$12.50 ($10.00 going to charity)
• paperback book: US$19.95 ($8.02 to charity)
• hardback book: US$29.95 ($4.60 to charity)

The venture was overseen by Des Moines marketer Drew McLellan and Australian Gavin Heaton.

Other authors include:

Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Reginald Adkins, Vandana Ahuja, Ozgur Alaz, Armando Alves, Francis Anderson, Todd Andrlik, G. Kofi Annan, Mike Arauz, David Armano, William Azaroff, Steve Bannister, Ryan Barrett, Cam Beck, Jordan Behan, Connie Bensen, Rohit Bhargava, Susan Bird, Toby Bloomberg, Jon Burg, David Berkowitz, Mark Blair, Ed Brenegar, Chris Brown, Deborah Brown, Duane Brown, Tim Brunelle, Wayne Buckhanan,

Pet Campbell, Becky Carroll, Paul Chaney, C.C. Chapman, Katie Chatfield, Thomas Clifford, Gary Cohen, Stephen Collins, Tim Connor, Peter Corbett, Hillel Cooperman, Ed Cotton, Chris Cree, Dave Davison, Luc Debaisieux, Jeff De Cagna, Dino Demopoulos, Geert Desager, Rishi Desai, Pete Deutschman, Matt Dickman, Vanessa DiMauro, Jeanne Dininni, Brent Dixon, Mark Earls, Sue Edworthy, Jay Ehret, Gianandrea Facchini, Anna Farmery, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Jeremy Fuksa, Seth Gaffney, Bill Gammell, Deanna Gernert, Cedric Giorgi, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Phil Gerbyshak, Scott Goodson, Mark Goren, James Gordon-Macintosh, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Susan Gunelius, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral,

Jessica Hagy, Mark Hancock, Ann Handley, Douglas Hanna, Steve Hardy, Nettie Hartsock, Doug Haslam, Gavin Heaton, Paul Hebert, Jeremy Heilpern, Alex Henault, Darren Herman, John Herrington, Susan Heywood, Adrian Ho, G.L. Hoffman, Daniel Honigman, Uwe Hook, Sean Howard, Cathryn Hrudicka, Robert Hruzek, Sam Huleatt, Richard Huntington, Shama Hyder, Paul Isakson, Tim Jackson, Dustin Jacobsen, George Jenkins, Kevin Jessop, Mitch Joel, Stanley Johnson, Timothy Johnson, Spike Jones, Amy Jussel, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Ryan Karpeles, Douglas Karr, Gareth Kay, Lois Kelly, Christina Kerley (CK), Chris Kieff, Thomas Knoll, Katie Konrath, David Koopmans, Derrick Kwa, Michelle Lamar, Stephen Landau, Kenny Lauer, Bob LeDrew, Tammy Lenski, Mark Lewis, Phil Lewis, James G. Lindberg,

Brett Macfarlane, Lori Magno, Angela Maiers, Valeria Maltoni, Louise Manning, Tim Mannveille, Mike McAllen, Becky McCray, Matt J. McDonald, Paul McEnany, Mark McGuinness, Drew McLellan, Robyn McMaster, Doug Meacham, Jenny Meade, Terrell Meek, Efrain Mendicuti, Sreeraj Menon, Gaurav Mishra, Doug Mitchell, Corentin Monot, Scott Monty, John Moore, Matt Moore, Ernie Mosteller, Brandon Murphy, Eric Nehrlich, Jeff Noble, Andy Nulman, Andrew Odom, Jason Oke, Simon Payn, Branislav Peric, Neil Perkin, Eric Peterson, David Petherick, Steve Portigal, J. Erik Potter, Dennis Price, Joe Pulizzi,

Veronique Rabuteau, Arun Rajagopal, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Ryan Rasmussen, Connie Reece, Brian Reich, Cathleen Rittereiser, David Reich, Sandy Renshaw, Nick Rice, Steve Roesler, Fernanda Romano, John Rosen, Roberta Rosenberg, Troy Rutter, Mike Sansone, Sheila Scarborough, Dan Schawbel, David Meerman Scott, Sean Scott, Andy Sernovitz, Bernie Scheffler, Asi Sharabi, Ron Shevlin, Jamey Shiels, Brad Shorr, Sonia Simone, Charles Sipe, Dan Sitter, Jon Swanson, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Stephen Smith, Phil Soden, Aki Spicer, Sheryl Steadman, Rachel Steiner,

Paul Tedesco, Seni Thomas, John Todor, Scott Townsend, PJasmin Tragas, Jonathan Trenn, Kate Trgovac, Karl Turley, Tim Tyler, Yves Van Landeghem, Mario Vellandi, Steven Verbruggen, Greg Verdino, Jeroen Verkroost, Dylan Viner, Roger von Oech, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Ellen Weber, Hugh Weber, David Weinfeld, Scott White, Gordon Whitehead, Andy Whitlock, Keri Willenborg, Casper Willer, Paul Williams, Chris Wilson, Craig Wilson, C.B. Whittemore, Steve Woodruff, Troy Worman, Piet Wulleman, Faris Yakob, Joanna Young, David Zinger,

Technorati Tags: Age of Conversation

First and foremost, there are a lot of very neat things being done in Iowa and the surrounding states.  There is absolutely no reason why the company I work for can’t compete with the major web production studios in California, New York, Philadelphia or anywhere.   That being said…

One of the main things I got out of the conference was that everybody there was there because of one reason:  they want to be the best <something>.   It may sound egotistical at first, but once you peel it away, it makes sense.

The only reason to be doing what we are doing is to be the best.   If you don’t want to be the best, then find something else you want to be the best at, and do that.   This is true both on the personal side and the corporate side.   If I could, I would walk into our programmer area and say “Anybody who doesn’t want to be the best web design and hosting company in Iowa, leave now.”

These people don’t describe themselves as “one of” anything.  For instance, there is a social marketing company in Des Moines called Lava Row, started by a classmate of mine at Ames High.  When they go speak, they don’t get up and say “Hello, I’m Nathan Wright, and I am with Lava Row, one of many social marketing companies in Iowa.”   He says “Hi, I’m  Nathan Write and I work at Lava Row, *THE* social marketing company in the state.”

Believing you are the best at what you do is half the battle to becoming the best.   But it can’t just be programmers, it has to follow through with all departments in your company.   If sales doesn’t think you are the best, how can they represent you fully to clients?   If they don’t think you are the best, they may feel like your prices are too high, other people unmotivated, and their sales numbers will suffer to.  Think of a cold call that goes “Hi, this is Troy and I’m from Captain Jack Communications, the best web developer in Central Iowa, is XXXX available?”   vs “Hi, this is Troy and I work at a web design company in Des Moines, can I talk to XXXXX?”

Everybody has to be on board with making the company #1 in its field.

Next, I learned that it doesn’t take a lot of money or resources to do neat things.   There are a lot of free tools on the Internet that people are using to further their businesses.  Whether they are harnessing the power of hundreds of servers hosted at amazon.com or using Basecamp as their project management software, utilizing the tools that have come out of this “web 2.0″ era of web design and development is key to a successful company.

Along with that comes the next thing I learned.   If you are going to try and make a product based on what someone else has already done, you better make it better.  If you can’t make it better, just use the product that already exists.   Facebook saw MySpace and knew they could make it better.   Twitter has spawned a bunch of third party web sites that use its technology to make different services.   If you are going to try and make a Slinky ripoff, you had better make sure it goes “up the stairs” as well as down.

And the last “overall” theme from Highlight Midwest is that companies are not alone anymore.  Where once we stood within our walls and refused to communicate with other companies because they are the “enemy” and our secrets were to be held close to the vest, the new era of doing business is about openness and transparency.   Networking has always been a key strategy of the business owner, but usually it was a network of unrelated fields at a “BNI” group or “business after hours” round table.  Today, it is a group of like-minded, similar fields that come together to share ideas and insights not necessarily about projects each is doing, but where they would like to see the industry as a whole, in the area and the world, go.

Very. Powerful. Stuff.

Here are the specific panels I attended:

Iowa Web Awards / Iowa Flood with Andy Brudtkuhl (Des Moines)
It was hard not to keep socializing with people from the #dmtweetup group, but I really was interested in what Andy had to say.   He has done a lot of work with WordPress CMS systems, as well as Yahoo Pipes – pulling in content from a lot of sources to make one “point of contact” super-site using RSS feeds.   Good stuff.

Building a Better City Web Site with Dusty Davidson (Omaha)
This one interested me because the city web site for Ames is really bad, as is one of the “city portal” type sites in town, as well as the local newspaper.   Dusty has built a platform of content aggregation, sorting and display that will blow the other city web sites, newspapers, and media outlets out of the water.

SmartyPig with Michael Ferrari
The SmartyPig panel was less about the technology and more about the service, so a little disappointing… only since I already knew a lot about it.   Still, it was interesting to hear Michael talk about the origins of the company, and where it was going.  I only wish he would have come to Captain Jack’s instead of Happy Cog for his site design, if for nothing else but to stay local.

Comics on Rails with Scott Kahler and Doug Sparling
This panel was about uclick, the online comic site that combines the properties of a major publishing house that syndicates Garfield (among others).  Of particular interest was a discussion about how everything was dynamic on one of their redesigns, and it brought their servers to their knees.  Then, they redid everything as static pages and things were happy again.  Definitely a lesson in using database content efficiently in there someplace.

Messages, Membership, and Money with Christina MakiChristina
I attended this panel since I had been having some issues getting our local community theater to embrace technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.  She provided some good starting points for non-profits to get into the space, most of which I had already tried … but good info.

Bringing a Japanese Phenomenon West with Derek Maune
Derek spoke about a new web site / service he created to help with a specific kind of microblogging – writing a book.  Apparently in Japan, many people are using short updates via SMS on their cell phones to write books.  His company, Quill Pill provides an online reader that is easy to use for your book, and plans to offer the ability to order a real book with the service in the future.

Microblogging, Macro Impact with Mike Templeton
Mike, another Des Moines tech evangelist, spoke about the different microblogging platforms, and how his new web site is providing a way to keep track of all the micro-blogging solutions out there.

Cleared For Landing: Building a Social Media Business in Flyover Country with Nathan T. Wright and Hillary Brown
Nathan and Hillary or Lava Row gave a good representation of how to build a social marketing business no matter where you are located.   Between the two of them, they are very engaging.   The panel focused mainly on Lava Row itself, and not necessarily on tools, tricks or techniques per se.

Bottom Line – if you don’t want to be “the best” – then get out.  If you want to be the best then there is a huge, welcoming community waiting to help you get there.  And yes, there are some really cool things happening in the midwest.