Gathering and Structuring Ideas for Keyword Articles

I was just about to start writing this report when my husband came in and asked me this very question, ìOkay I have the keyword part down, but how do I know what to write about?î

That's where idea hunting comes into play.

And the first things to do are gather and structure your ideas so that you're writing about things that give you some sales leverage.

With articles, your goal is twofold, well three if you count the leverage that a backlink to your site gives you. But writing-wise, you want to funnel traffic through an article directory to your own domain for increased traffic and you also want to showcase your expertise.

Articles Are Built on Keyword Usage

Go to the most obvious place ñ your friendly easy to use Google keyword tool (it's free). Keywords help you cast a net to capture the traffic that's searching on Google, Bing, and other search engines online.

The keyword will be used in the title, the first sentence, and a few more times throughout depending on how long the article is. Each article should focus on one keyword phrase.

A keyword is just one individual word, whereas a keyword phrase has two or more words in it. Broad keyword phrases are very general like cruise tips while long tail keyword phrases have more words such as cruise tips for families with children.

Now for articles, you're going to rank higher on Google using long tail keyword phrases instead of broad because there's less competition. But you still want to have the broad keyword phrases being used to point back to your site.

So what I like to do is do one article on a broad phrase and another on a long tail phrase and just go back and forth.

We need an example to work with here. I'm going to randomly pick a topic from the request list my PLR customers submitted. It's going to be: Cruise Tips!

Now we're going to go through the keyword gathering process because it's where ideas are formulated to start with.

I first go to my Google keyword tool and type in ìcruise tipsî without the quotes. I always check the box that says ìOnly show ideas closely related to my search termsî because otherwise you'll get back too broad of a range.

Click the search button to get your results. When they come back, you'll want to click the phrase ìGlobal Monthly Searchesî at the top of the columns list. This will reorder the keywords from most searches to fewest searches.

Now when you're article marketing for the long haul, you'll want to write an article on every one of these keyword phrases. So in those cases, I personally start with the one with the most searches, and then write an article with the keyword that has the least searches and I go back and forth until I've written about all of them.

Why do I do this? Because I want to target both broad and long tail keywords. The ones with fewer searches are usually long tail.

The reason you want to approach both is because with long tail keywords, there's less competition, so you'll rank higher in Google, faster. But you also want to go after high volume keyword phrases, so that's why I alternate. Some people prefer to just go straight down the list. But to me, it's exciting when you see traffic starting to come in faster because your site is ranking high for the long tail keywords.

But what if you need a certain number of articles ñ maybe for a client or a PLR pack you're selling? Let's say you need 5 articles total.

Always think in terms of sales and expertise. You want a healthy dose of both. You want the reader to get a sense that this author knows his or her stuff, but you also want to leave the door open for something to be promoted to them.

In my search results, I got back 33 search terms that have ìcruise tipsî in them. I only need five. You can download the keywords and delete the ones you decide to eliminate or filter the list before you download by checking on the ones you want to download. I'm going to show you my entire list first and then how I work through them:

o cruise tips
o disney cruise tips
o carnival cruise tips
o cruise tips carnival
o alaskan cruise tips
o alaska cruise tips
o first cruise tips
o cruise tips and tricks
o cruise tips for first timers
o packing for a cruise tips
o caribbean cruise tips
o booking a cruise tips
o booking cruise tips
o royal caribbean cruise tips
o cruise tips royal caribbean
o princess cruise tips
o cruise tips and advice
o cruise tips advice
o disney cruise tips and secrets
o disney wonder cruise tips
o carnival cruise tips and tricks
o best cruise tips
o disney cruise tips and tricks
o mediterranean cruise tips
o nile cruise tips
o disney magic cruise tips
o ncl cruise tips
o cheap cruise tips
o family cruise tips
o last minute cruise tips
o hawaii cruise tips
o best alaska cruise tips
o walt disney cruise tips

The first thing I do is weed out blatant duplicates. So if there are two keywords like this:

• Disney cruise tips
• Cruise tips Disney

Öthen I'm going to get rid of the one with the least amount of searches. Now that's only if the exact same words are in the phrases. So if I saw a phrase that said ìDisney Wonder cruise tipsî I'm going to leave that one for now.

Next, I'm going to eliminate any phrases that don't ìreadî right. So I see these two:

• Booking a cruise tips
• Booking cruise tips

Leaving the word ìaî in there makes it more reader friendly, so I'm going to delete the one without.

Now I'm going to combine keyword phrases wherever possible. So I see these two:

• Disney cruise tips
• Walt Disney cruise tips

Well just by allowing the ìWaltî portion to stay, I kill two birds with one stone ñ or am able to target both keywords using one phrase. I'll delete the Disney cruise tips keyword phrase.

Here's one where I can combine three keyword phrases:

• Cruise tips
• Best cruise tips
• Best cruise tips and tricks

By choosing the longest one, and making sure nothing in the wording is rearranged, I'm able to target all three keyword phrases. So I will eliminate the first two.

With the leftovers, I want to look at them and choose keywords that haven't already been chosen. So I wouldn't pick another Disney ñ I'd pick something else.

What I normally do is put them into groups so I can see what's in demand the most. I see in my list, I have:

• 2 keywords for carnival
• 2 keywords for Alaskan
• 2 keywords for carribbean
• 1 keyword for princess
• 1 keyword each for Mediterranean, nile, ncl, and Hawaii
• 5 keywords for specific tip topics (like packing).

That last bullet point is important. It helps us with our article slants!

So right now I have:

• Walt Disney cruise tips
• Best cruise tips and tricks
• First cruise tips and advice

I need two more and then I have to put a slant on them. Based on my list of remaining keyword phrases, I want to pick these:

• Carnival cruise tips and tricks
• Best Alaskan cruise tips

Now I could have gone with Caribbean but sometimes when you're restrained by the number of articles, something has to get cut unfairly ñ or does it? I could work another equal phrase into an article like this: Royal Caribbean Best Cruise Tips and Tricks, but I'm not going to do that this time. It's a possibility, though.

Narrowing Your Slant With Your Keyword List

What I want to do is take my 5 keywords for specific tip topics and work them as slants into my 5 phrases. So my new list will look like this:

• Walt Disney cruise tips – family
• Best cruise tips and tricks ñ last minute
• First cruise tips and advice – packing
• Carnival cruise tips and tricks – booking
• Best Alaskan cruise tips ñ cheap

Okay what you see above are the basic slants I've added that will help me formulate my article ideas. These were taken from these 5 keyword phrases I found on my Google keyword tool here:

• packing for a cruise tips
• booking a cruise tips
• cheap cruise tips
• family cruise tips
• last minute cruise tips

I just looked at each one and found a logical place for it. For instance, family obviously goes with Disney best because it conveys a Mom and Dad with kids in tow.

Confirming Your Title Based on Your Slant Session

So right now remember – we're working with this:

• Walt Disney cruise tips – family
• Best cruise tips and tricks ñ last minute
• First cruise tips and advice – packing
• Carnival cruise tips and tricks – booking
• Best Alaskan cruise tips ñ cheap

What I want to do is first create a nice title for it. I like to keep my keyword phrases intact and in order as much as possible, so I usually add the extras on at the beginning or end, like this:

• Walt Disney Cruise Tips for the Family Cruise Vacation
• Best Cruise Tips and Tricks for Last Minute Cruise Vacations
• First Cruise Tips and Advice on Packing for a Cruise
• Carnival Cruise Tips and Tricks for Booking a Cruise to Your Advantage
• Best Alaskan Cruise Tips for Finding a Cheap Cruise Package

When Two Keywords Collide

My husband was especially perplexed over something I was doing ñ I had a keyword list for some PLR I was writing ñ and he saw two keyword phrases that were very similar:

• scuba diving gear
• scuba diving equipment

ìBut those are the same thing!î he said. ìWhy and how are you going to write TWO whole articles about the same thing?î

This is very common and I have people email me all the time asking this, so if you feel confused too, you're not alone.

On answering his question about why we would want two articles using each keyword, I explained it like this:

ìLet's say you have a site that sells scuba diving gear. Your goal, obviously, is to get as much traffic as possible so you can make the most sales and profits.

You know that there are 22,200 people a month searching for ëscuba diving gear' and your page can rank high and bring them into your site.

Now there are an additional 14,800 people typing into Google, ëscuba diving equipment.' Do you just want to ignore those people, or would you be ecstatic if they too found your site ranked high on Google and clicked through to buy something from you?î

That clicked for him, but it didn't solve the problem of how to take two similar keywords and write a unique slant for each.

That's where a little extra keyword digging can help. Instead of just ending your journey with the basic ìscuba divingî keyword search, take each one of those keyword phrases and put them into the Google keyword tool independently. See what kind of results you get back and what it is searchers want to know!

So I find the following:

• Used scuba diving equipment
• Scuba diving gear packages

The keyword tool itself just gave me two very different slants, didn't it? One could be the Danger of Buying Used Scuba Diving Equipment ñ or, Is It Wise to Buy Used Scuba Diving Equipment ñ and the other could be How to Shop for Scuba Diving Gear Packages.

Bingo! Thanks Google!

There were a few more listed, too ñ I just picked a couple to use as an example. Don't forget to dig down for some good article ideas. There's no limit on how many searches you get in a day, so exhaust it if you have to.

What to Do If Google's Keyword Tool Is Stingy With Slants

I almost always find what I need for a slant using the free keyword tool. But let's play devil's advocate here and pretend you're stuck and Google's not dishing up any good results. What then?

There are many other ideas I'm going to share with you in this report ñ for blog posts, eBooks and reports, and email autoresponders ñ such as spying on forums, retail outlets, tables of contents, and more – and they'll all work equally well for an article idea, so just apply those to these efforts!

Structuring an Article Outline

I have my keyword phrases. I have my titles and slants. But I know nothing about this topic, so what do I actually put into the article? Well now it's time to create an outline.

There are two ways you can structure your article:

The first way to structure your article is to utilize the five Ws and an H ñ Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. That always helps. You're just answering questions here ñ one for each paragraph or section of your article.

So let's do our example using this strategy and our article title. I just start out with the words who, what, whenÖetc., and then complete the question and create some bullet points underneath like this:

Walt Disney Cruise Tips for the Family Cruise Vacation

• Who would enjoy a Disney cruise vacation?
  o Adults
  o Families with teens and young children
  o Family reunion groups with many kids

I got these answers off the top of my head because I know a fun cruise is fun for everyone.

• What activities are there to see and do on a Disney cruise?
  o First run movies (3D)
  o Pools
  o Clubs for kids and nightclubs for adults
  o Fitness centers
  o Fireworks
  o Musicals
  o Parties

For this info, I simply went to the source ñ the Disney Cruise site and looked it up.

• When is the best time to go on a Disney cruise?
  o Depends on destination for weather and sightseeing
  o Fall Fantasy
  o Sunshine Sailaway
  o Springtime Magic

For the first bullet point, I used common sense. For instance, you may want to avoid the Mexican or Bahamian routes during Hurricane season, and you might want to go to Alaska and see the Northern lights in the fall. The other bullet points are from a forum where people were discussing the three seasonal savings packages Disney has.

• Where does the Disney cruise line travel?
  o Mediterranean/Europe
  o Mexican Riviera
  o Caribbean
  o Alaska
  o Panama Canal
  o Bahamas

For this info, the Disney cruise site gave me the info.

• Why is a Disney cruise better suitable for a family than other lines?
  o Carnival
  o Royal Caribbean
  o Princess

I would simply do a little research to compare the top three competitors for cruises. This way, I'm positioning my option as the better one.

• How do you book a Disney cruise and get the best deal?

This is perfect listed at the very bottom of my article because it provides a nice lead in for me to let them know HOW they can _______ (save money, get more tips, etc ñ whatever your slant is, the How can convert it into a click).

The second method of structuring your content is to jot down what people are using in other articles and go by what's out there. This does NOT mean copy people's articles! It just means see what all's out there so you don't miss something important. It's like a jumpstart for your brain.

So I would open up a couple of article directories like EzineArticles and GoArticles, for example. In my case, I've merged some keyword phrases, so I'll want to research both of them (Walt Disney cruise tips and family cruise tips, for example).

I go to EzineArticles and type into the search box: Walt Disney cruise.

Now here's what's cool! I can just go by the titles. I don't even need to dig any deeper in most cases. Here's what I see:

So I'm going to take my title and jot down some points beneath it of things I want to add and I like to find about five, so I'll choose 3 from the screen shot above and then we'll head to GoArticles to find two more:

Walt Disney Cruise Tips for the Family Cruise Vacation

• expectations
• price control
• attractions

See I didn't go steal their article ñ just got some topic ideas. Now on GoArticles, I'll use the second keyword phrase I worked into my article ñ the one about family cruise tips. I type the phrase family cruise into the GoArticles search box and see this:

That lets me know I should address the various age group activities. And this one lets me add safety to my list:

Now I have my final basic structure:

Walt Disney Cruise Tips for the Family Cruise Vacation

• expectations
• price control
• attractions
• age group activities
• safety tips

I like having five ideas because one will be the introduction, I'll have three specific points, and then a conclusion ñ exactly what you learned in school on how to create an essay ñ it's no different!

Let's reorder this one logically. Here's how I do it:

Walt Disney Cruise Tips for the Family Cruise Vacation

• Expectations ñ this is a perfect opening introduction because the person reading it may be apprehensive and you're going to motivate them and get them enthusiastic.
• Safety tips ñ I like to get the nagging out of the way ñ because I like to end on a positive note. But this helps pull in the reader because we all want the bad news first ñ get it over with. It also helps you build trust because you're not making it all rainbows and unicorns ñ you're showing your expertise and being honest.
• Attractions ñ Now I'll be able to move into the big deal that excites the reader and make them look past the safety aspects and get tips on which attractions are a ìmust see.î
• Age group activities ñ this will help Mom and Dad see that there's something for everyone. Aside from the main attractions, which are often for teens and up, there will be activities for the tiniest passengers.
• Price control ñ always at the end, for my conclusion ñ pricing will help me talk about how expensive Disney family cruises CAN be ñ butÖif they visit my site, they can learn more tips on how to save for their trip.

For your article, always get anything negative out of the way up front. This does two things ñ allows you to pull in readers (we all click on negative articles more than we do positive ones) and get it out of the way to make room for a conversion.

If negativity isn't an issue for your content, then just order it in a logical fashion ñ or from broad topic to most detailed.

If you want to, you can outline your article to another level deep. You could go to Google or the article directories and type in the specific topic and see what tips people are discussing.

For example, I could take one of my main points (price control) and create a bullet point list for it, too, like this:

Price control

• Special booking discounts (military, seasonal)
• Agent comparison ñ someone who specializes in Disney
• Disney rewards Visa points
• Last minute deals from vacancies

Those were a few tips I discovered just randomly reading a few pages on Google from 4 different sites. Only use the other pages to brainstorm ñ don't cut and paste thinking you're going to rewrite it later. Just do everything from scratch. The process is meant to educate you so that you know enough to write about it on your own.

Writing articles is very different to me than writing blog posts, eBooks and reports or email autoresponders.

I approach them differently. But with all of these sections in this report, you can use a cross over method. If you want to use an idea I have for blog idea gathering and structuring for one of your articles, go for it!

Don't be contained by any strict rules.

Let's move on to the blog elements now!

 

Gathering and Structuring Ideas for Blog Posts

We've already seen how keywords can be used to create your articles ideas. And it's true that for the best SEO results, you'll want to use keywords in your blog posts. But here's my take on blogsÖ

Unlike cold, impersonal articles, blogs are better performers when they're personalized or offer some sort of slant or persona.

So while you'll want to integrate a keyword phrase into your blog post title, it should be secondary to how you gather and structure your ideas for your blogging journey.

There are different ways to gather your ideas and structure them. Let's cover how to gather the ideas first and then we'll go over structure for each one.

Blogging Based on Your Life Experiences

Blogs are usually indicative of what the blogger is tuned into at that time. It doesn't matter what niche you're in, many blogs are almost like online diaries ñ there for the whole world to read.

Here are some good examples:

The blog based on the movie Julie and Julia ñ where the woman blogs about how she goes through Julia Childs' Mastering the Art of French Cooking book. Not only did she blog about the cooking and recipes, but there was plenty of her own personal daily happenings in there too ñ and she landed a book AND movie deal!

Here's an example of one of her blog posts:
http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2003/07/31.html

In the dating niche, there was a woman who challenged herself to go on one blind date per day ñ and she blogged about it, landing herself on TV. I can't find her blog now. Seems like she was in Florida.

I myself am going into the vegetarian niche and I'm blogging about my obstacles and successes there (positioning myself to one day launch an eBook):

http://www.lousyvegetarian.com

So here's what happens with a blog post based on your personal experiences. Instead of gathering keywords and then structuring an idea around it, like you would with an article, you do it backwards.

Idea first, then keyword to fit in. So the best way to learn is through examples. Using the vegetarian niche, let me show you a real sample of what I mean when I say ìIdea first, then keyword to fit in.î

I wanted to blog about my disdain for frozen vegetarian foods. I don't yet know how to cook a lot of vegetarian products like tofu, so I either have to rely on restaurant take out or frozen foods. I first sit down and spill my guts, talking about the good frozen foods and the bad ones.

Only after I finish writing my post do I then turn to the keyword tool to try to find something that fits in. So I enter ìvegetarianî (no quotes) into the keyword tool and I sort by Global Monthly Searches.

I scroll down the list from largest search volume to smallest looking for something that fits well. I find that ìvegetarian frozenî has about 1,600 searches per month, so I work that into my blog post title.

Once I know what my keyword phrase is, I can go back and add it to the blog post content if I want to. For example, look at this post:

http://lousyvegetarian.com/my-foray-into-vegetarian-frozen-meals/

The second paragraph originally only said, ìfrozen meals.î But once I knew what my keyword phrase was, I went in and added the word vegetarian to it.

Structuring Your Blog Based on Your Life Experiences

These, to me, are the most fun ones because it's just chit chatting with your audience. You're just talking, telling your story from start to end like you would a good friend sitting across from you at lunch.

But just in case you're a stickler for structure or you feel more comfortable with having some guidelines, then do it this way:

• Present a problem. Could be a problem you're experiencing or one you want to avoid. Could be a problem you overcame and now you're sharing your success! For me, I reiterated my problem finding foods I like in the vegetarian field.
• Cover the bad news first. I always like to leave people on a positive note, and to be honest, the bad news often pulls them in. In my example, I spoke of the horrid frozen food I had tried that weekend.
• Motivate the reader with something positive. In my case, while I did try something awful, I had also tried something delicious! So soften the blow by giving them something they can get excited about.
• Tell what's coming up, if you know. Sometimes you don't know what's coming up next. But at least let them know what your future holds for this particular blog post topic. It makes people look forward to something and gives them a reason to check their bookmark to see if you have a new post ready.

Blogging Based on Other People's Work

If you don't feel like an expert yet but you want to blog in a niche, then you can start blogging about other people's stuff! You can:

Blog a review about a product

This is a great thing to do when you're just learning! On my Tiffany Dow blog, I do this alllllllll the time. I always have reviews going ñ many at once, in fact! I review tangible books like Curation Nation, for example, and I review info product course, which may be text or video based.

Blog about other people's competing blogs

Some people blog about other people's news. You can do this. I'm learning a lot about it by reading Curation Nation ñ it speaks of pulling in quotes and sections of other people's online content and then providing commentary on it.

Does that mean you go to someone's blog and cut and paste their entire blog post?

No. It means bits and pieces only – with backlinks to your sources. Look up your keyword plus the word blog and see what the other person is discussing. Don't steal, just educate yourself about what's post-worthy.

Blog about someone else expertise.

One great site I learned about when I was taking a course recently was HARO ñ Help a Reporter Out.

You can sign up FREE to this site and send out a notification asking an expert to be at your disposal for your niche topic. The resource gets something out of it ñ branding and exposure (not to mention a nifty link back to his or her site).

But you get to be the curator of expert opinions for your niche, which in itself can make your blog a valuable resource for your readers.

There are other options. Seek out experts and submit a query to them. You'd be surprised how many famous experts will readily offer their insight when asked if it means a link back to their website!

You could also interview people in the niche that you're in. You could contacts college professors or company representatives ñ there are endless ways to ride on the back of the other person's expertise if you just reach out.

Type into Google, ìAssociationî plus the niche, like ìassociation dieticiansî for example and get a slew of professional entities that will have listings of their members who you could contact.

Structuring Your Blog Based on Other Peoples Work

So above we have three gathering techniques ñ let's go over the structure for those blog posts:

If your post is based on a product review then you can either create one post or a series. I personally like to do a series, discussing the implementation of the product in a step-by-step fashion. I review the pros and cons of each chapter or lesson, and discuss my results.

If you do a one page blog review, then here's how you would structure that:

• The reason for your review. Did someone ask you to review it? Have you always wanted to learn this strategy or topic? Is it a personal reason? Spill!
• The sales copy or sales specs. I like to get a thorough review completed from the starting point, which means landing on the sales page. What's your honest opinion about the job they did selling to you? You want to make specific notes of the promises they make so that at the end you can compare it to your results. Did they have 10 upsells to go through? Let people get prepared.
• Give insight into the learning tools. Is the audio clear on the video? Is the content well written? Before you talk about the nuts and bolts of the program, discuss the course deliverables themselves.
• Now share your summary (since this is a single post review) of your opinion about what you learned. Did you implement it? Show or share the results so they'll know if it worked or not. Also be honest if all you did was review the course and NOT implement it.
• Give a final review score. This doesn't have to be a number or letter ratings, but in case someone skims, sum it up at the end ñ is it worth their money?
• If it's not a viable product, what is? Do you have something in mind that's comparable that IS worth their investment? If so, share the link!

Don't forget to get your keyword phrases in there. If the product has no search volume yet, then tack on what you know people will be searching for later, such as: (product name review, product name bonus, product name + creator name).

When you blog about other people's competing blogs, you need to stay on top of the current blogosphere to see what's timely. You can take someone else's blog post and turn it into your blog post, but I'm not speaking of a cut and paste job.

Let's say I see something interesting about Guest Blogging and Backlinking on Paula and Wanda's Amazonian Profit Plan blog here: http://www.affiliateblogonline.com/2011/03/30/the-most-powerful-backlinking-method-there-is/ and I want to make that my blog post. I would know about their blog because they're in the same niche as myself ñ teaching Internet Marketing strategies, so I have them bookmarked and I see that many people comment on their posts, indicating curiosity and appeal.

What I would do is read the post, extract a few sentences or maybe a paragraph or two that resonated with me, and then create a post of my own. Here's what I would do based on this example:

Use Google's keyword tool to find a good keyword on guest blogging and also for backlinking. When I enter ìguest blogî into the system I see that it gets 6,600 searches per month. And tack ìposts ì into it and I add another 1,600.

Now I type ìbacklinkî into the system and I see ìhow to backlinkî gets 14,800. So here's my combination of those two keyword phrases:

How to Backlink With Guest Blog Posts

And here's how I would lay out the blog post for my readers:

• First I want to discuss the problem ñ backlinks! Too many people are confused by them and think they have to pay for them. So I'll present the myth and obstacles initially.
• Then I'll bring in some excerpts from Paula and Wanda's blog and offer my own commentary on their thoughts.
• I'll wrap up by offering some additional tips of my own and then asking them about their experiences ñ having participation and comments is always good.

See how I did it here ñ as I was creating this tutorial, I went ahead and posted an example on my blog using this exact title and slant:

How to Backlink With Guest Blog Posts

Now when it comes to using someone else's expertise, like that with a HARO resource, you can simply offer to interview the expert and post it on your blog in text format, with a link and bio summary of the expert providing the information!

This is similar to guest blogging, and it's powerful ñ so that's why these experts are willing to provide their time and insight into your niche, even if it's a competing one.

So as an example, let's say I wanted to interview my mentor, Craig Desorcy, about ethical marketing, or lack thereof. I would do this:

• Introduction to my expert, Craig
• Explanation of the problem that he's going to address ñ possibly using some of the Five Ws and How ñ What's the Issue? Who is Affected? When Is It Happening? Why Is It Occurring? Where Can They Find Help?
• Addition of my own insight into the issue
• Thanks to the interviewee and link to his or her site.

How many questions should you ask the interviewee? Well it will depend on the topic. A blog post is usually not over 1,000 words. But it could be as few as 200 words, too!

You could do a forum search or keyword search to see what questions people want to know about this topic and work off of that.

Blogging Based on Current Events

Current events ñ what people are talking about NOW ñ can be a boon for your blog because you can be on the forefront of online discussions and get more traffic to your blog. And Google is wonderful for this type of information!

Forums

Forum gossip is a petri dish of possibilities! You can see what people are talking about NOW by visiting forums in your niche. Go to Google and type in your niche keyword and the word forum like this: ìvegetarian forumî (without quotes).

Then you're going to visit some forums and see what people are posting about ñ what's relevant to that target audience right now! So here's what I find in one of the top search results for my niche example:

What I would be looking for are those with a lot of replies and stars beside the posts, showing great interest. Look at this one in another forum ñ it's controversial, which can be a great traffic generator to your blog. It has a lot of views and more discussion than some of the other posts:

So if this was a hot button issue I would go to my keyword tool and type in ìvegetarian childî (no quotes). I see that ìvegetarian childî gets 880 searches and ìraising a vegetarian childî gets 100, so I would create a blog post titled, ìRaising a Vegetarian Child ñ Is It Child Abuse?î

News outlets

You can go to Google and type in your keyword and look at the options on the left sidebar to see what's currently being discussed in the news, and organize it by dated news stories.

So if I type in vegetarian into Google, this is what I see whenever I click on the News link:

So the two red arrows will show you where you can sort by blogs (which is where you find information for that previous section Blogging Based on Other People's Work), or sort by timeliness ñ the last hour, day, week, and more.

You can even sort by images and see if the images help you generate some ideas. When I choose images for this word, I get the following results ñ and hovering over them gives me story topics:

Go through all of the Google sidebar options ñ play around with it a bit – and see what it has to offer for idea gathering in your niche.

You can also go straight to a news source ñ FoxNews.com, CNN.com and so on ñ and type in a keyword phrase to see what's been on the news lately. They all have a search box. Find it and then type in your keyword like this:

Immediately I see that I could do a weight loss blog post based on this story, and I could reference it as backup and instant authority for my own blog's expertise.

Structuring Your Blog Based on Current Events

If I'm doing a blog post based on a forum thread that intrigued me, I will structure the post as if I am initiating a conversation with my audience. I will first raise the issue I saw in a forum, linking back to the forum so that we can all see the example and start a good conversation about it.

I will state the issue first, then give my own two cents on the subject, and then invite my readers to throw in their opinions. To me, that's what a blog is all about ñ two way conversations between bloggers and readers.

So using the example title from the previous section: ìRaising a Vegetarian Child ñ Is It Child Abuse?î I would first explain that I had seen an interesting post in a forum (linking to it).

I would then proceed to give my initial opinion on it, pair it with some facts or other opinions I had read about online, and then invite my readers to sound off with their opinion on it.

If it's a news outlet that I'm finding information from, I would do the same structure ñ state the article I found, who it was written by, summarizing what it said ñ and then I would proceed to give my own take on the issue and then invite my readers to participate with their opinions.

You always want to offer the invitation ñ and then don't squash your readers if they give their opinion and it doesn't match yours, unless your blog is created for a controversial and heated niche like politics where debate is a good thing.

You can use these same tactics for your article ideas. And you can also use the keyword strategy to brainstorm some blog post ideas but if you do that, please don't make the mistake of creating a cold, impersonal article and just sticking it on your blog.

Those don't convert as well. Articles are used to bring people back to your domain, where YOU shine through.

What if you're writing a report or eBook? We're going to move on to this gathering and structuring lesson now.

 

Gathering and Structuring Ideas for eBooks and Reports

Reports are smaller versions of eBooks. Typically, for me, a report would be anywhere from 5-20 pages or so. Full scale eBooks are longer. There are no rules ñ call it what you want. Call it a guide and then no one knows how long it should be!

There will be a slight difference in structure, but not much. Gathering ideas for a report only differs from eBook idea gathering in the amount and detail that you do.

A report stays rather broad and there's usually a purpose for it, like being given away to build a list so that you can SELL an eBook later. It can also be to allow affiliates to give away to link to your product and help you make sales. These are the approaches we're going to take for your idea gathering for reports.

With an eBook, you want to thoroughly exhaust the topic so that your readers walk away feeling completely satisfied that they got their money's worth.

Gathering and Structuring Ideas for a Report

If your report is just a shorter version of the eBook then follow the eBook gathering ideas section and just make your content more succinct. But if it's what most reports are for ñ opt in or affiliate promotions, then you'll want to approach it a bit differently.

Reports for Opt Ins

Opt in building means you have to keep things savory enough to make the new subscriber thankful that he or she got on your list, but broad enough that you're not giving away everything without any further need for them to buy from you.

If you're creating a course or even going to be acting as an affiliate in follow up emails, then you want to either give them a report that complements the main guide, or touches upon it.

First let's cover complementary reports. That doesn't mean ìfreeî by the way ñ it means it pairs nicely. Like certain wines go well with certain meats, certain topics go well with certain niches.

Here are some examples of nice pairings for complementary reports:

– An exercise report given away so you can sell a diet guide (or vice versa)
– A sales copy report given away so you can sell an info product creation course
– An organic dog food report given away so you can sell a dog health guide
– A vitamin deficiency report given away so you can sell a vegetarian guide

You just want to think of something that goes with the original idea nicely. One way to figure this out is to use your keyword tool again, but this time don't choose the option that says, ìOnly show ideas closely related to my search termsî because you'll want the topics that aren't exact matches.

So here's an example where I type the phrase ìdog healthî into my keyword tool:

I can see at a glance what some other dog topics would be. Instantly, I like the bottom one ñ dogs for sale. I could title my free opt in report, ìGood Dog Health Starts With Finding Healthy Dogs for Sale.î

Or, another idea would be, ìDog Training That Promotes Good Dog Health.î The opt in report could talk about the training, and inside of it, it would link to my full eBook about all things dog health related.

And of course you see dog food listed there. While I COULD include organic dog food or something INSIDE the main eBook, I could also just extract it and use it as the free report idea, and leave everything else intact.

This is a perfect strategy for some people ñ write your full eBook and then pick ONE small topic that could stand alone and extract it for the opt in report. Your customer is still getting all of the information, so nothing is left out ñ but you get to build a list in the process.

Either way ñ whether it's an extraction or a complementary topic, you'll want to cover the main points. Use your keyword tool to brainstorm the most popular searches, but also use the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How (5 Ws and an H) formula to cover all bases.

Let's take an example of dog food, since I know nothing about it. Here's what I brainstorm as ideas to go in my report based on my keyword tool and my 5 Ws and an H formula:

Notice there's no where in this list. Sometimes it just doesn't fit! Don't be a stickler for rules. When I use my keyword tool I can also see other things to add, such as ìwellness dog food,î which means I could address certain health woes that food might affect.

You really want this opt in report to cover everything about its topic ñ which is why very narrow topics work well. When your subscriber sees the value you provide, they'll be anxious to convert into a buyer when your full course is ready!

Reports for Affiliate Promotions

These are a bit different. You have to walk the fine line between providing value and creating a sales page. Now if you've ever bought an Internet Marketing course from a guru, then you know sales pages can become VERY lengthy.

These reports shouldn't be long. You're there to provide value and help the affiliate convert. This could even be yourself using it as a viral tool. I would say 5 pages is plenty.

The structure of this report is a little different because you're doing more to position the reader for a conversion than you are to inform him or her. And it's going to end with a call to action, NOT leaving the reader feeling satisfied. Instead, it's going to convince them they need MORE information right now!

So let's take the dog food example again. Let's pretend my entire eBook course is about dog food. I need a viral report to get people to buy.

You need to create a sense of urgency and fear that if they don't get this information, it could result in something negative. So I would start with the facts. I would talk about:

– Recent dog food recalls
– Shocking ingredient (road kill, cannibalism, chemicals)
– Dog food allergies
– Preservatives that cause health issues (kidneys, mange, liver, cancer)
– Choking hazards

I got all of those just by typing in ìdangers dog foodî without quotes on Google and seeing what kind of topics people discussed on blogs, and especially in places like Yahoo Answers.

Then I would offer hope. There IS a way to solve the problem! Here's where the 5 Ws and an H list works well:

– Who needs information on protecting their dog from the above issues? (dog owners who consider their pet part of the family)
– What can they do to ensure their dog doesn't suffer from a food issue listed above?
– When should you start learning how to make homemade dog food? (urgency ñ now ñ not once they're old or sick)
– Where can you find the information you need? This is where a recommendation of the main product would be in order.
– Why is this the product you recommend? Give the qualification or a review summary of why this product fits their needs exactly.
– How can they order and are there any perks from ordering it right now/through that link? End it with a call to action ñ almost a recap of the ìwhenî in this instance ñ they shouldn't wait because if they do, consequences could occur.

One smart thing to do would be to go around to some top quality marketer's sites and niche sites and begin opting in to their list to see how their reports are written.

And then go to their affiliate resource pages and see if they offer a rebrandable report that you can learn from. You can only get better by learning from others' successes and even their failures.

Reports for Physical Product Sales

I my initial writing of this course, one of my guinea pig reviewers pointed out that she wished I had a section on creating a free report to give away when you're making a physical product site, so let's take a look at that, too!

Let's take a high ticket item ñ a treadmill ñ as our example. You could create an Amazon affiliate site for treadmill reviews and give a FREE report away which has your affiliate hyperlinks to the product inside the PDF file.

We're going to pretend that you have a general treadmill site reviewing many different treadmills, but let's also point out that you could have one for one specific brand OR one specific model, if you want to narrow it down, so I'll give you advice on all three.

For the general treadmill site, I would first do some general keyword research to see what kind of questions people have and what brands they're searching for the most.

I would type in treadmill and jot down the following:

o Proform
o Nordic Track
o Treadmill fitness
o Treadmill workout
o Treadmill on sale
o Horizon
o Foldable treadmill
o Treadmill parts and belts and motor
o Treadmill vs elliptical
o Treadmill used and cheap

This is a mix of brands and phrases that tell me what people want to know. Then I would go on Amazon to see what the bestsellers are ñ I want to see high star ratings and lots of reviews. Seeing the bestseller list, I know Horizon is already there in my list above, but I would add:

o Lifespan
o Merit Fitness
o Sole
o Paradigm Fitness (there are a bunch so it depends on how in depth you'd want to go ñ you could do all of them).

With my master list, I would then organize it into an outline like this, with broad issues discusses first and then product comparison reviews last:

Table of Contents:

Treadmill Fitness Perks
Typical Treadmill Work Routines
Treadmill Versus Elliptical
A Comparison of the Best Treadmills on the Market
o Proform
o Nordic Track
o Horizon
o Lifespan
o Merit Fitness
o Sole
o Paradigm Fitness
Tips on Buying a Treadmill
o Foldable Treadmill Versus Non Folding
o Treadmill Parts: Checking Out the Belts and Motor Quality
o Treadmill – Used and Cheap Can Equal Dangerous
o Buying a Treadmill On Sale

I would end with the sale because that's where you can really hit a home run with your review, pointing out the Free shipping Amazon offers, paired with 40% off (or whatever discount is on your particular product).

What happens if your free report is just on one brand? Then you could do it like this ñ keep the main points listed above, as shown below here, but with a twist on the last one:

Treadmill Fitness Perks
Typical Treadmill Work Routines
Treadmill Versus Elliptical
A Comparison of the Best Horizon Treadmills on the Market
o Horizon T101
o Horizon Evolve SG
o Horizon T100
o Horizon T203
o Horizon T91Öand so on.

If it's a specific model you're going to be reviewing in your report ñ just one brand, one model, then here's what you could do. First, type in that model into your Google keyword tool. Let's choose the Horizon T101.

I'm going to start with Horizon treadmill in my search quest and get these:

o Horizon treadmill troubleshooting
o Horizon treadmill manual
o Horizon treadmill parts
o Horizon treadmill lubricant
o Horizon treadmill repair
o Horizon treadmill motor
o Horizon treadmill safety key
o Horizon treadmill problems
o Horizon treadmill replacement parts
o Horizon treadmill warranty

When I type the exact model into the keyword tool, I don't get much back, so I'll go with what's listed above, plus I want to show you how to integrate Amazon into the mix! Initially, I would keep the basic ideas from the broader report and then organize my specific after it, so my table of contents would read like this:

Horizon T101 Treadmill Fitness Perks
Typical Horizon T101 Treadmill Work Routines
Horizon T101 Treadmill Versus Elliptical
Maintaining Your Horizon T101 Treadmill
o Horizon treadmill troubleshooting
o Horizon treadmill manual
o Horizon treadmill parts
o Horizon treadmill lubricant
o Horizon treadmill repair
o Horizon treadmill motor
o Horizon treadmill safety key
o Horizon treadmill problems
o Horizon treadmill replacement parts
o Horizon treadmill warranty
Product Specifications About the Horizon T101 (Found on Amazon!)
Consumer Feedback on the Horizon T101 Treadmill (excerpts plus your commentary about reviews you pick from the list)
Free Shipping for the Horizon T101 (last section would focus on expense of renting a truck or paying for delivery locally if you don't own a truck ñ and even if you do, the physical hassle. You would discuss the savings and free shipping perks to seal the deal).

And one last thing to note: While Amazon has some good information about product specifications, etc., if you go to the actual manufacturer's website you can often find a TON of useful information.

If you want to see a good example of a manufacturer's website chock full of information, look at the Concept 2 company website: http://www.concept2.com/us/default.asp

Gathering and Structuring Ideas for an eBook

I had so many years of ghostwriting that I became a pro at research. But before I began writing the content, I had to create the outline. And there were many times I knew NOTHING about the topic, but couldn't pass up the pay (Quantum Physics, anyone?).

Usually, I would go to Barnes and Noble and buy up about 4-5 books with the client's deposit ñ preferably Dummies and Idiots guides. You don't have to buy them to complete this stage ñ you can now use this nifty ìsearch inside this bookî feature on Amazon and B&N which lets you view the entire table of contents and even some of the main pages of content.

So let's take a topic I know nothing about again. Remember, for an eBook we want to exhaust the knowledge so the customer feels his or her money was well spent. And forget the page count rules ñ now that I'm making my own niche eBooks, I never shoot for a rounded ì50 pages,î I just write until it's done.

So let's say I'm ghostwriting an eBook on ìBecoming a Midwife.î I know nothing about this. First, I'm going to go to my handy dandy keyword tool and type in midwife to see what I come up with. I DO check the option to keep results closely related.

From this tool I simply start jotting down things I know I need to make sure are in there. I don't duplicate ideas, so I get this ñ and remember it's not about keywords this time, it's about ideas, so you don't want to include nurse midwife and midwife ñ when the person searching means the same thing:

Midwife schooling
Midwife salary
Certified midwife
Student midwife
Private midwife
Community midwife
Role of the midwife
Independent midwife
Hospital midwife
History of midwife
First midwife appointment
Midwife duties and responsibilities

Now some of these, I won't even know what they mean ñ such as Independent midwife. No clue what that means, but I'll research it later and either add it or weed it out of my outline.

Next, I go to Amazon.com and type in midwife and go to Books. I don't want fiction or really even chronicles of someone's own personal experience. I don't want books that have vague chapter titles like, ìThe Birth and Death of Opalî ñ what does THAT tell me? I want concrete examples. This isn't what I want:

Go to this book and see what I mean ñ click ìsearch inside this bookî under the image. You find good chapter titles like this:

:
So what I normally do as I'm going through each resource is write out a brainstorm list like I did on the previous page, and then later I combine it all and eliminate extras. So for the two chapters in the image above, I might add:

Doula versus birth assistant
At home versus hospital
Study groups
Apprentice
Courses
Location for practice
Tools needed
Administrative
Fees
Emergency backup
Legalities ñ charts, confidentiality, etc.

Then what you want to do is keep going to resources like Barnes and Noble online and also other competing eBook sites like those on ClickBank ñ NOT so you can copy their slant. You want your own unique slant ñ but so that you make sure your guide covers everything and isn't leaving anything out.

One good thing to do is layer on your research by using examples previously provided in this course. Use the forums, use the blogs, use the news outlets, use the keyword tools and the 5Ws and an H formula ñ exhaust your research and just jot down basic phrases ñ do NOT worry about copying and harvesting all of the content. In depth research can come later.

When structuring your gathered ideas, you want to think of it in a logical order. For some niches, that might mean from the moment you notice there's a problem through treatment and on to elimination of the problem.

For our example, it will mean the logical steps from the time you first think of becoming a midwife until you're certified or licensed or qualified to do it and maybe even on to the part about marketing your services.

So right now I have this combined list of topics from 5 quick minutes of research:

Midwife schooling
Midwife salary
Certified midwife
Student midwife
Private midwife
Community midwife
Role of the midwife
Independent midwife
Hospital midwife
History of midwife
First midwife appointment
Midwife duties and responsibilities
Doula versus birth assistant
At home versus hospital
Study groups
Apprentice
Courses
Location for practice
Tools needed
Administrative
Fees
Emergency backup
Legalities ñ charts, confidentiality, etc.

What I do is literally start moving them around into a logical order. Would they need to know what to charge before I even tell them about what schooling they'll need? No. But I might want to talk about salary possibilities as a way to motivate them to engage in the course!

Sometimes I use the 5 Ws and an H as my main chapter guidelines and then take from the brainstormed list and put them in the right places, like this (notice I reorganized them into the order I feel works best):

What is a midwife?

– Role of the midwife
– History of midwife
– Midwife duties and responsibilities (I would probably delete this as a duplicate to the role of the midwife)
– Doula versus birth assistant

Why do some people find this career very rewarding?

– Midwife salary

Who are the types of clients who hire a midwife?

When can you begin practicing as a midwife?

– Midwife schooling
– Certified midwife
– Student midwife
– Study groups
– Apprentice
– Courses

Where can you get jobs as a midwife?

– Private midwife
– Community midwife (this is one I might discover means something else entirely, such as an online community or forum for midwives and if so, I'll later delete it)
– Independent midwife
– Hospital midwife
– At home versus hospital (this might make me delete the two above it)

How do you start up your own business as a midwife?

– Location for practice
– Tools needed
– Administrative
– Fees
– Emergency backup
– Legalities ñ charts, confidentiality, etc.

Now what happens is I'm left with one idea that didn't really fit in anywhere in my initial organized structure:

First midwife appointment

So what I might do is add a chapter after the How chapter like this:

Client Management Tips

– First midwife appointment

And then I would specifically seek out issues that could also go in that section, such as:

– pregnancy loss
– preferences (water birth, positions, etc)

Some of your structuring is just common sense ñ a start to finish approach. Some you can get organized by looking at other guides such as Dummies or Idiots ñ they are organized PERFECTLY.

Lastly, let's talk about gathering and structuring ideas for your email autoresponders.

Gathering and Structuring Ideas for Email Autoresponders

Many people want to build a list, and they go through the technical steps to put an opt in box up on their website. They even go to the effort of whipping up an opt in freebie ñ but then get stuck on what their follow up email autoresponders should be about.

Email is such a personal, private thing for so many people. To others it's a revolving door. You should err on the side of caution and make sure that your emails lack the spammy factor so many marketers like to send out haphazardly.

Passion Laden Email

For starters, I want you to know that you don't have to work day and night trying to fill up your autoresponder follow up queue.

I do mine naturally. Whenever a topic hits me that I not only want my current subscribers to know about, but I ALSO know I want all future subscribers to know, I write up a passionate and thoughtful email and queue it up for follow ups.

I often have to resist the urge to broadcast the email because of my own excitement, but you don't want your subscribers to get the same thing twice.

This initial method I'm talking about to gather your ideas only works when you're in a niche that you're passionate about. If you just simply chose the ìacne nicheî because it's profitable, but you've never had acne, so you can't relate, then this method won't work for you.

If you ARE passionate about your niche, then have an on-going list where you add topics to it whenever something resonates strongly with you personally. This often comes from just reading forum posts or from an email that someone sends you.

It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the forum thread or email ñ you could create an email autoresponder either way. Over time, you're going to have your subscribers replying to certain emails you send more than others. You'll get to see which ones really made an impact on your list and you'll discover which ones had crickets chirping (silence).

I'll show you which email I send out to my list that gets the highest response from my subscribers ñ and let's dissect what I did in it, too:

Email Subject: If You Act Like a Duck, You'll Be Foie Gras!

Email Body:

Hi {!firstname_fix}!

What expectations do you have for yourself?

Do you expect, wish, or hope for your success?

I expect it.

I know I'm capable of doing it, so there's no wishing or hoping or daydreaming or envy that someone else has it better than I do at the moment.

I just know I'll be there and I put my nose to the grindstone to make it happen.

The reason I have this is because I was conditioned for this throughout my educational years. My mom was heavily involved in my schooling, always pointing out if I made a less than stellar grade that it was simply due to a lack of effort and preparation and not my mental abilities – and she was right.

The school I went to was college preparatory – we were doing some college level work in 8th grade. My son, in 4th grade at the same school, is doing some of the same work his 10th grade brother in public school just completed.

When you go to this school, it's expected that you'll be able to handle the workload and the pressures. This is known as the Pygmalion Effect. Patricia Dignan wrote a great book called The Pygmalion Principle: The Impact of High Expectations on Student and Staff Achievement.

The public school here gives my other son the exact test beforehand – they don't expect them to learn on their own – they hand the answers to them on a silver platter. You'd think this would be great – all the answers given to you! But you don't build confidence in yourself that way. You don't have to work for your grade and so you don't feel as proud when you come home with an A.

This is much like what I've discovered in business.

So many people want overnight instant riches. “Hand me the step by step so that it's brainless!”

Why do you want brainless? Do you expect it because you believe that's the only way you can reach your goals?

Being successful shouldn't be too easy. The entire learning process of making money online weeds out those who have what it takes and those who don't. If you're willing to GO FOR IT – I mean find those tough answers, have the balls to reach out to someone with a big name and ask for a JV, stumble, fall and get back up and charge forward again – then you're going to succeed long term.

If you expect someone to forcefeed you the information like a duck about to be turned into foie gras, then I'm sorry to tell you this, but the competition's going to eat you alive.

There's no silver spoon in the world of Internet Marketing.

It's a battlefield and only Warriors who are fearless and who believe they will win WILL win.

Think about what the expectations are for you and for those you're learning from! What do you expect from an Internet marketing how-to eBook? Have you lowered your expectations because of all the trash out there?

Maybe if you demanded more from them you'd see more of that in the marketplace. As the student, we know that unless you're in a personal one-on-one coaching situation, no one is going to expect a damn thing from you.

It all rests on your shoulders.

I see too many emails from people ready to give up because they've spent 2 whole weeks trying to figure it out and are now frustrated! Two whole weeks? I spent 6 YEARS before I finally got fed up enough to say, “Forget relying on my guru friends and clients to teach me this stuff – I'm gonna go out and find the answers myself!”

And that's just what I did.

I just had to remember what was expected of me as Tiffany Dow ñ my mother's daughter. Still a student in life. Still and always learning. Always able. Never afraid.

Think about the Pygmalion Effect. Here's what Wikipedia says about it: “The Pygmalion effect requires a student to internalize the expectations of their superiors. It is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, and in this respect, students with poor expectations internalize their negative label, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly.”

Your superior is YOU.

What's your self-fulfilling prophecy?

See yourself as a failure – and you will be one.
See yourself as a success, and you are!

Tiff 😉

————————————————————————————————————

Now let's analyze how that email autoresponder was structured. Let me explain that I happened to see a review of a book that I mention in this email, and it was the catalyst for this email.

First, you want a title worthy of being opened. So many emails go straight to the recycle bin ñ and if you trick your subscribers with some lame title like, ìJim just sent you a PayPal payment,î then you'll see a slew of people getting off your list.

Start off with a question that makes them think about THEM.

Give them some of your personal experiences.

Bring it back to them by asking them another question.

Teach them something or open their eyes to something.

End with something motivational.

This is what you do when you go off the ìpassionate about my nicheî course. But there are other things you may be using an opt in email list for ñ namely, selling!

The bad thing about follow ups is that if they get outdated, you may forget to alter them ñ especially if you queue up hundreds of emails.

If you write an email talking about the latest product release, and it's 2 years down the road and that product is no longer being sold, then you're wasting your email communication with your subscriber and they may feel like the personal attention they wanted from you just isn't there.

I like to point people to my blog so that my domain gets increased traffic. So these days, I'll write a shorter email and finish up the post on my blog, where they can comment and share more easily.

Profit Structured Emails

If your email autoresponder is set up specifically to promote a certain product, then you'll want to create a series of about 7-14 emails, going out once every day, a few times a week ñ or whatever you promised them on the squeeze page.

Make sure your emails are what you promised. Did you say you'd be sharing 7 Deadly Tips of Copywriters? Then each day should be a tip email. (Trust me, many people forget to do this).

There are those who say that if you don't sell in every email, you're leaving money on the table. I myself say those are the people I don't trust. Too many marketers fail to provide free value, always coming to the table with their hand out for taking, rather than offering.

If your goal is to sell, then let's brainstorm a series of 7 email ideas for a sample niche so you can see how it works. Let's say you don't even have a product ñ you're an affiliate marketer, building an opt in list for the ìsave your relationshipî niche. You want a sales funnel for your prospects.

You created a squeeze page with an opt in freebie promising the 7 Ways You Can Get Your Ex Back. First, think of 7 basic strategies and give them a title:

Email 1: Get Your Ex Back By Doing the Opposite of What They Expect
Email 2: Get You Ex Back By Becoming a Better You
Email 3: Get Your Ex Back By Flaunting a New Love Interest
Email 4: Get Your Ex Back By Admitting Your Mistakes
Email 5: Get Your Ex Back By Proving You've ChangedÖand so on.

Then go through and create each email, ending with or mentioning in casual conversation, the product that you got the idea from, like this:

Email 1 Subject: Get Your Ex Back By Doing the Opposite of What They Expect

Email 1 Body:

Hi {!firstname_fix}!

Whenever someone is considered the ìdumpeeî they usually start acting kind of pathetic. They post about it on Facebook. They text the person who dumped them, demanding to know why, or trying to get that person to change their mind.

Imagine if you did the complete opposite of that and made the person who dumped you wonder, ìWhy weren't they sad?î

This is a crazy technique I read about in TW Jackson's Magic of Making Up guide (Link). I thought it was insane, but it makes perfect sense!

When you think about it, the way you act after getting dumped is what reinforces the decision the other person made. If they see you acting pathetic, then they feel glad that they made a break from you.

If you acted like it was their loss, and turned out happy about it, it's going to make the other person curious and feel like they were the ones who made a bad decision.

One thing I love about T Dub's course is that he gives advice that goes against the grain ñ stuff that works because it's so unconventional and your ex won't be expecting it.

I can't give away all his secrets, but you ought to check out the video on his site here if nothing else:

Link

Sometimes you need a third, unbiased party to snap you out of your depression and help you make smart decisions about how to get your ex back. Asking for advice from friends and family isn't smart because they're too close to the situation ñ and they may have been hoping this day would come!

Listen to T Dub's advice. You won't regret it.

Tiff 😉

————————————————————————————————————

What I did there was give away enough information to tease or inform the reader, but not enough that he or she will know all of the specific details about how they're supposed to act with the person who dumped them.

You're combining tips and promotion into one.

How do you get the ideas for those emails? If you know of a product you want to promote, have a look at the sales page. Let's look at the sales copy for this product here:

http://www.magicofmakingup.com/

I want to seek out bullet points first and foremost. These usually have the best tips I can email out about. So here's what I see on Travis Sago's ìTW Jackson Magic of Making Upî site:

From that I can get these email topics for a series called ì5 Tips on Dealing with a Breakup:î

Email 1: Ending the Emotional Pain Immediately
Email 2: Does Your Ex Think He or She Made a BIG Mistake?
Email 3: Breaking the Mistress Spell
Email 4: The One Thing You Haven't Given Your Man to Seal the Relationship
Email 5: Convincing Married Women Not to Stray

So each email would be based on a bullet point. You'll be better served to get a copy of the product so that you know a bit about what the product owner will be teaching.

You want to give just enough to tease or act shocked but not enough to clue them in fully. Then direct them to the product's site so they can see for themselves.

Whenever you're creating a follow up email series, you can also resort to the other tactics seen in this course ñ use keyword tools, spy on forum threads, use news media, search in the table of content of books, etc.

There's so much out there that's freely available to you that there's no excuse for not having ideas. Once you gather them for awhile, you'll be able to quickly organize them but I suggest you gather first and THEN organize.

Don't get too bogged down in structure while you're gathering because you'll take too long trying to place it in the perfect spot.

I want to hear back from you about any obstacles you continue to face that may not have been mentioned in this guide and also about any successes you see from implementing these strategies.