I have a lot to report, but I'm not going to have time to say everything I want to today. So here's a summary.
I am really glad I bought One Week Marketing and have no intention of asking for a refund. It's a well put-together guide to using Squidoo as a way to build websites, generate traffic and start making money online.
Overall I give it 8.5 out of 10. Which is pretty damn good coming from me, as I am a hard taskmaster and nigh on impossible to please.
Things I like most about One Week Marketing:
It is very comprehensive. Here's what you get when you unzip the OWM package:
It will take you a good week just to read that lot, never mind act on it.
I was so hungry for info, I raced through the Guide with my highlighter pen, then did the same with A Conversation with Nick. There is so much here that I keep going back and re-reading it and finding stuff I missed or having those Ah! moments when something finally clicks.
The other big plus with One Week Marketing is that it takes you by the hand and leads you step by step through the process of building and promoting your Squidoo lenses (your instant websites).
The Conv with Nick doc is a stroke of genius. Nick is just like us, new to internet marketing but eager to learn from someone with proven experience and success. We follow the email exchange between Nick and PotPieGirl as she teaches him the basic principles of OWM.
Nick asks the kind of dumb questions I would ask. He gets confused just as I would. He seeks clarification. And PPG gives him all the support and guidance he needs. She deals with things that come to light because Nick is working on a live project. She expands even further on what she has already covered in detail in the OWM Guide. And she throws in tips and asides along the way that add to Nick's - and my - understanding of the whole internet marketing business.
The overall impression is - not to take anything away from Nick - if this guy can do it, so can I!
The other real positive about OWM is that PPG has been through the learning curve herself. She knows what it's like to feel lost and overwhelmed. So she has advice such as "Don't obsess with this part." Or X should happen but if Y happens, don't worry. Soon enough X will happen and even if it doesn't, you can always try Z.
That kind of input is very reassuring.
There's more I could say on the plus side, but I'm going to save that for now and take some negatives.
What isn't so hot about One Week Marketing
First, the title is misleading. One Month Marketing is far more realistic. The guide gives me tasks for each day, but there's no way I can keep on track. Day 3, for example, invites me to write articles to support my Squidoo lenses. That's 4-6 articles. In a single day. Not the way I write. I'm not up to rattle 'em out speed yet.
Looking back, though, I have begun to undersatnd more fully what PPG means when she says "Don't obsess about this." I'm a stickler for writing something worth reading, not just bashing out the first lines that come into my head. I never write about anything until I feel I understand more about it than my reader. So if the subject is new to me, I research like crazy.
Perhaps this is an approach that dooms me to slow progress. But it's also part of who I am and central to what I believe helps me connect with my readers.
Second, a nitpick perhaps, but OWM isn't as bang up to date as it could be. I know PPG is busy with tons of stuff, including giving her OWM customers regular support through her websites and dedicated emails. But if OWM were mine I'd have issued an updated edition.
(To give two examples: ClipClip.com is only mentioned in passing, but the site is winding down, so I'd delete reference to it; affiliatenicheclub.com is not 'currently $9 a month' but $49 for the first month and $14.95 a month thereafter.)
Third, and this is a biggie for me, One Week Marketing doesn't go into great depth in what I think is one of the fundamentals. Finding your niche - in other words, deciding what you're going to write about.
To PPG's credit, she does point us to a free resource of hers 6stepnichesites.com. And I'm sure that when I have time to go through that and some of the other resources and links she refers to, I will find a load more help.
But here I am itching to get started with One Week Marketing, so what do I do? I take on board the suggestions PPG made in an email she sent right after I bought OWM. I do a bit of research and even though I try not to "obsess" about it, I pick a bunch of Clickbank products that appeal and I do a bit of research and find I've spent a day and a half just trying to decide what to promote.
In the end, I make my choice. With hindsight - better still, with insight - I could have chosen better. And whereas Nick makes his first sale within days. And makes several more sales before the week is out, Skybound's online income has yet to get off the ground.
More on this in the next instalment.
But before I sign off, let me say again that I have no regrets about investing in One Week Marketing. It provides an easy to follow roadmap for writing money making websites. Some of the hiccups I've run into are personal to me and my natural tendency to "obsess" even when told not to.
And I am 100% certain that with the help of what I am learning and putting into practice, One Week Marketing will put the wind under my wings.
