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Blog Marketing News For This WeekHow I Write and Send An Email ToMy Email List Within 60 SecondsUsing Tools & SystemsBy David Risley on February 11th, 2013

Systems. It is on my mind.

One of my big pushes in 2013 is to systematize things in mybusiness as much as possible so as to automate them and/ormake them take as little time as possible.

It starts like this…

I take some kind of task that I find needs to be done on arepeating basis. I then break that process down into steps. Ithen look for any way to shorten it. I document it and post itinto my company training portal (for my virtual assistants).

So, one example is how I can now send a regular weekly emailto one of my email lists within roughly 60 seconds.

How It Used To BeMind you, it hasn’t always been this automated. It used tobe a pretty manual process and one where I was the bottleneckbecause I had to manually write the first few paragraphs of theemail. Sometimes the email would even be delayed because Ididn’t get around to doing it.

The email I’m speaking of is a regular weekly email to myPCMech.com email list which simply teases the contents ofthe weekly issue of The Insider, which is our members-only

PDF newsletter. As you might have guessed, the purpose ofthe email is to drive some new signups into the membershipprogram.

The email is templatized, so roughly 50% of the text is the sameevery week. It is the basic call to action info on how to sign up.Also, the design of the email is consistent. However, the top50% of the email is fully customized each and every week.

It used to be that I would need to manually log into Aweber,copy last week’s message into a new draft, then manually writethe new copy. Then, at that point, there wasn’t much left to dobesides test and queue the email. So, I usually ended up justdoing it myself. Not very effective.

So, I systematized it.

How It Is Today

Today, my only role in this process is to quickly record an audioand send it to my virtual assistant. I do this using the Dictamusapp on my iPhone. I have a 1-click preset on the app which willupload my audio to a shared folder on my Dropbox account.My VA knows to watch that folder for new messages (it is kindof like my audio email inbox to her).

She listens to the audio and transcribes it. There’s my emailintro. Since the rest of the email is pre-designed, that meansmy VA can draft, prepare, test and send the email on my behalf.

She sends me a test version of the final message, therebyallowing me to proof the transcription and the subject line.

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If I need to correct anything (which isn’t often), then I will.Otherwise, I reply with an “OK to send”, which tells her toqueue the email.

Now, being that my intro in this email is contingent on whatis being published in the newsletter (which is written by otherpeople), I obviously have to know what the articles are in orderto be able to speak about them for 60 seconds. So, how do Iautomate this?

Well, our membership site is powered by WordPress, ofcourse. So, when my authors publish their contribution to themembers-only section of the blog, I get notified of it. I couldhave them manually notify me, but that would be a potentialbottleneck to the system (software is usually more reliablethan a person). So, instead, I feed the members-only RSS feedof that blog from Wishlist Member right into the web serviceIFTT.com.

This automatic job simply sends me an email whenever one ofmy guys publishes a post. So, I know when they’ve done theirjob. But, what’s more, I now have the latest content for TheInsider sitting in my email box. So, I give it a quick scan, openup Dictamus and send my VA the intro for the email. She takesit from there.

Does This Kind of Thing Interest You?This is just one small example of how I have reducedmy workload and made my business more efficient usingtechnology and outsourcing. Plus, designing systems likethis is rather fun – especially when I can see the benefitspersonally.

Does this kind of thing interest you?

Would you like to learn more about software, apps and othertools that can help automate our online businesses and/ormake our blogging take less time? Are you interested inbuilding systems that can reduce the demand of running sucha business?

I’ve been dabbling with the idea of putting something togetheron this topic. After all, I come from a technology background.I like finding new smartphone apps, web apps, software apps,plug-ins. And, I LOVE being able to get more done in less time.

But, I wouldn’t want to put together something like this justbecause I dig it personally. I’d want to know there are peoplewho want it.

If you’d be interested in more on this, enter your name andemail below. I’m not going to start promoting anything to youimmediately. Honestly, I’ve got nothing to even sell you in thisregard. I’m simply looking to see who’s interested. If you’realready on my list, you won’t be subscribed to anything new…you’ll simply be “tagged” so I know you’re somebody who’sinterested in this. And, if you’re NOT on my list, well, you

will be. But, I promise, I always try to deliver value to mysubscribers. And, you can unsubscribe any time you feel likeit. So, everything is nice and clear like that. Cool?

Here’s that form:

Enter your info below to indicate you're interested in learningmore about tools and business automation. Note that thisdoesn't obligate you to a darn thing. :-) Its just sayin' you'reinterested. That's all.

Oh, and if you would like to share any tools or any ways you’veautomated things personally for yourself, I’d love to see you inthe comments below.

Ten Minute Pages VersusOptimizePress / Premise /LeadPagesBy David Risley on February 6th, 2013

Over the last several days, I’ve been talking about Ten MinutePages – a simple drag & drop solution that creates landingpages and squeeze pages in just about the easiest fashion I’veever seen.

But, I’ve also been a pretty big proponent of OptimizePress inthe past. And, I know many of my readers also use Premise.

So, the question is… where does Ten Minute Pages (aka 10MP,for short) come into the mix?

Does 10MP make OptimizePress or Premise obsolete?

If you already own OptimizePress or Premise, does that meanthere is no point in using 10MP?

Well, I wanted to answer those questions directly.

What is Ten Minute Pages?Ten Minute Pages, in short, is a web-based application whichallows you to create and edit landing pages and squeeze pageswith drag & drop simplicity. It is specifically designed to lookfamiliar to other software you likely use every day, and it isHIGHLY intuitive.

Very un-Wordpress like, if you ask me.

10MP operates completely independent of WordPress,although it is designed to also work within the WordPressenvironment via a plug-in if you choose to do so.

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Rather than sit here and try to explain it in words, it is reallybest to go watch this video synopsis of Ten Minute Pages inaction.

I’ve tried out a number of different landing page creators andnone of them are as intuitive as this one. Many of them operateon the basis of a bunch of different screens or forms, usingan interface which is very unique to the product. In otherwords, there is a learning curve and, in some cases, it can bea substantial one. 10MP looks so much like Microsoft Wordor something similar that it feels very familiar right out of thebox. Plus, instead of presentation and design being separate,10MP has it all in one place. Meaning you edit your page whilebeing ON the page.

How Does It Compare To OptimizePress?

The current version of OptimizePress (version 1.x) is decidedlydifferent in how it approaches the same basic function. It isMUCH more difficult to use.

For example, a page and the elements on it are comprisedof short codes. These short codes are like a programminglanguage in and of themselves. And, it almost always involveshours of trial and error while you try a short code, save,refresh… rinse and repeat. You never know if what you’vejust done is going to look exactly right until you publish andrefresh.

Really. Freakin’. Tedious.

Also, a lot of the settings for an OptimizePress page arecontrolled by a series of nested forms on the page editinginterface. We’re talking gobs and gobs of separate fields, andit takes a lot of clicking around to find the things you want tochange.

So, on this alone, 10MP surpasses OptimizePress by a greatmargin.

Now, does this make OptimizePress obsolete? The answer isNO. There are some things which OptimizePress does which10MP doesn’t (at least yet), including:

• Launch funnels which ensure that the user goes throughthe squeeze page first before viewing any other page ofthe launch (useful for evergreen launches)

• Membership site portals

• Tight integration with WordPress, thereby allowingplug-ins to be used very easily. While 10MP can operatewithin WordPress, the nature of how it integrates meansthat it isn’t as seamless with other plug-ins.

So, what it comes down to is likely this…

If you have the need for landing pages and squeeze pages anddon’t want to hassle with the complexities of WordPress, thendefinitely use 10MP. If you are building something that hasa lot more moving parts to it where you need something likeWordPress to manage multiple pages, then use WordPress+OptimizePress.

It comes down to using the right tool for the right job.

Installing WordPress and OptimizePress just to make alanding page would be highly inefficient. WordPress is a full-on content management system, and it should be used as such.Not for just landing pages.

What About OptimizePress 2.0?Rumors of OptimizePress 2.0 have existed for a long time now.When it is going to be released, I have no idea.

It does exist, that is for sure. In fact, a few months ago, I satdown with James Dyson (the creator of OptimizePress) and heshowed me a beta of OptimizePress 2.0.

Now, I haven’t had a chance to play around with it personallyyet (James, if you read this, I’d love to help test it for you), sowhat I’m about to say is going completely out of my memoryof his demo to me, but…

OptimizePress 2.0 is a huge enhancement over 1.x, that’s forsure. It definitely gets rid of a lot of the bottlenecks of version1. But, it still isn’t as simple to use as Ten Minute Pages, justtit for tat. OP 2.0 still looked as if it required a lot of clicks andnavigation of multiple screens to achieve what you wanted. ItIS more what-you-see-is-what-you-get, and if I recall, OP 2.0alleviates the need for short codes (FINALLY). But, it still isn’tas intuitive as 10MP. 10MP is far more streamlined than whatI recall of OptimizePress 2.0.

In short, OptimizePress (both version 1 and 2) will DO morethan Ten Minute Pages, but doing it is decidedly slower thandoing the same task with 10MP. 10MP is designed specificallyto be EASY and FAST. OptimizePress, while more capable, isalso more complicated and will come with a learning curve. Aswell as the requirement of using WordPress.

I should also mention that OptimizePress 2.0 is very likelygoing to cost more.

And, What About Premise?I have a lot less personal experience with Premise as I doOptimizePress. When I evaluated the two products, I decidedI like the design professionalism of OP more than Premise.

Since then, Premise has come out with version 2.x whichincludes full-on membership site functionality. It isn’t asrobust as, say, Wishlist Member. But, it does the job. Interms of landing pages, it shares the same problems asOptimizePress. It requires learning a new interface andsettings/fields specific to Premise.

The value of Premise is that it covers a lot of ground in oneproduct. It can do all the marketing pages you want, andprovide the guts of your membership site. OptimizePress hasno membership site functionality (outside of the theme for it),and Ten Minute Pages doesn’t even touch membership sites.

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So, again, it comes down to using the right tool for the right job.Ten Minute Pages is designed to be EASY and FAST. Becauseit performs so well in that mission, it isn’t trying to be all thingsto all people. So, 10MP isn’t about membership sites.

10MP and Premise share the trait that neither of them willconflict with any pre-existing theme.

What About Lead Pages?Lead Pages is a more recent solution put out by my friend, ClayCollins. And, I’m seeing it make the rounds.

Unlike Premise or OptimizePress, Lead Pages does NOTrequire you to use WordPress. That’s a plus. It also has a lot ofgreat templates built into it. It is still decidedly different than10MP in that the interface is still not a complete what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience. Like the other solutions, LeadPages is still very dialog-box focused. For example, if you wantto edit a page element, you click on it and up pops a dialog boxto edit the properties of that thing.

You’re more or less forced to use the template as they’re givento you.

This is a huge improvement over the short code experience ofOP 1.x – and closer to what I believe OP 2.0 will be. But, itstill lacks the intuitiveness of Ten Minute Pages. For example,editing a headline in 10MP is as simple as clicking on theheadline and editing it right there on the screen. No dialog boxpopups.

Lead Pages also lacks the total flexibility. The templates are thetemplates, and it doesn’t appear to have any ability to drag-and-drop elements. Want to have a headline be somewheredifferent on the page? You can’t do that. In terms of styling,you have the ability to control some colors, but that’s about it.

So, In The End…I believe Ten Minute Pages is a tool that any blogger ormarketer should have in their arsenal, even if they own one ofthe other solutions.

Because 10MP approaches the area of landing pages andsqueeze pages so differently than the other solutions, it reallystands apart in a league of its own. It SEEMS to competewith OptimizePress or Premise, and I guess in some ways itcertainly does. But, the two products are just different andowning one doesn’t preclude a value in owning another.

I will be using OptimizePress in the future, most definitely.Because there are times where there is no better solution.When I want to create a full-on membership or multiple pagesetup, I’ll use OptimizePress because it is that kind of thingwhich WordPress was made for.

But, sometimes I just want to get a landing page onlineFAST. I want it to look good. I want to concentrate onthe content and not on the stupid short codes. Sometimes,installing WordPress just to power one or two landing pagesis just STUPID. Having to install a separate WordPressinstall because you know OptimizePress will conflict withyour existing blog theme… is STUPID. For landing pages, weshouldn’t have to worry about any of that stuff.

That’s where Ten Minute Pages shines. And that’s why Irecommend it so highly.

And it doesn’t hurt that I’ve known the creator of 10MP forseveral years now and know exactly the work and thought thathas gone into Ten Minute Pages.

I hope that answers some questions.

Time Almost Up! Sign up for Ten Minute Pages before the endof the day, Thursday, 2/7… and receive two possible HUGEbonuses from me.Click Here To View A Summary Video Of 10 Minute Pages InAction