Andrew,

Thank you for the little report. I'm wondering, why was the Warrior thread deleted?

Marcia Yudkin

That is one of the great unexplained mysteries.

Ultimately it's a private forum so the moderators and owner
of the forum can delete any thread they want and they
don't have to explain why.

Which is fair enough.

In this case the community of online marketers prevailed.

They wanted this information and they wanted it to be
shared with the general public.

I was flooded with emails from some wonderful marketers
who'd kept copies of the thread.

Then I made the key information from that thread available
free to the general public.

I honestly think in this case the Warrior Forum made a
strategic error deleting what was quickly becoming the
most highly read thread in its history...a thread that
was obviously helping people make real money almost
immediately (in many cases substantial sums of money).

I think they just deprived their members of highly
valuable information that was being given freely.

That's my opinion but then it's not my forum.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Andrew.

Excellent idea reproducing the thread as an eBook.

I see you got permission from other posters before you did this, and was wondering legally if this is necessary though I repsect that it is done out of courtesy.

Meanwhile how do you get active links in pdf eBook?

You've spawned lots of eBook ideas now!

I used to post on the worlds largest science forum and quickly became one of the main crew, when I departed that site, I set up a NEWs blog reporting the news (for fun) on that community as they have lots of tiffs and inside politics. It soon sat right below them in Google search.

Anyway, it was read by members and non members as they could NOT believe the drama that went on there, I got literally hundreds of hits a day. I closed it when I got bored, but it included a hall of fame with intreviews and pics of notorious members. Polls about their shennanigans etc.

I could do the same but as an eBook and charge a small subscription. Not sure if that would work as well, but if it read like an offline newspaper/comic it could be popular.

1. Yes you need permission to use someone else's writing
unless that person has already given you permission in
advance (the terms in many forums actually give the
forum owner permission to reprint posts).

It would be a courtesy you wouldn't want to overlook
even if you owned the forum and members had given
permission when they were joining.


2. You can get a live link in a pdf by using OpenOffice
a free software you can download at openoffice.org

Open Office will convert many different file types to
pdf and keep the links inside that file live.

To "brand" a report with someone else's affiliate
link you can use Viral pdf.


3. Ideas are wonderful things but they have this amazing
way of passing you by unless you find a way to put them
into action (often that can be as simple as convincing
someone else to do it!).

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Thanks, I shall look at the open office thingy.

Re the idea and getting someone else to do it...

Yes I agree, hence I have just asked a science pal of mine to do the comic strips! lol In fact I can think of many who'd happily contribute to the content.

It is an interesting idea but I don't have the time really. That said I wrote a 19 page (6000 word) A'level standard assignment yesterday so am feeling 'organised' presently. I am also on top of my article submissions so with some work done today on copy medic (yesterdays idea) I might have some free time to dabble.

I have posted the query on a forum to see if any members would be interested. I set subscription low at $3 and said I would freely allow members with their own sites and businesses to advertise in it if they agreed in return to circulate the eMag.With tens of thousands of active members it could be interesting. I shall see what the feedback is first.

Meanwhile re the permission for forum thread republication, if people write on a public forum, it's in the public domain anyway, so isn't permission to reproduce a given?

Very few forums are "public" (most are privately owned) and even if they are it's
a huge assumption to think the content is public domain.

You should check what the members agree to when they sign up first of all.

If you know the forum owner and he's included a clause that he can reproduce
posts etc then it's just a matter of getting his (or her) permission.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

By public
I mean that whatever is posted can be viewed by anyone anywhere anytime, often threads are syndicated for example elsewhere.

I suggest you get advice from a legal professional before
you use someone else's posts or content.

Copyright laws in most countries state quite clearly that
copyright automatically belongs to the author even without
any copyright notice.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Don't sell yourself as a copywriter!

I'm 25. I have nice little apartment in downtown Vancouver. And I wanted to be a copywriter.

But most business owners blink and stare at you like you're a peon if you try and sell copywriting. Copywriting is a feature. Not a benefit.

I don't mention copywriting at all when I talk with people. I always come to them with a big idea on how they can increase their business.

Example:

I used to work as a cook in restaurants. So I started off going to restaurant owners and saying, "I have a proven idea that can double your business. I've written it up in this report and it will take 20 minutes of your time."

Hand him the report. Which is a clear, thorough description of how to work your customer list...segment it...find the best buyers (the ones who buy 3 beers and a steak dinner), and build repeat business from your best buyers. Side note: Not having a list of your customers is a plague on the small business community.

Owner likes the idea...but they never have a list...don't know how to make one...no clue how to work it...and quite frankly they never will because they are too lazy and myopic.

At the end of my report my pitch is I will set up the software and email tools and give you 3 ways to build a list from your existing store traffic. I'll write the promotions to the list...and do list nurturing...etc. And I'll work on a commission basis. Turnkey...he just has to say yes.

I charge an upfront fee of $500 to make sure he is serious. And if he balks at the $500, ask for $1000 in restaurant gift certificates (which cost him around 30%-35% in actual food costs) and will bring him new customers anyhow.

It's great. His restaurant is full. His customers are happy. I'm happy.
And I make about $2,000 a month from this one guy for around 10 hours of work. (And I'm a VIP at the restaurant)

Take a look though: this idea can be worked over and over and over with most local businesses.

Caveat: Not everyone goes for the idea. Don't get discouraged. You need to sift through and find savvy business owners. I gave my report to 10 restaurant owners. Followed up with all of them and the first guy to agree it was a good idea...I worked with.

Also I had to learn to go in with the attitude of "You guys need me...WAY more than I need you"...even though I really needed some work. This was the hardest part for me.

Hope this helps.

Great and useful tips, Tech. Very nice!