Please note that her post is sitting in the spam bin.

It makes you want to give her money to get to the top of the search engines, doesn’t it?

Here’s their article in full (Hey, I figure someone should get the search results):

Thats a great post I read it all. there are things I agree and there are things I disagree, but than all them I wanna share with u an article I loved similar with this theme…

Sell More Books With an E-mail Newsletter

NOTE: Because many words in this article are likely to trigger sp^m filters, we’ve disguised them with symbols (e.g. sp^m). This will ensure a higher delivery rate if you use this article in your e-zine.

If you’re selling your book online, you’re practically guaranteed to increase sales by publishing an e-mail newsletter, or “e-zine.”

Why? Well, for a start, it’s a super way to give readers a taste of your expertise and style along with samples of your content. This ensures they’ll come to be familiar with you, trust you, and hopefully buy your book when they’re ready for more information.

Also, it’s a great way to *capture prospects* who aren’t ready to buy your book when they visit your site, but are still interested in the info you have to share.

Based on my own experiences in marketing my manual, ‘Boost Business With Your Own E-zine,’ here are 7 ways to help increase book sales using an e-mail newsletter.
• First thing: Encourage e-zine SIGNUPS on your Web site where you promote your book.

Before you even begin publishing, start collecting e-mail addresses. Place a signup form in many places on your site to invite visitors to subscribe to your free e-zine. This way, if a visitor isn’t interested in buying your book today, she can sign up for your free e-zine. Now you haven’t lost her, and she’ll learn even *more* about your book from being a subscriber.

E-zine publishers also report GREAT signup results using pop-up and pop-under boxes at their Web sites.

Examples: On my main site, http://www.woopsIdeletedyourURL.com, I feature a signup form on EVERY page, as well as a pop-up box. On my book sales site, http://www.woopsIdeletedyourURL.com/tutorial, I have a pop-under box that appears once you close the main window.

Remember: NEVER sign anyone up without her permission!

• Feature EXCERPTS and/or TIPS from your book in your e-zine.

These can be either direct excerpts or short tips that summarize some of your content. Go through your book and highlight individual tips or small sections that could stand well on their own. Just don’t give away the whole store! For example, giving your readers a whole chapter of your book in each issue is going overboard.
Besides lifting material directly from your book, try some other spins on your topic such as a list of top 10 tips, a how-to article, a list of resources, or a review of a trend in the industry.

Example: One of my clients, a life coach, has a hard-cover book out right now that features 101 tips on how to attract what you want in life. Each issue of her weekly e-zine features one of those tips, along with a brief explanation of how
to implement it.

• Directly after your article, give a quick PROMO BLURB that shamelessly plugs your book.

Why right after the article and before anything else? If someone reads your article/tip and says to themselves, “Gee, that was great information,” they’ll be ready to hear what else you have to share on that subject. Really pump it up
and have a good time with it.

Example: “Did you like today’s article? If you did, you’ll LOVE my new book, ‘Double Your Business in Six Months.’ It’s jammed with more than 257 great ideas to help you grow your business FAST. Learn more and order now at [Web address here]. You can begin using my best tips within minutes!”

• In each issue, offer a TESTIMONIAL from one of your book purchasers. Let your readers know that many other people just like them ARE buying your book and LOVE it. Idea: Create a small section in your e-zine for this purpose.

In each issue, feature a short testimonial from one of your readers here.

Example: “What ‘Beauty Blastoff’ Readers Are Saying: ‘I can’t tell you how much your book has helped me improve my appearance. Thanks to your tips, I’ve lost 20 pounds, cleared up my skin, and rid of all my unwanted hair. Now my rich ex-husband even wants me back. You’re a saint!’” — Suzy Smitten, Los Angeles, Calif.

• Offer your readers a SPECIAL DISCOUNT for a l1mited time.

Make your readers feel special by offering them a special discount on your book when you can. For best response rates, make it a limited time offer to lend a sense of urgency. I did this with my manual when it first came out and got great results.

Example: “For Subscribers Only: Buy my book before midnight this Friday and receive a 20% discount!”

If you can’t give your subscribers a discount, offer something else to make them feel special, such as a bonus report or free phone consultation with their purchase.

• Mention your book in as many other places as possible in your e-zine.

Bottom line: The more you mention your book, the higher your chances they’ll buy. While your opportunities are endless, here are a few ideas to start with:

• in your masthead (This is where you give the reader info about your publication— usually at the very top.)
• in your editor’s or publisher’s note (This is where you give a personal note to your readers.)
• in your article (If you mention a certain point that you cover wonderfully in your book, say so!)
• To attract even more prospects, advertise your e-zine in your everyday email SIGNATURE FILE.

You know what a signature (or “sig”) file is, right? It’s that little blurb with contact info that you can automatically insert at the end of every e-mail you send. Besides your obvious contact information, give a quick plug for your book AND e-zine. Why? Well, if you just advertise your book, some people will read your sig file and think, “That’s cool, but I don’t want to buy anything right now.” BUT if you advertise your FREE e-zine, they’ll likely take advantage of your offer. THEN you’ve got them on your list.

Example: Here’s what I have at the END of my sig file, after my contact information: “BOOST BUSINESS by publishing your own e-mail newsletter!
Learn how now — sign up for fr*ee how-to tips at http://www.woopsIdeletedyourURL.com.”

(c) 2000-2003 Alexandria K. Brown. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual,
“Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.” To learn more about her book and sign up for
more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://www.woopsIdeletedyourURL.com

It may not seem like that big of a deal, but it’s the first meal we’ve cooked in our home in the last four months(give or take a few days).

Why? Because we didn’t have a kitchen.

No crap. For the last four months, there was no kitchen in our house. Since I had removed the first floor bathroom earlier, we didn’t have any form of running water on the first floor. This meant that we carried any dishes upstairs to the master bathroom for washing.

I put the sink in today and after resolving an issue with a clogged waste pipe, we had running water again. Although I still have a bit to do in the form of base, kickplate and cabinet surrounding trim, we now have a fully functional kitchen.

I think my wife would like to sleep in there for a few nights. I think that I might steer clear of that end of the house for a while.

Chloe will bring me food. For reasons I’m sure you can understand, I can’t go out to eat for a while.

Over the course of too long of a period of time, I’ve been remodeling portions of my home.  I’ve often run into “creative” building practices, but while working in the kitchen, I’ve found some of the most mind boggling things I’ve ever come across in all my years of hitting things with a hammer.

You have to wonder, “How bad can it be?”.  Frankly, I don’t blame you, since I’m prone to exaggeration  if it makes for a good story.

What are you looking at?

1) A header for a load bearing wall.  This wall single-handedly holds up our loft bedroom.  Unfortunately, the header only has one jack stud.  On the pictured side, two nails toe-nailed through the stud hold it in place.  This effectively means that the joists above this header is being supported by the shear strength of two 12 penny nails.

2) A plumbing vent stack for the kitchen.  You are correct if you think that it is not in fact a complete vent stack, but two parts.  It seems they used an under sink fitting to tie the two pipes together and didn’t support the lower half.  Over time, the lower half sagged and the pipes separated.  From that point on, our septic vented into the wall cavity of the kitchen.  Bonus: No insulation.

3) This is an exterior wall cavity.  Note the lack of insulation. I guess they ran out.

Please don’t think that this is the extent of the issues in the kitchen.  Before starting the project, there were five(5) switches in the kitchen alone that didn’t do anything.  The wires had been cut and thrown into the walls over time with no protection, just bare wires tucked into the wall with still active switches.

I’ve done some repair/remodeling in the area for some time and I can state that this is not an isolated occurance.  Not long ago, this was accepted building standards.  This area had little to no enforcement of codes and the builders took advantage of that fact.  I’ve seen roof joists built from 2×4′s, whole houses with no insulation, doors(exterior) held in with only 8d nails through the casing, septic tanks buried under the house and once a whole addition held up with buckets of sand.

I will never purport to be the best at anything.  I do however have a modicum of pride and I believe I would walk in front of a Good Humor truck if I built anything like this.

Regardless of what the accepted practices were at the time,  the guy who built my house should be punished.

I can only hope that he’s living in something that he built.