A good friend Michael Maher has worked hard on The Seven Levels of Communication for over a year. Candidly, it’s a serious asset to the world of small business. I call em like I see em.

Since I had the pleasure of talking with Michael several times as he went through the process of writing this, I can give you my direct, personal impression of where this book is coming from:

Unlike many books in this genre, 7L was not written for the purpose of acquiring money or fame. It was not written to upsell something else. It was not written to fulfill a contract. Michael Maher wrote this book with passion. He wrote it as a means of contribution. He wrote it for the purpose of giving back. It’s a book of substance, written from a place of genuine authority.

The Seven Levels of Communication shares directly from Michael’s personal success in small business, and if you’re a small business owner, he’s someone you’d do well to emulate.  This is a guy who walks the walk, and the reason he’s able to teach the concepts in this book with such conviction is because he knows from personal experience that they work.

This book is awesome if you want an engaging, informative read on how to grow your business in a human, social and effective way. It’s not just informative, it gives you a SYSTEM that you can put to work in your business immediately.

I originally had received an advanced copy of this book, and after I read it, I was positive it would do well. He’s released the book since then, and it’s currently climbing in Amazon. It’s #22 in it’s category right now, and I expect to see it continue to thrive.

In my conversations with some of you on Twitter and elsewhere, I’ve compared this book to Emyth, which is a classic in the small business genre. I think that comparison stands. It’s that good. The Seven Levels of Communication gives small business owners a concrete way of looking at sales and marketing from a socially-focused point of view, in a way that transcends Twitter…or whatever the “cool” social platform of the day happens to be.

You may not be familiar with Michael, because he’s a first time author. If you’re a regular reader here, you may know that my primary internet marketing niche has been real estate for the past three years, and that’s how I’ve come to know him.

Michael is an accomplished sales professional, business owner, speaker, real estate broker and team leader. This book is written from the point of view of a real estate broker, so any of my clients who are in real estate should get this book without hesitation. If you want to take your real estate business to the next level right now, this book gives specific and proven tactics for making it happen.

However, don’t let the real estate background of the author make you think this book is only applicable to real estate professionals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The principles here are valuable and can be applied directly to any business that works with people…which of course is EVERY business. In other words, if you sell stuff you should read this book. It will change the way you look at your business, and it sheds some much-needed light on how to achieve growth whether the market is up, down or sideways.

Is the economy down? Are people just not buying? Are your clients or customers full of excuses? I hear ya. 7L shows you exactly how to power through these obstacles.

There’s a lot of talk about relationship marketing, the value of relationships, the power of social media, blah, blah, blah. Michael Maher gives you a clear roadmap in this book; he shows you how to approach relationship marketing deliberately and effectively. I can tell you one thing I’ve seen first hand, Michael knows how to take action and get crazygood (that’s my word now) results, and this book is a clear example of that.

I hope you check this out; I’d love to hear what you think. Get it.

The sky's the limit, baby! Products are leveraged and will allow me to reach more people. What are you doing to grow your business this month? I'd love to hear your plans!

This past week, and for the next few weeks or so, I will be focusing on creating a few new sites and corresponding products to take things to the next level. As many of you know, I started out with consulting and continue to do that more than anything else. It works well, but the thing about consulting is that there is only so much time in one day, you know? So as a result, I am taking the same ideas and concepts I go over with clients on a consulting business, and I’m recording them via audio, video and written tutorials, to be shared via information products.

This will allow me to share the same ideas with a lot more people…for a significantly lower cost. I love meeting and consulting with you; I really do! But if I can offer you the same information for significantly less, wouldn’t that be a great deal? That’s what I’m doing. Consulting will remain available of course, but after a few of these products are in place, we’ll be able to reserve consulting fees for only the truly custom jobs.

I will continue sharing ideas and posting to Next Level Blogger, but I just wanted to give you heads up on what’s in store. This is what I’m doing to take things to the next level this year. Leverage! I’d love to hear what you’re up to also! What are you doing to grow your business this month? Have a great weekend!

I want to thank Scott Stratten for sending out a link to http://discl.us/. With new FTC guidelines looming with regards to how we disclose affiliate links and such on Twitter and other social media platforms, this is a great tool to consider using.

How exactly are you to disclose to your followers on Twitter that you’re sending out an affiliate link in a tweet? Since you’re limited to 140 characters…some form of shorthand simply must be invented. As @copyblogger pointed out in this conversation, the FTC does not differentiate on their policy from one platform to the next. Bottom line, if you’re use social media for business, there’s a good chance you use affiliate marketing as a part of your income strategy, and if you’re linking to an affiliate, or if you’ve received compensation of any type, it must be disclosed.

Scott made a great point that maybe the best solution is to simply link to a post on our blog, which in turn links to an affiliate. This way, we have ample space for disclosure. Another tool for disclosure is http://discl.us/. It provides a way of disclosing right within the tweet itself.

Will it stand up in court? Ha. Don’t even ask me. But it’s a nice tool. I will consider using it, and I wanted you to be aware of it as an option.

For more information on this important topic, I recommend reading Brian Clark’s article “How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point“.

The reason I wanted to mention my call with him is two-fold. First of all, I just love having the opportunity to mention his story and his book to you. I recommend learning more about John and getting his book if you haven’t already. He’s an accomplished business owner, a best selling author and an engaging and dynamic speaker. Anyone interested in taking their life or business to the next level (that’s you!) can learn some valuable lessons from him.

Secondly, as always I’m exploring the options for taking my business to the next level, and as such I’ve been looking at the possibilities of putting out a book at some point. That’s what I wanted to talk with John about.

One of the reasons I wanted to meet Gary Vaynerchuk in Chicago recently is the same thing…I wanted to meet someone at a book tour in real life and get a sense of it. Do I want to put out a book at some point? I am on the fence. I’m not in a position to do it right this moment of course, but should it be part of my long term plan? That’s what I’m trying to answer.

My conversation with John was about that…what’s the deal with putting out a book? What’s the value in it? What’s the schedule like? How do you get it done? And of course…should I do it?

Here are a few things I learned:

• Putting out a book is a massive time commitment, for which you will likely be paid little or nothing.
• If your first book is very successful, writing your second or third book MIGHT be a good way to “make money”.
• John was committed to getting published. He got turned down well over 300 times before getting a publishing deal.
• Even though it didn’t net him a ton of money, it has opened up a lot of opportunity that would otherwise not have happened.
• John described a best-selling book as “the ultimate business card”. It’s simply a way to brand yourself in a powerful, convincing and authoritative way. It can open up larger opportunities for down the road.

I’m naturally a pretty low key guy and just like running my niche business. Gary Vaynerchuk has the ambition to own the Jets and basically become a billionaire. John Rowley wants to put out more books, have his own TV show and run other businesses. These are both awesome guys that I learn a lot from, but I just like building sites and marketing them! I like selling, and I like interacting with my community. I honestly have no personal interest in having a show of my own. It’s just not my bag ;)

So should I write a book? To me right now, it seems unnecessary…which really is not what I expected. It seemed like an obvious next step for me in about a year or two. You never know what direction things will go, and I’m definitely not ruling it out. But currently, if I have to choose between putting out a traditional book or launching a new internet marketing project…I’m gonna stick with internet marketing…at least for now :)

One thing I wanted to point out in case it’s not already obvious…John Rowley was very gracious to give me some of his time. We talked on the phone for a good 20 minutes or so…something he did not have to do. He did it purely out of generosity, and I’m very appreciative. I’ve been repeatedly amazed at how generous and forthcoming the top achievers in my network are. Thanks again John!

Don’t just get information from your visitors and then fail to implement it into your plan! You guys and gals are AWESOME for speaking your mind and letting me know what you think about Next Level Blogger. I want to confirm with you that I AM listening to your feedback, and I am already in the process of following through on what you’ve shared with me :)

So far, you’ve given me input on what type of issues and concerns you’d like to see addressed here, and you’ve given me some awesome ideas for upcoming articles on blogging, monetizing, internet marketing and more, so be on the look out for them!

If you read my articles or ebooks, and you haven’t submitted a survey yet…please do so! It will take you about one minute. Seriously…and I absolutely WILL read your input, and I absolutely WILL follow through on it :) Speak your mind! Let me know what you love about Next Level Blogger, what you hate and what you’d like to see next. Thanks again!

Take the Next Level Blogger Survey :)

There are a number of elements that go into creating a successful blog marketing campaign. Your blog design, your offerings, your email subscriber list, your social media activity…these are all links in the chain. And as we know, any chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link.

This report targets what I consider to be some of the most important links in the chain. Especially for anyone beginning in blogging or social media marketing for their small business, this report will get you started off on the right foot.

This report is about getting started off strong. Instead of learning the basics the hard way, this information will break you straight through to the next level…getting actual results!

Want to know something cool? It’s free :)
Sign up here and get it now!

If you’d like a peek inside, check this following list. It’s taken directly from the table of contents, so you can see a lot of the topics covered. If anything piques your interest, then clearly this report can be of some value to you:

• Live and Die by the Value of Your List
• Power Content Tips
• How to Get Your Visitors to Comment
• How to Get Your Visitors to Subscribe
• How to Get Your Visitors to Keep Reading and Stay on Your Site
• How to Get Your Visitors to Share Your Content with Their Friends
• Consistency is Essential
• Internet Business is a People Business
• A Balanced Approach to Using Plugins
• How Many Plugins is Too Many?
• The Value of Coaching

If you want to knock out a big chunk of the learning curve and start getting results with your blogging as quickly as possible, sign up and get this report today for free :)

The reason I mention this is because a lot of readers here may not necessarily be inclined to read RENewsBlog, a blog about real estate sales and investing. I wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I will now be a weekly contributor over at RENewsBlog.

The content I publish there will be focused on internet marketing and blogging, just like here, so if you like this blog, I encourage you to check out my articles over there as well :)

The fact is that most real estate professionals, like all small business owners, have a real need to market themselves effectively online. I will be the guy who covers online marketing and sales strategy over there on a regular basis. The concepts I cover will at times have a little bit of a real estate spin on them, which is cool because I know many of you readers of Next Level Blogger are in real estate!

But also this is great for everyone else as well, because the sales and marketing concepts I cover on RENewsBlog will directly apply to YOUR business as well, no matter what industry you’re in.

I invite you to swing by and say “hi”!

Or you can just download it directly right here!

47 pages of simple-to-follow, straight up content on how to use blogging and social networking effectively to promote your business online. Any professional or business owner who wants to get started using new media marketing tools will get a lot of great tips and free advice.

Here are a few of the topics covered in the report:

1. Why Blogging is Mandatory
2. The Rewards You Can Expect
3. Ways to Make Money
4. Writing Tips
5. SEO Tips
6. Techniques and Tricks
7. Automation
8. Twitter tools
9. Social Networking Tips and Tools
10. Over 100 links to recommended additional resources, articles, recommended sites, books and more

I spent several hours putting this together…I hope you find a lot of value in this report. Download it for free, share it with your friends and coworkers, and let me know what you think!

Of course, only if you wish :)

Thank you very much!

1. Please link this site up on your blog, social media profile or anywhere you feel others would benefit from it.
2. Please use the widgets I supply at the bottom of each post to bookmark posts you like on Delicious, Stumble, etc, to share them with others.
3. Please comment the posts to share your thoughts. Interaction is one of my main goals!
4. Please subscribe by email if you find the content valuable.
5. Please contact me with ideas, thoughts or criticism. I welcome your input 100%!

I promise this isn’t something I’m going to hammer on. I won’t post stuff like this very often. It’s necessary to ask for what I want though, and I hope you do the same :)

By sharing this site with your friends, partners and coworkers, you are helping more than you may realize! One of the biggest challenges of course is getting the word out. It’s true there are a thousand things any webmaster can do to do well in the search engines and get good traffic. The fact is that this site is very well-optimized already and is getting an increase in traffic pretty consistently, but NO site does well ultimately without a solid community to back it up.

My goal is not to dominate Google. My goal is to build a strong community of people who find this content helpful and who are willing to help me improve it, so it remains something that is truly valuable to us all. Whether Next Level ultimately gets 500k visitors a month or 50k visitors a month is inconsequential to me. My focus is on individual people, not stats.

I hope you’ll help me out! And I hope you’ll tell me what I can do to help YOU out! Now let’s go kill the rest of ’09 and make it a huge year :)