By Jim Kukral • November 28, 2006 • Affiliate Marketing, Blog Honor, Blogging, Gurus, Making Money Online, Online Entrepreneurism, Online Marketing, Online Publishing, Thought Leadership • 261 Comment2006-11-29+04%3A49%3A44Jim+Kukral

Read this from Marketing Pilgrim, then come back.

Andy says: “I try to be selective about which affiliate ads I run on the site, as I donâ€™t want to fill the site with crap I would never use.”

What a mind-blowing concept! Oh wait, it gets better. Andy goes out of his way to fully disclose, in the very first sentence of his blog entry no less!

Andy says: “Regular readers will notice the addition of Mozy as a Marketing Pilgrim advertiser.”

And even more… fully disclosing, and explaining why, his affiliate link to the product.

Andy says: “So â€œyesâ€, itâ€™s an affiliate, but itâ€™s also a great free tool that everyone should consider using.”

So let’s review, shall we? Andy has successfully promoted a product on his blog using the following attributes.

1. Full disclosure
2. Clear explanation
3. Promoting something he truly believes in (not just for a buck)

This is how you do it. This is how you become, and stay a thought-leader… respected in your community, yet still use your blog to make money.

Good work Andy. I’d be curious to see how many more signups you will probably get through your affiliate link just by being honest and providing value as opposed to trying to slide something in just to make a buck.

My cynicism for the day has passed, good night.

When you join Jim's group you join thousands of other successful people who want to work together to grow their brands and businesses. When you join today, you'll get instant access to Jim's latest webinar replay entitled "The New Rules of Self-Publishing".

Business Around A Lifestyle

The world changed on 9/11 in so many different ways. Since that day, there has been a major shift happening in the way people think and live their lives. Sure, many people still chase the dollar as their ultimate goal. However, many more people have begun to realize that the world could, well, end tomorrow.

That's why people are choosing to pursue a business around a lifestyle, instead of a lifestyle controlled by their business. It makes sense, right? If the world was going to end tomorrow, would you still try to live your life in a way you never wanted to?

Take a look around you and you'll see that this shift to becoming a lifestyle entrepreneur is being adopted by more and more people every day. Some of those people are falling into it because they have been laid off from their jobs and are literally forced into it. Some of those people just figure out a way to make it happen because of the "end of the world" thinking mentioned above.