I know it is far too late now, but I just wanted to take a second and apologize to anyone and everyone for ever having promoted Site Profit Bot.

It seemed to have a lot of potential at the time. Unfortunately, it had some problems and the marketer who had it developed chose not to make improvements or to continue the development in any meaningful way, nor, in my opinion, to support it particularly well.

Those are the breaks, I guess.

None of us are perfect. This is not the first time I’ve promoted a product I later wished I hadn’t, and it probably won’t be the last. I may post more about that subject sometime soon. The point is, we all make some mistakes in judgment sometimes.

But when it comes to the things we actually have the capacity to fix ourselves?

I say, in the future, internet marketers — all of us — need to do much better than this.

That and my apology is all I have to say.

Lately, I have had yet another opportunity (if you wish to call it that) to listen to various narcissists pontificate about the success mindset — from "positive thinking" to an "abundance attitude" to the magnetic "secret" to life to "prosperity theology" (or would "prosperity theocracy" be the better phrase?).

Unfortunately, this is not the first time, nor even the thousandth time I've had to listen to this sort of self-aggrandizement. It is a pervasive poison these days, in my humble opinion.

And I've had my fill.

According to this fat tick theory, the journey to financial success, you see, is All about having Absolute Power over what happens to you in life. It is about Being Utterly Deserving due to hard, smart work. Contrary to the opinions of some, success is Never about luck, it is Never about being in the right place at the right time, it is Never about knowing the right people or having the right personality or skills or traits and it is Never about being born with any advantages — and anyone who can't see all that, and who can't seem to make it happen in their own lives … well … it's 1000% their own fault, you see.

One of these guys, whose name you would instantly recognize were I to even hint at it, said that the reason for his financial success was that he had decided early in life to pay whatever price it took, no matter what. Uh huh. So I guess that means that if his wife or one of his kids had fallen tragically ill and had needed bank-breaking medical attention and he'd found that circumstance getting in his way, he would have let them die a horrid, painful death. Okay, guy. I guess some of us are just a little bit ruthless about it, eh? I wonder what his wife and children think about that?

So have you caught my drift yet?

Here it is in a nutshell: the desire on the part of only some of the very successful to convince themselves (and us) that they are superior and more deserving than the rest of humanity doesn't make it particularly true, and I hope most of us — rich and poor — know it. And all the clever rhetoric and very carefully selected anecdotal evidence and preaching and rationalization doesn't make these attitudes any less self-serving, any less ruthless or any less arrogant.

I'm sure such a statement takes me thoroughly out of the good graces of some of the very rich and very influential, but someone needs to speak some truth to power. Any time any rich or powerful person expresses an opinion that seems self-serving or very convenient, in my opinion, it is suspect. Just as it is when someone who is poor or powerless does the same.

The difference of course, is that the very rich and powerful have a megaphone called money to get their message across, and a weapon to wield (also called money) against anyone who challenges their version of "the truth."

Frankly, some of these fat ticks would serve us all better if they would simply sit down and shut up. Some of them have taken some worthwhile concepts to such extremes that they are now polluting our media and our minds and our spirits with their vainglorious chest thumping.

Yeah, I've said "fat ticks" a few times now, and my impulse is to apologize or go back and edit it out. I'm not in the habit of calling people such terrible things, well, certainly not publicly anyway. But as I said, I've had my fill, and while I have (and will again) talk about the critical importance of attitude, I will also continue to refuse to lie about it.

As vital as the right mindset is (and it certainly is), it is not everything. As important as hard, smart work is, it isn't everything either. Sometimes things simply don't work out. Sometimes there are circumstances outside of our control. Sometimes people find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. And sometimes luck or fate or God's will (or something that does an excellent impersonation of one or the other or all of these) plays an enormous role in our lives.

That's just how it is. That's the human condition.

I know, for example, a few who are immensely successful due to having had just the right timing, and not because they were so hard working or so brilliant — as some of them will freely admit — but simply because they were fortunate. And I've known others, not successful, who did absolutely everything right, but their timing was horrible — and not because they were lazy or idiots.

So what exactly am I driving at and what does it mean? Does it mean that your wildest dreams may not be your destiny? Does it mean that outrageous financial success may not be your birth right?

Yeah, that's exactly what it means.

It means the best (and really, the only) thing any of us can do is to enormously improve the odds by preparing ourselves — educating ourselves, planning, organizing, networking, implementing and keeping our eyes on the prize.

But let's all (or at least those of us who are capable) endeavor to do it with a little humility, knowing that no matter what kind of success we may achieve in life, that it very well could have turned out differently. And let's try to detach from the results just a little bit and enjoy the journey we're on, because any certainty about your or my ultimate destination … well, no matter how smart we are or how hard we may work to improve the odds, that kind of certainty is more than just a little bit out of our hands … and nothing the very self-serving fat ticks have to say about it can ever change that.

So how about, from now on, let's just tell all these hubristic blood sucking narcissists to sit the f-bomb down and get their overblown and overbearing egos out of our faces? Are you with me? Yeah!!! That's what I'm talking about!

To your success!,

Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Postscript – As many of you know, the nature of internet marketing is changing faster than ever before, and some would say the future looks rather bleak. I'm not one of the doomsayers, but I am rethinking a lot these days. For now, I apologize for not having something more useful to say this time out. As I said, I needed to get this (the above) off my chest. Hopefully, I will be back someday soon with something truly worthwhile. And for those who are wondering how the development is going, well, it's going. It may be that it's going to be a long, hard slog that's only just begun, but it's going. I firmly believe that those who support me when the time comes will not regret it, at least not in the long run. But that's about all I can, or care to, say for now.

Listen, I kinda went on sabbatical, and I've been coding and doing some other related stuff ever since so that's why I haven't posted on this blog for so long.

Anyhow, a colleague was supposed to post here months ago and let you know about it, but he forgot, and I was too distracted to notice. LOL.

My single-minded focus thing sometimes keeps me from noticing a lot of things. He was supposed to tell you that I wouldn't be promoting anything for a while due to preparation for a product launch, and that I wouldn't be sending out my newsletter, that I would be kinda out of touch in general …

I guess I kinda made it optional, but he was even supposed to continue posting periodically …

(What do you think? Should I can him?)

Oh well. My apologies. But as I told him at the time, I would be back if something came up that I thought was truly worthwhile or that truly needed to be said. Or something like that. I don't remember my exact words.

Okay. So here it is, something truly worthwhile — but wait, let me just say that I have no idea if this will be truly worthwhile or not. But I said I wouldn't be back this soon unless it was. So, you know, I'm sending mixed signals here. LOL!

Well, okay, here's the thing. I haven't had the time or the inclination to check this out in detail yet, so my opinion on this is based on past experience with Mike rather than an actual evaluation of the offer.

So keep that in mind.

But as I'm sure you know, past experience is often a good measure. One can't always rely on it, but I believe this is going to be the real deal, and I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about it. Er, or give it my personal recommendation (since you've probably heard about it already anyway).

I do know that the last major training course Mike came out with was very worthwhile. So hopefully this will be as great as it sounds. (If not, it's being sold through Clickbank so you can always ask for your money back if it doesn't look right, okay?)

Anyhow, I've got lots to do yet on that launch and otherwise, so let me get on with it. I know you're going to want to check this out once you know what I'm talking about.

Oh wait. Everyone you should be following is promoting it already, so you probably already know what I'm talking about: Mike Johnson's Profit.FM.

So I'm not going to waste any more of your time here. If you haven't checked it out (because you were waiting just to see if your most trusted adviser — why, me, of course! — was going to promote it), then it's time to go to:

http://www.mythospheres.com/recommends/fm

My bonus? Well … how about free admittance to the launch of my own product? It will be a couple of months yet, though. Maybe more. And I can't tell you what it is yet. LOL.

Some bonus, huh? (Yes, it will be, actually.)

Oh well. I gotta get back to it.

I don't care (much) if you buy through my link or not. It will be your loss if you don't, of course, but I can't worry about that right now. I just thought I should let you know about it.

Profit.FM may not turn out to be anything special. Then again, if past experience can be trusted, it just may turn out to be one of the very few MUST HAVES this year.

I hope you will check it out:

http://www.mythospheres.com/recommends/fm

Either way, it will probably be a while before you hear from me again, so continued good luck with your endeavors and take care.

To your success!,

Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Weekly, maybe? We'll see.

The length and quality of the writing, as well as of the information, may vary considerably. It will depend on what else (and how much) is going on with me, but I'll simply postpone and omit if I feel it's necessary.

So … this may eventually become a full-blown marketing newsletter. But for the immediate future, I expect it to be fairly short and to-the-point articles about various aspects of online marketing (and perhaps offline, too, occasionally).

My subscribers will find resources that pertain to the discussion (when available and when I feel comfortable recommending them) at the end of these soliloquies. (Soliloquies? Fancy word, yeah?) I will be putting these resources at the end so as to not interrupt the flow.

Some of this information (and the aforementioned resources) may prove to be "old hat" to some of my subscribers. Since I don't have a very complete picture about how much or how little experience various folks have, I have to go with the basics at least some of the time, right?

But if you are, or become, a subscriber and are patient with me. I know, sooner or later, I'll get around to providing some information that even the most seasoned marketer will find extremely valuable. Just don't expect it every time out.

Okay?

This will be for my subscribers ONLY and will not be published here, at AWeber, or elsewhere.

So if you haven't signed up yet, please do so and watch for my next email, most likely in about 12 hours or so, in which I will begin by discussing …

Don't you just love cliff-hangers? LOL.

To your continuing success!,
Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Hope so. I mean, after all, why not?

Today Greg's taking it one step further and showing you a full, interactive demonstration of the complete Monster Mage software suite.

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

If you ever wanted to know EXACTLY what you will get when it is released to the general public on Tuesday then I strongly suggest you check out this video right now.

Not everyone will show you the the guts of a system before you invest.  I firmly believe Monster is the most complete and comprehensive system out there on the market today. I want to encourage you to give this a "good look" to see if it's right for you.

Even if it's not, it doesn't ever hurt to stay FULLY informed of EXACTLY what kind of tools some of your competition may be using.

There is no optin required to watch this.  Simply click on the link.

Who knows, maybe you'll decide to join me and be a Monster, too.

Anyone remember the old Dr. Pepper ditty? It's going around and around in my head right now, only with different words — I'm a Monster, she's a Monster, wouldn't you like to be a Monster, too?

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

I'm being very silly now, I know. Hope you'll forgive. I'm a little dizzy. An old friend dropped by yesterday and spun my head a little bit. It's been a long time coming I guess. I'm just overwhelmed with too much information right now!

Anyhow, Monster Mage is serious business. Hope you'll take a few minutes to check it out:

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

To your success!,
Richard

P.S. – At the bottom of the page is a little form where you can get on the "early bird" list. If you like what you see, I strongly suggest you sign up there because on Tuesday Greg is releasing only 500 copies of Monster and these will most likely be sold out to those on the early list. If you think there's even a slim chance you want it, then you need to be prepared to act quickly.

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/monster

If not, what's the deal? It's not like you have anything else to do besides pay attention to these things, right?

Okay. Just kidding around. Believe me, I understand busy!

So anyway, whether you've seen the hype or not, you may be wondering what is Monster Mage?

Already being a Mage, I happen to already own it, so I can tell you.

Or can I?

It's for autoblogging, but it's a little more complicated than that.

Very shortly after Greg Jacobs started WP Mage in late 2009, I was one of those out there testing it and a lot of Mages, including me, were full of questions, not the least of which was "will this really work?"

The answer to that question turned out to be … er, maybe.

Some of us found a lot of success with WP Mage. There's no arguing that. Assuming you measure success solely in terms of fast money.

Over time though, I realized Greg Jacobs philosophy, i.e., how he recommends his customers approach the use of WP Mage, just wasn't for me.

Why?

Greg kinda takes what some call the "shotgun spam site" approach to his tools, but I prefer being more judicious in their use. I like to build things to last, including my websites.

Greg's philosophy is more about creating a lot of (some would say, low-quality, spammy) sites and making just a little income on each one.

The WP Mage plugins are fantastic, and that strategy can certainly work, perhaps especially now that Monster Mage will offer several new tools for making content unique and for further monetizing WP Mage sites.

Some of us have experimented a bit and seen our profits double using some of the new tools found in Monster Mage!

But wait.

Okay, some of you who are already in the know, I hear you: Greg Jacobs demands such a hefty price!!

Yes, he does. And I don't feel it is my place to tell you it is or is not worth it. It is clearly worth it to some of us, but you certainly shouldn't spend the money if it's going to create any hardship for you or your loved ones. There are a lot of other good, less-expensive tools out there now if you want to try your hand at autoblogging.

And I don't really recommend completely automated blogging anyway. Blogging can turn into a lot of hard work, and some automation can be very helpful, but you really need quality, unique, useful content if you expect your organic search traffic to last.

But let's forget all that for a second. Here's what I really wanted to tell you: one of WP Mage's best plugins is the Affiliate Mage plugin, and now … until the launch tomorrow,  i.e., July 12th, you can get the Affiliate Mage plugin absolutely FREE!

This plugin has created 9.5 million dollars in commissions in the last 2 years!

Whether you think you have a use for it right now or not, you just gotta get this:

Check it out here:

http://www.mythospheres.com/likes/affiliatemagemonster

And those of you who are interested in finding out more about what Greg has to offer (and why some of us are so excited about it), be sure to stay signed up to his list thru the launch.

Until next time –

– to your success!
Richard D. Farley / Mythospheres Development

With Google's recent Panda updates, I am feeling somewhat vindicated.

The Panda updates have hit many IM sites very hard.

Of course, a lot more than Panda has been going on lately:

• AdWords has canceled the PPC accounts of thousands;
• PayPal has closed many IM-ers' accounts;
• Other payment processors are about to disallow IM vendors;
• Clickbank has recently de-listed hundreds of IM products;
• YouTube has dumped thousands of make-money-online videos;
• Amazon has pretty much ended PLR ebooks being sold on Kindle;
• Sales of IM-related products are down, refunds are up.

Am I okay with all these changes? Not exactly. But I do understand that this is what happens when some "opportunists" misbehave.

It is this way in all walks of society it seems. Because some abuse the system, everyone has to pay the price. It's not fair. It's not just. But it is the way things are.

The only thing we "good guys" can do about it is to work that much harder and hold ourselves to higher and higher standards.

As the old saying goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."

So . . . are you ready to offer more value to real people? Are you ready to care even more about the quality of what you teach, what you sell, and about the quality of your web sites, pages and posts?

No? Then rest in peace with the dinosaurs. They couldn't adapt either.

Yes? Then welcome to the post-Panda, post-wild-wild-West internet marketing world. Time for everyone to grow up.

My sincere apology for not updating this blog sooner, but I don't like outsourcing it and sometimes my life stuff just gets in the way.

Anyway, if you follow this blog, thanks for your patience, and I hope you will find that what I am about to recommend to you is well worth the wait.

If you are just starting your online business venture or if you feel your business effort has been going off track lately, I'd like to recommend something 'holistic' in terms of building your business the right way.

(I just wish something this good had been available when I was starting out.)

So here it is:

• Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine

This is not a script or plug-in or marketing robot or tool or marketing course.

Yes, those can be valuable in the right context.

But no.

This is something very, very special.

But first, a little background.

I have listened to and viewed various success and motivational programs over the years. As a result, every now and again I've been prompted to do a little brainstorming about where I'm trying to go and why.

It's always been a kind of re-envisioning, and it has often been just after these brief interludes that I've been my most creative, productive and fulfilled.

Knowing from my own experience how helpful I've found such opportunities, I was understandably …

Well, I don't know how to say this without it sounding hyped, but I was very "excited," or "wowed" or "impressed," or something that sounds a little bit over the top like that, to discover Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine training.

If you've sampled the combined works of various motivational and business thinkers as I have, old and new, e.g., Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, etc., then you may think you've already heard much of what Michael has to say.

I pretty much felt that way myself at first. So why am I now so excited about this?

Because Michael has a compelling talent for presenting the information, old insights and new — a way that offers new perspectives, eliminates the extraneous, and systemizes and explains the essentials of how to build a more fulfilling life and business.

I feel as if he has burned away the fat, leaving only the condensed, concentrated, lean, mean, and useful behind — yet he has also kept the information palatable and easily accessible.

And there is nothing cookie cutter about Michael's approach either.

He teaches a methodology — a manner of thinking and of structuring your thinking about yourself, your life, your values, your goals — that allows you to create your own custom template that can help you build your ideal, and very personal, future.

I've been through the course, and I know it's worth going through again and again.

I believe you, too, will agree it is going to be helpful to contemplate, again and again, what Michael has to say.

Frankly, most of us need that kind of repetition to really "get it" (whether we will admit it or not). By following — more closely each day — what Michael has to say, I am certain any of us would be better able to align our business goals with our values and have a much more fulfilling life and a more successful business.

Because I believe the bottom line is that that is what we all want, I'm recommending PFM to you. And because:

• I believe it's for those just starting out.

• I also believe it's for those who need to get their business and life back on track.

• Actually, I can't think of anyone in business, or anyone hoping to start a business, who this training couldn't benefit.

Briefly, here are just a few of the questions and considerations you will be exposed to when you decide to take a journey toward your Personal Fulfillment Machine with Michael Christon:

•  Where are you now?

• Where are you going?

• How are you going to get there and are you 100% sure you want to?

• Moment of truth: how's your mental, physical and spiritual health? Are you achieving soul-destroying success?

• What's your 'bucket list?'

• How to have something exceptional in your life and in your business.

• How can understanding yourself and your values make your business effort easier and more profitable?

• How your business can become your personal fulfillment machine and why it's absolutely imperative that it should be.

• Your life's blueprint: using imagination and visualization, coupled with your values, to "walk around" your life's blueprint, and why doing so can empower your life and your business.

• Why is becoming richer in every other way ultimately more valuable than becoming financially rich, and why the former makes the latter that much more possible and satisfying?

• Purpose and structure: why becoming uncommonly successful has so much to do with ways of thinking that may seem initially to have virtually nothing to do with your desire for success.

• How to break the impossible down into the possible.

• How to supercharge your business's mission statement, and why you must.

Far too many start businesses without a clue. They know not where they are going nor how to get there. Michael reminds us that starting a business is about far more than just making money or being your own boss. This kind of training — this kind of thinking — is far too often neglected, yet it is by far the most important. I cannot recall having ever recommended anything more potentially valuable than Michael's Personal Fulfillment Machine.

This is the stuff that our dreams are made of.

Trust me, this will inspire you today and, applied, it will have an enormously positive impact on your life and business for decades to come:

Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine

Thank you for your time and for considering my recommendation.

To your success!,
Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Who wants that? Why would anybody take risks when the costs can be so great, when there is so much to lose?

Part of the answer of course, is that an unwillingness to take risks, when they are appropriate, can in and of itself be the biggest risk of all.

Life is dynamic, always changing, and risk opens opportunities to grow with change rather than be victimized by it. Taking a risk means you are making things happen in your life rather than just letting life happen to you.

Self discovery, new ideas, new skills, new and exciting experiences, new interests, renewed confidence and previously unrealized talents can all be rewards of risk.

And a life without risk can easily become a life that is lived primarily in fear — and sometimes without interest, without enthusiasm, without exhilaration, without, well, a sense of being truly alive.

But why talk about this?

Because my observation and experience suggest that the fear of taking risks — or too much eagerness to take them without sufficient thought — are the two characteristics, the two extremes if you will, that have diminished far too many lives.

And whether I can succeed in this or not, I want to do what I can to keep any of that from happening to the people I know and care about, i.e., my family, my friends, my business associates and my customers — you.

But of course, I don't mean the mundane risks we take every day, the ones we don't think about because we can't see their potentially life-changing effects (even when they are there) because we have become so inured to them.

What I am really talking about are the big ones, the ones that we know are big and that we face only a handful of times in our lives, the ones that we may even know can make us, or even break us.

Of course I don't want to suggest that there aren't at least a few guidelines one can use to evaluate these risks.

Certainly, if a potential outcome is very positive and the potential downside is very limited, that's probably a risk worth taking. And contrarily, if the potential downside is great, but the upside is relatively modest, many would rightfully question the wisdom of taking that kind of risk.

With some thought, of course we can all take calculated risks, considering our finances, our circumstances, our strengths and weaknesses, our health, our relationships and our sense of fulfillment.

All that said though, there really are no magic wands or crystal balls that can tell us what risks are right for us, or are worth taking, or when.

Still, it is worthwhile to remember that not stepping up to the challenges in our lives can sap our spirits, drain our energies and make our own personal worlds smaller, darker, flatter and far less fulfilling.

So … if you've had any trouble taking risks up until now, or have had any trouble with having faith in yourself, or in investing in yourself, I hope you will think seriously about the potential rewards of risk, and not just the perils.

As we all know life doesn't come with any guarantees, except, maybe, for one. When death comes, it is not likely to be the chances we took that we will regret, but the ones we realize we should have taken.

Are you going to be okay if what you remember most about your life are the missed opportunities, the times when you plodded along in safety and listened to your fear?

Or are you going to feel a lot more okay about your life knowing that when it really mattered, you went for it? Sure, maybe, sometimes losing — but sometimes winning wonderfully even against the odds?

So what are you willing to risk? If not now, when?

Remember, your time on this Earth is limited. Are you going to look back one day and wonder what your life might have been? Or are you going to put yourself out there, put your dreams on the line and go for it … while the achievement of at least some of those dreams is still a possibility, while you still have the chance?

But if you've yet to take advantage of what article marketing can provide for your business, you're missing out. It proved itself years ago, and it still does wonders for your business today. It is not only an effective method for traffic generation, it has other benefits as well.

Given the dynamic nature of the internet and online marketing, it's not surprising that there are so many ongoing innovations, some worthwhile and some not.

There's always something new having an impact on how marketing and advertising are done on the net, but article marketing remains extremely effective. It can still give exceptional results if you're willing to put in the work.

Of course you will still need to work and do things the right way.

Here are just 3 of the many benefits to be found in article marketing:

• Your articles can be immediately accessed by people from hundreds of different countries.

People from all over the world can find your articles and visit your website. You are not limited by miles, national borders or time zones. Article marketing can be used for promoting any type of product or service to people everywhere.

• Another major advantage to article marketing are the relevant backlinks you can accumulate if your article gets published by a directory and as your articles subsequently get republished on different sites on the web. You will get traffic directly from all the instances of the republished article as well as from the rising rank of the article and its relevant links in the search engines.

Further, the sites that republish any given article will nearly all be relevant to your topic.

That is an important point — relevant and targeted backlinks can help improve your search engine ranking quite a bit.

So not only do you gain all these advantages from such articles (when they are of high enough quality to circulate widely), none of it will require any additional work or expense on your part.

• Last but certainly not least, one of the most obvious benefits of article marketing is that your targeted audience will begin to see you as a guide, or even an expert, that they can rely on.

The effectiveness of article marketing has withstood the test of time, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The results can be very powerful, if done right — results that have staying power.

Of course the new approaches can have merit, too. But if you haven't given article marketing the attention it deserves, let this post be the impetus (the kick in the pants) that helps get you going.

It is my firm belief that, if you are willing to learn how to do it right and are willing to put in the work, you won't be disappointed in the results.