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Archive for July, 2008

20 Free Mac Programs For Macheads!

July 25th, 2008

With all the great feedback from the original two “20 Free Downloads”, I decided to give all the Mac users a fair shake while I was at it. You can check out my 20 Free Download choices for Macs at the ABlakeForum.com.

Tags: ABlakeForum.com, Apple, Downloads, Mac, Macs, Open Source, Open Source Downloads |

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20 MORE Great Open Source Downloads!

July 24th, 2008

Everyone really enjoyed the list I compiled for the ABlakeForum.com post entitles, “20 Great Open Source Downloads“… so I did it again!

Check out the newest additions, and let me know what you think! If you know of any other useful Open Source downloads, please post to the thread and I will include it in future lists.

Don;t forget to check the original thread, “20 Great Open Source Downloads” as well as the newest one, “20 MORE Great Open Source Downloads“!

Tags: 20 Great Open Source Downloads, 20 MORE Great Open Source Downloads, ABlakeForum.com |

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Take 2: My Interview on SeminarsWithTheExperts.com

July 23rd, 2008

They say that if something can go wrong, it will… and sure enough, the laws of the universe conspired against Hilary Stewardson one more time in her series of twelve expert interviews she is providing free of charge at SeminarsWithTheExperts.com!

If you haven’t yet signed up for this, you’re not too late – although her series is almost at an end, the recordings are available from all previous interviews as well! Don’t waste a minute – go check out the hard work Hilary has put into this great resource.

Today we completed my interview… which was supposed to be done last night. I felt so awful!!

Those of you who have been listening in on this teleseminar series from the start know there have been many problems along the way – twice with the quality of the recordings; one where the interviewee was inexplicably unavailable – only to learn later he was in hospital; the first one was a disaster because Hilary’s long distance provider and Instant Teleseminar were incompatible; and then last week the Instant Teleseminar software went down.

I thought we’d seen it all – but no. Last evening’s interview had to be canceled because 20 minutes into it, my telephone went dead! Battery ran out – can you believe it? So I scrambled for the other phone tied to a different number… and yep – you guessed it – it went dead too.

I’m only laughing about it now because it all turned out so well in the end, but at the time I just felt so horrible!! On the positive side, our initial “dress rehearsal” helped up find a good rhythm together, and helped with the general flow of the interview.

I think Hilary did a marvelous job of it – and her series of interviews is an excellent example of what can be accomplished with a little work and a lot of style.

Hilary asked lots of insightful questions about my business, and specifically about how social networking influences my business. I hope she had as much fun as I did!!

Thanks again, Hilary – it was a real pleasure talking to you!!

Go check out my interview - SeminarsWithTheExperts.com – let me know what you think!!

Tags: Hilary Stewardson, interview, Lisa Preston, Seminars With The Experts, Social Marketing, Social Media |

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Who Is Anthony Blake?

July 22nd, 2008

Anthony Blake

Anthony Blake, CEO of The Blake Marketing Group,/Blake InfoMedia, and CEO/CIA (Chief Idea Architect) of ideathink/BDMGi, is a business development consultant, marketing strategist, direct response copywriter, author, publisher, speaker, entrepreneur, Internet and entrepreneurial evangelist and visionary based in the Ventura Co., CA community of Santa Paula.

Tony (as his friends call him) is considered by many of his clients as a marketing wizard, marketing mindreader and entrepreneurial genius, having created and implemented mastermind marketing strategies, concepts and techniques for more than 780 businesses in over 83 different industries. He has provided consulting services to everyone from small “mom & pop” home-based businesses to large, multi-billion dollar transnational corporations. Tony has been known to create more money-making, profit increasing marketing ideas and strategies in one day than most people do in a year… often creating several dozen in a matter of minutes.

As a business development consultant, marketing strategist and direct response copywriter, Tony has created, developed and deployed strategic business and marketing concepts and techniques, direct mail, space ad advertising, press releases and marketing materials for a wide variety of clients, businesses, products and services.

He has appeared in Upside, Wired, The Industry Standard, TheStreet.com, USA Today, Success Magazine, Inc. Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, In Business, The Star-Free Press, The L.A. Times, NBC, ABC and CNBC; spoken before numerous business groups, organizations and corporations including the Eagle Institute, Prudential Insurance, and many others. Tony is also featured in the book “301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas” published by Inc. Magazine (edited by Sam Decker) and is also a recipient of the 2003 NRCC Businessman Of The Year Award and sits on the Business Advisory Council.

Tony is the publisher of numerous profit increasing special reports, information products, audios and videos.

His extremely popular website, “Anthony Blake Online,” receives more than 4 million visits a month, and his Entrepreneurial Success Forum, is one of the most popular marketing discussion boards on the net. Tony’s exclusive “Gold Mentor Inner Circle Program,” gives emerging and existing entrepreneurs the opportunity to consult and work with him on their business ideas, ventures, growth, marketing and product development.

Tony is the innovator and director of the Blackbelt Marketing Institute, founder of the Copywriters Institute Of America, and president of the Prosperity Institute. He also the author and publisher of several new books including:

Advertising Magic
Postcard Profits!
Psychic Mastery
Copywriting Secrets Exposed!
The Bread-N-Butter Marketers Workshop
Blackbelt PR: Free Advertising Secrets You Can Use To Explode Your Business’ Success! (with Mike Van Norden)
Marketing MindReading: How To Get “Inside” The Head Of Your Prospects & Customers And Dynamically Increase Sales and Profits
And Both The Blackbelt Marketing, And “Inside The Marketers Mind” Tape Series

Tony’s electronic marketing and web incubator/development company ideathink/BDMGi, is creating exciting new web destinations and ways to market products and services on the Internet. Ifluence.com, another of Tony’s companies is being developed as an Internet advertising solution for SOHO/Mid-size companies venturing onto the Internet and looking for exposure.

Tony has been involved with magic and mentalism since the age of 10. He toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and parts of Europe for 15+ years (starting at age 17) as a stand-up comic, specializing in comedy-magic. His act was recognized with several awards at industry conventions including a double win in the comedy magic and close-up categories at the 1990 PCAM convention. He was also a regular performer at the world-famous Magic Castle.

Tony left the world of magic and performing for 10 years to devote himself to building his marketing and consulting business and career. In that time he continued to read and collect magic books and paraphernalia as well as test effects that appeared on the market. He had an interest in mentalism from his early days in magic but didn’t discover the wonders of this medium until later years when he became more serious about his craft. Upon his return to performing Tony has exclusively performed mentalism. He draws inspiration from a variety of psychic entertainers both currently performing or masters from yesteryear.

His mental/psychic/mindreading show titled “Mind Mystery” has been performed for corporate and high-end private audiences and continues to grow both in scope and depth. Tony’s corporate designed presentations “Marketing Mindreading” and “Business Intuition” is delivered both as a keynote presentation or an interactive workshop and has been embraced by the business and corporate world as a fresh new way to deliver powerful information, strategies and technologies by marrying “to-the-fact” info with amazing and entertaining displays and experiments in ESP and mental acuity.

Tony is currently developing a full-evening 90-minute mentalism show to be performed at venues across the U.S. as well as it’s home base, an antique filled parlor in an exclusive restaurant housed in a remodeled Victorian home, plus he is known as the only “bar mentalist” in the world, performing at the “Ojai Mystery Bar” in the resort town of Ojai, CA.

In his off time Tony unwinds by collecting tin toys, classic GI Joe’s and rare magic and mentalism manuscripts, books, texts and effects. He loves flyfishing, golf, cooking, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s Chai Latte’s and fine Cuban cigars, and is the author of the upcoming mentalism book “Mind Mystery: The Mentalism Of Anthony Blake” plus the mindreading based business book: “Marketing Mindreading: How To Get “Inside” The Head Of Your Prospects & Customers And Dynamically Increase Sales and Profits” and the co-creator of ESP CHIPS.

Tony is the founder of The Mentalist Alliance, a member of the Genii, Magic Cafe and MagicTalk forums and the former Thoughtreaders Intl. (TRI)

Tags: 301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas, Advertising Magic, Anthony Blake, Anthony Blake Online, audios, author, BDMGi, Blackbelt Marketing, Blackbelt Marketing Institute, Blackbelt PR: Free Advertising Secrets You Can Use To E, Blake InfoMedia, Business Advisory Council, business development, Business Intuition, concepts, consultant, copywriter, Copywriters Institute Of America, Copywriting Secrets Exposed!, direct mail, direct response, direct response copywriter, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial genius, Entrepreneurial Success Forum, ESP CHIPS, Gold Mentor Inner Circle Program, ideathink, Ifluence.com, information products, Inside The Marketers Mind, keynote, Magic Castle, marketing mindreader, Marketing Mindreading, Marketing MindReading: How To Get "Inside" The Head Of, marketing strategies, marketing strategist, marketing wizard, mastermind, mentalism, Mind Mystery, money-making, NRCC Businessman Of The Year, Postcard Profits!, press releases, profit increasing, Prosperity Institute, Psychic Mastery, publisher, space ad advertising, speaker, special reports, The Blake Marketing Group, The Bread-N-Butter Marketers Workshop, The Mentalist Alliance, Videos, workshop |

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A New Era For The Original Social Networks: Forums

July 21st, 2008

I can recall back in the internet “olden days” when discussion groups were the only way to communicate with a group of people. The old bulletin boards were populated by the true die-hard computer geeks, when internet marketing was still just a baby.

I wish I knew then what I know now!

The real advent of group communications came along for mainstream internet use with forums… the original social networks. These wonderful tools for communicating with the masses exploded into every niche, allowing people from all over the globe to connect, converse and share.

There are several forums in the Internet Marketing niche that have stood the test of time: the Warrior Forum, the Anthony Blake Forum, and a handful of others are the few who were vibrant, active forums before the year 2000. These forums are the cornerstones on which many marketers build their internet empires!

In the fall of 2007, I brainstormed with a group of spectacularly brilliant marketers – one of which was the legendary Tony Blake. In a dazzling session filled with hypothetical ideas, wishes and enthusiasm, an idea formed in Tony’s mind… and that idea was to take his old-fashioned forum of 15 years and redefine what an Internet Marketing Forum should be in the 21st century!

Through months of research, planning and development, a new era in Internet Marketing Forums was born… there were many sleepless nights and excitement continued to build as “launch day” approached!

On March 12th, 2008, the brand-new Anthony Blake Online – Entrepreneurial Success Forum made it’s debut to the delight and amazement of it’s long-time, online community.

The ABlakeForum has leaped into the 21st century with features like user-embedded video, audio and images; a dedicated social network, exclusive “Members Only” content, frequent contests and prizes, social bookmarking and submissions, the ability to use affiliate links in signature files, increasingly lively discussions without worry of being deleted, zero tolerance SPAM security enhancements, expert-moderated forums in several internet marketing related categories, and so much more!

And the best is yet to come!! I know of several new features being primed for release this month alone… and all of it geared to helping you profit from your internet business!

How do I know all of this?

I’m one of three Admins on the forum – Tony Blake himself, of course, who keeps a close watch over everything; then there’s me, and my focus is on Development/Design; and Terry Crim the Technical Administrator, who’s expertise keeps the forum running smoothly, efficiently and securely.

If you haven’t yet registered at the ABlakeForum, now is definitely the time! There are so many features coming your way, several of which will be in “Members Only” areas that I’d hate to see anyone left out! Oh, and did I tell you – membership is FREE? That’s right…

Over the past 6 months, there’s been a decided decrease in forum participation across the internet. With quicker, easier ways to communicate like social networks, and those with instant gratification and feedback, such as Twitter, many of the mainstream forums have been discouraged by the lack of visitors.

I’ve watched some of the more popular forums struggle with implementing new ideas, yet there is still a general discontent with the way things are… holding onto what worked in the past is often a recipe for failure in the future if there is no room for growth and change.

But not at the ABlakeForum!

We’re happy to report a steady increase in visitors and traffic – far greater than we could have hoped for or expected only months after the re-launch! Our membership is growing daily, and we’re attracting some of the most brilliant marketing minds around to share and educate.

I hope to see you there! We’d love to hear your feedback, and we’re excited to roll out the newest features of this 21st century marketing forum over the summer. Don’t miss out! Sign up FREE today!

Tags: affiliate, Anthony Blake, Anthony Blake Forum, Anthony Blake Online, audio, business, community, deleted, Entrepreneurial Success Forum, features, free, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Forum, Members Only, prizes, security, social bookmarking, social networks, Terry Crim, Tony Blake, traffic, Twitter, video, visitors, Warrior Forum |

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Free Submissions to Directories & Social Networks

July 20th, 2008

Here’s a list of some of the best free directories and social networks. All have a page rank of 5 to 9, and all have free submission! If you find this useful, Stumble, Digg, Twitter (or whatever your preference is!) this post!

PR9