Book Description

31 Days to Build a Better blog is a 31 day challenge where you’re given a daily piece of teaching and an achievable activity to go away and implement – all of which is designed to rejuvenate your blog.

You can take the challenge at your own pace – some do it daily over a month, others tackle it in a more intense way over a week or others dip into it over a number of months – the key is to learn the key strategies for successful blogging and more importantly to DO something with what you learn.

By the end of the 31 steps you’ll have:

• published a variety of different types and styles of posts
• learned techniques for coming up with new post ideas
• promoted your blog in a variety of ways and found new readers
• deepened reader engagement with current readers
• reached out to and developed working relationships with other bloggers
• developed an editorial calendar for your blog going forward
• discovered ways to be more connected to your niche/topic
• designed a plan for the next month of your blogging
• … and much more.

Updated for 2012
Many thousands of ProBlogger readers have invested in edition 1 of 31DBBB but as it was written back in 2009 I felt it was time for an update. Download Now »

Book Description

Startup: An Insider’s Guide to Launching and Running a Business is for people who are excellent at something—product or web development, writing code, marketing or selling anything—but who are now toiling for others. Yet they have long had a dream: to take that special skill set and use it, on their own terms, in a startup business.

This pattern is romanticized by the media in the form of the “tech entrepreneur”—the guy brainstorming with buddies in a garage who ends up selling his startup for millions. But what is the reality behind stories like that one? For that matter, what mental processes, frames of reference, hard knocks, and lessons learned make up the “back story” behind any startup success? This book not only reveals the actual experience of entrepreneurship, but it provides readers with a set of universal entrepreneurial skills and tools they can use to build a business.

Author Kevin Ready has made this journey, and more than once. He earned his MBA—Master of Bruise Acquisition—through numerous encounters with “situations,” problems, black holes, bad employees, sea monsters, not enough money, and other karate chops to the organizational body. Startup illustrates in detail the lessons he learned the hard way—so you don’t have to.

Backed up by stories of both his successes and failures, Ready helps readers learn shortcuts to help them do what eight out of 10 entrepreneurs can’t: Build and sustain a successful start-up.
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Book Description

If you’re trying to build wealth, sharp market downturns are your worst enemy. And nowadays, they’re happening far more often: in the last 18 years, the S&P 500 has experienced sixteen violent declines. Institutions and professional investors have mastered powerful hedging techniques for dramatically reducing the risks of market volatility. Now, you can do it, too–and you can’t afford not to. In Buy and Hedge, two leading investment experts show how to apply hedging as part of a long-term program for growing and preserving your assets. CNBC Fast Money guest Jay Pestrichelli and seasoned financial industry veteran Wayne Ferbert show how to systematically protect yourself against violent downward moves while giving your portfolio maximum room to run in upward markets. The authors’ techniques are easy to use, can be applied to most investment vehicles, and–once implemented–require surprisingly little “care and feeding.” You’ll discover how to take advantage of the hedge-building mechanisms built into low-cost index funds… invest in your ideas with confidence, because you’ve hedged the downside… systematically manage portfolios for risk as well as return… master and apply the “5 Iron Rules of Buy & Hedge”… use options to manage risk, not to create excess leverage… generate more dividends… effectively manage cash… and much more!

From the Back Cover

Grow Your Assets and Reduce Your Risks the Way Top Money Managers Do

“This book is an absolute must read for investors in today’s markets. Download Now »

Book Description

Today, frugal is the name of the game. But you don’t have to take a vow of poverty: You just have to be smarter about how you spend, save, and invest. Sound hard? Not anymore. In The 1-2-3 Money Plan, top personal finance columnist Greg Karp offers 100% practical, 100% specific financial advice everyone can use…organized into simple three-step plans that tell you exactly what to do and how and where to do it! Discover how to save money by putting your bills on autopilot…which specific brand names to buy in everything from index funds to cellphones…how to improve your credit rating…how to get the right insurance, without wasting money on unnecessary coverage…easier ways to save for college and plan for retirement…and a whole lot more. Finally: simple, reliable financial advice you can act on, from an award-winning expert you can trust!

• Don’t be paralyzed by perfection: Be good enough
  Better a good decision now than a perfect decision someday
• Just set it and forget it
  Make the financial decisions you only need to make once and can then ignore for years
• Stop wasting money on things you don’t care about
  Plug wasteful spending leaks, so you can redirect cash to things you truly care about
• Easy step-by-step techniques and specific recommendations
  What to buy, in everything from mutual funds to cellphone service Download Now »

Book Description

Have you realized yet that when you trade you are not just trading stocks? You’re trading against expert traders who care about only one thing: taking your money. Most traders fail miserably because they never grasp this #1 reality of trading. Successful trading takes much more than just opening an online account and learning a few basic technical analysis patterns.

In Trade the Trader, top trader and hedge fund manager Quint Tatro shows you how to build a solid strategy to win consistently in the extremely competitive world of trading, where sometimes you can’t just trade the stocks before you, but you must trade the trader who’s trading against you. You’ll master the real psychology and gamesmanship of trading and learn how to outsmart your competition at every step–from choosing target investments to knowing when to move.

• Know your adversaries: “smart” money and “dumb”
  Beating the fools, surviving the geniuses
• Get beyond the basics with charts and patterns
  What amateur chart readers know–and how to play several moves ahead of them
• Plan your trade; trade your plan
  Optimize your entire trade, from entry point through exit strategy
• Be ready if you’re wrong
  Implement the disciplined stop system that’s crucial to consistent success Download Now »

Book Description

Did your investments take a hit in the recession? You’re not alone. Between 2007 and mid-year 2009, the average 401K lost 31% of its value. Ouch. It’s time to take control of your investments with Personal Investing: The Missing Manual. Financial experts agree that with the right guidance, consumers can make investments better than many professionals. This lively and easy-to-understand guide gives you the confidence, tools, and insight you need to evaluate financial products and make smart investments that target success over the long term.

You’ll learn how to set long-term goals for critical, high-cost events such as retirement, your children’s education, and future health care needs. Then you’ll learn what types of investments will best help you achieve those goals. In step-by-step fashion, this book shows you how to research mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and other financial products to create a portfolio of diversified investments.

• Get crystal-clear, practical advice from personal finance expert Bonnie Biafore, author of Missing Manuals on the Quicken personal-finance program and QuickBooks business finance program
• Understand why you need to invest — Biafore shows you how savings accounts simply won’t outpace inflation or give you the returns you need for long-term goals
• Learn how to evaluate and buy traditional investments, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds Download Now »