A while ago I started using a new strategy for writing posts to my blogs: an editorial calendar. It’s low-tech, a paper wall calendar where I can see one month at a time. In combination with the calendar, I have two clipboards, one for each blog, hanging from the shelf above my desk. On the clipboards I write down ideas as they come to me. So at any given time there are a dozen or more ideas per blog. Every weekend I take the calendar off the wall and put it on the kitchen table, then I strategically take some ideas from the clipbaords and plot out the coming week, with the posts for both blogs and their respective newsletters. All this to say that I had a post programmed for today. It was the announcement of my Amazon Store on this site, something I’m very excited about.


At the same time, I am now taking part in the 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge, and today, day 2, our task is to write a list post. List posts can be great, because they allow the writer to easily organize her thoughts while also helping the reader. Lists are easy to scan, so the reader can see if there is anything of vital interest in the article without having to read the whole thing.

What was going to be an essay post in which I waxed poetic on the joys of having my own Amazon Store (aStore for short) is now going to be a list post which will break things down very easily for you, my dear readers. Here are the 5 reasons it’s g-r-e-a-t to have an aStore:

1. If you like my blog and the tech tips I give you, in addition to the “putting your skills online” tips, you will be interested in the books I recommend. Also, since Amazon sells everything, my store is not limited to books, so when for instance I answered a question on how two computers can share one monitor, I was able to list in my store the sexy device switcher thingy sold by Amazon that will do exactly what my friend Denise wants. So, reason number 1 is that having my own store allows me to recommend books and other products I think you as my readers might enjoy. One thing I would like to point out here is that having this store allows me to practice what I preach. I have taken some offline skills I have and put them online: I am good at teaching people how to do things, and I am also trustworthy, honest and reliable. You as my readers know you can count on me to tell it like it is, so if I recommend something you can be sure it is what I say it is.
2. I am not limited to the Amazon categories. If I want to create a category called “All Things Polka-Dotted,” I can. And then I can put in it shoes, books, beauty products, cell phone, you name it. There is no rule that says I can only put the same type of product in a category. I get to mix and match however I please. This means that I can create “kits,” a grouping of items that one might need for a specific task or goal: A book, some tools, an appliance, an electronic gadget could all go together in the “Get Rid of Your In-laws Without Getting Caught” category.
3. You, the readers, have a very pleasant and straightforward experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon.com as much as the next gal, but when you find a product you think you might like and you start to scroll down to check out a review or the product description, you have to wade through a ton of “people who bought this also bought” and “frequently bought together” and “recommended for you” stuff before you finally get to the information you’re looking for. Not so in my aStore! Here you get a compact description of exactly the product you click on, nothing more, nothing less. In my book that’s worth a lot right there. Even I like to check out the products I recommend in my own store.
4. I get a commission on everything you buy. This is a nice perk for me, and if you enjoy the blog it will also give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, since you will be supporting the blog.  [oh, there is also 4a - I believe that if you click on the amazon button in the top of the button that contains the categories and go on to buy any product on Amazon.com at all, I get a commission; the reasoning being that you may not have visited Amazon.com that day had it not been for my store. Pretty nice, eh? So if you go in for a book and end up buying a lawn mower, I get a commission on that as well. Sweet!]
5. It has a personalized design, so I get to choose the features that the store has. I have chosen two features for my aStore. In addition to the small square at the top that contains the categories of products to be found in the store, you will find a Similar Items window, which might come in handy. If you click on a product, a second window opens up between the Category window and the Similar Items window, called Listmania! This is a compilation of lists made by Amazon customers like you and me, also lists that can cross categories (I’m not the first to have thought of this). If the item you have clicked on is on someone’s Listmania! list, then the link to the list will appear in the Listmania! window. I also get to choose the look and feel of the store, meaning the background color, the color of the links, the color of the banner, etc. I think my store is simple and pleasing to look at. What do you think?

So, don’t forget, when you read a review on the blog, or you think of buying something on Amazon, head to my store and use it as your portal. You will be getting what you want and I will be getting a small commission. Every little bit counts! Look for the aStore button on the upper right-hand corner of any page in the blog, and click on it. Thanks!

Related posts:

1. Ask Egg Bird: How to Sell a Book Published Abroad on Amazon In this post I answer the question, how to sell...
2. Day 1 of the 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge: The Elevator Pitch In this post I accept the Challenge launched by Darren...

I just wrote a nice long post about what this challenge is over on turtle^haus, my other blog. But if you don’t feel like taking a detour over there to find out about it, I will briefly outline it here.

The great Darren Rowse, who inispires me in so many ways, is promoting this Challenge. It’s the third time he’s doing it and every time it’s a little different. This is for people who already have a blog or two and want to take it or them to the “next level.” I would qualify as one of those people. So as I do the challenge I’m going to tell you all about it, so in case you ever want to start a blog, or you already have one but don’t quite feel up to the Challenge, you know where to read up on the various tasks and how it feels to go through them.

Today is day 1 of the Challenge, and we have been given our first task. It is: Write an Elevator Pitch for your Blog. The idea of an elevator pitch is, if you find yourself on an elevator with someone who could be a good person to network with, who could hire you, become a business partner, give you a nice affiliate program, write a review about your blog, interview you on the radio about your blog — you have about 30 seconds of elevator time to tell them what your blog is about in an interesting, captivating, intriguing way that is going to be clear but at the same time leave that person wanting to know more.

So here is my Elevator Pitch for Life+Web:

Hi, my name is Ilaria and I write a blog called Life+Web. It’s a blog made especially for the times we live in. I give people who are technologically challenged the tools to make friends with the computer and the internet. Then I show them various ways in which they can reinvent themselves, teaching them how to put their offline skills online and market them.

It takes me 19 seconds to deliver this, with the appropriate pauses for effect. Please let me know in the comments what you think of my Elevator Pitch. If you were in that elevator with me, would you get off and go check out the blog?

Related posts:

1. 31-Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge Roundup – Days 4-21 In this post a summary and roundup of days 4...
2. 5 Great Reasons to Have an aStore (Amazon Store) – Day 2 – 31-DBBB Challenge In this post I fulfill the task for the second...

Dear Readers, it is with delight, pleasure, honor and great excitement that I proudly announce the birth of our newsletter.
The newsletter is open to everyone, completely free and will be coming out twice a month, the second and fourth Friday of every month. All you have to do is subscribe! You will see the nice blue sign-up form in the top right-hand corner of the page. Just write your name and email address in the form and click submit. You will receive an email asking you to confirm that you really want to subscribe. Just click on the link in the email and you’ll instantly become a member of the exclusive club of newsletter receivers. Shortly thereafter you will receive the welcome newsletter announcement.
Here’s what you can expect to find in the newsletter, going forward:

• The highlights of the previous two weeks of activity on the blog — this will be especially useful if you’ve been extra busy and  have not had time to read every word of every post. This will be a handy summary with the highlights pointed out;
• There will be special features, articles that appear only in the newsletter, just for members. After all, if you make the effort to subscribe it’s only fair that you should get a little special reward, right?
• Answers to Egg Bird questions — there are occasionally questions that are very basic and I may decide that they don’t merit a whole blog post of their own, or sometimes I just can’t get to all of them. Here I will try to give the quick and dirty answers to all the questions I can’t get to on the blog. There should be something useful for everyone.

So come on, what are you waiting for? Sign up for the newsletter and you will get the first “real” newsletter on Friday. That’s right, in just two days! See you there.

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