All you need in addition to our back end system is a marketing plan and Web site that I will build for you in XSitePro. This Web site will allow publishers and advertisers to sign up for your ad network and to log in if they are already members. It will consist of a home page, contact page, about us page, advertisers and publishers pages, resources page, privacy policy, etc. The design will be customized to your niche (vertical) market. http://www.verticalmarketadnetwork.com

I applied this thinking to my own work recently. I was totally stuck and stressed out trying to put out a Camtasia video on “how to create a simple template in XSitePro” (something my clients have been clamoring for). Then it struck me, my forte is writing, not speaking. So I wrote a step-by-step report, added dozens of screen shots, created a nice little bonus report… and in a few days the job was done. No more stress!

The Web is evolving and audio and video seem to be “the thing” right now, but they aren’t “my thing”? If the thought of having to use audio and video to create products holds me back, then they aren’t effective at all… for me! Maybe I’ll work on mastering Camtasia. Maybe I’ll do small videos first so I don’t become overwhelmed and stuck. Or maybe I’ll stick to what I know. I don’t think the written word is dead… not just yet anyway!

What is it about? It’s a step-by-step guide to creating a basic, simple, but professional-looking template in XSitePro V.1. There is a need for simple XSitePro templates for all kinds of purposes: AdSense sites, affiliate sites, product review sites, landing pages, sales letters, practice sites, and so on. And it serves to teach concepts like simple rollover navigation, double borders, adding a table to the header section, setting up a template from scratch, etc.

I know V.2 is coming out May 20/08, but it’s going to be more complex to use than V.1 and the templates, while lovely, are not customized to your business. You will still have to customize them or have a custom template made. You will quickly start seeing the default XSP 2.0 templates all over the Web and soon realize that even a simple template customized to your business is preferable to looking like every other XSitePro user out there. And certainly preferable to — shudder! — typing your business name over a generic template header… no matter how pretty the design!

I just have the bonus report to do now and I’ll be offering this tutorial for sale. Not sure of the price yet, but it will be very affordable, for sure.

I still plan to tackle a project in Camtasia. Maybe I’ll use it to capture some tips for V2.0. I know I can help everyone with V2.0 as I was one of the beta testers so I already have a very good handle on how everything works. I will also be able to create custom templates and QuickPages for you.

In addition, on a custom header your Web site name will be beautiful and crisp because it will be incorporated into the header graphic itself, not just typed over it. You’ve seen those ugly, jagged titles on headers. Think cheap. Think generic. Is that what you want associated with your business? If not, you know where to find me!

Meanwhile, I recently thought of a kind of template that my clients can easily create themselves and that gives them an unlimited set of unique, fast-loading templates for launching quick and dirty (well, more like attractive and professional) Web sites for affiliate products, sales letters, Google AdSense sites, Pay-Per-Click landing pages, etc. I am going to create a video to show you how to do that. It will be my first Camtasia video ever, so here’s hoping it will be good since I’ll be selling it for a whopping $7.00! I guess it would be like one of those $7 Warrior Forum Offers (WFO) except it’s an XSPDO (XSite Pro Designs Offer) or maybe an AWO (Andrea Wilson Offer or Able Webs Offer, take your pick). Now don’t look for this tomorrow, as I’m just starting a week-long project for a client. But once that’s delivered, I’ll dust off Camtasia and have a go at putting this together for you.

And, yes, it will work in XSite Pro 2. And while you may be tempted with all the new eye-candy in XSite Pro 2, there will always be a place for simple sites that you can knock out in minutes, without using graphics-heavy, complex, and hard-to-maintain templates. My biggest fear about the pretty new templates is how much more difficult they will be to maintain for the average user. I somehow think the support side of my XSitePro Designs business is going to increase many fold.

On another note entirely, my son and I are planning a trip to the south of France in October, so I’m starting to get things done like passport application, research, etc. Good friends of mine know that area well, so I’ll be talking to them quite a bit about the best places to stay and visit. They might even go at the same time. That would be so cool! They already told us to put GPS on the laptop we’ll be taking… NEVER would have thought of that! My son speaks French, so I’ll be clinging to him like a desperate leech! My French makes him roll on the floor laughing!

My newest grandson is almost five months old. Yikes, where DOES the time go?! I’m looking forward to seeing his personality emerge. So far, so good. Adorable! Maybe a bit of a worrier, as he had already mastered the worried frown at birth! Now he’s mostly all smiles, but once in a while those frown lines appear. He looks so cute, though. Too bad WE don’t look cute when WE frown!

I haven’t had much chance to put the pre-release version of XSitePro 2.0 through it’s paces, but I did quite a bit of testing on the beta release. Why haven’t I had the time? I’ve been very busy creating XSitePro templates for clients. And even some Dreamweaver sites! I’m a bit behind getting my latest clients’ templates up on my site, but I’ll get them up soon. I can’t put every template up, because of disclosure agreements (yes, a few secrets pass my eyes, that’s for sure!), but the ones I do put up usually get a link from me once their site is working. So that’s a nice bonus for my clients. It means their site gets indexed very quickly by Google. So, if you’re not my client yet, what the heck are you waiting for?

I haven’t tested out the program myself, so I can’t recommend it on personal experience, but the concept looks good. Once you set it up, you publish your site via Easy Directory Manager, not via XSitePro. The set up looks easy and straight forward.

John also has a product called Site Header Pro that enables you to create your own header and add HTML text to the header for SEO purposes. While the header won’t be as crisp and clean as a 100% graphical header (like the ones we make at XSiteProDesigns.com), you might gain a brownie point from Google if you use keywords in the header text. Personally, I prefer a more professional-looking header, but for many people it might be a reasonable solution, especially if you’re graphically challenged. You don’t need software to enable you to make a header like this, however, but if you don’t know how to do it yourself, then by all means use this tool to do it!

I bought another neat gadget from ErgoCanada.com. I got the Toasty Toes Footrest. You plug it in and it warms your feet while you sit at your desk. I don’t like to keep my suite overly warm but I do hate to have cold feet. This footrest solves the problem completely. I can actually turn the heat down a notch!

I added a lovely, big wooden lateral file (like a filing cabinet) and an armchair to my living room, a small bookcase to my bedroom, and a standing coat rack to my hall. Winter coats are bulky so this really takes the pressure off my one clothes closet. All these items came from my friend who lost both her elderly parents recently and had to clear out some things from their home. She also gave a living room suite and some other odds and ends to my son. He was short of furniture after his roommates moved out!

The town house has sold, but the closing date is the end of March so I have a few weeks to wait until I can put that part of my life behind me and really move on. At some point I may consider using the profit from the town house to buy an apartment, but I’m not ready for that yet.

I’ve been doing some beta testing for XSite Pro Version 2.0. While I’m sworn to secrecy, you can glean a few facts from the XSite Pro forum. Don’t laugh, but I’m doing my testing on a site that will feature my very own diet tips! It’s the last thing I would suggest you choose as a niche market. I actually use the health and diet market as an example of “what not to do” when you get into Internet marketing, but I’m having fun with it and, hey, there’s always room for one more if you know what you’re doing… right? Right? Hmm… Oh well, it’s pretty much a throw away site so no loss if it doesn’t make any money.

A client and online friend just joined Perry Marshall’s Bobsled Run. I’m looking forward to his success on the program. I may just take it myself if he does well. It’s hard to lose with the kind of guarantee Perry offers, so I’m really tempted to take it now, along with my friend, but as busy as I am at the moment, I’m not sure how I’d keep up with the assignments. I’m very competitive in that kind of situation so I have to go into it knowing I can do well… or at least keep up!

I added a couple of new clients’ templates to my site today. And there’s one coming that I think will blow your socks off, but it’s for a non-profit organization so the wheels grind slowly. The template is ready, but they haven’t given me the content they want added yet. I wish I could put up every template I do, but often I’m doing them for folks who don’t want anyone to know they didn’t build their own site. Internet marketers, for example. Oh well, they provide a good business for me, so no complaints.

Off to bed now. My friend is coming in the morning to help me put SoftPaws on one of my cats (Merry). He’s decided the new living room chair makes a good scratching post. My other cat (Pippin) is quite content to use the scratching post and not the furniture. I opened the door yesterday and both cats ventured outside briefly. Come Spring, I’m sure they’ll start to get brave and eventually become indoor/outdoor cats, instead of indoor cats. Merry can’t wear his SoftPaws outside though as he won’t have any traction on his front feet and that means he might not escape danger if he needs to. However, once he’s outside a lot, I think he will be much less likely to scratch the furniture. In the past, my indoor/outdoor cats never touched the furniture. So this might be one of the last times I put the SoftPaws on him. Anyway… off to bed.