Other Resources

There are a number of resources used here on Straight to the Bar which don't fall in to the usual strength-training categories. These help to keep the site itself running smoothly (both physically and financially), so I can spend my time investigating strength-training techniques.

If you use any of these on your own site, I'm very keen to hear your feedback. It really does make an enormous difference here.

Financial

This is easily the most comprehensive guide to affiliate marketing I've come across. Although it was first written in 2003, the information is regularly updated and the most recent version contains highly relevant information on establishing a solid income through affiliate marketing.

No matter how long you've been online, if you want to make some serious money through affiliate marketing - this is the ideal book.

ClickBank

ClickBank is definitely my weapon of choice when it comes to selling information products. Whether you're selling your own stuff or other peoples' products, it's well worth checking out.

I've been reading Copyblogger for a while now, and the information has helped me enormously. If you'd like to see how you can benefit financially by working with other site owners, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.

If you'd like to help sell someone else's products online, the RAP software will make that process as simple as possible. As it's been designed by people with plenty of Joint Venture experience, it's highly customisable and enables all of the combinations and arrangements you'd expect. Superb.

This is the ultimate coaching program for anyone who wants to make serious money as a blogger. If the idea of 'getting paid to do what you love' appeals to you, this is the perfect place to start. Love it.

Traffic

When it comes to email marketing, Aweber is king. Whether handling your regular newsletters, email courses or autoresponders; Aweber is at the top of the tree. Beautiful.

I've learnt an incredible amount over the years from several blogs; notably Problogger. If your goal is to earn a solid income through blogging, Problogger is for you.

When it comes to promoting your articles, Blog Carnivals are definitely near the top of the list.

If you've never heard the term, just think of a regular list of links on a particular topic (Wikipedia has a more detailed version). In the case of Straight to the Bar, the relevant Blog Carnivals cover the topics of strength-training, fitness and health.

A couple of the ones I've successfully used in the past :

• Healthbolt
• Running is Funny

Social Bookmarking, Social Networking and Presence applications

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• Flickr
• Facebook
• Myspace
• Netscape
• Stumbleupon
• Squidoo
• Twitter
• YouTube

»» more »»

Books, Magazines and DVDs

There are also a number of other seemingly unrelated books which have helped both in my own training and the running of this site. A few of my favourites :

• Think And Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
  Despite the title, this isn't just a book about money. This has helped enormously when it comes to reaching my own training goals.
• Lateral Thinking - Edward de Bono
  You know the feeling you get when you've just worked out a new way of performing an exercise? This book will help you reach that point over and over again.
• The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
  This book superbly illustrates the way in which ideas and products can quickly move from unknown to everybody's talking about it. Highly recommended.
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
  No matter what your training goals are, this book will help you reach them as efficiently as possible. Strongly recommended.
• Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
  Regardless of the situation, there's always another way of looking at things. Brilliant.

In addition, I'm a huge fan of services such as Audible; particularly as it enables me to 'read' while I'm doing other things. After all, you can never learn too much.

How about you - which books/products/services have you found most helpful in running your own site?