Paddling in the Pond

Like a good many others I’m sure, I have my fair share of memories of stuff that I’ve tried over the years, and have a couple of hard drives full of useless crap to prove it. But dang, at the time that looked soooo good, it was almost magical it seemed, I just had to have it! Sound familiar? Come on, be honest – of course it does.

But along the way….

…you “meet” people. People you have no idea who or what they really are, but something just resonates with you – it could be their writing style, could be their wit, often their willingness to reach out & share some wisdom. I met a couple of such people in the last few months, where one led to the other, and I’ve found myself paddling around in an entirely new “pond” – and loving it.

Getting my feet wet….

I’ve been a fan of Paula & Wanda’s Amazonian Profit Plan for some time, and along with that came a healthy respect for the stuff they share on their blog. They have a diverse audience, who are quite prolific with comments, even guest posts etc.

One such post was from a chap called James Hussey, who wrote a pretty gut wrenching piece on their blog about a year ago. It “got” me, enough to subscribe to his own blog, The Average Genius, and I came to enjoy his writing style, and simply marvel at his productivity level. The dude must never sleep!

Here’s that post => Easy Money is a Tough Road and a Real Gamble – A Success Story

After reading a bunch of James’s posts, one name, Dave, was mentioned frequently, and always in the most positive of ways. It was obvious he was a bit of a mentor to James, and of course, in time I was over at his blog. I could see why he got lots of mentions, good, great stuff graced his pages.

Next thing, I was swimming…

Dave, better known as Zen Duck Dave, runs a blog called Zenduck. It seems he has quite a following, as pretty near every post would elicit 60 – 70 comments. Interesting stuff, well written & pretty down to earth. Easy reading & valuable advice for someone always seeking to improve his Internet Marketing skills, such as yours truly.

Zen Duck Dave runs The Zen Duck Pond Private Members Forum. It’s tag line is Less an SEO Forum, more a Goldmine and it’s a pretty fitting description. Loathe as I was to join yet another monthly subscription based product, this one seemed different somehow.

No airy fairy promises, no up sells, just a community of like minded individuals, from a wide variety of skill sets & experiences – from quietly successful folk to the earnest newbies, with everyone in between, all swimming in “The Pond”, sharing experiences and advice, offering services, swapping successes (& failures) etc., moderated by the Zen Duck himself!

At just $10/month it wont break anyones bank.

Warning: Pond Paddling is Highly Addictive

Though I’ve had immense value from my participation in The Pond, I have to warn you it’s unlike any forum I’ve been a part of, and can be is highly addictive. In fact if you don’t watch it, it could be a bit of a time suck!

However, amongst the 270 odd members there’s an incredible pool of talent. e.g. I know I’ll never be hunting through eLance for writers for my Guest Posting endeavours, and I’ll never bother with doing my own BMR posts as there are members in the Barter Board section who’ll do it way better & way cheaper than I can.

So, there you have it. For the hordes of my followers – all three of you – that’s what I’ve been up to, and why Rocket Rider has been a bit neglected of late.

Now, if you excuse me, I have some paddling to do….