Yes, John Chow, I WILL review your book for a chance at winning an iPad, thank you!

I admit it. I would do just about anything for an iPad. (Far more than I would do for a Klondike Bar, although sometimes it'd be close.)

So when I saw that John Chow and Michael Kwan were giving away two of them to readers of their book, "Make Money Online: Roadmap of a Dot Com Mogul," there was more reason than ever to buy his book because I figured that even if I lost, I'd at least have it in my possession and could benefit from their wisdom, marinated in countless eons of experience online (11 years in Internet-time).

By the way, the positive or negative tone of our reviews is not what will win or lose us the iPad, so you can be assured my opinions below are genuine.

Yesterday it arrived, so I immediately whipped out my camera and began staging the photo I needed of me holding the book (this was one of the ways to receive an entry in the iPad drawings). I solicited the cooperation of my cat, Zinni, because I didn't want to be in the picture alone. (Or at all, to be honest. But there is a price one must pay if one wants to acquire new and shiny Apple gadgets.)

Well, Zinni wasn't in a particularly cooperative mood, and therefore I have 64 blurry photos that show her leaving the scene just as the flash kicks in and only one of the three of us, which I sent to John:

Zinni makes "meowney" with affiliate marketing, by the way. You can see the "Prognosticats" predicting American Idol results at predictidol.com. She's the one on the left. (Zoey, on the right, had a dismal showing this year.)

Anyway, when Zinni was done with the book, I wrestled it from her overgrown claws and, after I stopped the bleeding, read the whole thing in one sitting. And I am happy to announce that I actually got one-third of the way through it before I learned anything new.

That is not a negative statement about John's book; I took it as a good sign about me; I'm glad I've come far enough to already know most of what's in it. That may sound arrogant, but rather than being disappointed that there wasn't something new in every chapter, I was feeling good because it boosted my confidence that I occasionally do know what I'm doing.

I'm not making $30,000 to $40,000 a month like he is (yet), but reading this book has reminded me that those numbers are not out of my reach if I work for it. (Thing is, I don't need to make that much; most other people probably don't, either. Still, it's nice to know that it's not impossible.)

As I read, I kept a running list of about half a dozen or so tips and suggestions, whether they were new to me or not, that I do plan to implement on my own blogs, such as reverse targeting to make Google display Adsense blocks that are more relevant to the main thrust of your articles as opposed to the occasional tangents we all go off on, and sponsoring a WordPress theme in order to get your link out there on any site that uses the theme.

The writing style is easy to follow. There are some things that got mentioned several times, but not out of carelessness; they were important ideas that definitely bore repeating. One of the main points he makes sure you remember is that your blog needs YOU at its heart. That way it will always be unique, and people will continue to be interested in your take on things.

This is not a step-by-step here-are-all-the-technical-aspects-of-installing-a-blog-and-this-is-exactly-how-you-write-a-post kind of book. Rather than getting bogged down in technical details, which purpose is competently filled by many tutorials out there, he gives a brief overview of what steps need to be taken to build a successful blog and then discusses the various concepts and methods that have brought him success.

These methods are really just the basics, but with his personal experience and unique stamp. Give your human visitors quality content that will keep them coming back. Network with other webmasters and provide them value too. Adapt to changing circumstances; don't put all your eggs in one basket. Persevere; don't just give up when your first few months of blogging don't make you obscenely rich.

So is John evil? Yes. Yes, he is. In fact, the very root of it, I hear. However, in the photo on the back of the book, he doesn't look near as evil as Zinni does in the one above. And I think you will enjoy the book. It was worth the money and I'll definitely be going back to it for reminders from time to time.

If that fuzzy orange critter who lives here lets me borrow it again.

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Tagged as: dot com mogul, ipad, john chow, make money online, review