However, I don’t care, its philosophy is spot-on. Gordon Brown and the liberal, PC, namby-pamby fucking British Thought Police should read it and inwardly digest its message.

Quote: “IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.”

“This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!”

“Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.”

“We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.”

“This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom: THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.”

“If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.”

Whether or not it was said by any Aussie PM, current or not, I’d say that it is simple, down-to-earth advice to any would-be immigrant looking to settle in any country other than their own.

Basically, fit in or fuck off!

I’ll just sit here and wait for the flak now.

This video clip is from the US Pole Dancing Championships and, as you will see, a girl has to be pretty darned fit to compete in this arena.

Now when I say ‘fit’ I mean as an athlete, we all know they’re FIT, don’t we?!

So I just thought I’d show you what you need to be practising on if you want to enter next year’s Championships. Great bit of music too.

This post is definitely not just another excuse to show a bit of gratuitous scantily-clad girly stuff. Even if it was, what’s wrong with that anyway?

What do you think? Gratuitous exhibitionism or serious exercise routine?

Their various spokespersons are saying that the object is to raise people’s awareness of the importance of “re-using, recycling and reducing the consumption of plastic bags which are only used once”.

Ecologists have welcomed the decision, pointing out that the average plastic bag has a useful life of only 12 hours but takes 400 years to decompose.

Of course, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that from 2010 they will be charging their customers 0.50 cents to 1 euro for each of their new re-usable bags!

Now, I have no idea how many people go through the supermarkets’ doors every day but apparently in Spain the consumption of plastic bags averages 238 per person a year. This puts it about third in the EU – not an enviable position.

With a population of roughly 40 million, that makes 9.5 billion bags a year – a huge market to be exploited in the name of the “environment”.

I’m all for cleaning up our environment and the planet in any way we can, but why does anything with the title “green” or “organic” or “environmentally friendly” have to come with a price tag to the poor consumer? It surely can’t be any more expensive to produce a bio-degradable bag than it is a plastic one.

Plus, if the supermarkets are so “concerned” about the pollution caused by their plastic, what are they going to do about the millions of polystyrene trays and the miles of clingfilm they throw at us every day?

So, are the supermarkets getting greener? Or greedier? What do you think?

The ‘Gurus’ are always telling us that content is king and that we must strive to keep churning out ever-changing original content if we are to gain brownie points from the Great Gods of Google.

You can’t stand still for a minute or your site will plummet to the depths of obscurity, keep those fingers working and those words flowing.

Here, let me help you… Invest in this course, watch that video from ‘my buddy’ John Doe, buy now from my link and get all these useless re-hashed bonuses ($597 value) for FREE! You know the sort of thing, I’m sure.

Got a website? No good, what you really need is a blog. Here, let me help you…

Got a blog? No good, you need to be getting into social media. Here, let me help you…

Need I go on?

Content is King, of course

Now don’t get me wrong, if your content is crap you’re never going to get anywhere. It has to be well written, relevant and on topic. It has to have authority and it has to attract other sites to link to you.

But it doesn’t necessarily have to be constantly changing.

What gives me the right to question all those SEO gurus? Experience!

Now I’m not saying for a minute that I’m more experienced than them, I would be the first one to bow down to their greater knowledge. What I am saying is that from my experience this ‘constantly updated content’ theory doesn’t necessarily hold water.

So what’s my experience?

One of my own websites is about Spanish Tapas. It’s a simple site built using tables and a bit of css, and the design is never going to set the world on fire. Also, admittedly, it’s not in the most competetive market in the world, but it’s a nice little niche and it’s something that interests me.

Here is a site that I started in late 2005 and worked on for about a year. This work was obviously centred around creating content, getting the on-page SEO right and link building. (You know, all the stuff the ‘gurus’ want to sell you ebooks and courses about.) I ended up with over 50 pages of good (I think) content.

My aim was to get it to the top of Google, or at least above Wikipedia, as an exercise to show my SEO clients what I can do. Well now it’s there, alternating between position 1 and position 2 for my main keyword (which is ’spanish tapas’ strangely enough!). It’s also on page 1 for many of my other keywords.

So what’s my point?

Well, the point is that since I finished working on it in Sept 2006 I’ve hardly updated the content at all!

Yes, I keep an eye on it and check that everything is working from time to time but other than that it just sits there, looking after itself. Not only that but in the last three years it’s gone from PR3 to PR5.

It earns me a bit of passive income from affiliate links but I’m not going to get rich on it! That wasn’t the main object of the exercise anyway. The main point is that it’s there at number 1, and has been there for a long time, without the need for ever-changing content.

So which of you copywriting/seo/marketing/blogging ‘Gurus’ out there can explain why my humble little tapas website is lording it at the top of Google, all the while being basically ignored by me over the last three years?

Other resources:

Being so close to Africa gives Spain’s southern coast its perfect climate yet it’s only 2 – 3 hours away from most northern European airports.

Ok, it might not be exotic like India or the Far East, or spectacular like the Rocky Mountains, but to most of Europe it’s… near! Plus it’s still in Europe, with all the infrastructure and familiarity that goes with it.

So contrary to what the nay-sayers would have you believe the Costa del Sol is still here and hasn’t sunk under a tsunami of greed and corruption.

Granted, we’ve had more than our fair share of this but this has always been the way of the Spanish authorities. Corruption is a part of life, it just comes with the job. Most of the time it’s done under the table and doesn’t really affect your average citizen.

Unfortunately a few mayors and developers have got a bit too greedy, putting a handful of ordinary people at risk of losing their homes, and this has hit the media who have grabbed it in their slavering jaws and shaken it to death.

It must be true, it’s in the papers!

This has given much fuel to the ‘Spanish Bashers’ who read this sensationalist rubbish and are adamant that Spain, the Costa and its property market are finished, destroyed by its own greed.

It has also contributed to the rise of all the dodgy real estate ‘consultants’ who have fled Spain and are now remorselessly pushing their dubious developments in Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, et al. Are they seriously trying to tell us that these places are models of democratic fairness? Do they really think that we believe there’s no corruption going on in these places too?

Do me a favour! If these countries are such a “ground floor investment opportunity” why are all their own citizens banging on the door of civilised Europe in search of a better life?

Why would you want to live in some God-forsaken, third world country anyway? At least Spain’s got a modicum of democracy and a fairly modern infrastructure. An infrastructure, incidently, that they’re now spending millions on to improve.

Massive investment

Things like the new airport terminal at Malaga, tripling its capacity to handle over 20 million visitors a year. Also the new coastal railway line, motorways, hospitals and schools.

High speed rail links to northern Spain are also on the agenda. Ask yourself this: Would they be spending all this money if they thought for one moment that the Costa bubble had burst forever? I don’t think so.

In reality the Costa del Sol has already had its ‘boom and bust’. The boom happened between 1999 and 2004 and the bust came between 2005 and 2007. So when the rest of the world had its financial meltdown in 2008 it didn’t affect us much because we were already there.

Granted, the property market is pretty-much a buyers one today but the buyers are there, and more and more are coming back, because prices are realistic at the moment.

Leading the way to recovery

The Costa del Sol was ahead of the meltdown and it will lead the recovery because it’s where people want to be. Why else would Spain be spending so much on its facilities and infrastructure?

We knew all about the pain of recession before the rest of Europe so we’re ideally placed to gallop ahead once the recovery starts in earnest. With the rise in buyer numbers and the more positive outlook of the market we’re already taking the first steps.

So don’t believe the Spanish Bashers, the Costa del Sol will remain Europe’s Hot-Spot for a long time yet.

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Apologies if this site’s not looking or working properly, it’s a bit of a work in progress as I’m upgrading to the latest version of Wordpress, changing themes and generally giving this blog a spring-clean ready to get it ROCKIN’ once more.

Thanks for your patience.

But before you reach for your credit card yet again just take a moment and ask yourself this: Do you realistically think that you could set up any ‘normal’ business and make it successful just by buying a $99 ebook and then sitting back while the money floods in?

No, I thought not. You will very soon be on the road to financial ruin if you follow such a path in the ‘real’ world of commerce.

So why do you think it’s possible to do it online? I’ll tell you why:

Because it’s the INTERNET!

We all know that millionaires are made overnight on the INTERNET, right? It’s different on the INTERNET.

Well I’m sorry to pee on your fireworks, but it’s NOT. It’s just as hard to make a living online as it is offline, or anywhere else. In fact it can be even harder because the interweb waters are full of sharks, imposters and wannabees. And they all want only one thing: YOUR MONEY!

Basically you have to look at your online business in exactly the same way as any offline business. For either to succeed you need to concentrate on the fundamentals.

The 6 Steps To Success

1. DETERMINATION – You have to WANT it, and want it enough to see it through, come what may. There will be many pitfalls and disappointments along the way, so you need to be able to overcome them and carry on regardless.
2. KNOWLEDGE – You have to be a SPONGE for knowledge, to soak up everything you can about your chosen niche. You have to be the expert in your field, the go-to guy who solves the problem.
3. APPLICATION – Knowledge is power, but only if you APPLY that knowledge. Make it work for you and use it to further your business and make more money. Use your knowledge also to empower your target market, give them something they can’t get anywhere else, then you’ll have a happy customer who’ll keep coming back.
4. STAYING POWER – No matter how many ‘Gurus’ tell you otherwise, it is NOT going to happen overnight. You have to stick with it and stay focussed. Whatever you do, don’t start thinking, “This is too hard, I’ll try something else”. You have to KEEP GOING on your chosen track. By just doing this one thing you will have out-lasted 95% of all the other ‘online entrepreneurs’ out there.
5. DISCIPLINE – Folks, someone has to tell you this: You have to get out of bed in the morning, start up your computer and GO TO WORK! You need discipline to do this EVERY DAY. Do NOT believe anyone who tells you otherwise. Okay, you don’t have to give up your day job in the beginning, but if you want to make the big bucks you have to put in the time and effort. And once you’re making good bucks you CAN give up your J-O-B! How good will that make you feel?
6. RUTHLESSNESS – Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you go out there and ’shaft’ everyone while you’re clawing your way to the top. But you need to be ruthless in weeding out those daily non-important tasks and concentrate on the things that make you MONEY! You have to be ruthless and unsubscribe from the hundreds of time-wasting emails you’re going to get from other ‘Gurus’ recommending their ‘buddy’s’ latest system/course/ebook for making money while sitting on your butt with your feet up.

Never forget that business is business wherever you conduct it and the rules are the same. You will find that all the self-made millionaires out there, online and offline, have bucket-loads of every one of the above attributes. If you’re very lucky, you might find one of these successful businessmen/women to share his/her knowledge with you and set you on the right road from the start.

But beware, check out their credentials thoroughly first, and look for the proof to back up the hype. Be very careful who you listen to, and be even more careful who you give your money to, on the big w3.

If you do find someone who’s walking the walk and not just talking the talk, grab the opportunity with both hands and GO WITH IT! You will have just left most of your competition choking in your dust!

You’ll find one guy who definitely walks the walk at www.W3MoneyMakers.com Go there and see what he has to offer, then make your own mind up.

Other resources:

Let me ask you a very simple question: Can you tear yourself away from your computer and go out there in the big wide world and TALK TO PEOPLE? You remember that, don’t you? Social interaction with real human beings!

Here’s an extremely simple method of earning real money for anyone with a modicum of website/online marketing knowledge: Get your shoes on and visit your local small to medium businesses and start talking to them about their websites and their online marketing strategy.

Chances are you will discover that most of them won’t have one! Or if they do have a website it won’t be working anywhere near as effectively as it should. Guess what? A good percentage of them will happily pay you to redesign, or market, or optimise their site for them!

This is not fantasy, my friends, this is fact. I know because I do it and have been doing it for quite a while. And it pays very well!

Now I’m not the world’s leading web designer or SEO guru, but I know enough about these things to be able to make a big difference to the average website. One thing is absolutely certain and that is that I know a damn-sight more than most small business owners.

They are so tied up in running their business that they just don’t have the time, or inclination, to worry about a website. They probably paid some agency a fortune to design a pretty site for them that now just sits there, lost in the mists of Google, and is not working for them.

You’ve just got to go right in there and talk to them. Find out what they need and give it to them. Offer your expertise to get their site noticed and working and they will be more than happy to pay you for the privilege – and pay you handsomely!

Believe me, once you have proved that you can do what you say, you’ll have a client for life. A client you can charge a monthly hosting/webmastering fee. A client who will be open and willing to listen to your next ideas for improvement and optimisation, and who will pay you again for them. A client who will be happy to recommend you to his friends – and to anyone else who’ll listen!

Think you can’t do this? If you’re doing it for yourself at the moment to earn a pitiful few dollars with Adsense or affiliate programs, why can’t you do it for someone else? And in the process earn yourself a real income?

I’m not joking, you can easily make £500, or £1500, or £5000 per site if you just approach this in the right way. What’s the right way? Get off your arse and go and talk to these people! It really is as simple as that.

If you want to learn more about this little goldmine there is a FREE report written by Andrew Cavanagh called Offline Gold for Online Marketers which you can download simply by clicking the link. It’s in the form of a forum thread and it will open your eyes to the real possibilities out there. There’s no opt-in or email required, just a straightforward download.

Other resources:

Now, allow me to let you in on a little secret: making good coffee is not hard! I just load up the machine, get a shot of espresso, steam-up the milk and voila! Although I say it myself, I make pretty-damn-good coffee!

Why then, when I’m in the UK, can I not find a single so-called ‘coffee shop’ that can give me the same thing? Believe me, I’ve tried most of the chains – Starbucks, Costa, Nero, Republic, etc. – and also a lot of independent cafes and ’specialist’ shops.

Why can’t they make coffee like the Continentals? And why is coffee so expensive in the UK? And why does this expensive brown liquid always taste like someone’s washed their socks in it?

As you may know, I live in southern Spain so I can also go to any bar or cafe at any time of the day or night and get a proper, strong, flavourful cup of coffee. Not only that but it will only cost me about 1.30€. That’s about a pound of your English money, or a coupla bucks US.

Granted, it won’t be the size of a builder’s mug but who wants a f***ing great vatful anyway? What it will be is small, concentrated and coffee-flavoured. If you’re not satisfied by just the one you can always have another, it’ll still be half the price of your average mug of piss that you get in the UK.

Come on guys, what’s the problem? If I can do it, and every cafe, bar and restaurant in Spain (or Italy, or France) can do it, surely it can’t be beyond the realms of possibility that you could do it too?