I revised this post on October 27 2009.

Yaro Starak my all time mentor is re-launching his Membership Site Program. Yaro is a young Australian with mysterious Toronto connections (no it’s not me) who is going from strength to strength in the Internet Marketing business.

For a number of years now Yaro has been a blogger. I have completed Yaro’s Blog Mastermind and Membership site programs (updated) and I am a very satisfied student. Yaro is quite the opposite of your normal Internet marketer.

Here are Five Reasons I recommend Yaro Starak.

• He does not Spam you in the sales funnel process

He offers free e-books that are substantial and content rich and actually provide a lot of tools for you to get started. Yes you need to sign up for his email list to get the ebook (he teaches this method in his courses). However, the emails themselves contain very valuable hints.

Check out the ebooks for his two main  programs. You can grab your own copies of these valuable resources at the following links.

Blog Mastermind

Membership Site Mastermind

• He teaches that success comes through effort and does not hold out the promise of instant riches with little or no investment of time or money.

He is the very opposite of many of the late night Internet marketing jockeys I see on late night television. These imply that you can gain the keys to freedom for something like $39.95. Clearly this nominal “investment” is just the beginning and you will be asked to join programs with a monthly subscription or buy additional products. These people just don’t tell you upfront what the investment of money or time is required. Yaro is very upfront about the cost of his programs and he does have a real guarantee. He also preaches the work ethic. You may not succeed if you do the work but you will certainly fail if you do not apply the lessons. Unfortunately too many people have been lead to believe that they can succeed with little effort and their dreams of financial independence or just getting out of the unemployment or welfare trap are easily crushed. I have paid for many programs in the past and Yaro’s is the best. I have actually applied his advice and I am way further than I would have been without him. I’m not profitable yet but Yaro has helped me stay on target and I believe I will succeed through continuing focus.

• He cares about your success

Yes, this sounds sappy and you may not believe it. It’s not about numbers at any price. He looks at a smaller number of students and a higher yet reachable cost. Just the right price to ensure you value the content and treat it seriously but not prohibitively expensive for most. (Note Yaro discusses the various pricing methods in his Membership Site Free Report). He also explains things well and does not talk down to you. You do not have to have a college degree to understand them. Many of his segments are designed to keep your morale up. I have been encouraged to continue by looking at Yaro’s  smiley positive face and his encouraging writing. He has been there done that and probably did not even get the T Shirt. You and I can profit from his early mistakes and get up on the learning curve by avoiding Yaro’s early mistakes and profiting from his experiences.

• The lessons and resources are detailed, numerous and focused

You will not be disappointed with the resources and lessons in Yaro’s courses. He uses a combination of written words, spoken words and videos. He adds useful external references to the mix. The whole experience is enhanced through Forums and frequent Conference calls that are tailored to different world time zones.

Remember again you actually have to participate.

Many have said that Yaro’s stuff is too detailed. Don’t worry or get stressed out. You may have day jobs at least for the time being. You do not have to rush to get through his programs since you have continuing access after the program is finished so you can catch up at your pace. That’s the point these are the courses that keep on giving and giving even when your official lessons are over – you still have access to Yaro.

• Yaro does not practice a “bait and switch” approach

Many programs will have a front person making the sales pitch and you will be turned over to “Associates” who actually teach you the methods of the main person – the “guru”. You will have access to Yaro in both of his programs through forums, e mail and telephone conferences. Yes he is busy and employs people to do administration and answer some questions in the Forum. But you will always have access to him personally. I know I have just completed the lessons in the Blog Mastermind program

All this adds up to value for you.  Yaro has never short changed me in his courses. I am a professional accountant and I look at value added and cost benefit very closely.

Please take a close look at both of his programs.

As I said in my introduction Yaro has re-launched his Membership Site Program and I will be writing more about that during the launch period. My advice is do not procrastinate but certainly grab your Free information packed report now – you have nothing to lose – you can unsubscibe to the emails if you are not interested. I think it’s worth “kicking the tires”of Yaro’s very effective Membership Site business model.

Please take a look at his introductory video.

http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/go.php?offer=darla01&pid=3&u=http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/1111/slide-show/

The start of the video is really inspiring, as Yaro takes you through a slide-show from his 8-month trip around the world.

During his trip he conducted two different membership site launches in two different countries. One of these launches alone generated $211,969 and the other resulted in a $20,000 a month income stream.

In the second half of this video Yaro Starak takes you behind the scenes of two case studies of people who are using his online marketing principles to build businesses in unique niches:

- Fran Kerr is helping people treat acne with alternative methods

- Jay Jay is a professional illusionist and magician, who teaches people his tricks using online video

Please go over and view the video right now.

I am a satisfied student from the Blog Mastermind program and I have joined Yaro’s Membership Site Mastermind program. I would love to have you as a fellow student and read your Forum comments and questions.

By the way everyone if you are not already following me on Twitter please drop by and follow me at

(UPDATE – @darlasycamore)

The small print.

The links are all my affiliate links thanks for your support of this blog.

UPDATE October 27 2009

Yaro has opened up his Membership Site Mastermind Program for the second and last time this year.

I still stand by my evaluation of him and his programs. He underpromises and over delivers. The best feature is that you stay involved with him even after the formal period has ended. You have access to the materials and the updates as long as he owns the program. One of the big bonuses is that you attend calls with him and his associate Gideon bi weekly and ask any question – I am a member of his programs and I find this valuable to keep me going and to help me up the learning curve. Here are the links to the membership site information again (yes they are affiliate links). My endorsement is sincere:

Membership Site Master Plan

(Full of information at no charge or obligation to you)

Membership Mastermind Offering (yes it’s a sales page)

I would like to draw your attention to a site that shows you how to get your video on line from first principles and for the complete beginner. The site shows you step by step how to shoot the video, edit it and get it on You Tube.

In a series of videos on the site www.getyourvideoonline.com Gideon Shalwick shows you how to shoot a simple video (a talking head) with a web cam. He shows how to light the scene using improvised construction lighting readily available from hardware stores. Then he shows you how to edit the video and add impressive titles to your work using software that is available at no extra cost. You can also add intro and fade out music from a Royalty free music source. The end product looks quite good even if it is shoot with improvised resources at nominal cost. Finally Gideon shows you the process of getting your video uploaded to You Tube.

This series of videos is all free and too good to be true perhaps. Gideon makes this material available as a way of showcasing his great talent for producing instructional videos as well as showcasing other products he has for sale on line.

One of these activities is the Become a Blogger program. This is a blogging how to program taught through a series of videos. I am a member of Gideon’s program and I have learned a lot from Gideon. Currently I have been studying his series of videos on Podcasting. I credit Gideon with initiating me into Nerdland by teaching me how to do FTP transfers. What’s next I wonder? Unfortunately at this time the Become a Blogger program is closed to new members. Likely it will open up in a few months but there is no guarantee of course. When it does it might be in a new format – I don’t know. When and if it opens up I will be sure to let you know as soon as possible on this site.

Here is the link to the Become a Blogger Program (yes it’s an affiliate link).

Free Videos

Gideon’s partner in the Become a Blogger series is fellow Australian Yaro Starak. Yaro  has a membership site of his own called Blog Mastermind. I am a member of that program also. I will do a review of this program in the near future. I have completed the six and final month of the program and I can honestly say that Yaro over-delivers on his promises. It’s really hard work to carry out the weekly tasks. If you apply yourself you will learn all the facts about blogging that you might have been afraid to ask. The resources on the membership site, the member’s forum and the frequent interactive conference calls are worth several multiples of the monthly membership. If you are serious about blogging you will not regret joining Yaro’s program.

Here is the link to  Yaro’s site (yes it is an affiliate link also). I will say it was about two months before I took the leap and I did not regret it. I would not have got as far as I have without my prized mentor. One of the benefits of the Blog Mastermind program is your continuing access to the program after the six months this includes the ability to ask Yaro a specific question on the conference call. How’s that for value? You can download a free e-book from Yaro that’s chock full of blogging information. As all the internet folks say somewhat jarringly (is that a word?) you can grab it here by signing up for Yaro’s emails. I would add that the emails are far from spam they themselves contain useful information. It was two months before I decided to take the plunge and I wish I had joined earlier. I would not have learned as much without him. My knowledge has grown exponentially. Once again I emphasize that YOU must be willing to work at it. No Action = No Results.

(NOTE links have been updated to Yaro’s new Affiliate site April 14, 2009)

If you want to have a membership site of your very own Yaro teaches that in a separate program and I have just joined that. I have a lot of confidence in Yaro and he has my unreserved endorsement. Believe me I do not readily give such endorsements – yes I get paid for an affiliate referral but I am very comfortable with this – expect to be put to work on your project or just don’t go there.

Back to Gideon. Here is why I am endorsing Gideon also.

1. He breaks things down into simple step by step elements.
2. He does not overload you with extraneous information – just enough to get your feet wet.
3. If you follow the steps closely you will not go wrong (at least not likely).
4. Gideon is very open and responsive to questions on a timely basis.
5. He over delivers on expectations.
6. He errs on the side of simple alternatives that are cost effective(cheap) rather than recommending expensive software and hardware and other types of equipment not really needed for a beginner.

My intention is to have about one article a week on this blog which is still in infancy. Time flies when you are having fun and I notice that I have missed a bit. I have been learning Podcasting which is taking time and I am also learning Twitter. I have learned a lot about Twitter and I will write a post about it in a few weeks when I have some more experience under my belt. I went from a handful (literally) of followers at the beginning of March to over 1100 now. Stay tuned for some hard won lessons in this blog.

Please follow me on Twitter at

@IFRS_Exorcist

Until next time happy blogging.

Recently I transitioned my blog IFRSCanada: The devil is in the details from its home on Blogspot (also known as “Blogger”) to its own website domain. The process of transfer has been painful but I believe its worthwhile.

There are pros and cons of moving a blog to its own website and I will deal with that in a future post. I will tell you what I found persuasive. For now I can say that starting with a free service such as Blogger was very good. When you first start you really do not know that you will be able to keep up the writing so Blogger is good to get your feet wet as it were. I started blogging on the site in May 2008. It’s less than a year ago but it seems like an eternity when I think of all the things I have learned the hard way. Well it was last month (February 2009) that I finally made the change after much soul searching and planning.

I was asked what I used to construct the site “The IFRS Exorcist” in one of the first posts on that site. I have also been asked about the site “Many Hatty Returns” on which I use a similar approach. The IFRS site is modeled somewhat on the hat site. I thought that it would be a good idea to discuss the ingredients of my sites in a separate post on this blog rather than off topic on either of the two other blogs.

I was convinced by my blogging guru Yaro Starak to set up the blog on a Word Press platform. It was several weeks before I took the leap. I had downloaded his free PDF report . It is free but it contains a whole lot about blogging. You can get your own copy of this free report here

Yes this is an affiliate link. I am a very satisfied member of Yaro Starak’s Blog Master Mind Program The program seems expensive but the weekly lessons are exceptional as are the Members only Forums, Resource material and frequent members only conference calls when you can ask Yaro any question about blogging – directly – it’s awesome! I’ll review Yaro’s program in a future post. It’s well worth considering. You have to work at it and you will get a lot out of it. There is no quick fix and you will not absorb the information intravenously.He delivers way beyond expectations. I would not say that just to get affiliate commissions.  He deserves success. He is a young Australian who has applied himself – well done. A final thought if you think hiring a professional is too expensive try hiring an amateur – this is a saying attributed to Red Adair the famous oil rig capping guy. Yaro is truly a blogging professional!

The next thing is the choice of Web Host. I close Blue Host for my blogs. (Yes I am an affiliate there too). There are mixed reviews of Blue Host on the Internet. As a relatively non technical person (I’m learning) it’s the support that counts for me. I have found the Blue Host support second to none. They are always cheerful when I call and they are very patient with me. They solved my problems and some of them very speedily. A word of caution no matter how good or bad your host is you still run the risk of hacking your site and you must back up your database at least. Blue Host is very cost effective for a beginner with limited traffic since you can have multiple hosted URLs under the same account at no extra cost – really. Here is the link:

Here is the “good stuff”". How did I get my site to look good? I spent quite a lot of time looking at Word Press themes. Many of these themes a free and some are paid themes. In the end I settled on the “Thesis”  theme. I am using this on all my blog sites including this one (I bought the developer option that allows me to do this).

To tell you the truth there is more power in Thesis than I can utilize right now. Certainly I do not currently have the HTML and CSS skills that I need to customize the code (heck until recently I did not even know what the acronyms meant). I am learning some basic coding but it is just Kindergarten level at present. Why buy a Ferrari when a Honda Civic will do as well (nothing wrong with a Civic – I drive one from 1997!)? Why then make the investment at this early stage? First of all, unless you are a major IT geek you do not use more than a small percentage of the features on the software you are using now. For instance you probably use some version or other of Microsoft Office. It’s cost justified but how many of the features do you really use – and you may never use them. I know I only use a small portion of the features but I would be lost without the programs in the Suite.

Here are the reasons I chose the Thesis theme:

• I did not want my site to look like thousands of others
• I can grow into it. I can use skilled developers if I need something fancy right now. Why get one theme and upgrade later – if the cost is justified now?
• It is SEO optimized – the best feature and worth the investment alone.
• It has multiple formats for different columns
• It has many design options – a world I have yet to explore
• It is easy to add Google Analytics code without messing with the theme code – it can be done by anyone using the easy interface.
• It is really easy to add the Feedburner feed code.
• I like the rotating box in the top right hand corner. There are images that come with the theme. You can delete these and add your own images. I do this and it really focuses the site. There is also a possibility of adding a video here or customizing (I’m not there yet).
• The support is great. Chris Pearson, the developer himself provides the support through a user forum. I need help. New training materials have been added recently but I have not had the time to check them out.

This is a quick review of Thesis. I will do a comprehensive review later when I get more experience. Right now I like it since it has save me some technical support time at start up. It has also given me a clean appearance. Here is the link for more information (yes it is another affiliate link);

Thesis Demo Site — See the Thesis Theme in action!

The IFRS Exorcist is not completely out of the box. As a user of Word Press you can customize your site using plug ins. Perhaps I can deal with this topic in a later post. There are a lot of plug ins and they are mostly free to download. The effect of some of these can be seen and others work in the background. For instance I added a Contact Box plug in, a greeting box plug in to encourage feed sign up and as Sociable plug in so that one can share the posts with others. See the icons at the end of the posts. You will also need to use plug ins as I do to filter spam,back up you blog, submit site maps to Google. Plug ins are optional but some are more optional than others.

It is easy to add widgets with my Thesis theme. I use Widgets for a sign up box (using code from Feedburner), a search box, links, affiliate advertising, and many other options. This feature is also used on sites such as Blogger so I was already familiar with how that works.

As I already mentioned the Thesis theme box in the top corner is versatile. I added my logo to the box on the IFRS site and kept a few stock images from the theme. On Many Hatty Returns I uploaded my own images to make the site fun.

I hope that this information has been helpful and not too technical. Please feel free to ask specific questions and I will try to answer. My blogging knowledge has developed exponentially over the last nine months. (Like having a baby?) It’s easy to forget what it was like for me at the beginning.