Blog Mastermind vs. Become a Blogger: Review and Comparison

This article was inspired by FresheVenture.com reader Hannah and everyone else who’s asked me what the differences are between the Blog Mastermind and Become a Blogger coaching courses.

You will find my opinion (as a student of both courses) on the differences, who I believe each course specifically targets, and an easy comparison chart below. I hope by the end of this article you will have a clear idea of which course will work best for you!

Quick Description of Each Course:

Blog Mastermind

Blog Mastermind was created by Yaro Starak of Entrepreneurs-Journey.com. This course is the culmination of Yaro’s long years of blogging experience. Through content, audio, videos, interviews and a member’s forum, Yaro takes you step by step through the process of creating a profitable blog. The focus is on turning your new or existing blog into your full-time income generator. Yaro shows you exactly what he did to gain over 70,000 RSS subscribers and earn as much as $35,000 every month.

Become a Blogger

Become a Blogger is a revolutionary video-based course co-created by Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick (an online video master and fellow blogger). This course walks you through the process of creating a blog from scratch and teaches you how to gain traffic, market your blog and produce content! It also focuses on multimedia marketing by showing you how to utilize video, audio and images on your blog.

Why I Joined Each Course:

Blog Mastermind

Prior to the launch of FresheVenture.com, I had only dabbled in standard blogs (TypePad, Blogger). I used them to publish articles for my ecommerce websites. I had a really hard time consistently updating them, but even more so I didn’t understand why they were so important and how they could help my businesses increase profits.

I knew I wanted to broadcast myself as a successful Internet marketer and I knew I would need a publishing platform to do it. I had never put my face on a website before (except for my web marketing site), I didn’t understand how powerful RSS was, and I really didn’t get how to earn money through giving away free information. I needed an expert who had successfully blogged for profit and could teach me how.

I found Yaro’s free Blog Profits Blueprint Report and decided to give it a read. I wasn’t expecting much since the majority of free reports online tend to be junk, but this report stood out from the rest. After reading through 50 pages of tips, explanations and lessons on how to create and monetize outstanding blog content, I immediately signed up for Blog Mastermind. Honestly, this is one of the best reports available for bloggers – Yaro could easily charge for it!

Blog Mastermind is the course that helped me successfully launch FresheVenture.com! Within the first 6 weeks of my launch, I gained over 70 newsletter subscribers and earned enough money to cover my hosting fees and bring in a little income. My blog has a long way to go to reach all of my goals, but with Yaro’s help, it’s well on its way!

Blog Mastermind helped me understand first and foremost HOW a blog makes money. It then walked me step by step through the process of writing content that benefits my readers and creates a “buzz” on the Internet. It has taught me how to use my passion and experiences to help others without charging a dime for what I offer.

Blogging has become my FAVORITE Internet marketing tool! It’s actually cathartic – writing down my thoughts, helping others, listening to the feedback of my readers. Plus, there’s no customer service, credit card processing or returns to have to deal with. I get to talk all day long about my experiences and love for Internet businesses!

I’m only 1/3 of the way through the course and already I’ve seen the benefits. The success of my blog will easily pay for my membership in Blog Mastermind!

Become a Blogger

I first learned about Become a Blogger from my Blog Mastermind membership. At that time, the course was closed to new students, but they still offered the 10 Free Become a Blogger Videos and The Roadmap Report. I already knew Yaro and the amazing content he provides, so I quickly checked out Become a Blogger’s freebies. Once again, brilliant content that they could easily charge for.

I just joined Become a Blogger last week during its 2009 re-launch. At this point, I already know how to set up a blog, but I’m eager to learn more about multimedia marketing. This is where Become a Blogger comes into play.

Though the first couple modules are focused on helping students create a blog from scratch, later modules focus on utilizing video, audio and images to capture and captivate your audience.

I’m very new to multimedia marketing, having just set up my first YouTube account in April 2009. I’m also new to Podcasting (I officially embarked onto iTunes last week!). Gideon of Become a Blogger has extensive experience with these marketing channels and really sold me on joining the course.

The video that completely convinced me to sign up for Become a Blogger was 7 Killer Tips for Optimizing Your YouTube Videos. After watching, I was able to easily optimize my YouTube channel!

As I am new in the course, I will need to report back to you at a later date on my progress.

Lesson Outline

Blog Mastermind	Become a Blogger
Module 1: How To Set-Up and Optimize Your Blog For Explosive Growth From Day One	Module 1: Get Your Blog Up And Running Fast
Module 2: How To Create Blog Content That Magnetically Attracts Devoted Readers	Module 2: How To Optimize Your Blog For Maximum Performance In The Search Engines
Module 3: The Exact Traffic Techniques That Took My Blog From 0 to 5,000+ Daily Readers	Module 3: How To Create Powerful Content For Your Blog, Consistently and Without Fail
Module 4: Super-Advanced Traffic Techniques To Really Ramp Up Growth	Module 4: How To Use Images On Your Blog To Make You Stand Out From The Rest
Module 5: How To Make REAL Money With Your Blog – Monetization Secrets	Module 5: How To Create A Different Dimension To Your Blog By Adding Audio
Module 6: How To Turn Your Blog Into A Real Business (Or, “How to Work Less and Earn More”)	Module 6: How To Breathe Life Into Your Blog Using Online Video
	Module 7: How To Create Multiple Streams of High Quality Traffic To Your Blog
	Module 8: How To Make Money From Your Blog

Review of Each Course

Timeline

Become a Blogger and Blog Mastermind are both six month long courses. Of course, you get to go at your own pace. If you choose to purchase each course with a one-time payment, you get instant access to every lesson, allowing you to complete each course in less than 6 months.

Coaching Medium

Blog Mastermind offers a mix of videos, audio and content. Become a Blogger is a video-based course (each lesson is provided as a video so you can see the steps). If you have a slow Internet connection, you may want to join Blog Mastermind as you can download transcripts of podcasts and simply read through each lesson.

Required Commitment

Both courses allow you to follow along at your own pace. If you need to go slower, you simply wait to move onto the next lesson. If you need to go faster, you can pay for the entire course upfront and get instant access to all lessons!

Experience Level

Become a Blogger’s first lesson module teaches you how to get your own domain name, setup web hosting and upload files via FTP. It then goes on to show you exactly how to create your blog in WordPress, how to choose a WP theme, how to install plugins and how to begin using WordPress to create blog posts.

While Blog Mastermind does offer a little bit of information on how to set up your blog, it doesn’t focus on the development process. Instead, Yaro dives almost immediately into the process of creating killer content that will help you grab an audience and start earning an income online.

It is my opinion that Become a Blogger is best for those who have not created a WordPress blog yet and need help with the installation and development process OR want to learn how to effectively add multimedia to a blog.

Blog Mastermind is best for those who already have a blog and need help earning an income from it.

Essentially, Become a Blogger focuses on the development aspects of a blog (creating posts, adding images, uploading videos, etc) and Blog Mastermind focuses on how you can create content, podcasts and videos that will make you money.

Delivery of Lessons

Both courses send you lessons by email on a weekly basis over the course of 6 months. If paid for upfront, instant access to all lessons will be provided to you.

Each email will provide a link to the membership website. This is where your actual lessons are located. From here, you can study your lessons, access course bonuses, and reach out to others through the members-only forums.

Member Resources

Both courses offer a members forum and free live coaching calls. Blog Mastermind goes one step further by offering a Social Traffic Club. This club allows you to get help from other students through the process of social bookmarking.

Free Personal Coaching

Each course offers free live coaching calls and a “ask the experts” forum. This gives you the opportunity to speak with Yaro and Gideon DIRECTLY. Ask questions, request feedback, or learn more about their experiences!

How to Create a Blog

Become a Blogger’s first module focuses specifically on teaching you how to create a WordPress blog from scratch. Blog Mastermind touches briefly on this, but does not walk you step by step through the process.

WordPress Plugins

Become a Blogger teaches you how to install WordPress plugins and how to use them effectively. It then walks you through installing certain key plugins. Blog Mastermind lists plugins Yaro uses and refers you to resources that can help you learn more about plugins. Yaro also recommends certain plugins for your blog.

Topic/Niche Selection

Though both courses touch on topic selection, Blog Mastermind focuses on helping you choose your topic by utilizing your existing interests. It also helps teach you how to stick with your topic.

Key Blog Page Creation

Both courses help you set up certain key pages (about, contact, etc) on your blog.

Content Creation

Both courses teach you how to create killer content, pillar articles and multimedia marketing that will help drive traffic to your blog and convert that traffic into a loyal audience. Blog Mastermind focuses a lot on content and podcasts while Become a Blogger focuses on podcasts and videos.

Hiring Bloggers

Blog Mastermind teaches you how to outsource your content by hiring bloggers or accepting guest bloggers. Become a Blogger does not touch on this as far as I can tell.

Multimedia Creation

Blog Mastermind teaches you how to utilize Podcasts on your blog. Become a Blogger walks you step by step through the process of creating videos and podcasts and then leveraging them for traffic.

Traffic Building

Both courses teach you how to build traffic by commenting on community forums and blogs and creating “buzz” worthy content.

Search Engine Optimization

Both courses show you which WordPress plugins to use to properly optimize your blog for search engine traffic.

Monetizing Your Blog

Both courses teach you how to monetize your blog thought Contextual Advertising (Adsense), Affiliate Marketing and Direct Advertisers (selling ad space on your blog).

Buying & Selling Blogs

Blog Mastermind offers a lesson where Yaro explains the process of buying and selling blogs.

Email Lists

Both courses teach you why and how you should incorporate an opt-in on your blog for email list creation and how you can monetize that list.

Price

Become a Blogger costs $47/month for 6 months then provides Free Lifetime Access. Blog Mastermind costs $97/month for 6 months and also provides Free Lifetime Access. Both courses can be paid for with a one-time upfront payment, allowing you instant access to every lesson.

Freebies

Both courses offer loads of free information! Blog Mastermind offers the Blog Profits Blueprint Report. Become a Blogger offers the 10 Free Become a Blogger Videos and The Roadmap Report.

Bonuses

Become a Blogger offers the following bonuses:

• Master-The-Mindset 10-Part Audio Series
• Members Only Forum
• Free Live Coaching Calls

Blog Mastermind offers the following bonuses:

• Master-The-Mindset 10-Part Audio Series
• Members Only Forum
• Free Live Coaching Calls
• Videos of Blog Case Studies
• Q&A Audio Recordings
• Social Traffic Club

Comparison Chart

	Blog Mastermind	Become a Blogger
Timeline	6 Months	6 Months
Coaching Medium	Content Based	Video Based
Required Commitment	Go At Your Own Pace	Go At Your Own Pace
Experience Level	Beginner to Advanced	Beginner to Intermediate
Delivery of Lessons	Email	Email
Member Resources	Members Only Forum Social Traffic Club	Members Only Forum
Free Personal Coaching	Free Live Coaching Calls	Free Live Coaching Calls
How to Create Blog	General Guidelines	Specific Guidelines
WordPress Plugins	General Guidelines	Specific Guidelines
Topic/Niche Selection	Specific Guidelines	General Guidelines
Key Blog Page Creation	Yes	Yes
Content Creation	Yes	Yes
Hiring Bloggers	Yes	No
Multimedia Creation	General Podcast Guidelines	Specific Podcast, Video and Image Guidelines
Traffic Building	Yes	Yes
SEO	Yes	Yes
Monetizing Blogs	Yes	Yes
Buying & Selling Blogs	Yes	No
Email List Creation	Yes	Yes
Price	$97/Month for 6 Months Or One-Time Payment for Access to All Lessons	$47/Month for 6 Months Or One-Time Payment for Access to All Lessons
Freebies	Blog Profits Blueprint	The Roadmap Report 10 FREE Become a Blogger Videos
Bonuses	Master-The-Mindset 10-Part Audio Series Videos of Blog Case Studies Q&A Audio Recordings	Master-The-Mindset 10-Part Audio Series

Summary of the Biggest Differences

I believe the biggest differences between the two courses are:

Become a Blogger is Video Based

Blog Mastermind is Content Based

AND

Become a Blogger Focuses on Multimedia Marketing

Blog Mastermind Focuses on Content Creation and Blogging as a Business

I hope this article helps you decide which course will work best for you. Honestly, you may find that both will benefit you as I have – there’s nothing wrong with learning!

Topic Tags:

Gideon Shalwick, become a blogger, blog profits blueprint, blogging, how to start internet business, internet marketing, wordpress, yaro starak