How to Create a Movement by Everett Bogue is a simple straight-forward guide to creating a movement.  Everett Bogue is the leader of a Minimalism movement at his blog Far Beyond the Stars.  He is also author of The Art of Being Minimalist and Minimalist Business: How to Live and Work Anywhere.  His views on a minimalist lifestyle have come from his own experience.  He lives with less than 100 things, and because of this he is able to live and work from anywhere.

Overview

The title says it all; this eBook is about creating a movement.  Everett Bogue shares with us the lessons he learned when creating his own minimalism movement.   His movement even shines through into this eBook.  The book is simple and neatly organized.  It’s also packed full of information, yet done so in a to-the-point style that excludes superfluous words or ideas to fit into a 20 page eBook.  It is a prime example of his minimalistic way, showing us that minimal can effective.

Everett Bogue has certainly created a minimalism movement, and he has developed quite a following on his blog.  I love it when an author lives the example before teaching it.  Everett has lived the example, and now that he has the experience, he has shared his techniques in his free eBook, How to Create a Movement.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Leader
• The Idea
• Believe in Something
• Help People
• The Second Follower
• The First 100
• Existing Architecture
• Permission
• Isolation
• Failure is not an Option
• The Critics
• The Money
• Freedom
• Ownership
• This is Bigger than Us
• Share this eBook
• The Legal Stuff
• About Everett Bogue

Price/Value

Free, no strings attached.

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• The author  speaks from experience
• Short concise ideas that are easy to understand
• Beautiful formatting
• Easy to read

Minuses

This eBook is nearly perfect as I see it.  I’d like to read more about details of the movement that Everett is leading, which is outside the scope of this eBook, and instead is included in his premium eBook, The Art of Being Minimalist.

Verdict

I give How to Create a Movement five stars.  I definitely recommend this one.  I love how Everett has brought in his minimalist style to create an eBook that is useful and concise.  I’m planning to implement some of his ideas to grow my blog.  The idea of creating a movement can be applied in a variety of areas, pretty much anywhere you desire to make a difference.  How to Create a Movement is a great outline to get you started.

Head over to Far Beyond the Stars now to get your free copy of How to Create a Movement.

If you’ve read How to Create a Movement, please leave a comment and rate it using the star ratings in the comments section.  Thanks!

279 Days to Overnight Success is a guide to creating a successful blog.  Chris Guillebeau mocks the overnight success marketers with the title, and explains how he grew his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, into platform to become a full time writer and blogger in approximately 279 days.

In 279 Days to Overnight Success Chris Guillebeau tells us how he became a full time writer in 279 days.  He really lays it all out for us, including the income he’s seeing from his efforts.  I liked seeing how he achieved success, and how he defines success.  He says the audience for this eBook is anyone interested in unconventional living.  Chris says 279 Days to Overnight Success is targeted at bloggers, writers, and online artists.  I felt it was mostly targeted at bloggers, but I could see how the other groups could gain from it as well.

Overview of topics

• How I Became a Full-Time Writer in 279 Days
• The Complete Revenue Estimate for my Personal Site in 2009
• The World Domination Strategy for Establishing Your Brand
• Avoiding the Vampires who Want You to Fail
• Why Adsense (and most other Web Advertising) Sucks
• How to Stay Off the Digg Home Page and Still Get All the Traffic You Need

Table of Contents

Part I: How to Become a Problogger in 10 Months

• Introduction
• What Does Success Look Like
• Show Me the Money
• World Domination Strategy
• Big Mistakes
• Part II: Fire Google and Hire Yourself
• Why Adsense Sucks

How to Get Paid for Meeting the Needs of Your Followers

• Listening
• Examples
• Scaling Up

Part III: Short Notes on Vampires, Rule-Breaking, Email Lists, Etc.

• The Vampire Chronicles
• Hard Work and Working for Free
• Logistics
• Wrap-Up: Go and Be Awesome

Price/Value

Free. Chris only asks two things in return for downloading this free eBook.  He asks that you provide feedback and spread the word by sharing his blog and this eBook with your friends.  You don’t need to sign up for any email list like many other free eBooks, so that’s a nice plus.

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• Beautiful aesthetics and layout.
• Great instruction for anyone looking to get started in blogging.
• He leads by example, telling us exactly how he created his own successful blog.
• A “Mistakes” section that shows us the mistakes he made along his way.
• A decent section on how to make money on your blog.
• Great examples of three other people that are achieving success online.
• A good section on how to handle the Vampires or Naysayers.
• He gives some good suggestions on statistics to track and how often to check them.

Minuses

Some of the lessons in 279 Days to Overnight Success may be difficult to apply (or will take longer) if you aren’t able to work on it full time.

I would have liked to see more detail on the monetization strategies and product launch.  I’m sure an entire book could be written on that alone, but I felt the overview left me wanting more.  He may have included this in his premium offerings, but I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, so I can’t say for sure.

Rating

I give 279 Days to Overnight Success 4 stars.  It’s a beautiful eBook filled with good content.  It’s a must read for anyone planning to start a blog, and a good review for current bloggers.  I found lots of good content that reinforced things I had learned along the way, and a few ideas for the future.  I really liked his mistakes section, as it demonstrated that you don’t have to be perfect to achieve success, it showed there are multiple paths to the top.  The examples section really stood out to me as well as it showed how a three people are progressing through differing outlets on their own paths to success.

Head on over to The Art of Non-Conformity and download your copy 279 Days to Overnight Success!

If you have read this eBook, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments area below.  Thanks!

Diggy of Upgrade Reality has released a free eBook called “YOU Version 2.0.”  In this eBook, Diggy offers “117 proven tips you can use immediately to change your life.  For good.”  I double checked his math, and he does indeed offer 117 tips.

You 2.0 reads like a series of blog posts.  Each chapter covers a number of suggestions to improve yourself in various areas of your life.  He covers creativity, productivity, health, happiness, money, first impressions, and a bunch of reasons why life is awesome.  I get the feeling that some of this content may have come from his blog.  Even so, the topics he has chosen flow very well together, making the content very cohesive.

As I started to read You 2.0, I really felt that Diggy wanted to help me make improvements in my life.  He begins with a great introduction of himself, which I find helpful in a personal development eBook.  I like to know a little about the person who is giving me advice.  That is actually one of the great things about reading eBooks by bloggers, is that most of the time I feel like I already know the author from reading his blog.  Diggy doesn’t assume that you already know him, however, and smartly starts off with a good introduction and a little background.

Overview of topics

• 3 Ways To Take Control Of Your Life Right Now.
• 15 Ways To Boost Your Creativity.
• 6 Simple Steps To A More Efficient Day.
• 8 Tips For Living Healthy With Ease.
• 15 Ways To Cheer You Up When You Feel Down.
• 23 Creative Ways To Make Extra Money.
• 14 Sweet Tips For Making A Good Impression.
• 33 Beautiful Reasons Why Life Is Awsome.

A message from Diggy, author of You 2.0:

The purpose of ‘YOU – Version2.0′ is to remind you of the many things that you already know but forget to apply in order to live your life to the fullest. I have also tried my best to give you new ways that you can use to improve your life or make some positive changes. Even if there is only one golden nugget of knowledge or one paragraph in the entire eBook that will have a positive impact on you, then I am happy!

Price/Value

Free.  He does ask you to subscribe to his blog, but as of the time of this review he’s not requiring it.  If you are going to download the free eBook, I recommend subscribing as a thank you to Diggy for providing this great eBook free of charge.

What’s Included

Just the eBook

Pluses

• Lots of great content.
• Easy to read.
• Uses a popular “list” format.
• I get the feeling the author cares about making a positive impact on my life.
• Great cover design.
• It’s free.

Minuses

• He includes some URL shortened links in the eBook to link to some websites.  I generally don’t like the use of URL shorteners as they mask the destination website, and makes me think the author may be hiding something.  I don’t think that’s the case here, but I’d still prefer to see the full url included in the links.
• This is a borderline minus, and I actually included it in the plus section too as some folks like it.  I’m not a big fan of the “list” type of format, although Diggy pulls it off better than most I’ve seen, and he includes a good introduction before each list.

Rating

I give this eBook 4 stars.  It’s a very good eBook and has lots of great content.  As the author admits, much of it I’ve seen before, but it’s a great reminder on those things, plus I found a few tidbits I hadn’t considered before.  The format is easy to read.  One thing I really like about this eBook is that it’s very inspiring.  I feel like I could pick it up and jump to a chapter when I’m feeling a little down, and get a small kick of inspiration to help me feel better.  This eBook is free, so head on over to Upgrade Reality and download your copy today.

Unleash Your Genius is a free eBook brought to us by Lana Kravtsova of Daring Clarity.  Lana has been on a quest to help others achieve Clarity, which she does through her blog and through personal growth workshops and 1 on 1 coaching.  Her goal is to give you clarity on who you are and what your purpose, passions, and dreams are.  By doing this she helps you tap into your inner genius, creativity, inspiration, and wisdom.

This is exactly what Unleash Your Genius is about.  It’s about finding clarity in your life so that you may tap into that inner genius.  Lana helps you find this clarity by asking a series of questions. By answering this series of 12 simple questions, you will achieve greater clarity surrounding your desires and your source of happiness.  Then she teases us a little by mentioning that she has a whole workbook full of questions like these that she uses with her clients.  We can’t expect her to give away all the secrets for free, and reading those 12 questions definitely left me wanting more.

She goes on to tell us how to clarify our ideal day.  Most of us would think of a couple of general ideas surrounding an ideal day, but Lana encourages us to go much deeper.  Following her instruction here will help you better define your ideal day and better prepare you to make it a reality.

Once you have answered the 12 questions and explored your ideal day, Lana discusses developing that into a core feeling and talks about how to commit to your goals.  She also introduces a term I had not heard before: the Ideal Slide.  She defines it as the part of your Ideal Day that captures the essence of that day.  You’ll have to check it out for yourself to learn more about it.

Overall, I found Unleash Your Genius to be a great introduction to Clarity.  I wouldn’t say it’s a complete guide, but it’s definitely a good starting point.  And, since Lana is giving it away for free, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Lana Kravtsova is truly passionate about clarity, and this passion can be felt in Unleash Your Genius as well as on her blog, Daring Clarity.  She is offering this great little guide for free; all you have to do is to sign up for her newsletter.  She doesn’t spam to her newsletter subscribers and so far it seems reserved for special announcements, so I felt comfortable signing up to get the ebook Unleash Your Genius.

Follow this link to get your free copy of Unleash Your Genius.

PS. After you read it, I would be very grateful if you’d come back here and add your own star rating and brief review in the comments section.  (the stars are under the Submit button.)  Thanks!