A confession: I bought geek classic Getting Things Done by David Allen a year ago. I’ve never got around to reading it.

This year I vow to work smarter, including:

• Partnering for larger projects
• Outsourcing admin etc, perhaps with GetFriday.com (via The London Times)
• Aim to work 10-6, not 12-12
• Read the damn David Allen book

Search marketing (SEM) still feels like a dark art. Google are secretive about how bids are priced (cf. the AdWords’ Quality Score debacle), while Overture Yahoo Search Marketing is lumbered with an oblique editorial policy and a terrible interface (until Panama launches, at least).

That means it’s tricky for newbies to get started with pay per click (PPC) - and that’s before you’ve found the wealth of bad advice to contend with. Just Google ‘AdWords ebook‘ for countless fast ways to waste $100.

There is an easier way - just follow my five steps to AdWords nirvana:

1. Start by reading How to Cheat Google Adwords Select, an introduction far better than the hysterical tabloid headline. (Update: Sitepoint have seen sense and changed the headline).
2. Take Winning Results with Google AdWords as your bible. Tips on such a fast-moving sector date quickly, but Andrew Goodman’s bedrock advice is sound. It’s heavy on the history of PPC, so feel free to skip early chapters.
3. Read every word of the AdWords library, Inside AdWords blog and AdWords Google Group.
4. Join the outstanding WebmasterWorld AdWords forum for pay per click secrets from the finest minds in the industry, including Google’s very own AdWords Advisor. and Brad ‘eWhisper‘ Geddes
5. Avoid any ebook pairing the phrase ‘Google AdWords’ with ‘instant wealth’, ‘make millions’ or ‘work from home’.

Finally, leave a comment and let me know how you get along.

Forget condos and strip malls. Domain names, the real estate of the Web, have been delivering far greater returns. How some of the savviest speculators on the Net are making millions from their URL portfolios.

So starts an excellent Business 2.0 article on domainers - people who buy, sell and earn money from domain names.

The December 2005 write-up caught my imagination. But it wasn’t until I heard Jeff Libert (aka WebWork) speak at PubCon that I decided to dabble in domaining.

I thought the days of large-scale domain speculation were over. But the title of WebWork’s talk - “The $100,000 click” - made everyone in the room listen up (See Graywolf’s PubCon summary).

Everybody knows the value of a desirable domain (ie. lots of zeros), but Jeff explained exactly how he chooses domain names and makes money from his portfolio.

Unsurprisingly, resale value is often top of the list. But everything from lead generation to parking page pay per click ads can cover registration costs. That means a well-chosen domain portfolio can pay for itself in the short term and add a healthy source of income in the longer term.

Scoreboard’s post on domaining has given me the perfect target for 2007: aim to invest in one decent domain a day.

Kris Jones at Pepperjam gives the all-new AdBrite the thumbs up - especially for affiliate marketers.

I demoed the beta at PubCon in November. My first impressions were that the overhauled interface and targeting knocked spots off their existing ad product. But the new setup also has some fresh ideas to help AdBrite compete with Google, Yahoo and Microsoft with contextual advertising.

I’ll be trying the new AdBrite this month. Watch this space for a full write-up.

(Inspired by Copyblogger’s The Mark Twain Guide to Better Blogging)

Forget 1984 or Animal Farm. George Orwell’s legacy to webmasters were his thoughts on copywriting.

Orwell died 40 years before Tim Berner-Lee got busy, but he understood the power of the written word. His most famous essay - Politics and the English Language - offers outstanding advice on how to write clean, concise and easy-to-understand copy.

That’s the kind of web content that makes users want to spend money, because they understand exactly what you are selling and why they should buy it. The very same web content that search engines lap up, because it’s genuine ‘quality content‘ that makes Matt Cutts go weak at the knees.

Ignore the word ‘politics’; Orwell’s advice applies to any topic. He diagnosed common problems with writing and offered six simple solutions:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

I urge anyone writing for the web to tape these six bullet points to their monitor. Read them as a morning mantra, digest the Wikipedia precis now and print the full text to read tonight.