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Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category

I received this by email the other day from Willie Crawford so please take notice.

“First of all, DON’T click on ANY LINK in ANY Skype message that you get from me.  I rarely send links in Skype messages unless I am already in the middle of a conversation with you.

Apparently, my Skype account has been hi-jacked, which means that my hundreds of Skype contacts likely received a phishing message trying to get you to click on a link, where upon you’ll be prompted to log back into your Skype account, and they will hijack the account.  I don’t remember going through all that, but I DO remember a cryptic email from a friend (who normally sends fairly cryptic emails) asking me to take a look at something.

I intuitively asked what it was before clicking on the link, and was satisfied enough with the also cryptic response that I clicked on it.

At that point, Skype started to download something to my computer, and I stopped the download, but Skype logged me out, and when I logged back in, I guess that’s where the damage was done!

Over the next hour or so, I got emails and phone calls from a dozen friends telling me that they think my Skype account has been compromised… and they based that upon the REALLY poor English in the Skype messages they were getting.

One friend pointed me to this link which explained what was likely going on: http://getincomeblog.com/tag/cyber-vandals/

Skype doesn’t seem to have a convenient way for you to deal with the issue, a support ticket could take days to get a response… and there is no number on their site that I could find.  The hacker apparently changed the contact details to HIS email address, so I can’t retrieve the new password (since he apparently changed it) and I can’t delete the account.

Stay tuned, but I don’t currently have control of MY old Skype account.  I thought of starting a new one, but will try to resolve the issue through channels.  Skype has done one thing that indicates they are aware of the problem.

Starting a new account would mean that I’d lose the 500 or so contacts that I had in my account… many of whom I routinely communicated with

Apparently, this problem is pretty big, which is why I’m sending you this alert.

Willie Crawford”

Please keep this in mind next time you receive a link in Skype, even if it is from someone you know.

20 Productivity Boosting Methods For The Positive Mind

Individuals can get engrossed in the details of their lives and chase the next big thing without finding time to complete the projects they previously started. When faced with all of their incomplete projects, they often become deluged and start to procrastinate. You’ll find that their productivity decreases and they don’t produce the results or environment you’re used to seeing. What are the things on your list of things that need to get done?

Discover how you can…

• Get Rid Of It and Setting Daily Goals
• Dreaded First and Apex Cycles Of Productiveness
• No Communication Times and Micro-Mileposts
• Time Framing and Wake Early
• Pacing and Clear The Clutter

People who struggle in business and life will find these things in common:

• They don’t know how to set goals.
• They have no idea how to find their productive times of the day
• They are struggling with the idea of micro-mileposts.
• They also don’t understand time framing!

The time is right for you to  make the necessary changes needed for you to be successful!

 

Yes, I’m UPSET (No Furious) about them and I feel they have no place in Internet Marketing. I take a great deal of pride in NOT using them. I hope this matters to you. It sure does matter to me.

I have seen them for quite some time, but in the last few months, they have been EVERYWHERE!

You know the ones:

“CREDIT PENDING On Your Account”
“Download Request: ZH74L96WE – Please retain for your records!”
“RE: Refund”
“RE: DELIVERY NOTIFICATION”
“Order Confirmation – please save this email”
“Verification Email (Action Required)”

…and the list goes on.

What? Do these “other” marketers think everyone on their list is stoopid? (yes, I know I misspelled stupid) Did you really order something and forget that you did? Did you “REALLY” ask them for a refund?

They are simply playing with your mind just to get you to open their emails and that is WRONG! In my opinion, this is deceptive, unethical and ridiculous, maybe even cheating. You be the judge. They may and I said may even be breaking some of the rules in the can-spam act which is a law not just an “act”.

It is also giving us (myself included) a bad name in this business.  I’m fighting for every “opened” email I can get and yes, people in general are not opening as many emails as they once were. I am not a rich man monetarily, not even close. I am though “rich” in my beliefs that being honest, ethical and sincere is what is expected of me. It IS the right way to conduct yourself both in business as well as your personal life.

I will always believe that a subscriber list whether it be 100 or 10 thousand and worked hard for in a honest and ethical way is better than a “list” of 50 or 100 thousand that was achieved through deception and/or unethical practices or shall we say “TRICKERY”.

Which list would you be proud of? Do you like this being done to you? Do you feel insulted by this kind of marketing?

I bet you don’t care for it and I’d love to hear from you about it.  In a fairly short even one sentence statement, I would greatly appreciate your input.

I have set up a dedicated email address for this and if you would be so kind, please click the link and send me your thoughts on this matter. I will compile all responses after 5 days or so and share them with my fellow honest and ethical marketers plus send them out to you as a newsletter so you can see what other’s thoughts and opinions are.
A fellow IM’er,  Randy Koehler, wrote this email and I agree totally with what he has to say.  If you’ve been on my list for any length of time, you know that I have never sent subject lines like those and never will. If you would like to comment on these subject lines, send Randy and email at
goodmarketing@marketing-your-way.com

Any and all comments are welcome even if you think this form of  marketing is acceptable, I’d like to hear from you because I value every single person’s opinion that this letter will reach. Heck, tell a friend about it if you’d like.

I ask that you not be offended in any way by this email, but if you are, I’d love to hear from you as well. 

————- My thoughts on this subject…..

What I’ve usually do is go through and delete the emails with these or similar subject lines but now I will just be unsubscribing from them even though some that I’ve received have been from well known Internet marketers.  I know they are human just like me and there is no excuse for these sorts of subject line but it is still disappointing to see them using these.

I have received some comments so far from my mailing today on this subject, here is one and I will post more as I receive them.  Please feel free to post your thoughts about this subject and to send Randy your comments as well.

“Hi Martha,

YES!!!!!  I am VERY tired of those kinds of subject lines!  I have
tried to complain to marketers about it but most of them can’t be
reached easily and the few that have replied to my complaint always
defended their actions – so now I handle it much differently…

Whenever I receive emails from marketers with misleading subject lines
(and those I’ve listed below especially!) I ALWAYS do 2 things…

FIRST – I unsubscribe from any and ALL lists I may be on that belong
to that marketer…

SECOND – I delete every single email I ever got from that marketer
(often there are hundreds!).

Extreme?  Maybe – but that’s just how much I do NOT like those kinds
of tactics and if that’s the sort of thing the marketer is teaching then I do not want his emails taking up space in my inbox!
Some of the subject lines that irk me the most (in case you’re compiling a list) say something like…

“Paypal Payment Received” (or some such wording to imply you made a
paypal sale)…
…since I have a couple of websites that take Paypal payments this type of email always feels like a mean, juvenile prank.

“Clickbank Order Received” (or wording to that effect to imply a clickbank sale was made)…
…I also sell a product through Clickbank so these are just more mean, juvenile pranks.

“Re: Fill-in-the-blank”…
…any email with “Re:” in the subject implies that it’s a reply to something I sent (and it never is) – very misleading!

“CANCELLED By myName”…
…then after opening I find it has nothing to do with anything I may have cancelled – I’m relieved at first (because I don’t remember canceling anything) and then I feel angry that someone got me concerned and worried for nothing!

And like you said – the list goes on.

Please forward my thoughts to as many marketers as you wish – post it
on as many websites as you wish – or whatever.  You have my permission
to do anything you wish with any part of this email if it will help with this problem – it really is getting out of hand.

Thank you very much for allowing me to rant and share my irritation -
I feel much better now.

Have a terrific day today! 

Lynn”

Here is another comment…

”

Hi Martha.

Hope all is going well for you. Nice to hear from you.

I cannot agree with you more about these email subjects!

There have been many marketers doing this. I had been on one very popular marketers list since 2007 and got one from him a few days ago. Opened it and unsubscribed without giving it a second thought.

I am a really busy person and do not have time to read emails like these. There is a time set aside to read marketers emails.  When I get one that makes me think I need to stop and take action right then and there, ticks me off big time. Disrupts my time and thoughts.

Very glad you brought this up and as always, enjoy reading your emails.

Sincerely,

Terry Jett”

 

Owning your own business is a dream for many people. Being able to
call your own shots and set your own hours is certainly an
appealing idea. However, often people realize their dream only to
discover that working on their own and running their own business
is much more difficult than they ever expected.

 

There is a lot more to running your own business than simply
working day by day. There are distractions at every turn and often
people find it difficult to actually get anything accomplished. For
all these people who are struggling, what they need to do is focus.

Usually when you’re trying to run your own business, you have more
than one project going at once. So the first thing you need to make
sure you focus on is one project at a time. Beyond the projects,
you also want to make sure you have a very clear focus of what you
want to accomplish and how much money you want to make.

 

Before you can even begin to get focused you first need to make
sure you’re organized. If you’re one of those people who cringes
when the word “organization” is mentioned then don’t worry. You
just need to get organized enough so that you know what needs to
get done. This means you need to make a schedule that includes both
what you need to complete long-term and what you need to do for
that day.

 

Once you know what you need to get done on a specific day then you
need to focus on just those tasks. So break the tasks down even
further. How long will each of them take you? When exactly will you
work on them? Once you know these things then you just need to
focus on each task when you’re supposed to be doing it. In other
words, don’t worry about anything else except what you’ve planned
to focus on.

 

You want to be able to focus on each project and you also want to
keep track of how long each project takes you to complete. Then you
need to keep track of how much money you make from each project.
That way you can tell how productive you’re being. You can even
chart exactly how much money you’re making each hour and each day. This way you’ll be able to focus on the projects that are most profitable for you.

 

When you go into business for yourself, you can quickly lose
yourself in the avalanche of everyday tasks and your long-term
goals. That’s why it’s so important to focus on exactly what you
want to do.

 

Becoming focused and staying that way will help you know exactly
what needs to be done each day so that you are productive each day.
Focus will also help you complete your long-term goals faster and
focus will allow you to know how much money you are making per day, per week, and per project.

 

Focus will help you be more successful daily and with your entire
business.

 

The REAL Secret to Building A High-Profit Internet Business

By Jimmy D. Brown

My wife laughs every time she sees me doing it.

At least once or twice every week, I’ll be at my desk (or
at the dining room table) with my Franklin Covey planner
open and a stack of laminated checklists in hand.

“What are you doing, honey?” she calls, already knowing
the answer.

“I’m planning”, I reply with a smile.

She laughs and I get back to work.

She laughs because she swears I spend half of my time
“planning”.  But, if you ask me how I’m able to get as
much work done as I do in only 3 hours a day, I’ll point
to a black Franklin Covey planner with about a dozen
laminated checklists inside.

Building an Internet business is easy.  Seriously.  I’m
not saying that it’s not complicated, because it is.  I’m
just saying that it’s easy to accomplish if you just have
a system in place.

There’s very little in this world that can’t be
accomplished with the right set of action steps in front
of you.

Today, I’m going to give you such a system for building
your Internet business.  There are only 4 steps…

1. Decide What You Want To Do.  Do you want to run an
eBay(R) business?  Be an affiliate marketer? Buy and sell
reprint rights?  Get involved in niche marketing? While
all of those things will likely find their way into your
plan in time, you gotta begin with one thing at a time.

My recommendation:  Choose a “broad” topic you are
interested in and begin building a list of folks interested
in that topic.

2. Determine A Weekly Action Plan.  After you decide what
you want to do, it’s time to determine how to get it done. 
What I do is this:  I create a weekly set of action steps. 
That is,I have a set of things I do on Monday, on Tuesday
and so forth. Decide how many hours (as little as ONE) you
want to work each day and schedule yourself a reasonable
amount of things to get done in that time frame.  Repeat
this process week after week.

My recommendation:  Begin writing ezine articles to
promote your list … and affiliate programs.  It’s the
easiest way to get free traffic and build your list at the
same time.

3. Devote Yourself To Staying On Schedule.  The important
thing here is to stick to it.  The easiest way that I know
of to make certain you develop discipline in your schedule
is to NOT set unrealistic expectations.  Give yourself ample
time to do each day’s action step – don’t overschedule. 
Look for progress along the way to celebrate.  Reward
yourself when you’ve reached a milestone.  And, remember,
you’re GROWING a business.  Just like physical growth, it
takes time … it WILL happen if you remain committed.

My recommendation:  Weave in simple activities related to
the following categories – List building (ezine articles),
product creation(conduct interviews or hire ghostwriters),
site development (making your site convert more visitors into
buyers)and education (continuing to learn new ways to grow
your business)

4. Develop Additional Shortcuts.  As you get better and
better at working with your lists, creating products and
tweaking your site,you’ll want to continue to improve your
business with new ideas,strategies, tools and resources. 
The key is simple:  never stop learning!

Visit forums.  Read articles.  Download reports.  Identify
sites and resources that CONTRIBUTE to your success in
educating you. You want faster results, bigger increases,
automated processes,and other ways to get more accomplished
and more profit, with less work involved.

Everything depends on your developing a plan and sticking to
it.

And that is the REAL secret to building a high-profit
Internet business!

——————————
Jimmy D. Brown is the owner of the “List And Traffic” membership
site, teaching thousands of internet business owners
specific things they can do every week to multiply profits. 
For video training, weekly updated content and printable
checklist “systems” for growing your business,
drop by http://bit.ly/cc5CpR
——————————

 

The amount of awesome blogging resources on the net today is outstanding, and can truly make any average blog a special one in no time. There are millions of resources for you to tap into when it comes to blogs, a few of the best ones are highlighted here for your consideration.

Blogger.com is a website owned, and operated by Google that allows users to post blogs for free, and make money with AdSense. While blogger.com lacks the power of a WordPress, it is easy for those that are interested in implementing their AdSense ads in a simple, little code, manner.

WordPress.com is another blog publishing software that is known on the net as the most powerful, and sophisticated blog publishers out there. WordPress is also free, and allows users to build blogs that are much more advanced than a blogger.com site would be. WordPress.com also allows users to customize their blog more than most, and even implements free plug-ins that are also worthwhile.

Blogrankings.com is another great site that ranks all the latest and greatest blogs. The value of this site is to look at what other top bloggers are doing, and attempt to emulate it with your own blog. Understanding what makes a certain blog in your niche so popular can revolutionize the way you think about and post to your own blog, which could have long lasting positive effects.

TheFreeSite.com offers free blog resources that are as much fun, as they are useful. The site offers users free software, and plugins to enhance any blog, or even create one from scratch. Since so many blog updates are costly these days, TheFreeSite gives users a nice alternative with their free downloads of blog software.

Blogarama.com offers users a virtual telephone book of blogs from all areas of subject matter. No matter what your interest, or niche, this website can bring out the best and most popular blogs. This site is full of directory style listings, and even user ratings to help you search the net.

Ultimately the best blog resource is the one that caters to your needs, and thus must be sought out by you according to what you are trying to achieve. Seeking out your own best blog resources will certainly help you profit from blogs in the near future.

 

It’s vitally important that you increase the number of websites that link to your website. Doing this helps you steadily increase traffic and generate more sales. However, if you are to be successful, you must be sure that your website is good enough for someone to link to you.

So, how do you do that?

There is an old cliche that always rings true in the Internet world – “Content is king”.  And this is absolutely spot on.

You may be wondering how your content is related to our current topic of building link building, but there is a perfectly sound connection…

It is important that you have quality content on your website or other webmasters will most likely not want to trade links. Your website also needs to be informative and interesting, as this will increase the chance of getting a link from someone else.

Remember, links to your website are the building blocks to success, so it’s worth the effort to acquire them.

Now, let’s go over a small checklist of websites that would be good candidates for good link building:

* Websites with quality, related content.

* Websites that have higher PageRank than you currently have.

* Online directories like Yahoo and other business directories.

* Web 2.0 websites like Squidoo.com and Hubpages.com.

It’s no secret that Google (and other search engines) will list you higher in the search results for having a lot of quality inbound links. So, you should really concentrate on building quality links, which will do more for you than tinkering with Alt tags or any other onsite optimization.

The only downside is that building link popularity is not always easy to do. It tends to be a bit boring and tedious. Plus, it usually takes a big chunk of your time, which is probably why most people don’t like to do it.

Luckily for you, there is a solution!

A brand new search engine optimization tool just came out called SEO Equalizer. Not only is this software super easy to use, but it is also extremely affordable. I do suggest you pop over to the website and read all about it…

You can do so by going here:

http://bit.ly/dc2M1H

Are You Making These Top Three Affiliate Marketing Mistakes?

If you’re new to affiliate marketing, there are a few things that you need to know about marketing your affiliate products – because if you get these wrong, chances are, you’re never going to make more than a few sales.

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #1: Choosing the Wrong Product

This is a biggie, and probably one of the biggest mistakes that new affiliate marketers make.  How do you choose the best affiliate products?

There are several ways.  You could choose products based on their popularity (check out clickbank to see what I mean.)  Or you could choose products based around your current business.  (For example, if you run a business such as a beauty parlor, you could find a number of affiliate products…what about a book on hairstyles for weddings, or proms or braids?  Or you could sell a beauty book, or a book on skin care.  There are also physical products that you could sell.  The point is to look for affiliate products that complement what you’re already selling.

You could also choose affiliate products based on how much commission you’ll make – but think carefully before choosing this as your top method of deciding what products you want to sell.  Finding quality products should always be your top concern – because if the products you’re selling are garbage, the end result is that while you might make sales, you’re also going to get lots of refund requests – which means you’ll end up in the hole.

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #2: Marketing the Product the Wrong Way

We’ve all seen the ads that say “Make a Million Dollars with No Product and No Website” – those ads are usually about affiliate marketing.

But think about it for a minute.  If you could REALLY do that – wouldn’t everybody be doing it?  That old saying that “if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is” holds true when it comes to affiliate marketing.

The best way to market any affiliate product is to sell it where the customers are.  Which means that you need to know who your prospective customers are.  You need to find out as much information about them as possible – what they want, what their greatest fears are, what solution they’re looking for.  Then you need to know where they shop – if your affiliate marketing product is for consumers, then you’ll want to know where your prospect shops, what magazines they read or what Internet pages they visit.  Where do they hang out?  If you’re selling to business owners, then you’ll have to find out where they do business at.  And again, market your affiliate products there.

Affiliate Marketing Mistake #3: Not Writing the Right Kind of Sales Copy

Although it’s not absolutely necessary to hire a professional copywriter (especially if you’re just starting out and money is tight), it is necessary that you learn the basics about copywriting and write sales copy that will appeal to your market.

One of the first things you need to do is to “Continue the conversation that your prospect is already having inside their head.  That means that you need to know what kind of questions your prospect has about your affiliate product – and make sure that you’re answering them.  Think about what kinds of objections your prospect might have, and find a way of answering them, too.

Add social proof. (This means you want to show that other people have bought the product and love it.)  When you’re selling affiliate products, the really good marketers will provide you with testimonies that you can use, along with sales copy, email copy, etc.  (This is great because it’s often been written by a professional copywriter who understands the market.)

However, even if you’re given a sales page or email blasts to send out to your list, you don’t want to use it word for word.  Make a few changes it – give it your own original touch.  Make it fresh and original so that your prospect doesn’t see the exact same ad somewhere else – you’ll lose credibility if that happens.

If you’re offering a bonus for someone to buy your affiliate product, make sure that the bonus goes along with the product. Don’t give away recipes if you’re selling a book about hair care.  Make sure your bonus relates to the product and is useful to your prospect.  (For example, you could write your own Ebook that tells how to get the most out of the affiliate product.  That’s something that no one else will be able to sell, because it’s yours.

Whatever you do, when it comes to affiliate marketing, it’s easy to avoid making the three biggest marketing mistakes just by doing a little thinking and strategic planning before you get started.  And the truth is, you can make a very good living just from selling affiliate products, as long as you do it the right way.  Good luck!

 

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Thieves are a problem out in the brick and mortar world is for business owners and thieves are a concern for cyberspace business owners. Out in the brick and mortar world, thieves will take money and merchandise and it isn’t any different online. The real world merchants use locks and alarms to deter thieves. Internet business owners need to use anti-theft software to protect their commissions. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself and your commissions:

1. Use Meta Refresh: A meta refresh is a simple bit of HTML code which automatically redirects your visitor to another page (your affiliate URL). It provides a neat way of presenting affiliate links in newsletters. It probably helps reduce commission bypassing and commission hijacking. A big advantage of using meta refreshes is that if merchants change their affiliate links, you can change links on dozens of pages quickly and easily by altering only one file.

One problem is that some search engines don’t like meta refreshes because they’re frequently used for unsavory purposes. So if you use this technique, use it with caution.

2. Use a URL redirection service. You can use free services or buy a unique domain name for each affiliate program you join. URL redirection makes affiliate links less obvious, so this will reduce some commission thefts.

3. Use a web-based ad tracking service. The ad tracking link initially hides the affiliate link, reducing thefts.

4. Use an ad tracking script. Good ad tracking scripts hide the affiliate link as well as being useful for tracking. It has the advantage that it doesn’t promote someone else’s domain.

5. Use JavaScript redirect. Because this initially hides the affiliate link, it should reduce commission thefts.

Be aware that thievery is a problem for online businesses and take the necessary steps to protect your commissions.

 

What exactly is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is the single fastest growth industry on the Internet. It’s also true that affiliate marketing is one of the fastest and most creative ways to make money and have a career on the Internet.

 Simply put, affiliate marketing is selling products on a commission basis. You own a business that advertises and sells products for other companies. You may have a product of your own to begin with or not. The things that a successful affiliate marketer must have are:

 1. Your website is the jumping off point of all your marketing efforts. So the first step in any successful affiliate marketing business is building a good, credible and professional looking website. You must build a user-friendly website, which will attract your prospects and motivate them to click on the links to the products and services you are promoting and make a purchase. There are companies whose business is building websites that you can hire to build one for you.

 2. You must find products to sell, you must be able to determine whether there is a demand for those products and if people will actually buy them.  You may either have your own original product or products that are made by others. Which ever way you go, you must believe in the products.

 3. It will be necessary for you to become an adept advertiser and be able to tell whether the advertising you are paying for is producing more income for you than the advertising is costing you.

 4. It is necessary that you have good mathematical skills. You will need to be able to track your sales and determine profit, as well as, see to it that your suppliers are paid in full and on time.

 5. You need the full and unwavering support of your family so that you can devote the time and energy necessary to launch your affiliate marketing business.