Do you have a website that is not making you money?
Discover how you can turn from ‘website builder’ to online marketer.
Get the ’unfair’ advantage over your competition: Stop chasing the money – instead, make the money chase you.
How to run an online business, not a website - free 60 minute webinar for Internet Marketers by one of the most sought after Internet marketing coaches this side of the Atlantic.
Available: immediately
Click here for instant access.
Easy Video Player is a new program that makes lots of claims:
Supposedly, it allows you to upload a video to Amazon S3 or elsewhere at the touch of a button, it lets you embed links, images, opt-in pages, and, crucially, the publishers claim that it is very easy to use.
I decided to test these claims and do a live review of a first time use of Easy Video Player. Not only that, but the first time user is defnitely not a technical wizzard, quite the opposite. Here is Part 1 of the review:
If you want to go directly to Part 2 of this review, click here.
Search engines are an Internet Marketer’s best friend and worst nightmare. Google, Bing and Yahoo allow us to find all the information we need right now. Yes, they may swamp us with “stuff” and make us occasionally scream at them for all the dross we have to put up with before we find what we were looking for. But some diligent searching usually gets us there pretty fast.
How about posting information on the Internet? This seems to be another game altogether. A game, where the search engines set the rules. And then change them.
What is a legitimate method of posting information one day may well be regarded as undesirable the next by those who set the rules. As a result your website disappears from page 1 of Google (or Bing or Yahoo) and simply cannot be found. Or at least not on the first few pages beyond which most search engine users don’t venture. Which, for the struggling Internet Marketer, amounts to the same as not being online.
Is there a way out? Can we set up our Internet business on more solid foundations than the caprices of the search engines?
This is immensely important, especially for those who are new to this game, who want to earn some money online and don’t ooze cash. Paying for the privilege to be on page 1 of Google can cost you dearly if you are not savvy around this whole Adwords thing. Of course, you can pay to have your website optimised for the search engines. Until they change the rules. Then you pay again.
Catch-22? More like building on shifting sand. If you play by their rules, that is.
How about saying Good-bye to Google, Bing and Yahoo? What about spreading the word yourself? Make your message go viral and for free!
What? I hear you ask. By-pass all that web wizardry and huge bills and D-I-Y? For free? Yes, You Can! You can even get the information on how to do it for free. You only have to know where to look. Or click here.
That’s right. Download your free, straight forward, easy to read guide and all will be revealed. It’s a simple, ingenious Internet marketing idea that leaves the search engines behind and spreads your message like wildfire.
Who hasn’t bought into this sort of hype when they first went into internet marketing? Get rich without any effort, follow the yellow brick road, retire to a millionaire lifestyle without breaking sweat.
“To live of earnings from investments is one thing. But to make a consistent living while working very little is another. Few exemplify this better than Markus Frind, the founder of PlentyofFish.com, one the world’s biggest dating websites.
Frind reckons he spends around 10 minutes a day working, to make £3 million a year from his service.”
Reported in the Evening Standard on the 19th of October 2009.
Here is what Markis Frind said in his blog post “How I started A Dating Empire” (2006):
“My short description leaves a lot out, but basically I spent every waking minute when I wasn’t at my day job reading, studying, and learning. I picked out “enemies” and did everything I could to defeat them which meant being bigger than them. I refused to accept defeat of any kind, and I constantly forced myself to test new things. I never tried to perfect anything it didn’t matter if things didn’t work 100% as long as it was good enough I would move onto the next thing. In 2003 the dating market was growing 80% a year unlike the -10% in 2006 so growth was a LOT easier. When 2004 rolled around and word of mouth REALLY kicked in and as they say the rest is history.
“I look back now at how ill prepared I was, I didn’t know anything about SEO, Advertising, community and I didn’t even know what Venture Capital was. Just goes to show you anyone can do anything.”
Tempted to give it a go? Download your free report on how to start an Internet Marketing business here.
Internet use can boost the brain activity of the elderly, potentially slowing or even reversing the age-related declines that can end in dementia. Using brain scans, researchers found the internet stimulated the mind more strongly than reading, and the effects continued long after an internet session had ended.
“We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function,” said Gary Small, professor of neuroscience and human behaviour at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Small and his colleagues found the impacts began immediately, with the first scan demonstrating brain activity in regions controlling language, reading, memory and vision.
The researchers suggest internet searching stimulates brain cells and pathways more than reading, making them more active, because people need to perform several tasks at once.
Read the full article at http://bit.ly/o2P5h
You’ve set up your Twitter account. Now you want a brilliant background, lots of Twitter followers and the most effective tweets for business, hobby or just for fun. And you want to get it all done fast and easy. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an app for that?
Yes, there is an app or tool for everything. In fact, there are well over 2,000 Twitter tools, apps and services. Too many to plough through and select the right ones from.
WAIT!!! There is an app for that, too. Click on the image to download now…
The Really Useful Twitter Tool Box
… your selection of Twitter apps, tools and services that will help make Twitter bigger, better and faster for you.
…or click here for Twitter tools, apps and more, in fact:
Everything you always wanted to know about Twitter – on one page (just read it carefully).
I am currently using two Twitter Desktop applications: TweetDeck and Seesmic. Both have their advantages and drawbacks.
For instance, I like the TweetDeck interface but prefer Seesmic’s ability to show you all or several of my Twitter accounts on the Desktop.
Which one do you prefer - TweetDeck or Seesmic?
Voting has now closed. Here is the result. You are welcome to leave a comment:
Do you have valuable real estate that could earn you a passive income but isn’t?
As you are reading this post, chances are that you do. Perhaps not ‘real’ real estate but virtual real estate: a website or two or three… My website used to be such a sink. Clicks sunk without a trace. A while ago, I watched a video, a minicourse on generating income without any repeat action required.
OK, I won’t beat around the bush - it’s about Adsense. I watched the free video, followed the advice, especially what kind of ads to insert where and how, and behold: where there was none, money appeared :-))) (yes, a very big grin)
You want more? Here is a link to an interview with the man who made the video (not to worry, it isn’t a long video, just a brief article): Click here to read it. If you want to go NOW to the video I watched, click here.
No, the link isn’t on the right, it’s right here. Enjoy! And while you’re at it, follow me on Twitter.
For anyone who wants to escape ___________ (fill in whatever fits your situation: “the rat race, your boss, your JOB, the threat of unemployment, having too much month at the end of your money, no way out, not having enough money for your kids’ education / a family holiday / a new car / …”) looking at the Internet for a way out should be a no-brainer.
“The Internet offers, beyond any doubt, the best opportunity to achieve financial freedom, especially during these times of economic crisis.”
Here is reason no. 1:
The Internet Is Everywhere And It Is A Gigantic Marketplace That Is Open 24/7.
Today, everyone with access to the Internet has access to a potential market of about 1.6 billion customers. This customer base is growing rapidly and even better, this customer base is happy to buy online.
How many customers do you need to earn some extra money, or even a lot of money? Not 1.6 billion, that’s for sure. But even closer to home, the market is still gigantic.
Here in the UK, about 70% of the population already have access to the Internet. In the next four years this will grow to 100%! It is government policy to provide EVERY household in the UK with at least a 2MB online connection by 2012.
When and where in history has it ever been possible to gain access to such a huge potential market from your kitchen table? …
Read more about reason no.1 and the other two reasons here…
Or download the full 5-part report here with even more details and tips than in the article.
Every website owner wants to appear on the front page of Google, so here’s a handy ten step guide to achieving Listing Nirvana:
1) Be Owner of your Domain - none of this freebie rubbish. …
2) Redirection? Indirection - not only do redirects and splash pages annoy your visitors, but they annoy the search engines too. …
3) Text, Text, Text. Yes, your fully Flashed up site, or your fantastic front page graphic looks great. Really great. Just a shame no-one is going to see it, don’t you think? …
4) Great navigation - …
Read the full article by Nikki Pilkington on how to get to Google page 1 here.
Online businesses can automate pretty much everything. At times, though, it can be worth enhancing your customer service offer by adding a manual component. Depending on your niche, merchandise or delivery options you may want to give your clients the opportunity to order by fax. In my previous post, I wrote about MOTO – mail order / telephone order. Add fax order to it.
Of course, a prerequisite for extending your service to fax ordering, you have to be able to receive faxes. There wouldn’t be any point in offering this service, otherwise, I guess. Business start-ups may baulk at the cost involved when you don’t evn know what return to expect.
There is nothing to worry about. Like anything else, you can automate and digitise everything. There is no need for a separate telephone line or a fax terminal. Quite a number of services offer a facility to receive and send faxes vial email. Some of these services are even free. But free may not be suitable for your business. I’ll get back to this in a moment.
Sending Faxes Online
When you offer to receive your clients’ orders by fax you don’t necessarily have to send a fax in reply. But if you wanted to, there is no need for a separate fax terminal.
One solution is your word processor. Word processing programmes offer Fax as a printer option. Just plug your desktop or laptop into your telephone line, select fax as your printer and print. That’s all. If you can’t get to a telephone line, you need a service that helps you send your fax via email.
You can receive faxes in the same way: The totally free solution is via the integrated fax terminal in your PC’s or laptop’s operating system. But that would occupy your telephone line unnecessarily and tie you to your office.
Receiving Faxes Online
It’s much easier to use one of the many fax service providers. Sign up, choose a fax number, and the rest is done by the service provider. You receive the fax by email wherever you are. The only drawback is that the fax doesn’t arrive immediately. You have to wait for it to arrive by email before you can read it.
Service rates vary quite a bit. Efax.com is the biggest and at the same time the cheapest and most expensive service provider. It’s the cheapest for you because you can get a free fax number from them. Typically, they allocate a premium rate number – a 0870 number in the UK – which means the person who sends the fax pays more than the standard call charge. The service is useful to you if you want to be able to receive the occasional fax but it isn’t suitable for business. Would you like to pay a premium for placing an order? The free fax number also limits the number of inbound faxes per month to about 20 or so as well as the number of pages per fax. A 50 page fax will cancel your fax number pretty much instantly.
Efax.com forward your faxes in a proprietary format. To read them you have to download and install a small (300KB) program on your computer. Fax quality is excellent.
Their Efax Plus service allows you to receive 130 inbound faxes per month for £7.50 (in the UK) and also send 30 faxes by email yourself. Although this doesn’t sound like much, compared to the competition it is actually quite expensive.
Myfax.com charge $10 or £5 per month for 200 inbound and 100 outbound faxes. In addition, they offer the option of a toll-free (US) or freephone (UK) number at no extra charge. This is certainly extremely attractive as you can offer your clients a free fax ordering service that costs you next to nothing.
While efax.com and myfax.com are international service providers, Soho66.co.uk is based in the UK. For £2 (plus VAT) per month your clients can send as many orders by fax as they wish. You receive your faxes as pdf attachments by email via your local fax number. You can even choose your fax number yourself. There are no further charges for incoming faxes. Outgoing faxes – also sent as attachments to your email – are charged at 10.5p per page. Set up is fast. They claim 15 minutes. This service was the cheapest way I found that can help you offer clients the option to order by fax while preserving your perfect professional image.
Claim your Free Instant Access to the 5-part report “7 Recession Busting Reasons Why The Internet Is Your Fastest And Easiest Way To Financial Freedom Now” when you visit http://tinyurl.com/c8eztz
Some Internet businesses may want to widen their appeal by offering offline payment options to their customers. This is less important for those who deliver digital products online but it can make a difference for more traditional types of merchandise or delivery.
What you want to add is known in the financial services world as MOTO – a Mail Order / Telephone Order facility. You may want to give your customers the opportunity to print out an order form and mail or fax it to you or give you their details by telephone. To be able to take their money offline you need a “virtual terminal,” a facility made available by your service provider where you enter your customer’s payment and address details online to have their money transferred from their credit card to your merchant account.
You’ll find that not all merchant service providers offer this facility. For instance, Nochex and Google Checkout don’t do it while Paypal offers it. So does Worldpay, at a hefty price. But once you ask your favourite search engine to look for “virtual terminal” you’ll soon find Worldpay resellers offering WorldAccess. It’s the same service but at a much reduced price. It won’t take you long to find all you require – by the time I had arrived at page 5 on Google I had all the information I needed.
You have to carry out the same checks for MOTO as for online payment facilities:
Beware of a couple of pitfalls. Some providers offer a very cheap virtual terminal service. The catch here is usually that you have to have your own merchant ID and merchant account before you can use their service. Being able to take money online via financial intermediaries such as Paypal does not count because with Paypal you are using Paypal’s Merchant ID, not your own.
A particular killer can be remittance charges. You need to look carefully at both, the charges and the turnover you expect your business to generate offline. When I started offering an offline payment option to my customers, I found a service provider offering daily remittance seven days in arrears. This sounded fantastic especially as others transfer your money fortnightly or monthly with four weeks delay. But when I looked at their remittance charges, £15 ($23) a pop, their great service started to lose its attraction at Warp Speed. The main reason was that I didn’t expect huge offline turnover. An additional £15 ($23) cost for each transfer simply wasn’t worth it.
In the end, I went with the provider whom I had originally classified as expensive. Here is why:
Given that I was already familiar with their service as a customer, my initial assessment as ‘expensive’ turned after investigation of the competition into ‘most suitable package for my purposes.’
Claim your Free Instant Access to the 5-part report “7 Recession Busting Reasons Why The Internet Is Your Fastest And Easiest Way To Financial Freedom Now” when you visit http://tinyurl.com/c8eztz
You’re setting up to run an Internet based business and obviously need to find a way to take money online. There are a large number of service providers who will allow Internet based businesses to do that. How do you choose between them?
First, there are your local and national banks that provide Merchant Services to businesses. This is generally a costly solution with set-up fees, recurring charges, and lots of hoops to jump through. For many Internet start-ups, these initial costs can be a bit prohibitive, as they have no idea at that stage what turnover they can realistically expect.
If for whatever reason you are unable to obtain the service you need at a reasonable rate from your bank, it isn’t the end of the world. On the contrary, Paypal, Google Checkout, Nochex, Worldpay are probably the best known alternatives, but there are a host of others. Your favourite search engine will have plenty of answers for you.
Once you start checking out their offers and terms and conditions, here is what you have to look out for:
There is no universal rule or best solution that fits all. You need to take a good look at your business, expected turnover, payment conditions and refund rules, and then choose what is best for your business. The best package for you may not always be the one that at first sight appears as the cheapest solution available on the market. Investigate all the pointers to avoid paying over the odds.
To claim your Free Instant Access to the 5-part report “7 Recession Busting Reasons Why The Internet Is Your Fastest And Easiest Way To Financial Freedom Now” visit http://tinyurl.com/c8eztz
It’s official: The Internet is the best business start up opportunity you can dream of in a recession. Time Magazine must have read the free report I mentioned in my last blog post. The magazine devotes 3 full pages in its latest edition to “Get Rich Slow: There’s never been a better time to bootstrap your own Web business.”
Here are the 5 tips from the article on “How to Start a Start-Up:”
I applaud them on tip 1: Find someone to partner up with who complements your skills. Going it alone will pretty much be a recipe for disaster.
If you want the full report about the recession and the internet, it’s available here: http://tinyurl.com/cznpjk
You’ll find the Time article here: http://tinyurl.com/cjuxg8
I few days ago, I watched a programme about some of the people who were made redundant when Woolworth went bankrupt at the end of 2008. The most painful feature of the programme was watching them struggle in their search for jobs hoping to earn £6.50 or so an hour. They did this through a gateway that could make them financially secure and independent of any job, employer or benefit agency. Yet none of them saw the opportunity that was literally at their fingertips.
You see, some of them used state of the art PCs to scour job sites. In search for peanuts they stepped through a portal that offered them a gold mine. But far from looking for a shovel, they didn’t even see the gold! They used the Internet without knowing what they were looking at. The Internet offers, beyond any doubt, the best opportunity to achieve financial freedom, especially during these times of economic crisis.
A new report explains the 7 Recession Busting reasons why the Internet is your fastest way to recession-proof financial independence. The report makes some bold statements but comes through on its promise.
It shows not only what the Internet can offer but also what would be needed to get started (very little – all the unemployed had access to it), how much capital would be required (none) and what risk such an enterprise carried (none). It also shows where professional tools of the trade can be found either for free or for very little money. And, most importantly it highlights the sine qua non of success: passion, a desire to succeed, persistence, and being teachable. With these four elements in place, you cannot fail.
The report is free and can be obtained from http://tinyurl.com/cznpjk
I just came across HTM2PDF, an outstanding free service that converts web pages to pdf files. I used to save web pages as pdf files with Adobe Acrobat, but HTM2PDF does a far superior job. It’s faster than doing it manually. It also preserves all links embedded in the web page, and it preserves the full web page. Best of all, it’s free.
Using the service is simple: copy the URL into the box, press CONVERT and that’s it. You also have the option to convert raw HTML code to receive a pdf file in return. Just click on the “Convert raw html” tab, copy the code into the box and click CONVERT. A new screen opens with a download link for the converted file. Right click the link and Save Target As. Done. I give HTM2PDF a 5 STAR rating.