How to Generate a List of HOT Buyers – Fast!
I am here to point the way to one of the best lists of List Building Ideas at Terry Dean’s Internet Marketing Coach. Head on over for some inspiration:
http://www.terrydean.org/21-ways-to-add-more-subscribers/
There are only a handful of marketers that I keep subscribed to for solid, useful advice and Terry’s is one of them.
Internet Marketing Kickstart Course: A New Start
Have you been floundering in your online business, not knowing where to go… what to do? Yes? Well, so have I. True confessions time. I have been in the IM game for over two years now. I call them my “learning” years. I dabbled and designed and sold a few things. But never really got a good ripping start.
At the same time, I had been eyeing Tony Shepherd’s and Sara Brown’s Internet Marketing Kickstart Course. But I put off joining as I thought, “I know what to do; I just need to do it!” So, I didn’t join. But then I didn’t “just do it, either”.
I finally knew what I had to do. You see, even we creative entrepreneurial types need a mentor – someone who will direct you and advise. And I knew Tony and Sara would do just that.
I “joined” over two weeks ago and have never regretted it!! It was just the “kickstart” I needed. Already I have gone through the first 4 lessons and am chomping at the bit to get on with the next ones. This is nothing but solid gold.
So, I thought I would record my progress here for anyone else who is thinking about trying out the Course. Just look for the category to see what I have been doing.
For you totally new to Internet Marketing, a resounding YES you will never regret your choice. I have participated in a half dozen courses and webinars before and, well, Tony and Sara’s course is the most user friendly. I would not hesitate to recommend it if you are new and want to see progress on a regular steady pace.
But if you are like me, and really need that kick in the pants, this is perfect. While many of the lessons are stuff we already know, the simple progressive layout offers the nudge and guidelines I needed.
Yes, I am a Tony and Sara fan but for good reason. They are “real” – no false fronts with them. Head on over to the Internet Marketing Kickstart Course and meet them today!
How Does Susan Boyle Have Anything To Do With Internet Marketing?
Are you ready to toss in the towel on your Internet business? Do you see your dreams of succeeding fading. Are you tempted to think, “I’m too old; I am too plain, fat or past my prime…”
Have you come to the end of your hopes to ever come out on top? Well, think again. This story is inspiring for anyone in any pursuit that you just keep your dream and see it through.
Who is it that I am talking about? Susan Boyle who recently shocked the judges and audience of Britain’s Got Talent (their version of American Idol) with her stunning performance. The faces of all who saw her as she first walked on stage was to say the least, unimpressed, even cynical.
Did she make the house “rock”? Watch the video. And think again — I don’t know who said it first, but, may I say, JUST DO IT! Ignore the scoffers and pursue your dream.
How to Spot a Scam
I sit here shaking my head because I have been in this business for well over two years and well, I have learned a thing or two about how people operate.
Did you know some people just like to gripe? They do! Somehow they just think that everything is a scam or designed to steal money from their pocket. Well, I am here to tell you no one is taking that credit card out of their wallet and entering it into the order form (now I am not talking about identity theft which I know is a problem). I am talking about those who knowingly fill out the payment form and press buy it.
Then they get the e-book or e course and find out it won’t make them rich like the guy said in the ad.
Hmmm, I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that you are not that guy. The person who wrote the ad most likely did make that kind of money in that short period of time. They also said they would show you how to, too.
Now, think of this scenario: Here is someone who doesn’t know how to swim. He buys a book that says this is how to swim. He jumps into the pool and well, drowns (nearly). He jumps out of the pool, dries off, goes home and immediately tells everyone he knows that Sam’s Simple Swimming technique is a scam!
Silly, I know. But really, how many of us read an ad, buy the product and jump into the deep end and nearly drown learning how to do it. Then come out sputtering it’s a rip off. Now I may be preaching to the choir here as most of us marketers know how to read the marketing hype and merely buy the product to add to our library [at least that is the excuse I make 
] But for those of you who are new to this game, just use common sense.
Internet marketing is a business and don’t let anyone ever tell you anything else. You will not get rich overnight. None of the people who wrote the sales letters got rich overnight. They started in the shallow end of the pool and learned how to “swim” in this business. Some take many months; some take longer. Hey, it took me a year and a half to figure out that I like to write and then asked for my first ghostwriting job.
Tip of the day: Use common sense. There is nothing that is truly free. Hey, I even ask for your email address to get my “free” report.
Use Google Reader to Get Up To the Minute News
OK I am going to let you in on a “secret”. I knew YouTube made an announcement on their new YouTube Sponsoring Ads almost the same day that they announced it. I know what Google is doing or announcing on the same day that it happens to hit the news. I even know, the same day, when big name marketers have made a blog post of momentous importance. No, it isn’t in the main news but it is in their own news or on a blog.
And no, I am not privileged and get leaked info – but I do know where to look and then have my “virtual assistant” send it to my favorite reader – Google Reader.
You see, it pays to be a bit snoopy and poke around and listen. Now I would never, ever advocate anything unethical here. Everything I am taling about is right there for all to see – if you know where to look.
The Secret here is to grab the RSS of the news feed or blog in question and have it sent to Google Reader. No secret at all, really.
This is what I do: First of all, I subscribe to the feeds of marketers I like to follow: Tiffany Dow , Tony Shepherd, Ed Dale, Terry Dean, Michelle MacPherson, just to name a few.
Then when they make an announcement that hits them as important or point to a site that they have found useful, then I head over to take a peek. If I like it, I grab the feed for that and then send it to – you guessed it – Google Reader.
Well, Ed Dale and Michelle stay smack dab on top of the scuttlebutt in social marketing, so I pay attention to their blogs. Thanks to them for the blast about YouTube!
Tiffany and Terry always share solid marketing advice, so it pays to subscribe to their blogs – big time.
But then I learned that Google has its “official ” blog, so I get it fed to Google Reader. YouTube has a (you guessed it) blog, too! And guess where these big players announce their new stuff! Right there in their blog.
So, now you know the secret to staying informed in the IM industry. There is just no excuse for being the last to know anymore.
How to Make a Table of Contents in Word
How many times have you bought and read an ebook and lo and behold it is just basic “flat” text on a few pages? I don’t know about you but I have “tasted” what it is like to use an eBook that is somewhat dynamic. You know the ones that have a table of contents that you can jump right to the text you want to see. Slick.
Now as a writer of eBooks and short reports I wanted to learn this trick to make my own books more user friendly. I thought maybe you could use the tips too.
To create a linked ToC in Word 2003 (sorry, I like it better for this feature than 2007), you need to select the Outlining toolbar from View>Toolbars.
Then just go through your text and click your cursor on the line (it selects the whole line even if you just put the cursor on there).
Go up to the Outline Toolbar and select the Level 1 through 9 (i think). This is where you use your outlining skills from school. You know, chapters are level one; major points – level two; sub point – level 3, etc.
When you are done outlining, place your cursor in the doc right where you want the table to appear (right after your title page), go to Insert>Reference>Tables and Indexes and choose Table of Contents tab.
You can choose a style of table, so mess around with it. Make sure to select the number of levels if it is more than the default of 3 and click ok.
Ta da! Hopefully you did a nice clean job of outlining or you may have a lot of unwanted text. If you see stuff you don’t want, jump to that text; make sure to label it “body text” if you don’t want it included in the toc. Then go back to the Outling toolbar and click replace entire table. Keep at it till it is clean.
I like a uniform looking ToC so I highlight the whole thing, choose the font style, size and weight to all be the same. I mess with it a bit but hey.
I know I wished someone taught me how easy it is to make a “jump to” ToC for my ebooks. Hope this helps!
Learning FriendFeed
OK. I admit I am a late bloomer. I takes some a while to catch on, you know. But I have the excuse that I am still relatively new to Internet marketing. What am I driving at?
Social networking. Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader and such. For someone like me who has been steadily chunking away at learning the ropes of marketing basics like writing, web design, basic graphics design, writing copy; this is just one more feather to add to my very feathered cap!
Well, I have been learning this game and as the saying goes, “When the student is willing, the Teacher appears” I have to blame Tiffany Dow and now Ed Dale for getting me into this “game”. But in it, I am!
Even heard of immersion learning? Well, that’s what I have been up to this past week or so. Learning Twitter, signing up in Facebook, figuring out Google Reader, and other social stuff. But what has really occupied my time is FriendFeed.
Have you looked at it? Now, I am a total newbie to the social thing anyway, but FriendFeed just makes sense! Having all your social feeds going to one center place where your friends can find you is really the future of the Internet. I think I heard Web 3.0 mentioned in the same breath with Friend Feed simply because is takes Twitter and ramps it up to the next level.
Anyway, I am throwing together a free how-to guide for FriendFeed that I’ll be making available pretty quick. As a matter of fact, it will be re-brandable for you folks who like to get in on this thing.
In the meantime, see my FriendFeed at: http://friendfeed.com/hinessite
See you there!
Are You An Opportunity Seeker? You Capitalist!
Warning: I am on my soapbox today!
Now here is term that can be taken two ways: one is that you are looking for a way to make a living through a “prepackaged” opportunity and the other is the more daring, entrepreneurial seeker/creator of opportunities.
The first one tends to be the guy who is looking for a get rich quick (GRQ) system. They will sign up for anything that says, “Learn how you can make $1000 a day while sleeping”. Anyone who has ever signed up for one of those programs knows that they are forever on a mailing list of opportunity seekers, which is then sold to similar GRQ programs. Chain letters, free money, casino riches – you know the type.
Now, I am talking about the entrepreneurial spirit type of opportunity seeker. Like a blood hound, they are always sniffing the air for some way to make a living through ingenuity and persistence. Anyone who is this kind of opportunity seeker knows that it will take a bit of imagination coupled with dogged determination to see a project through. But that is the fun of it!
The ones who are doubly blessed are opportunity seekers that are looking for ways that benefit mankind, their neighbor – and still make an honest living.
These are tough times. While whole banks are failing and business on Wall street are melting down due to an accumulation of bad business practices, there is going to the opportunity seeker rising from the ashes. Not to take advantage of the common man’s misfortune and to prey on others dying hopes.
No, the new breed of opportunity seeker will be a man or woman that sees a need, no matter how small, and reaches out to fill it. He or she will take his or her talent to aid in rebuilding in their community. And yes, they may capitalize on it, just not in an abusive way which way is the reason for our current economic status.
Had the past generation of opportunity seekers not been so greedy, we wouldn’t be in this current state of affairs. But we are and the new breed of capitalists will rise and take their place. A more thoughtful capitalist.
And before you curse capitalism, remember the true definition of capitalist and not the media’s twisted version.
The media and TV make out all businessman/capitalist out to be a greedy claim jumper that makes his living on the flesh of mankind. They would have you believe that capitalists take and never give. They prey on the weak and poor – grabbing their last dime. The media would have you think that all capitalists are in the same league as PT Barnum, the circus man, who is quoted as saying, “There is a sucker born every minute”.
While there are a few wretches who may operate this way, most true capitalists are folks like your mechanic, selling his talents to repair your car. The produce market is owned by a capitalist – he expects to make some profit on the goods he sells you or you wouldn’t have access to the produce. The fellow who drills for oil needs to make at least some profit to stay ahead. He isn’t greedy if he makes a profit. If a guy designs and sells software that makes life easier for someone else, even he should make a fair profit. Hey, even any pop star, athlete or celebrity is a pure capitalist – he or she wouldn’t act or compete for free.
The problem seems to come in as to what “fair profit” is? Well, several factors come in. If an item is a need like basic food, basic clothes and simple shelter, then I submit that even this should give the seller some profit – just perhaps not a usurious margin.
But when it comes to things we want, over and above those basics, then frankly, fair profit is what people will pay. Sure most of us won’t be able to afford a Rolls Royce or a house in Manalapan, FL, but those aren’t needs. Maybe you can’t afford what you want to afford but if you live in America, Great Britain and much of the western world, you can still do something about it.
After all, ask yourself, if you made a widget that helps make life better for someone else and people want it enough to pay for it, are you just going to say no, I want you to have it for free. Even the guys who design open source software earn a living selling themselves to a boss for wages.
Don’t berate the business man or woman that earns millions and can afford to drive a Rolls. Most of them started out just like you and saw an opportunity. They came by their wealth through honest hard work selling you something you wanted: an iPod, Lancome cosmetics, Apple laptop, Lexus, etc. You don’t need any of those items. But nothing is stopping you from pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and cranking it up a notch to get the things you want. Be an opportunity seeker!
Thank God for honest business men and women who seek opportunities to make products we want and services that make out lives more efficient. They are what true capitalism is about.
P.S. Next time you are tempted to rank on capitalists, remember it is capitalism that:
- Provides you with a job that you can choose to leave or to improve your station
- Encourages competition between businesses which in turn gives you variety and choice so we have more than one brand as well as more than one price level — not one brand of peaches, one type of car or truck, one clothing store, more than one grocery store to choose from. None of us likes the idea of always having to shop at Walmart so there is Target and Fred Meyers and others.
- This competition causes mp3 players, cars, and houses, for example, to be more affordable since there are more than one to choose from
- Allows anyone ANYONE to climb the ranks and improve their station in life. And yes, this is tough. It is one thing to have a great idea. It is still another to make it happen.
- Provides schools have books and computers and extension programs
- Offers assistance to the truly needy
- If you are enjoying using the Internet to earn a living or even just to find useful information, you can thank a capitalist.
As my grandfather used to tell folks who griped about the greed in business and government, “Perhaps your troubles would be better solved with a one way ticket to Communist China or Cuba?”
End of rant, for today!