Internet Marketing Guy

We Have Moved to a New Server

2007-08-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

We are now located at http://www.promoinnovations.com

I hope you enjoy our new Blog.

Internet Business Tip - Blog Your Way to a Six Figure Income

2007-08-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Quick Preface: As you already know, people are making tons of money on the Internet every day. Are you? I sure hope so. If not, please read further...

**** I'm writing this article assuming you know what a blog is. If you are not totally sure visit wikipedia.org and type in blog ********

A Serious Blog: If you are serious about making a blog, you have to keep a few things in mind:

1. NOBODY wants to read too many words.
2. NOBODY wants to read large paragraphs and blocks of texts.
3. NOBODY wants to wade through ugly designs and flashy graphics
4. EVERYBODY wants either inspiration, entertainment, or a solution to a problem
5. MOST PEOPLE prefer some pictures or videos to go along with a blog post
6. SOME PEOPLE like to make comments
7. NOBODY wants to waste their time reading "off topic" posts

Building an Audience If you are concentrating on building a big audience for 1 blog, it is important that you have NO advertisements during the building stage. Wait until you have at least 100 regular readers before introducing 1 ad. Once your base is completely loyal, then you can start monetizing your site.

Some people would rather build multiple blogs with multiple advertisements. These people advertise their blogs through article directories, forums, search engines, etc..... Even though they don't have a regular reader base, they figure out which blogs are producing the most money for them and create other blogs in that genre

Monetizing Your Blog If you are one of those people who want to build a loyal audience, it is very important that they get to know and trust you. Make sure all the information you write is accurate, and, find a way for your readers to get some recognition.

Once you have loyal readers, you can throw in a post here and there advertising one of your products, services, or affiliates. If you are sincere and have gained trust, your follower will be happy to support you and your opinions.

Now, if you are a blogger who creates and advertises a few blogs a day, Pay-Per-Click Advertising might be the easiest form of making big bucks. Many companies have created software that makes it very simple to add content and advertisement to multiple blogs at once. Once the blogs are created, the software then advertises your blog to thousands of directories.

No matter which type of blog you want to utilize, you WILL be successful.

Internet Business Tip - 5 Secrets the Internet Gurus Don't Want You to Know

2007-08-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Did you ever notice that every time the Internet Gurus come out with “The Best Course Ever – How to Make Millions”, they are already in the process of writing their next course “The New Internet Revolution – Why Old Marketing Strategies Won’t Work”?

Are they trying to fool you? Read on and find out…..

Gurus know when their marketing secrets are about to start failing. Once they realize this, they start marketing a course on how these secrets made them millions. So, not only did they profit off their marketing secrets, they profit off of selling those secrets in the form of courses and seminars.

It’s pretty genius!

Now, while they are selling their old secrets, they are working on new marketing secrets that they will utilize and ride the wave on until they start failing. And, of course, once that starts happening, they will begin selling those new secrets in the form of courses and seminars.

It’s a vicious, but, genius circle!

So… What are the 5 secrets every Guru follows to make quick millions!

The 5 Secrets:

1. Create a “hot” product that will either be your business, or help your business.

I know what you’re thinking. How am I going to create a product? That’s really easy. You either go to rentacoder.com or elance.com and find a programmer that will design your product exactly to your specs.

If you have no idea of a “new” product, you can have them create a product that already exists, but, has many different and addedfeatures. This is what most of the gurus do.

If your product is good enough, you can reap from the benefits of it yourself and then sell it later.

2. Create an automated system

The easiest way to become rich and successful is to find a system that works and duplicate it. If all of your time is spent on your one business, you will have no time to create other successful businesses.

So, the important thing to do is make sure that your entire system is automated. How do you do this?

Once your product is created and you have tested and used it, you will need to go to a packaging company that will take your product, package it, and ship out the orders for you. These companies normally charge very little, and, they do all the work for you.

Now, every time you receive an order, you just forward it to your processing company and they will handle all the hard work.

You will probably want a simple 3 page website with the domain name that matches the name of your product. You should be able to find a designer that will create the design, have a newsletter sign up form, have a Pay-Pal or Merchant Account, and will ship the information to your processing company.

…… So, at this point you have paid for an original product, for a website/design and for a processing company….

If you played your cards right, everything after the 15th sale should be total profit.

3. Add your site to an affiliate network

Once you have sold about 20 – 30 products and you have testimonials about how great you and your product are, you will hook your site up with one of the famous affiliate programs like clickbank.com.

They will tell you exactly how to add your site to their network. Now, instead of you having to make your own sales, you will have 20 – 30,000 people selling your product for you. Once you let the affiliate network know how much to pay in commission, everything is taken care of for you after that point. You are literally making money in your sleep without having to worry about anything.

All you have to do is sit back relax and let the affiliates sell your product for you. Remember! At this point, everything is automated.

4. Repeat Steps 1 – 3 with a brand new product and site

You’ve done it once, and now, it will be much easier this time. The more products you have, the more money you will have.

5. You are now a Guru

Once you have made your first almost-million, you can write and sell courses on how you became a millionaire and how you can help others do it too! When you give your first seminar please remember to email me of your success!

Search Engine Optimization – It's So Easy

2007-08-07T19:59:00.002-07:00

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not as hard as you may think it is. Many people want you to think it is hard because they want you to visit their websites or buy their products. Truthfully, if you want to be ranked at the top of the search engines all you have to do are these 4 simple things.

This article is important for anyone who already has a website or who is planning on acquiring one.

1. Pick 10 great keywords and phrases

Preliminary words

The very first thing you need to do if you want great search engine placement is to pick 30 keywords and phrases that best describe your main website. These are the words that when people type them into a search engine, your site will show up first.

Test (check the author’s box at the bottom for a link to free testing services)

Once you have these keywords and phrases, you need to test them to see (1.) if people are searching for these words, (2.) how many results are already in the search engines, (3.) how many of the results have to do with your service or product, (4.) if you have a chance of getting to the top with that specific word.

Narrow

Using your judgment from the above tests, start crossing off the words or phrases that very few people are searching for. Next, cross of the words and phrases that sites like Wikipedia, About, or other very popular sites hold the first few spots.

Create a bigger list (Use the free tools in the Author Bio Box)

Use a tool that will give you related keywords and phrases to your narrowed list. This tool will give not only give you related words, it will tell you how many people a month search that key term.

Repeat Test

This is the hardest part. You are going to get about 100 good suggestions that you now need to narrow down to 10.

2. Pick a keyword rich domain name

Now that you have found your 10 best keywords and phrases, you need to make sure that your domain name has some of the keywords in the actual name. A name like “jacobsandsons.xxx” is not going to rank you very high on the search engines.

If you already have a domain name, that is okay. But, it would be wise to buy another domain ($10/year) that will automatically forward to your website. A name which applies directly to your keywords

3. Use your keywords

Your keywords and phrases are your websites life blood. Therefore, your keywords should be in the title, the meta-tags, the headlines, the body, and the footer of your pages. It is rumored that a lot of search engines don’t look at meta-tags, but, better safe than sorry. (If you don’t know how to change the meta-tags, follow the link in the author’s bio).

4. Promote your keyword rich website.

There are many ways to promote your website: search engines, business directories, off-line advertising, rss feed directories, etc.. For the sake of brevity, you can read the 1,000’s of articles already written, or visit a complete resource at the website in the author’s box.

Internet Business Tip - The Quick Way to a Six Figure Income via Joint Ventures!

2007-08-07T19:59:00.001-07:00

You have a better chance at winning the lottery than making a six figure a year income on the Internet. With this being the case, how do you better your chances at becoming successful? Easy! The same way you increase your odds at winning the lottery… by going in with a lot of people.

Joint Venture

A joint venture is a partnership between 2 or more people (companies), where all parties contribute money and resources and share in the profits. Before you jump into this type of business relationship, it is important that everyone has a high level of trust for each other.

Strategic Alliance

A strategic alliance is a less risky form of a joint venture. In the strategic alliance, 2 or more people (companies), share resources, products, information, etc…. But, each company remains a separate entity.

Honestly Rate Yourself

Before you decide if you want to have a joint venture or a strategic alliance, you have to take an honest look at your business. You need to assess how much of a help you can be to other businesses. The best way to do this is to rank your business status from 1 – 10.

Some of the areas to thing about are:

1. How many customers do you have?

2. Do you have over 10,000 newsletter subscribers?

3. Do you have a successful marketing plan in place?

4. Is your website ranked high in search engines?

5. Do you have a high Alexa ranking?

Based on these qualifications, rank yourself.

Which type of partnership is best for you?

Now that you have ranked yourself, you know where you stand. What you need to do is search around the Internet for businesses who rank within one point of you in either direction. This means that you are looking for someone with the same Internet status as yourself.

If you have ranked yourself at a 5 or below, your best option is a strategic alliance. In this alliance, you find mutual associates who are all helping each other, but, not cutting into each other’s profits. This can only help you in the long run.

If you have ranked yourself above a 5, a joint venture might be the best case scenario.

The greatest advantage of being on the Internet is that you can have many businesses. So, if you already have clout, you can enter into many different joint ventures with people who are at your rank.

This will indeed bring you to a six figure income in no time.

Internet Business Tip - Create a Website a Day

2007-08-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

If you think I’m kidding or not, creating a website a day will skyrocket your income and increase the chances you will strike gold.

If I had written this article a few years ago, I would have been called an insane lunatic. Creating a website a day would have cost tons of money and taken too much time out of your already busy schedule.

Thank goodness for modern technology:

Nowadays, if you had to, you could probably create one website an hour. But, for the purpose of being realistic, let’s settle with one.

The How:

It is very easy to create a website in this modern web 2.0 generation. The easiest and most practical way is to sign up for a Wordpress or Blogger account. These free services come with easy to install templates, and allow you to easily post articles, pictures, and data.

The What:

Now that you have your free website, what are you going to put on it? Well, of course, that’s completely up to you. And, as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t really matter as long as you have enough content to make it worth the viewers time.

So, what else….

1. Pay Per Click Ads (AdSense, Adbright, YPN, etc…)

2. Links to your website and to your other blogs.

3. Links to your affiliate programs.

The Why:

The money of course!

The more content you write, and the more sites you have to advertise, the more traffic you will eventually get. Once people are at your site, they will click your ads, and hopefully click on the links to your affiliates.

Remember, the more links you have to your blogs and websites, the better you will do in the search engines and the more credibility your sites will get.

If you do one site a day, you will have something to advertise EVERY DAY! You will get into a routine and a pattern, so, you will be able to accomplish everything within an hour or two. Imagine having the opportunity to advertise a new site a day. You will become rich in no time.

How do I know this?

Find out at my website.

Internet Business Tip - Triple Your Newsletter Subscribers in Two Easy Steps

2007-08-07T19:57:00.002-07:00

The more newsletter subscribers you have, the more your business will grow. You know that already. So, if you know this, why are you not spending the majority of your time growing your list? This article will show you an incredible way of tripling the size of your subscribers, just by doing two simple things.

Numbers, numbers, numbers.

What better form of advertising is there than a newsletter list? None. Your list contains a multitude of people who want information from you, who trust you, and who tell all their friends about you.

True? Yes! All except for that last part.

Ask and you shall receive.

Are your subscribers telling their friends and co-workers about your newsletter? Do you know if they are? Chances are, they’re not.

How can we change all that? Easy! Ask them to ask their associates.

Simple Step #1

The first way to increase the numbers on your list is to offer a free “really expensive” gift to everybody who recommends your newsletter to two of their associates. All the subscribers need to do is email you the names and emails of two people who are ready and willing to sign up for your newsletter. Once those names and emails are subscribed they receive their free gift.

Simple Step #2

At the end of each newsletter tell your subscribers to FWD the email to as many associates as possible. In the FWD, write “This is a great newsletter. If you read it and forward it to editor @ yournewsletter. com, we will get special access to a password protected area of the website”. Of course, the only way the subscribers can enter the password protected area is to become a member. To be a member, you have to be signed up for the newsletter.

Bonus Step – A one time only page

After the person signs up for your newsletter, you should have the result page be a one time only offer page. On that page, write, if you recommend 3 people right now for the newsletter (have a form for this), you’ll get this really expensive product for free.. Or some offer similar. Remind them that the offer is only a one time deal.

I hope some of these ideas help you.

Newsletter Advice - Multiply Your Subscriber Base by 10 Each Month

2007-08-07T19:57:00.001-07:00

As you know; the bigger your subscriber list, the bigger your paycheck. Imagine now, that your list of 10 in January turned into 100 in February, and 1,000 in March. What would this do to your paycheck? How nice would June be?

The great thing about the techniques you are going to learn is that once the system starts it automatically continues until you hit a million. How is this possible? The concept is simple and it is all based on a mathematical equation.

The Pyramid Concept:

I know, you all shirk at the thought of a “pyramid scheme”. Well, everybody that is except for the hundreds of thousands of people who became rich from them.

Anyway, pyramid schemes are illegal and for good reason. The concept you are about to learn is not a “scheme” just a mathematical formula. And it in no way involves getting or asking money from anyone.

Here’s the Concept:

1st month: you find 10 people to sign up for your newsletter. (That’s Easy)

2nd month: get the 10 people who signed up for your newsletter to get 10 people to sign up (Not as easy, but, you could also replace some of the people by getting 10 more people in your 2nd month)

3rd month: Ask the 100 – 200 to find 10 people to sign up for your newsletter

etc….

Why This Concept Won’t Work:

This concept in the way I described above, although it sounds nice, is not practical. You will never be able to have your subscribers sign up 10 people for you.

So, then, how is this concept going to be enacted?

Create a contest or free promotion:

Unfortunately, I can only make this article so long before you get bored, so, I’ll give you the short version.

Here are the steps: (only 1 of the million ideas)

1. Start a “lottery” site or contest site where you give away a cash prize to the monthly winner

2. Tell the contestants that they will get one entry per every 5 people they get to sign up for the lottery.

3. All entrants will have a pre-checked opt-in for the newsletter. The only way they can win the prize is if they are signed up for the newsletter.

You can see how your subscribers will continually want to get more subscribers so they can get more tickets. It’s a win/win situation.

Summing it all Up

To some, this idea might seem crazy, trite, unoriginal, or even brilliant. I didn’t write this article for you to follow it step by step, but to get the creative juices in your brain flowing. Sometimes ideas like this will get you thinking along the right creative path.

Internet Business Tip: Translate All Your Materials and Articles

2007-08-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

There are tons of “English Speaking” websites; so many, in fact, that most of the great markets are saturated. By utilizing only a few extra minutes of your time, you can run your articles and websites through an online translator and widen your audience by millions.

I know that most of you are thinking how easy it would be to just use one of the services out there that allow a viewer to click the translate button and the entire text is translated into the appropriate language. But, the problem with that is search engines from other countries aren’t going to pick up the translated text so they will probably never know you exist. Also, the translations are so terrible, most people don’t take the time to bother.

The free way to translate.

There are many free services that will translate the text for you. Most of them are pretty bad, but I don’t feel like that matters as long as you put a disclaimer on the top of the articles saying it was translated by a software translator.

If the information you are providing is that good, the reader will forgive you. The important thing is that your materials are being spread world-wide. And more importantly, it is important that you get world wide recognition

Trade Service for Service or Pay!

Sometimes, people who run newsletters in other countries accept articles written in English and will translate them for you. Just make sure and ask them for a copy of the translation so you can send that translation to other ezines and article directories.

If you can’t find somebody to translate your articles for free, of course there is always the option to pay a service.

I hope something in this article sparks your imagination.

Internet Business Tip - Make Millions by Being Second To the Punch

2007-08-07T19:55:00.002-07:00

Chances are, you don’t have the resources to “break news” or to be the go to site for the latest and hottest Headlines. To tell you the truth, the sites that break the news are so great at it that they pretty much have the market saturated. Here is how you can make millions by being second to the punch.

Johnny come lately:

9 times out of 10 when somebody says a product or a headline is going to be hot, it is. But, things cool down very quickly. Here is an example:

Back in the late 1990’s Beanie Babies were a very hot commodity. It was possible to buy these stuffed animals for a few dollars and resell them for a few hundred. Every store and flea market started to stock them. Beanie Babies were so popular, there would be lines as long as 100 people waiting for the new shipment to arrive.

This “business opportunity” lasted a few months and was really sizzling. Once the public caught on to how profitable the Beanie Babies were everybody started to buy them and stock up on them. Unfortunately for these late-comers, once they started stocking up on Beanies, nobody was buying them any more. Instead of profiting, 1,000’s of people were stuck with over-priced stocking stuffers.

Important fact:

Once somebody tells you how profitable a “business opportunity” is…. it’s normally too late for you.

This is especially true with Infomercials.

Once somebody does an infomercial on a “business opportunity” and tells you how much you can make; you know that those people aren’t making any more money from that opportunity. If they were, they wouldn’t be sharing their secrets.

How to catch lightning in a bottle:

Nobody really knows what’s going to catch on, but, trends in the past normally dictate the future.

For example:

When the Sony PlayStation 3 came out this December, people waited in line over night. They knew there was going to be a shortage, and, if they got the PlayStations, they would be able to resell them for over double the price.

These people were correct.

How did they know? Because people before them did exactly the same thing when the X Box came out the year earlier.

How to capitalize on being second:

The second you hear of a new headline or know something is about to happen, create a blog or website on it. Make sure and advertise this site before too much media hype has happened. The search engines will pick you up and put you at the top.

Now, once the headline becomes a big draw, you already have your site in a good position. You readied yourself for the big event.

Be the first to be second:

To carry through with what I mentioned above, I am going to give an example.

During the auditions of the second season of American Idol, a young man by the name of Clay Aiken stuck out because of his “nerdiness” and voice. I had a strong feeling he was going to become popular so I created a “vote for Clay Aiken site”. It had a message board and pictures. Some of his friends from North Carolina saw our site and asked our help to promote him.

Because we were the first website to promote Clay, it ranked #1 for almost an entire year in Google. Because our site was at the top, we were able to make an Amazon link to his CD, and thousands of people bought through our Amazon affiliate link.

We weren’t the first person to introduce Clay Aiken. American Idol did that for us. But, we were second.

You never know what’s going to catch on. So, find things that interest you and be the place to go right after somebody scoops something.

Now! Start making millions.

How I Went From 0 - 20,000 Unique Hits in 1 Day

2007-08-07T19:55:00.001-07:00

This is not a success story. This is actually a story of doing something very, very, stupid. I’m going to compare this with winning the lottery and throwing away the ticket. Please read this entire article so you don’t make the same stupid mistake I did.

One evening a few years ago, I decided to put up my 4th ad at a very popular website. I had put up a few test ads before this and I had received only about 20 – 30 visitors per ad. It was definitely nothing to write home about.

When I had run those first ads, I made sure the webpage I was directing them to had great content and that all my Pay-Per-Click ads were working great. Sometimes the pay-per-click programs can’t find the right keywords so they put up very unrelated ads.

Anyway, the night I put up my 4th ad, I had forgotten to check and see if I was getting relevant ads for the page. It really didn’t even matter to me because I was only expecting 20 – 30 visitors.

As you can tell from the title of this article, you know what happened next. I woke up the next morning and saw that I had about 1,500 people to my page. Remember now, this page was not worked on the right way, and there were absolutely no ads showing up on the page. All the code was right, but, all that showed up was an advertisement for the pay-per click company.

My heart started racing when I saw this because I knew there really wasn’t much I could do at this point. 1,500 people were way more than I expected.

Like an idiot…. Instead of relocating and retouching the page, I left it there. If I was smart I would have had the page they were entering redirect to another page, but, I knew I had to leave for a conference and wanted to get there really early. Besides, I figured that everybody who was going to go to that page had already visited it.

Little did I know that this tiny little page was going to become viral.

When I was at the conference I didn’t have the opportunity to check my stats. So, I didn’t realize how many people were coming to the website throughout the day. When I got home that night, I checked my stats and found that almost 20,000 unique visitors came to that page throughout the day. I was crushed. I had absolutely zero clicks.

How 1,500 clicks turned into 20,000 in one day.

The reason I ended up getting so many clicks was Digg picked up the story as well as Fark, and a whole host of blogs, etc… I ended up receiving over 100,000 unique visitors by the time the craziness was over. Luckily, I eventually created a redirect page which gave great ads and, of course, gave me a great payout.

Here was the good news, though. By the end of that month my Alexa ranking for that site was incredible. All the search engines picked it up, and it turned out to eventually be a success story.

Unfortunately, though, the material on the page was time sensitive and people lost interest rather quickly.

Lesson Learned

Here’s the lesson…. Put 100% effort in everything you do, because you don’t know when you are going to catch lightning in a bottle. Don’t be the person who lost their lottery ticket and didn’t care because they figured they weren’t going to win anyway

5 Things You Need to Do Every Day to Explode Your Traffic

2007-08-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

If you do these 5 simple things every day, you will grow your traffic exponentially. Warning! These tasks are very tedious. So tedious in fact that 99.9% of all businesses fail on the Internet because they do not follow these 5 simple undertakings every single day.

Task 1: Submit 2 articles a day to over 200 article directories

This might sound like a daunting task, but, the more articles you write and submit, the more chances people are going to get to know you.

When you write an article, make sure it has something to do with your business, make sure it makes you look like an authority on your subject, and make sure you create an active link to your website in the bio/resource box.

Task 2: Use an email signature

Whenever you send out an email, make sure that you have a signature attached that will promote your business, your articles, or your affiliates. So many people miss out on great opportunities to advertise this way.

Task 3: Post in 10 Forums a day

Make sure and go to all the forums that have to do with your business. Most forums allow you to have a signature that automatically attaches it to all your posts. If somebody has a question, you make sure and answer them the best you can. Along with your answer will be your signature advertisement.

Task 4: Create 2 new pages on your website

The more content you have on your site and the more pages you have, the more opportunities you have for someone to be interested in what you wrote. Also, it might be good to split content between multiple pages so visitors are forced to view more of your site. The more pages on your site that visitors view, the higher ranked you will be in search engines. One other thing… Make sure and always have a place for somebody to sign up for more information on EVERY page.

Task 5: Create 1 new Blogger Blog and 1 new WordPress Blog.

The more links you have linking back to your site, the higher your search engine results will be. Post your articles on Blogger and Wordpress. Create an entirely new blog for every article and have all of your articles link back to your homepage.

If you follow these 5 steps EVERY day, you will be amazed at how quickly your traffic will grow.

Hire a Programmer and Make Millions Today

2007-08-07T19:53:00.002-07:00

The Team:

Nobody is blessed with ALL the skills it takes to make a successful business. That’s why most businesses have a management team, a creative team, and a technical team. You have to figure out where you fit into that team.

If you feel like you are very creative, but don’t have the skills to carry out the technical process, it is very important to find someone who can.

What a Programmer Can Do For You:

First of all, it is important to know that programmers are probably the least creative people in the world. Programmers don’t know how to match colors, don’t know what “looks hip”, and definitely don’t know how to market themselves or their products.

So, when you do hire a programmer, you have to be ready to explain every little detail about your program down to the smallest color.

A Program That Solves Problems:

When creating and designing a program, you have to figure out, first of all, what a major problem people are having, and how your program is going to solve it. This program has to solve problems for millions of people if you want it to be successful. Not only that, it should be so good that your customers will want to recommend it to their friends and families.

Monetizing Your Program:

There are two main ways to monetize your program.

1. Selling your program directly.

a. You can sell the software to distributors or to customers directly

b. You can set up an affiliate program for people to make a commission off of selling your program.

2. You can give away a trial or free version:

a. trial – a trial version will allow a customer to get hooked on your product. Once your customer is hooked, he will have no choice but to buy the full program.

b. free – a free (limited and advertisement-filled) version will make your program become viral. If that happens, many people will see your product and eventually click on the ads you have attached to the program.

Where to Find Programmers:

1. The cheapest way is to find a college student who has very little experience. College students are more likely to follow your directions and not ask for much money.

2. getafreelancer.com has professionals who will bid on your project.

3. Programming forums such as forums.digitalpoint.com will help you find a programmer for your project.

4. If you are an experienced marketer, you might be able to make a profit sharing deal with the programmer.

What You Need to Do Right Now:

There are two things you need to do right now.

1. Sign up at getafreelancer.com and look at the projects that are already up for bid.

2. Follow the information below.

When "Sharpening Your Axe" Can Kill Your Business

2007-08-07T19:53:00.001-07:00

You can almost always count on a bad metaphor or “label” to screw a person or business up. Once somebody learns an expression or cliché, they like to sound smart by trying to solve the world’s problems with it. As the old saying goes “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”.

For much of my professional life I was a teacher and college professor. One of the most important things I learned throughout my experience was that there is more to teaching than throwing around expressions and phrases. Teaching is an involved process of breaking down subjects into small organized concepts and showing how those concepts relate, in context, to the “student’s” life.

In the adult “real world”, we don’t have teachers, we have bosses. We have bosses who feel that they have to be smarter and wiser than us. Because our bosses aren’t educated in the field of teaching, they normally don’t know how to “teach” their employees how to do tasks in an organized manner and, more importantly, they don’t know how to relay to their employees what they really want.

Just like our bosses, we have many people trying to “teach” us. Infomericals try to teach us how to buy their products, health and fitness experts teach us how to eat healthy and lose weight, and Internet Guru’s “teach” us how to do Internet Marketing and how to build a successful business on-line.

Unfortunately for us, we are very used to playing the role of the faithful student. We listen to some “non-teacher” who tells us to read their articles and to buy their products and, if we do all that and more, we will be successful. We are told that we have to continually “sharpen our axes” if we want to have the knowledge we need to succeed.

There might be a problem with sharpening our axe if we don’t know where the sharpener is. How do we know what articles and products are going to be best for our business.

In many cases, most of the articles and ads we read are meant to speak to our emotions and not to our logic. It’s the emotion that gets us all excited and ready to invest a lot of time and money in our business. But… What are we really investing our time in money in? Should we listen to a “guru” who does not know us or our business?

I say no!

When starting and growing a business we need a teacher/mentor. We need someone who knows our business, who has been there before, and knows the exact steps to take to grow a successful business. We need someone who is going to save us 1,000’s of hours and dollars.

There is a non-profit organization on the Internet called SCORE. It is located at score.org. It is a website full of retired successful business people who want to be mentors. They don’t ask for money and give great advice. You should check that site out right now. But first, feel free to sign up for our free business school at www.promoinnovations.com We will assign you a mentor.

Internet Business Tip - Why Are You Reading When You Should Be Writing?

2007-08-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

While you are spending your valuable time reading, studying, and listening to business advice, your competitors are stealing your customers away. Don’t believe me? You will after you read this.

Less Time Reading: If you have done any sort of Internet business, or any business for that matter, you have spent a lot of time reading books and listening to tapes in your field. Most of the time these information products are teaching how to sell, how to get customers, how to market, etc…

Of course these are important, and continue to be important, but, how much are they really teaching us vs. the amount of time they are potentially wasting?

Over the past 20 years I have read over 1,000 books and articles, have listened to over 1,000 tapes and CD’s and have gone to many seminars. After so much information overload, I realized that none of it was really making my business grow. The only thing that was making my business grow was building up my subscriber lists, writing many blogs, writing hundreds of articles, and advertising myself and my business.

More Time Writing:

In sports, the athletes don’t spend a lot of time reading how to do their sport. They spend the majority of their time practicing, building their muscles, and refining their skills. In the entertainment field, actors and musicians don’t spend their time reading how to act or sing, they spend their time acting and singing.

Shouldn’t it be the same in business?

The only way to know what form of advertising is going to work for you is to keep creating ads and seeing which one’s bring in the best results. The only way to know how to talk to and email clients is to continually communicate with them. The only way to gain credibility in your field is to write articles.

Some of you are going to have a natural ability to write a great article. However; How are you going to write a great article if you don’t know how to write well? Simple! Write 100 or so really terrible articles until you learn how to write great ones. It’s like a baseball player who has to continually strike out before he learns how to hit a ball.

The more articles you write, the more emails you send out, the more content you put on your website(s), the more blogs you create, and the more message boards you give advice in, the more you’re going to be known and recognized. Once that happens, you will be able to profit greatly on the Internet.

Strategic Times to Read and Listen to Business Advice:

Reading articles and listening to tapes is a very valuable form of education. Instead of tapes, though, I now listen to business and marketing podcasts (If you don’t know what they are you should do a Google or Wikipedia Search.)

With that said, I will only listen to podcasts when I’m in the car, and I’ll read print outs of articles and e-books at times when it is impossible for me to be doing business at my computer.

Summing it all Up:

You will be surprised at how much quicker your business will grow when you spend time creating. If you are new to Internet Business, it would be a great idea to start a journal detailing the steps you are taking. You can use this journal later, to help get ideas for creating future articles and content. Sometimes the articles on what doesn’t work are better than the one’s on what do.

No! Stop! Don't Design your Own Website

2007-08-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Just because you are given the tools to “easily” design your website doesn’t mean you should use them.

Below I have listed, with minor details, 5 reasons why you should not design your own website. (These rules apply mainly to people expecting to make money online).

1 You are too close to the situation – Have you ever noticed that movie screenwriters almost never direct the film? In most cases, the screenwriters aren’t even allowed to give their opinions. This is because a person too close to a situation stops and interferes with the creative flow of a team. It takes a team to be successful. It takes a team to create a profitable website. A team who has worked for years practicing their craft and refining their skills to make a site which is as attractive as it is profitable.

2. You need to spend your time advertising and marketing your product/site – The true job of the website owner is to be the “agent”. He needs to focus his attention on making sure that at least 500 new people a day know that his “client” exists It is not profitable to waste time on design and upkeep, especially, since the site you’re designing for your own business is going to be less profitable anyway.

3. Web design is NOT your profession – Unless you are a company who is currently profiting from designing profitable websites, you are not a professional. You may think that you have all the tools you need to be, though. You are like one of those thousands of people who audition for those “pop reality shows” just to be told that that they should “ask their voice teachers for their money back”. Don’t be one of those people who think they can do anything they put their mind to.

4 You are not skilled in writing ad copy - Not only should you not design your site, you should not write the content for your site. You should hire a person who profits from writing profitable ad copy. Everybody thinks that just because they can type and speak their language that they can write. Poorly written ad copy can hurt your profits even worse than a poorly designed site.

5. Your business is not a hobby – If you want to design a great site for your family photo album, or your favorite rock star, go ahead! You can have a lot of fun, and learn a lot of interesting things. Heck, you might even find out that you want to be a web designer one day. Seriously, web design is as much about computer programming as it is about design and ad copy. Your website is a representation of your company, and, if you expect to take your customers money, they need to take you seriously.

If you want to be profitable on the internet and maximize your income, you need to hire a team that knows how to design, program, market, and write ad copy. You need a team that makes a profit by making websites that are profitable.

So please……… Stop! Don’t design your own website!

Using Rainchecks at an Electronic Store

2007-08-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

What is a rain check?

A rain check is a ticket you receive when an item is out of stock. They are placed at the courtesy counters and all you normally need to do is ask for one.

How do I get a rain check?

When an item is on sale it normally sells out quickly. When this happens, most people will leave the store in disappointment. But, the bargain shopper will immediately go to the courtesy counter and ask for a rain check.

The person behind the counter will fill out a form which has the item # and the sales price. You can then use this form for up to 60 days after you receive it according to the FTC (Federal Trade commission)...This means, once the item is in stock, you can get it at sale price.

Why do I want a rain check?

As stated above, the main reason to get a rain check is to get an item for sales price even after it has run out of stock.

The second and most beneficial reason to get a rain check is to combine the sales price with a store sale. Most people don't know that the rain check becomes the price of the item. So, if there is a store coupon or a coupon for the item, you can use that coupon in addition to the rain check.

This means you are almost always better off waiting for the sale item to run out and getting the rain check rather than just buying the item at sales price.

Here's an example:

Anywhere Computer Store is running a sale on Maxell CD Roms 100 PK
The sale is: Maxell CD Roms $29.99 now $14.99
You arrive at the store and these CD's are out of stock
You go to the courtesy desk and ask for a rain check
The rain check will say Maxell CD Roms 100 PK $14.99

Combine with sale:

The bargain shopper will hold out on the rain check until there is a store sale.
Store Sale: 50% off all Maxell CD's
Now, you go to Anywhere Computer Store with your rain check during the 50% off sale and you have now received those $29.99 CD's for $7.50

Real World Problem:

Only grocery stores are forced by the FTC to give rain checks. Other stores are encouraged to sell you a comparative item for the sale price.

Don't despair

Good Situation:

If you get the right person at the courtesy desk, they will give you a rain check. You can explain that only that product will work for your situation. Some people will give in and give you the rain check.

Better Situation:

You have a friend who works at the courtesy counter. They will give you the rain check. When you finally purchase the product they will also give you an employee discount.

Dumpster Diving For Profit

2007-08-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Yes it is true! One person's garbage is another's treasure. For hundreds of years people have been profiting from other's "Junk" that had either been thrown away or sold at garage sales and flea markets. This small article will hopefully give you some creative ideas which could put thousands of dollars in your pockets for absolutely no cost. There are two major forms of diving:

1. Dumpster Diving
Dumpster diving is the act of taking "thrown away" items from or around a garbage. The act is legal in many states and is how many entrepreneurs create their fortunes on E-bay.

2. Curbing
Curbing is like dumpster diving except instead of going into a public garbage or recycling bin, the "freeloader" takes the "thrown away" items from the curbs in front of people's houses.

What items can be found?
If you were to go to a public garbage or curb, you can find many valuable items. Many of the items people throw away are in perfect condition. Not only that, most of the great items are left right next to the dumpster. Items include: Furniture, bicycles, magazines, televisions, computers, radios, cd's and tapes, early generation Ipods, wires, jewelry, etc.....

Many dumpster divers know when the local pharmacies and stores take out their trash and wait to gather some never been opened items that have either expired, have been dented, or have not sold well. Most convenient stores throw out their magazines and newspapers. Everything in the magazine is in tact except for the cover.

What's the Purpose?
There are many purposes to dumpster dive or to curb. For some, it's a sport. For some, it's a way to get their food for the week. For many, it's a business.

Many entrepreneurs know exactly when the garbage trucks in their areas are going to come. So, they will write out charts and maps to travel the towns as quickly as possible collecting as many treasures as they can. On a good day, it is possible to gather thousands of dollars of furniture and electronics.

How to earn a living as a dumpster diver?
If you want to earn money as a dumpster diver it is important to do a lot of reading and research. You need to understand the legalities of your area so you are not arrested. And, you need to know what tools and strategies you need to make the job easier.

Once you have done the research it is important to scope the area for a few weeks and notice the materials people are throwing away and seeing what times of day has the most items for collecting. Doing research in advance can help you formulate a business plan.

Next, you will need to practice for a month or two. Practice is necessary to get over the initial embarrassment stage. Sometimes, as a diver, you will spot a great item, but, be to frightened to take it because people are watching. You will get over the fear after you realize that every item you collect can be worth a lot of money.

Through all your practice and success in collecting, you should at least have enough materials to run a garage sale. It is possible for someone to see one of the items they threw away. When they ask, say, "Oh, I have had this for years". Then, give a knowing chuckle.

Finally. If you have success selling these items at a garage sale, you can try newspaper ads, internet ads, and of course on-line auctions. It is always good to try to find a partner. Sometimes you will need help carrying or loading equipment.

I wish you the best of luck on your future ventures.