JoelComm.com

Your own iPhone App

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:13:25 -0700

The iPhone and the iTunes AppStore have become a staple of our culture and our daily lives in a very short time.

Over fifty million iPhone and iPod Touch units have been sold and users have downloaded billions of apps from the AppStore.

Do you remember when the World Wide Web was new?

I do. In 1995 I was one of only 25,000 websites in the entire world.

Today there are billions of web pages.

Blogging from the Beach

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:14:10 -0700

It was 1979 and I was fifteen years old.

I remember staring at the magazine in pure lust.

I turned page after page, gawking at the pictures and wishing I could have what was on them.

You would think the pictures would have been enough, but I also read every word.

I knew that this was something I would be willing to spend my money on. This was worth saving for.

$500 may have seemed like a lot of money, especially when minimum wage was only $2.65/hour, but at the young testosterone-laced age of fifteen I was up to the challenge.

Skittles - Taste the Psychedelic Rainbow

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:02:35 -0700

I'm not a big candy eater.

I used to eat a lot as a kid, but my sweet tooth has changed with my age.

If I am going to eat candy, it's usually a Three Musketeers bar.

Anyhow, you are probably familiar with Skittles candy.

I include them in my Twitter presentation because of an innovative, but ill-fated website approach they attempted last year.

10 Ways to NOT Be My Facebook Friend

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:46:31 -0700

How did Facebook ever get to be so big?

Honestly, the site is chock full 'o so much garbage that it has become the new MySpace.

But beyond all the stupid vampire and zombie games, there is a solid social media site that can be useful for businesses.

For over a year, I have peaked at my 5000 friend limit.

However, people close their accounts or unfriend me from time to time. So I've always got just a few slots open.

Now as of this writing, I've got over 4600 people in my friend queue. They are waiting to be accepted or ignored as friends.

Obviously, with Facebook's 5000 friend hard limit, there is no way I can approve everyone. So I have to be selective.

But there's just no way to friend everyone, even if I wanted to.

Starting an Online Business with Just $100

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:14:59 -0700

One of the most frequently asked questions that seems to surface again and again is "How do I start an online business with very little money?"

Unlike brick and mortar businesses that frequently require retail or office space, inventory of products and an in-house staff, an online business can be run from home with no inventory and outsourced staff.

This entry will lay out the absolute bare essentials needed to start your own online business and provide you with a few optional suggestions which can help accelerate your business.

Please note that there is nothing new here. I am simply illustrating the absolute basics of what you need to get started.

What Do You Want?

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:09:06 -0700

This blog gets read by thousands of people each day.

Yet only a handful of visitors ever leave comments.

Response rates are typically low because most of us are very busy, or we don't feel compelled to share our opinion.

I understand because I rarely leave comments on other people's blogs. I just enjoy reading them and moving on.

I would like to see a change in that today because I am going to ask you to do something.

I promise, it won't be difficult.

The Dark Side of Internet Marketing

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:57:30 -0700

WARNING: Today's post is going to rattle cages and put a spotlight on a potentially dark side of Internet marketing. Yeah, I'm probably going to tick some people off. That's life. I'm more concerned with speaking the truth.

This is #2 in a series called The Truth About Internet Marketing. Part one was called "The Long Form Sales Letter.

For some time it has been suspected that there is a "secret cabal" of Internet marketers who seek to do nothing more than drain money from unsuspecting customers who will buy their stuff. This group is accused of interacting with each other in a way that would exclude others from their circle.

Having written my first ebook in 2005 and having enjoyed a certain degree of success in the information marketing space, I believe I can honestly and openly speak to what I have observed.

The Long Form Sales Letter

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:11:13 -0700

WARNING: This series of posts may be hazardous to your preconceived notions of how to make money online. Reading it may save you thousands of dollars in pipe dreams and cause you to focus on the single most important aspect of running an Internet business. If you suffer from A.D.S. (Acute Denial Syndrome) or insist on believing that buying another product or service is the magic bullet that will cure all your financial ills, these posts will not be of any use to you and may cause severe anxiety. Read at your own risk.

I didn't get into Internet marketing to become an Internet marketing "guru."

I found a way to make money with Google AdSense and wrote an ebook to help others do likewise.

I never could have predicted what would result and still marvel at how many people I have been able to help over the years.

Colorado Internet Sales Tax - HB-1193

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:28:21 -0700

The Colorado state legislature is considering placing a tax on all online ecommerce conducted for state residents.

HB-1193, if passed, will have a dramatic affect on affiliate sales of goods and services for those affiliates and merchants conducting business in Colorado.

We received a letter from Overstock.com, one of our affiliate partners.

You can read this letter along with other relevant information related to this issue on the blog at Colorado Internet Tax

Giving Away my Ebooks for Free

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:28:50 -0700

Over the past five years, I have been heavily involved in proviiding resources to help people make money online, particularly in the content-based blog space.

I believe creating a blog or other content site focused on a niche or micro-niche can draw visitors and repeat visitors.

I believe that content can be monetized a number of different ways creating multiple revenue streams for the site owner.

And I believe that the playing field has never been easier to access. After all, it doesn't cost much to register a domain, set up a hosting account and launch a blog.

During this time, I have written a number of ebooks that have been read by thousands, including AdSense Secrets, Kontera ContentLink Secrets and Chitika Premium Secrets. After all, making money with AdSense is great, but there are other contextual ad services which also bring in nice daily income.

Now Is The Time To Invest In Your Business

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:00:00 -0700

This is a fantastic time. I know it might not feel that way. If you're stuck in a job you hate, if you're scared you'll get a call from a boss holding a pink slip, if you're worried about your pension, college fees, or even paying the mortgage on a house that's now worth only a fraction of what you paid for it three years ago, this doesn't feel like a fantastic time.

But it really is.

It's a fantastic time because for the first time, we all have the power to change our lives.

So What Are Blogs For?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:00:00 -0700

When blogs first came out, no one really knew what they were for. They were supposed to be diaries, but diaries are meant to be private so why put them online? And if you did put one online, why would anyone want to read it?

And if someone did want to read it, how you could earn money from those viewers?

Independent iPhone Developers Conduct Relief Efforts for Haiti

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:31:33 -0700

Tragedies have a way of helping us forget our differences and of reminding us how vulnerable we all are.

The massive earthquake in Haiti has claimed tens of thousands of lives and devastated the very small country.

Thankfully, support and aid is pouring in from all over the world.

With so much need, it's hard to believe that every little bit makes a difference. But it does.

Thanks to the leadership of Justin Williams at Second Gear Software, dozens of iPhone developers are coming together to help in the Haitian relief effort.

It is the Answer to Everything

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:50:01 -0700

It's amazing!

It's stupendous!

It's spectacular!

If you have it, you will become more handsome, popular, healthy, fit, wealthy, wise and able to bowl a perfect game.

Your golf swing will equal that of Tiger Woods', you'll be able to get any girl (or guy) that you want, and your bank account will fill itself overnight.

How could you ever live without it?

Using Social Media to Promote and Enhance Events and Conferences - Free Report

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:20:03 -0700

Social media is a revolution in marketing. It allows businesses to identify their most important leads, understand what interests them the most, and talk to them en masse while still making each person feel like an individual.

If that sounds like the kind of thing that a good speaker does, there's a good reason for that.

Social media and conferences have a great deal in common. Social media marketing doesn't deliver the kind of depth that a conference can deliver, and it can't reproduce the level of trust and appreciation that can only come from personal meetings. You can't shake someone's hand and or look them in the eye via social media. But you can converse with people, and -- like conferences -- that makes social media more powerful than just about any other form of marketing.