Image via Wikipedia

Haven’t forgotten about my readers. In fact, everything I do on this blog is to serve my loyal subscribers and fans. So, since inquiring minds want to now, this is what I’ve been up to:

1. Besides family, traveling, and summer fun, I’ve been hard at work being a traffic monster. (Teamed up with private company to drive traffic to a new venture.)

2. Started a new company having nothing to do with marketing, but because of this I’m seriously contemplating taking this site on a whole new and exciting direction. It will be some time before I make a final decision about this, but it will be awesome and if you are subscribed to my newsletter you’ll be the first to know.

Let me hear from you. Send me a tweet or leave me a wall post on Facebook. Looking forward to hearing from you.

“Stop philosophizing about what a good man is and be one.” Marcus Aurelius

Image via Wikipedia

This quote pretty much sums up how everybody should conduct their business.

“We can afford to lose money. We can afford to lose a lot of money. But we cannot afford to lose one shred of our reputation. Make sure everything you do can be reported on the front page of your local newspaper written by an unfriendly, but intelligent reporter.” – Warren Buffett

Image by Anne Helmond via Flickr

Yesterday I emailed you 3 free tools I love to use.  If you didn’t catch it, you can read about them here:
http://advancedincome.com/433/4-free-clever-tools-i-love/

Now for today’s tool…

One of the biggest things that hold people back from using social media for business is the amount of time required vs. the return that they see on that time.

In other words, people spend gobs of time creating content and then posting it on social media sites because that’s what they were told to do, but they don’t see any results from it.  Heck, even big name gurus have bad-mouthed social media because of this very reason.

There are thousands and thousands of sites.
Which ones are you supposed to use?

That’s where today’s tool comes in.

I’ve had private access to this tool for the past several months and it hasn’t been available to the general public…until now.

It’s a software called the “Rank Decoding Engine”.

It’s from Michelle MacPhearson.  I vouch for her.  So much so that I’ve even been a guest writer on her famous blog.

Basically, the software REVERSE ENGINEERS the search engines *IN SECONDS* while you watch.

You can use it to find:
* Which social media properties are historically ranked the highest over all niches (so you know which ones you should spend your time on)
* Blogs in your niche that rank highly so you can comment on them
* Which social media properties rank highest within your niche so you can put your own content on them

Once you download it there is also a quick how-to so you can be using it 10 minutes from now.

Download Rank Decoding Engine

P.S. Even if you aren’t planning on using it right away or don’t understand how it works just yet….DOWNLOAD it anyway because it won’t be available for much longer.

P.P.S. Oh by the way,  for us MAC geeks , it works on a MAC or PC and is super easy to download and install.
Go get it!

Download Rank Decoding Engine for a limited time

Here are 3 super-useful free tools I love. I’ll be emailing #4 soon.  So be sure to be subscribed to the newsletter if you want to get it first.

Here are the first 3:

1.  OnlyWire -  You can have the best content in the world, but if nobody reads it, views or consumes it…well, what’s the point of creating

it?  I’ve been using www.OnlyWire.com to simultaneously syndicate content and articles to the top social bookmarking sites with a single button click.  It does take some time to set-up all the sites if you don’t have accounts already, but it’s a task you can easily outsource.  As part of an overall link building strategy I’ve found it to be a powerful tool.

2.  Added Bytes’ Text Readability – If you write emails, blog posts, articles or any type of persuasive copy, it needs to be very clear and easy to read to be effective.  Studies show that most people read at an 8th grade level.  So you should aim to write at a level somewhere in the middle.  Most of Gary Halbert’s classic letters read at the 4th to 5th grade level. That’s why they worked!

To find out what level your text is, paste your text into http://www.addedbytes.com/tools/readability-score/

I use the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula.

The level of this post  is 4.20. (You don’t have to be worried about being smarter than a 5th grader to read this one.

3. FormatIT – Once someone opens your email you want it to be easy to read. The simplest way to do that is to format the width of the text. By the way, this also does something subconsciously in the mind of your reader.  I won’t go into that here, just trust me on this.

Depending on the length I like to format my emails between 50-65 characters wide using www.formatit.com.  Just paste your text and voila!

You have a perfectly formatted email with long URL’s intact.  The “Re-FormatIT” is useful for removing unwanted returns and characters too.

Watch out for tool #4 soon.

Have fun with these!

P.S.  Found these useful? Leave me a comment below.

Image by Dom Dada via Flickr

I witnessed Twitter go from a mostly Silicon Valley “techy” type audience to it’s marketer inundation to it’s rise to fame and widespread celebrity adoption to well known internet marketers like Perry Belcher, Frank Kern, and just recently John Reese, calling Twitter quits.

I pretty much saw it all and tried or tested much of it. At least what I felt didn’t conflict with my own ethical judgements of marketing online.

Such an easy little idea whose 140 character limit was to simplify the way we communicate became a limitless array of information bringing along with it a slew of supporting tools and websites. For marketers it became an excellent testing ground for social persuasion and response experiments.

As more and more people used it, its uses and misuses also became apparent.

There were the debates on auto-following or not, wether auto-posting was disingenuous or efficient, wether google search could keep up with real-time searching, contests, a myriad of ebooks and courses on how to profit from it (of which I only endorsed one by the way), dealing with DM spam, and of course the occasional “I’ll retweet yours if you retweet mine” requests.

I for one can tell you that I certainly benefitted from the traffic, branding, and list-getting advantages of using Twitter. And boy was it convenient. Since Twitter was so widely adopted, it became a central hub of sorts where you could make one tweet and like Emeril would say, Bam! it’s propagated and syndicated to hundreds of other sites. Ah, the beauty of RSS.

Not to mention the fake ego boost having lots of social followers can give. (Hey, I’m not perfect. Even I fell for that one. )

And though I have seen a decline in response, interaction and real conversation, I don’t think we’re asking the right question.
It’s not about the death of Twitter, or the next Facebook, or will Buzz be a buzz kill for all.

If history has taught us anything, especially online, is that the only thing you can count on is change.

There will always be something better, something cooler, or a new fad and flavor of the week.

To me the question should not be wether Twitter is dead or not.

The question should be wether YOU should be using it for your business.

Actually the question should be wether ANY social website or tool is right for YOU?

And that’s going to depend on two things:
1. Know WHY you are using any social media site and be very clear about what you want to accomplish. Get specific.
Investors set ROI goals to determine if an investment is worth holding onto or not. EVEN if it is profitable, IF it doesn’t meet the criteria specified in the beginning, it’s discarded. Why? Because they understand the value of our most important resource – time. So, what’s the minimum number of sales acceptable to justify your time? How many opt-ins? You’ll have to know that. What numbers are worth your investment of time in social media?

2. Will this site move me closer to and directly support my current business goals?
If not, then ax it. Obviously, this question implies that you know exactly what you want out of your business in the first place. If you do, then this one question will help you eliminate so many distractions. I know it’s helped me tremendously. From who you give your time to, to what phone calls you take, what meetings you attend, what emails you read and respond to, which sites you spend time on, if you ask that one question through out the day you’ll be able to make split decisions on wether to pursue something or not.

I’ll leave you with some advice that I learned some time ago. If you master the fundamentals, you can take those skills and apply them to ANY venue.

Look at the people making a killing on Facebook. They honed their skills on Google PPC and when Facebook’s ad network was born, they
just applied what they had already mastered, adjusted to the new platform and bada bing bada boom! They were rocking and rolling again.

And like John Reese said on the topic:

“But when it comes to business, and for
making money, it’s about the FUNDAMENTAL
things that make business (especially
online) work…

- Serving a target market.
- Providing value to that market to
solve their problems.
- Lead generation.
- Building a list of prospects and
customers in that market so you can
follow-up, strengthen your relationship
with them, and also make offers that
generate revenue for you.

That’s it.  That’s what generates
millions of dollars.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

It’s not the hammer that matters, it’s the skill of the person using it.

The hammer is Twitter today, Buzz tomorrow, and it will be something else after that.

The point is that if you know your outcome and plan accordingly you just might find out that you didn’t even need a hammer at all.  What you needed was a saw.

If you are clear on what you want to accomplish and master the fundamentals, you’ll always know where to spend your time and why.

Leave me your thoughts.  Why do you use Twitter and other popular social media sites in your business?

Which have give you the best ROI?

Other Related Posts You Might Like

• How Cellphones, Twitter, Facebook Can Make History
• Why I’m Spilling the beans on Twitter profits with ZERO followers… (TIME SENSITIVE Post)
• Why I Quit Qwitter For Twitter
• To Follow or Not To Follow ALL Twitter Followers?
• Social Media Spawns A New Generation of Addicts

Image by bcymet via Flickr

Have you ever been asked, “I’ve got good news and bad news.  Which do you want to hear first?” I always answer bad news.  I like to get it out of the way and then end on a good note.

So…

I’ll start with that.

My blog got hacked into a few weeks ago.

It was automatically being forwarded to other sites in some sort of scheme to get clicks to ads.

Fortunately it wasn’t forwarded to a porn site.  Which I’ve heard sometimes hackers do for kicks.
(Sorry to disappoint  guys, not that type of newsletter. )

So that put a little damper on some content I had planned to roll out to you by now.

Not to fret though.

I noticed it in time and though there was some downtime not to mention a few expletives

“Those good-for-nothing &*$#$@#%^”…

(Well, I didn’t actually say it…but I thought it.)

Anyway, the point is I got it fixed.

Obviously the bad news is that it can happen to you too. 
And according to stats, it most likely will.

The good news…

You can learn from my experience and I’ll show you how
to prevent it.

Be on the lookout for a post on the subject in the near future.

But first, on another quite different topic…

With the launch of Google Buzz and some prominent marketers canceling their Twitter accounts, many people are asking, “Is Twitter dead?”

I’ll be posting tomorrow my take on it and what I think you should do.

For first notice make sure you register for my newsletter on the upper right.

As always leave me your feedback on the blog.  Would love to hear from you.

See ya soon. 

“One sip and you will find that all your endeavors succeed. At least until the effects wear off.”

Professor Horace Slughorn in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

We were watching the latest Harry Potter movie with my 8 year old son, who is a fan, when we heard about “Liquid Luck”, a magical potion that guarantees success.

I smiled and chuckled. Although the potion might not exist, the fear of failure and the fantasy of succeeding at everything we try HAS always existed.

It might not be called “liquid luck” but the search for the “magic bullet” or “quick fix” or the next big product launch that will solve all your problems and grant you everything you desire like the wave of a wand is as real as it is in fiction.

We’ve all wished for our own “liquid luck” at one point in our lives.

I’ve done it. You’ve done it.
It’s natural.

Yet, understand this.

It will NEVER get you what you want.

Why?

Simple. IT DOESN’T exist.

To really succeed you’ll have to change the belief in ANY magic “anything”.

Here’s how to do it.

CHANGE how you think about failure.

There is a quote from Eben Pagan that explains this better than I’ve ever heard.

Write this down…

“To immediately eliminate failure, learn from it.”

That is how some of the biggest flops in history have been turned into massive successes.

Like…

Michael Jordan, after abruptly retiring from basketball to pursue a lackluster and much criticized career in baseball, learned from it and returned to basketball to lead his team to not one but three additional championships.

Or…

Apple designed a personal computer in the early 80′s called Apple Lisa at a cost of $9,995 ($21,660 today).

The result?

Apple ended up burying it’s last 2,700 Lisas in a Utah landfill in 1989.

I’d say they learned a few things and a little something called an iPod and later an iPhone have well made up for this flop.

One more…

When Fred Smith was told his idea for an overnight delivery business was stupid or his planes were reposessed or his employees had to go to liquor stores to cash their checks to give him more time to cover the payroll, it wasn’t failure to him.

Now?

Fedex is a $37 billion dollar company.

So if I can leave you with something this year,
it’s THIS…

If you learn from failure and continue adjusting your course, it ceases to exist.

And before you know it.

You’ll arrive.

And that my friends is liquid luck that NEVER wears off.

*************
This was my last post this year.
Thank you for being a loyal subscriber.
If you are reading THIS far you are.

I’m taking the rest of the year off to celebrate Christmas, plan the coming year and focus on family.

Next year will be even bigger and better than ever and I’ll be back with you again with LOTS of great things and plans to continue to serve you.

(I’ll fill my loyal newsletter subscribers in FIRST on what I’ve been working on behind the scenes. So make sure to subscribe and stay tuned…)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and like a friend says Blue Skies!

Love,
Yisel

P.S. Let me hear from you.
Comments, hate mail, and replies all welcome here

The other day I read the story of a woman walking along with three little girls at the airport.  They were skipping and singing excited to meet Daddy coming home on a jet.  Their eyes shining with eagerness and anticipation.

When the passengers started streaming in you could pick out their Daddy immediately because their eyes were completely glued on him.  But Daddy’s first look was for his wife and the first words out of his mouth were, “Why the heck didn’t you bring me my top coat!?”

The story goes on to say, “You see, here was a man who had an opportunity to be great, and he didn’t recognize it.”

How many times do we have an opportunity to be great, and pass it by?

How many times do we do what’s urgent instead of focusing on what really matters most?

Several months ago I told you about a simple tool that helped shoot my focus and therefore my productivity through the roof.  If you didn’t catch that post you can read it here:

The Multi-Tasking Myth Debunked

I also told you I would be revealing to you another  tool I have been testing that helps you easily and effortlessly track how productive you are on the computer so you can banish distractions and…that’s right, you guessed it…

focus on what matters most!

It’s called Rescue Time and you can  sign up for ‘nada’ by clicking here.

With this tool you can:

• set goals that will nudge you in real time
• block distracting sites for short or long bursts of focus time (this one is my favorite)
• see ‘purty’ colored graphical breakdowns of the time you spent on apps, sites, or documents you use
  Bright blue = “good” time.
  Red = “bad” time.
• and for the twisted minds amongst you I suppose it could also be used to see where your significant other or kids are spending their time online.
  (Although for this you will have to upgrade to the pro version so your own personal stats aren’t affected OR just turn tracking off whenever you’d like.)

Here’s why I hate this tool:

It’s not always pleasant to see an unbiased look at where you are REALLY spending your time.

In this respect, Rescue Time, can turn into a nagging mother looking over your shoulder with a look of disapproval.  But let’s face it, you can always count on momma to smack you right in the face with the truth when you need it the most and least ask for it.

And here you were, smugly thinking you were so productive when in reality after looking at your stats you’re forced to say, “WHAT!!? I spend THAT much time frolicking on Facebook looking at old Grandpa Joe’s pic’s of his weekend out with the ladies?!”

Hmmm, see what I mean?

Not exactly the picture of an entrepreneurial peak performer is it? ;-]

Now for the reason I love this tool.

Ready?

You’re forced to say, “WHAT!!? I spend THAT much time frolicking on Facebook looking at old Grandpa Joe’s pic’s of his weekend out with the ladies?!”

Yup, that’s right.  I love it for the same reason I hate it.

Because trust me, the next time you reach to check your email or social networking site for the umpteenth time unnecessarily, you’ll think of good old momma Rescue Time watching your every move.

And that my friends can be a good thing.

So there you have it.

Here’s the link to sign up again:
http://yiselg.com/go/rescuetime

And remember…

Be great!

Other Related Posts You Might Like

• The Multi-Tasking Myth Debunked
• About and Disclaimers
• Why I Quit Qwitter For Twitter
• List of Top Ranking Social Media Sites Worth Your Time
• 5 Twitter Tools That Save You Time

It is said in marketing you should be the red elephant in a room full of grey elephants.  Hmmm, sounds like sane advice.  After all,  you want to be noticed,  differentiated from you competitors and “Stand out“, right?

Not so quick.

Standing out for the wrong reasons can be worse than not standing out at all.

Two perfect examples…

It was Saturday night and hubby and I where watching the US Open expecting to see and hear the usual sights and sounds of an elite level competition.

What we didn’t expect was how Serena Williams “stood out“.

Not by winning or giving a full out effort to the end, but by going ballistic on a line judge, dropping a few F-bombs and letting the judge know what part of her anatomy she would be shoving the ball into.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.

Disappointing to say the least.

Not exactly the behavior you expect from a ‘CHUMP-ion’.

Then, the next evening, LIVE at the MTV VMA awards, yet something else “stood out“.

Just as Taylor Swift is giving her acceptance speech, Kanye West rips the microphone from her to give a performance of his own by squawking about who he thought should have gotten that award instead.

Can you spell NO SHAME or should I say NO BRAIN?

But the story wouldn’t be complete without ONE more example.

You see, later that night, as Beyonce accepted HER award, she graciously called Taylor Swift on stage to let her have the moment that had been stolen from her before.

Finally, amongst the madness, another way to stand out.

Yet this time with real class and for the right reasons.

That’s the difference.

Now go stand out the right way!

P.S.  The totally new approach to standing out with your marketing on Twitter that I told you about is closing the doors tomorrow (Tuesday Sept. 15) at midnight EST.  This is your last chance for the FREE DVD offer.
http://www.budurl.com/twittermethod

I wasn’t sure wether I was going to tell you about this or not, but since I’m on the front page as one of the featured videos, I figured I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret.

Plus, how good a friend would I be if I didn’t tell you about something I personally reviewed and found to REALLY work.

If you’ve been around the online marketing world any length of time, you’ve definitely seen the hype by marketers surrounding Twitter and all the mumbo jumbo about getting tons of followers and following.

Well, I’ve done it all and this is by far the best I’ve seen.

You don’t have to have a bunch of followers.

You don’t have to follow tens of thousands of people.

You don’t need a product.

The truth is, if you learn the tactics to place yourself in the right place at the right time, you’re golden!

To see how it’s done, my friend Tom is giving away a  FREE DVD with 7 separate tactics that you can implement immediately without any extra software or services.

There really aren’t very many DVD’s left.  (Sorry, that’s my fault.  I should have told you sooner.)

So if you are interested at all, I would hurry.

Get Your Free Twitter Toolkit DVD Here

P.S.  I’m the one on the first video below the fold on the right.  Yes, the one with the terrible lighting and shadows.

P.S.S.  I haven’t forgotten about a free tool I promised to tell you about that I learned from Tim Ferris, the NY Times best selling author.  I’m loving it and hating it. You’ll see why.  Anyway, I’ll send that to you soon.   I just didn’t want you to miss out on this in case you were interested.

Get Your Free Twitter Toolkit DVD Here

Other Related Posts You Might Like

• Why I Quit Qwitter For Twitter
• Twitter Mania – Do’s and Dont’s (Twitter “Table” Manners)
• To Follow or Not To Follow ALL Twitter Followers?
• The Rise and Fall of Twitter??
• More Blogging and Twitter Tools To Make You Drool