www.how2booksandvideos.blogspot.com

Dream Crashers--Why only the strong survive...

2009-10-27T10:57:00.000-04:00

The other day, I consulted with a doctor who, with sparkles in his eye, wanted to have a website empire so he could conduct business on his laptop while basking on a beach. He had no experience with website building, no marketing or sales experience,no internet marketing, no research skills for any type of product. He had a dream (of wealth!) but no plan. In fact, he had no job, no home, no income. But he had a dozen nondescript domain names for totally unrelated products he had no knowledge of and a drop shipper or two.

Now here is where you expect the giant leap to success that so many "make money online" sales pitches seem to always lead to. Down and out but now on top of the world? Not this time--or in fact, so many times. Are we being sold a false hope by so many "gurus"? Or are we just hearing from their minions who sell their product. 95% of those who try to start a business online fail, quit or never get off the ground. That's a higher rate than any other small business startup---creepy! So wouldn't it be a blessing to have your dream crushed right from the "get go" (sorry, my grandmother's voice rules my thoughts), than to waste so much time and income you would have had from a day job, screwing around where you don't have the guts to implement a plan towards a goal.

Harsh words--and the unemployed doctor was crushed. But he left my office with the revelation that he was not ready for the beach just yet. He left knowing he was a very long way from building a website. This business of making money on the internet is not for the feight of heart. It can be grueling to one who has no skills and no passion for it. At one time, his passion for medicine took him through the learning process to become a professional. I could see he was looking for a replacement passion but it was obvious he was looking for a shortcut. I recommended he keep his day job (looking for doctor work) and truly consider, on his own personal time, whether he was up to the task of learning a whole new profession.

Ecommerce and internet marketing is every bit as professional as any other business. Unfortunately, it is not in the mainstream educational institutions as a respectful degree. You can learn to build websites, you can learn to program, but I have yet to see a degree in ecommerce offered at the universities. Which means, yes, we have to learn everything we can from the "gurus"--even if it means we learn we just don't have what it takes to persevere. Only the survivors of the risks taken in the learning process will be sitting on that beach with their laptop.

How NOT 2 to treat your elders

2009-10-26T11:22:00.000-04:00

Okay so it's a lesson that Karma continues to teach...I just had to share:

Hey! Why are they leaving your site? Ask them....

2009-09-26T17:16:00.006-04:00

Guy walks into a bar.....

2009-09-22T19:15:00.005-04:00

Guy walks into a bar and asks every woman there to marry him. Since his goal is to find a mate, he spends his efforts totally to that end. By presenting himself as a man "in the market", he is bound to create attention to his cause. He will become known by his proposals and some interested woman may actually consider his bold statements since they, too, are "in the market".

Certainly his tactics may be a bit too aggressive but the point here is that, with enough exposure, he will have his message heard by more women than if he left things up to chance.

If you have a goal in mind or a product to sell in your business, how does anyone know it is there and how do they find it? Your website may need a few lessons in communication.

The adage "build it and they will come" does not exist in the world of the internet. You must have words--on your page, on someone else's page, in the news, on videos, ad infinitum--that bring qualified visitors to your site. If you are selling horse blankets, your webpages should be "optimized" for the keyword phrase "horse blankets", not "horses". People who are looking for horse blankets need to find them. A specific brand name of blanket narrows the search ever closer to what they are looking for and qualify the visitor as someone very interested in buying that brand.
So how does one "optimize" a site page for keywords?

Keywords that are used frequently on a page helps the search engines determine the topic of your page and guide their searchers to pages that have what they are looking for. Places you can include your keywords are:

*the Title -- use your keyword phrase in the title as it is not only more descriptive of your business, it is more likely to appear as a result of a search for that word.
*Description tag -- your page should be described in a short paragraph, include your keywords here.
*Content -- in the body of the page, in your content, your keywords should be used in a context that makes sense to the reader but often enough to give credibility and attention to your page.
*Alt tags - the "alternate text" tag is a title given to explain the image. The alt text appears when you rollover your mouse. These words count in your overall count of keywords on the page.
*Text links -- the links that refer to a page or link to another should contain keywords (not "click here").
*Navigation bar links -- use your keywords in the navigation tabs where possible
*Articles -- helpful information about your product or current news or tips can create more interest to the reader and provide more opportunities to use your keywords.

The incidence of your keyword should be 5-10% of every 100 words to be effective. All this repetition can seem awkward but make sure the page can be read effortlessly. The experience must be worth the time for the reader, making them stay longer and make a purchase. Let them get to know you and your products--then the "proposal" to buy will make for an interesting and profitable relationship...

(PS I met my husband on Match.com 10 years ago this week! It does pay to advertise :-)

Check out these sites and see if you can determine what keywords
they have been optimized for:
http://www.StorkandVeil.com

http://www.GeorgiaDawgHouse.com

Can you "make money online"?

2009-08-27T16:10:00.008-04:00

Many people go online in search of easy money, but they come out thinking the idea of quit-your-job online income is just a scam.

The basic problem is that most people do not know what to look for when trying to find the “right” opportunity for them – most people see an ad on television or online, but do not do the proper research to see if the program meets their needs or not. As a result, they end up spending valuable time and money on home business scams that end up going nowhere, and they fail to take any action.

Those who are just starting out looking at online business opportunities can benefit from a list of a few simple “tests” that often separate legitimate systems from scams and time-wasters.

First, how expensive is the program? In any business, you are trying to make a profit. Always be realistic about how much you can afford to spend, and if the price tag is more than you make in two months, it is probably a good idea to walk away.

Second, is there an actionable plan in the program?
Many "make money online" only give you general information but never really tell you what to do, much less when to do it. If you are going to start an online business, you need to have a realistic plan.

Third, does the program have a money-back guarantee? If a seller is confident in their product and confident that you will be satisfied with it and actually have a decent shot of making money, there should be a guarantee of at least 30 days attached.

Next, how much does the sales letter promise you will earn? Everyone wants to make millions of dollars, but it is not terribly realistic to make seven figures in your first month, or even your first year. Try to find a program that doesn’t hang its sales pitch on trying to make you believe you will be sipping cocktails in the Caribbean by the time you are through reading it.

Finally, ask yourself if the system is right for you. There are many, many ways to make money on the Internet, and the key to any of them is your ability to follow through and take action to make them work for you. Even if it’s not a scam, if you don’t think you can stick to it, keep looking.

Far too many people just dream of having a successful business online, but once they buy a product it just sits on their hard drive or in their garage with no action being taken. Money will not fall from the sky: Find something you can set your mind to, and then commit to it.
(check out this Apprentice 4 program)

If you are interested in building a legitimate online business, and learning the REAL way to generate money online, then visit the new make money online website.

You Can Find Me in Google--and that's a good thing!.....the internet explained (part two)

2009-08-11T14:23:00.000-04:00

Don’t ya just hate how complicated things have gotten? I don’t understand politics, world trade, Paris Hilton, or Windows Vista. How did this all happen? I find myself hearing the words of my parents telling me how simple life was when they were young. Geez, does that mean I am getting older---nah, I just know that things are moving a lot faster than ever before in history. When a refrigerator lasts over 20 years but a computer becomes decrepit in two….!

Recently I spent time consulting with an up and coming portrait photographer (I am a retired Master Photographer myself) and it became apparent to me that although the packaging of a service or product may be different and more complicated today, the foundation of its marketing is absolutely the same. The “old” techniques I once used in my business actually were not outdated at all. Selling is selling, the process is always “find a need and fill it” or a variation that is “create a need/desire and provide a solution”.

I can remember how profound that phrase was when I encountered it in a book long ago. It made me understand the process that makes the world go round. Anyone can do it and we all do—we take jobs because we have, as well as the employer, a need that has to be filled. The better we are at presenting our value, and the better we are trained to attain that value, the better chance both sides needs are fulfilled.

When I began to get involved with online “ecommerce”, as it is called, I had already spent years selling services and products to the public. Mine was a very personal business (family and children portrait photography) and I relied on the ease of human contact and personality to sustain my business. But on the internet, there was no such interaction. I felt like I was “behind the curtain” or selling with my eyes closed. It was a little sobering to think that all that I had learned in my former business would be of little value in marketing online. Quite the contrary, even online customers still do business with people they like! My biggest concerns were: how do I get my business seen online and then how do I get my visitors to like me?

Before I get too far into these goals, let me say that I will be speaking here from the standpoint of one who has already found a market, a product (or two), built a website and has begun the process toward having a real business online. In future posts, I will talk more about the first steps and those that follow in that process. For now, it is important to better understand how things work before opening up shop.

How does one get to be “Big Man On Campus”? Simply have a lot of friends with your name on their tongue. Even those who aren’t so popular would want to be in your circle. Some friends are genuine, some are acquaintances looking for recognition, some owe you a favor, some are wannabees who talk a little large to appear as if they have an affiliation to you, some talk because they admire you and therefore spread your notoriety. Some attention you create yourself with several methods of self promotion. This is the analogy of getting your website noticed. It is called “link building”.

A site receives a higher level position in the search engines, in large part, to the amount of links it has to itself. A link can be another site that has agreed to put your web address on their site that is “hyper linked” (that blue underline you click on) back to your site. You get credit for having a lot of links from other sites to yours because it shows that your site is popular, has credibility, and it probably means your site has a value to offer since so many others “recommend” you by linking to you.
Link building is an ongoing process and takes time. There are also good ways and bad ways to do it. If the BMOC had a lot of cheerleaders and football players and deans and professors as his friends, his popularity has more weight than if most of his friends were freshman and bartenders. The quality of the sites that you get links from are part of the equation, too. The search engines can rate your site and its position in the search results by the company you keep. Quantity is a good thing but quality can get you further.

You want your site to be recommended, right? But what is in it for the other website owner? Well, they need links, too, so at first you will do fine with “reciprocal linking”. In essence, you trade links—you give me one on your site and I will give you one on mine. That is a good start but you also should try to get links that only point to your site—one way links—as they are more desirable to satisfy the search engines. Think of it as your mom recommending you versus your last employer’s recommendation. A one way link shows a more true recommendation. Same with a link from a blog post that points back to your site, or a news story about a product you sell, or an article you wrote or had written that was posted on another site.

The search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) have to decide who gets top billing as well as the proceeding positions. This is where information that is relevant rises to the top like cream from milk. The relevancy of search results is their ultimate goal and focus. Links are just one of many criteria judged for those positions.

So accumulate links of quality and quantity and as the search engines begin to notice your site, it will be listed in areas that people are searching. Those areas will depend on the “keywords” your site has been “optimized” for---which is where we will start in my next post on understanding the basics of search engines, the internet, and your online business.

site of the week:
http://www.PhotoshopHowToVideos.com

Search the Internet? Piece of cake.....(the internet explained--part one)

2009-08-11T14:22:00.003-04:00

Have you been seeing the funky commercials on TV where everyone's innocent comments bring a flurry of babbling on about subjects that have almost nothing in common? Well, that's a take off on "search engine results"--those places you are given when you type into Google or MSN or Yahoo to find out where you can get tickets to a concert or find a gift for the boss or your favorite music or running shoes or...ad infinitum.
The phone book has gone the way of the dinosaur. Trivia can settle a bet in an instant. The title of that movie you can never remember can be found. So much of our days are filled with having so much information at our fingertips (literally) that we can feel just as lost when the "internet is down" as we do when we lose our electricity or our water in our home.

Where does all this information come from? Better question yet, how does it get on my screen? Without going into the tech aspects of this event, let's try to better understand, if I search for "pet supplies", there is a list of websites that offer pet supplies. Why is it that PetCo.com is listed first and ABCPetSupplies.com is listed on the third page? You see, it takes a lot of factors for a company like PetCo to get that first page listing so that you find what you are looking for.

That coveted "first page" listing means revenue for the website owner, right? So how does it get there? Well, these are a few of many reasons:
It has the keyword phrase I typed ("pet supplies") on the web page that comes up in this search.
It has a lot of other sites that link back to them with that phrase in the link.
There are news stories or articles about "pet supplies" that reference this site.
The site has many pages of its own linking to this phrase and
the site has been around for a long time.
These practices take time and are always ongoing but they ultimately make the difference.
Okay, so you may ask, if I want to have my website in the first pages of the search engines but the site is brand new, how do I compete for that first page listing? A shortcut for immediate attention is paid ads.

Next time you make a search, look over to your right at the "sponsored" listings. These are ads that are paid listings. The main body of the page, on the left, is what is called "organic" listings. These have battled their way to the top using the factors described above. But the "sponsored" listings also have a hierarchy. With bidding for positions, you can "buy" this space with an ad. More about that another time.

Most people find that by searching for a very specific "keyword", such as "8' chain link choke chain", they will more quickly find what they are looking for than searching "pet supplies". The search engine can narrow your request right down to the brand name, if you ask.

In part two of the search engines explained, we will examine this narrowing of focus and how anyone can compete with the "big dogs" if they know a few easy tips.

Like to learn more? Email me for a friend request and let me know to notify you when a new post has been made.
Also make your requests for specific topics you would like to see covered.
There is a small business in all of us, just waiting to be put online.

This week's featured website:
http://www.GeorgiaDawgHouse.com

The economy has everyone thinking beyond "yard sale" to bring in extra income.

2009-08-11T14:19:00.001-04:00

eBay may have started it all but interest in making money online is growing...

As it becomes easier and easier to set up a website, more "everyday" people as making money online. In fact, you don't even have to have a website to make money from the internet! For the past few years, I have become engrossed in the options available and have used many of them to earn an income. For me, it's fun and challenging-two requirements that motivated me.

I became interested in the internet in 1998, when things were still shiny and new online. In tech years, that's an eon ago! A young man named Corey Rhudl was selling something called an "ebook" on the internet. At that time, a hard copy was sent out by mail to the customers who bought it. Corey's book was on his interest in cars--a book of car buying tips. He made quite a fortune on it and realized that the selling of information was the key to his success. He applied that format to other information and soon began to teach others how to do what he did.
Thus began something quite inspiring. Not only was information in demand, but products that were not available in brick and mortar stores were being sold. And before you knew it, mainstream products were being seen there, too (oh my Amazon...). The rest is history, as they say.
No longer was the internet a place for techno geeks only or an exclusive club of retailers--the average person could sell their books on fly fishing, building a solar panel, dog training or have a yard sale online (eBay) or buy items wholesale and sell from their own website or sell other people's stuff for a commission. Today there are even more ways to make money online. And you don't even have to print those ebooks anymore--digital downloads take all the overhead out of selling your product.
There is nothing more fascinating to me than to learn more about the whole process and see how it changes everyday; see the effects and new opportunities those effects bring.
For anyone here who has an interest in this marvelous internet experience, I will be posting each week with a, let's call it, beginner's guide to making money online. If you have been mystified by how that works, curious about what is going on behind the scenes, you will not want to miss this ongoing commentary. To subscribe, just send me a friend request and ask to be notified when my next post is online.
Whoever invented the phrase "cool", you made it possible to describe things of which people will understand, without a doubt, what you mean. The internet is most definitely "cool", first and foremost.

Julia is an online retailer and internet marketer--titles that will be explained in upcoming posts on this blog. Her motto is "The more you know--the more you DON'T know..."
my site of the week:
http://www.CakeDecoratingHow2Videos.com

Video IS my website....

2009-06-22T19:02:00.012-04:00

Okay everyone, it's been awhile since I chirped here but I have been busy! And the good news is that some neat things have come my way just by listening and watching the activity between spam messages. I may not read everything that hits my inbox but I do pay attention and thank goodness I did this week or this real gem would have been lost in a sea of "gurus".

I have wanted to create more sites with interesting content, I have wanted to have and make videos for various subjects but my motivation has been lacking while I justify a video camera, software, learning curve and inspiration for a subject to expound upon (in real words--"to talk about, ya'll").
First I thought about getting a friend or my niece (who lives 200 miles away) to help me make a video on cake decorating. You can guess how much lead was in that balloon! I don't bake so my cupcakes video idea was melting fast.

But....a few days ago, I was shown a little script that made my day! And already I have made a few bucks after my new site went online. It only took 10 minutes, no graphics, no content writing, no site building.....well, you just have to take a moment and look at the site here: http://www.CakeDecoratingHow2Videos.com

The script draws videos online and puts them into a site built around your keywords, monetized with Adsense and the ability to put affiliate banners/links, too. In its raw form (I only added a new header), the first day it populated 387 pages!

Now here's the kicker---the site hosting is optional but who could turn down FREE setup of the script and a $35 PER YEAR hosting bill?? Certainly not moi...

Anyway, it is so cool to have an instant site, and in the voice of Billy Mays--"wait, there's more".....the script can be used for as many sites as you want. Multiple sites from one, --get this,-- $20 script!

Nothing has been this easy to do, and with all the studying and learning how to make money online, this one by far has been the most fun and given the ability to duplicate the process without breaking the bank. Hosting for $2.91 a month?? No brainer...just check it out and let me know your thoughts on this cool instant video site maker.

Want To Make Money Without Spending A Dime? Let Me Show You How!

2009-05-07T15:25:00.008-04:00

How often have your heard the claims about “make money online” and scratched your head in confusion?

Those that have a step by step method of instruction have always made the most sense to me. If it has already been done, then I am interested in what it took to get there.

Recently I have had several new websites and been at a loss about how to get them noticed. So I went looking for “traffic” getting instruction and I just got so overwhelmed and frustrated with all the claims—buy me buy me!—that I just glazed over so many of them. They were mostly telling me to get off my butt and do what I should be doing to get people to my sites. Sometimes it is like (not) listening when a family member tells you something but you perk up your antennae when someone new comes along.

“One incredibly simple method for setting up

a FREE money making website in minutes.”

Somehow I found this set of free videos (oh, I am so all over any free video instructions!) that were quietly selling me, not blasting me with oversell. It’s been awhile since I have experienced an epiphany in this biz but I could feel the creeping rise of one coming on.

The premise of making money without investing any of your own really is possible, though I had to see it to believe it myself. Even with no experience and no money and with no cost websites, I found this system to be an incredibly reliable source of making money online.

You get over one hour of informative and easy to understand video instructions

on making money online without any investment at all.

In Short:

They are giving away an extremely valuable video set showing how

to find the right products to sell, and how to make money without

spending any:

You Can Get A FREE Step-By-Step Video Series Showing

You Exactly How To Make Money Online Without Having

To Invest A Dime.

You will Discover...

A proven and simple, step-by-step system for

making money online as early as today.

Do You want your clients to know your Wholeale Prices?

2009-02-16T18:58:00.003-05:00

It happened to me again! Upon checking my nearest competitor in the search engines, I find yet another "wholesaler" of my products posting retail AND wholesale prices to the public, for anybody, including my clients, to see. I don't know about you, but I believe that a retail business should have access to the wholesale prices of the products they sell only if they have a resellers certificate/sales tax number. The general public should not know the cost of an item and how much it is marked up. Geez Louise...

Okay, so some one finds my site with a thingy that I sell for $29. This wholesale company has the nerve to put both retail ($29) and wholesale price ($10) of the same thingy on their site. And I wrote to them asking for an explanation. Their answer was that the retailers they sell to find it "convenient" to see the prices they will have to pay. Wonder how many of those dunces have figured out that their prospective customers are looking under the same keywords and are a bit peeved at knowing what margins they are paying. Sounds like a lot of too lazy retailers who find it a little too inconvenient to create a private wholesale account.

Or maybe these lazy retailers aren't really working under a sales tax number...hmmmm.
Tell me what YOU think.

(signed-Perturbed in Atlanta)

Spy on Competition's Adwords Keywords

2009-02-03T14:41:00.008-05:00

Adwords keywords (what a mouthful!) are always a chore--do you use Google's suggestions or wonder what all the successful competitors use? That really smart guy who has been around so long, keeps finding new ways to dig into keywords. He now has a FREE browser tool that literally spies on your competitors Adword campaigns and gives up their best keywords! You have to see it to believe it---check out the video and see what Brad Callen has done for us now...

download a free copy of this software

Selling what you know? Newbies are buying...

2009-01-04T15:22:00.013-05:00

Internet marketers have to start somewhere--but was anyone there with the basics to get them started? Do you find yourself explaining what you do to everyone? My pet project is the "newbies" just learning what this is all about. Any shortcut or educational tool must be at my fingertips to help explain this marvelous, make money online invention. This week, I came across something that not only will help the newbie but will return a little profit for yourself in pointing toward the information.
First let me say that most profitable sub-niche in internet marketing is "newbies". There are so many new people discovering this market, and they are looking for easy, useful information to get started with.
That brings me to the Newbie Checklist w/ PLR, It's a great package that offers everything you need to start building a list of buyers, and target the newbies.

Let the video explain the deal...

Affiliate Video Brander

This is a perfect package to help out newbies, because it's so simple. I'm not kidding when I tell you that it's so much easier to learn from a simple checklist than a long drawn out ebook. So give your customers what they want with these checklists.

You can easily brand them and put out as your own, and start helping your clients keep up with what they need to know.

With these checklists you can.

Add them to your exsiting product and INSTANTLY increase the value and effectiveness of your product. Your customers will thank you for it!

ReBrand them and sell them in a neat little bundle like this with Resale Rights and start earning an extra income on the side without effort!

E-mail your list for a quick (huge) turn-around for your purchase price, in fact, you can start making a HUGE return right now!

Add this to your membership site, and help out your customers while adding huge value without effort!

Create an entire new product based around these checklist, and create a new revenue model easily!

Use them as a simple coaching program. Every week they get a new checklist, and personal coaching

The options are endless!

Goodbye 2008...

2008-12-30T09:10:00.013-05:00

What a year it wasn't...I believe though, that 2008 will fade, not into obscurity but into oblivion. Did the year just seem to suck, for the most part, for you, too?

(Post your biggest 2008 whine story here)

On TV, I watched people on a NY street using an industrial shredder to chew up symbols of the year's worst memories--one lady shredding the email from the boyfriend who dumped her.
How nice it would be to just shred to pieces all the things that went wrong the last 365 days. But "Monday comes and there are no guarantees" (actually, Thursday this time). What do we do now?

That's the good thing about January 2--it's when the last box of Christmas decorations make it to the attic, college football takes a breather, the annual reports come in and the boss is either cleaning house or adding more to your workload if you survived the cleaning house.
Will you make ends meet this year? For most, the answer is scary. For some, it will be academic, as they use the new year's resolution of change for the better. It has never been more important to gain control of one's life in every aspect.
Do you remember the big whoopla over the book "The Secret"? Well, if you are conscious of being up on the latest trends, even if only for the social aspect of not appearing to have no clue in public conversation, you really should bite the bullet and investigate this book's underlying message. Yeah, you may have to roll your eyes at some of the deliveries but it does have a great point to make.

We are not "islands", as the saying goes. As much as we may think our successes are derived by our own hand, the truth is there are more connections to success than there are "degrees to Kevin Bacon". A comment, a referral, a friend of a friend can mean the difference in reaching a goal. And those are just haphazard connections--just think how far you can go and how fast if you orchestrate the connections.
I have just finished reading what could be the most important psychological epiphany of human interaction for mutual gain that has ever been written. And it has the most boring title of all time (which is the reason I never read it before). This book has been on every major list of entrepreneur, business marketing, sales education, make money online and just darn-good-stuff-to-read lists. So, having run out of my favorite fiction author, I bought an old copy of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends & Influence People". The title made me think that it would be a lecture on how to get along with people--something I haven't done that well with in the past and certainly didn't want to pay someone to correct me on it. Was I ever stunned by what lay in the pages within! I can not believe how fascinating the stories were and how they unfolded. All the while revealing concepts of business and marketing and psychology that all worked together and getting a better sense of how reason--good and bad-- affects the outcome of any interaction. There is no way that I can fully describe it so that you fully appreciate the importance of this book. In your library--entrepreneur or not--this book is a "must have" for every intelligent person.

Educating and re-educating yourself should never stop. For an entrepreneur, each lesson learned, each skill added, each endeavor brings one to closer to success. Stop learning and you stop succeeding (or eliminate the possibilities of success). What will you learn in 2009? Will you be in the same shape in 365 days from now? Chances are that you will be in either worse or better shape rather than the same. Which one will you choose? It is a choice, no matter what you may think, to be made. I made one when I retired from a 30 year business when I moved and had a choice. I chose another career, internet marketing, and with all the ups and downs, I have never once had to give up or lose the education I had gained. We all have choices--find the ones that get you closer to your goals and learn from those that get in the way of them. But make the choices--don't just sit there still trying to decide which ones to make. Even mistakes are education! And the alternative is success so how does ANYone consider ANY choice the wrong one?
Happy New Year and go with the future you decide upon.

Get your copy of "The Secret" and "How to Win Friends & Influence People" through these links and get a free copy of "How to Use What's in My Head for a Living" by Jay Russo. Just send a copy of your receipt to Jay(at)How2BooksandVideos.com to receive your free copy.

This stuff really works! Affirmation is grand..

2008-12-18T11:10:00.002-05:00

For the past two years, I have studied many ways of making money online. I have learned to create sites that sell physical products, learned how to sell other people's products, made money online with Adsense, and become ever more knowledgeable and experienced with Google Adwords advertising.

If any of this sounds a bit foreign to you, don't feel alone. Two years ago I had no idea what these things were, where to find them, how to use them. Not that I am a total expert, no one can really know all the changes the internet goes through every day but I am making profitable use of this new found knowledge every day.

I have been greatly intimidated yet curious about all the hoopla that internet marketers throw out--grandiose claims of huge returns made me skeptical and more intimidated. How could I possibly learn what they know and use it so well? And were their claims real?

My decision was to pick something and just dive in. Sure there were a few times when I bought something I didn't understand. Very quickly I learned to either ask questions or ask for a refund, only to come back and buy the product later on when I knew how to use it. Some struggling "newbies"( as the unenlightened and non-savvy are called), like me at the time, need a friend or mentor to learn the ropes. I found a couple, asked questions and was pointed to ebooks, videos and newsletters that explained the processes I was currently stumped on.

Now I find in conversations with non-internet friends, how very little "the public" actually understands the workings of their internet searches and purchases. Many are so intrigued, they want to learn, too. Having already done the struggling and searching and making the mistakes, I can offer some real advice and shortcuts to getting a business online and making money on the internet. Ecommerce (selling products) or using search engine advertising to get commissions on referrals, are just a couple of the many, many ways to make money online.

To relate to my title above, and the reason I have been prompted to chat here, in the last week I referred a great product just by buying ads on Google and made commissions totaling $1800. Now it's not the $10,000 in "X" amount of time that so many internet marketers wow you with but by golly, it's pretty big to me! I did it without a website and without a mailing list. It means it works, it means it's a start, it means it CAN be done. If one method can do this with just 2 sales, as this one did, just think what 5--10--20 opportunities might make me? It has been worth the effort and money spent by me but I am determined to make the trip a lot shorter and less tedious for others.

That's why I am starting a "School for Newbies" with advice, questions and recommended reading and products. And you can enroll for free just by emailing me at

jay@how2booksandvideos.com

Your first lesson will arrive in a few days. Please do fill out the survey as it will help to identify what areas the courses must address. Don't be shy! Tell us your "blank spaces" and your questions and let's get started making money online!

Are you tired of being an internet "Newbie"?

2008-12-08T19:02:00.000-05:00

We all start at the same place. But the basics are...well...basics! And to grow is to know them.

And everything you learn takes you further from being an internet "newbie".

"What is the best or fastest way to get a website
online"..the number one question I get asked. Or..

"How do I just get started online?"

Most people have never been taught:

How to put up a webpage
How to set up an autoresponder
How to FTP and why it is important
What to use to "edit HTML"
How to put audio on their site
How to register a domain
How to get your website "Hosted"

and the list goes on and on...

You have 2 choices when it comes to learning the "Tech" of the internet:

1. Go and try to figure it out for yourself...
or
2. Watch these simple, easy videos, in my opinion, a great way to get
started.

This is a video course called "Easy Tech Videos"..

You'll be shown step-by-step how to get your site up and running for less than an evening
out at the movies.

Finally Something that Makes Sense (& Money)

2008-12-05T08:48:00.000-05:00

For the past few years, I have studied my butt off learning the mysteries of internet business, also know as ecommerce. I have studied SEO and website building and wholesale/dropship and marketing ad infinitum.

Today I was reminded by a familiar face and voice of a method of making money online that at another time just went over my head. While I was getting the basics of affiliate marketing, I had no idea just how deeply profitable this method can be. It seems I missed out on this essential education because the so called "gurus" were keeping it all to themselves. You hear all the time about making big profits "without a website, no list..." yadayada and come to the conclusion that there is a conspiracy.

Well, now it seems that is confirmed. Rather than me try to explain it, you have to hear it from my mentor's own lips in this video here.
I hate using overused exclamations but this one deserves it -- "I was blown away". Actually, I was more shocked than anything at how something so simple had skipped right by me.
I have websites that sell products through affiliate programs, so I frequently check out what new markets I can add. Every time I went to the list of merchants, looking for affiliate commission rates, this "secret" list of commissions available was right in from of me and I never had a clue! Amazing how the forest and the trees adage is so true.

Anyway, enough already--the conspiracy has been revealed and one very well trusted internet marketer has stepped up with the most interesting methodology I have seen in a long time. Get the 25 page report that follows up a closed event that the best of the best attended and paid big time to be invited. It has already changed the way I look at my goals.
Again take a look at the video here.
Download the report and be prepared to think differently.

Where are all those people going and why aren't they visiting MY website?

2008-11-19T16:28:00.001-05:00

How can you be sure that people will visit your site?

Not every web-user will know just how great your site is. The internet is filled with a vast number of websites, many similar to yours. And each site claims to offer something unique. Whatever you can name, there is a website for it. Name any type of business and you can expect it probably has a website. With all this competition, how do you plan to make your mark and stand out from the rest?

How do you bring internet traffic to your website?

Web surfers know how to use the search engines. This internet tool that bridges the gap between the users’ search for a particular thing and the website that offers just that. To find what they want, they just need to use words or phrases that relate to their need.

For example, if you are doing a search on gardening. You just type in keywords like “flower gardening”, “vegetable gardening” or “gardening tools”. The search engine will immediately return an exhaustive list of websites on the gardening niche you are interested in.

Obviously, the websites which are featured at the top of the search engine result page get the highest number of clicks and visitors. Being in a top position translates to “authority” and “best” so a visitor will search those first, almost all of the time. There is enormous competition to reach the top positions in the search engines, so that visitors get to see your website displayed first among many others. Getting the top rank is, however, not easy. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) makes this possible.

What is search engine optimization? Considering all the aspects of optimizing a site, it does come down to a few focused but not entirely complicated, tasks that will not only help you achieve a high listing in the search engines for your site, but will also ensure more internet traffic to it:

Keywords that are relevant to your page

Many web users do not use well-thought-out keywords in their first search. After a few attempts at “gardening”, when what they really needed to learn about is “planting iris plants”, they start narrowing down to a more focused query. You should focus on a keyword (or keyword phrase) that is what your site or a page on your site is most about. The page about “iris planting” should have those words—in your description, your content, your alt tags (image names), and your navigation and page name. How else can the search engines find your page without this information?

Lots of links (if they make sense)

The more links to your site, the more “popular” your site is perceived to be by the search engines. If other sites and other pages are pointing to your pages, you look like the Big Man On Campus, right? So get as many links as possible to your site—both internal links that link the various web-pages within your site and external links that link to other websites. But also consider this analogy—if the BMOC is surrounded by, let’s say, not so attractive and non reciprocal link buddies, his status can drop, rather than grow as it would with the top, highly attractive and related interest campus stars. You don’t want to be one link in a sea of weak links on someone else’s site but rather a strong link among fewer links. Choose your link partners wisely. And remember that your own internal page links count just as well. The more internet “real estate” you own that links to itself, the better. The more links from other sites who link back (essentially "voting" for your site), the more powerful your ranking possibilities.
Note: there is a tool that does the legwork for you and shows you how the top sites do it so you can, too.

Lots of content

Content plays a vital role when it comes to ranking high in search engines. Keyword-rich content always creates opportunity for a high listing. The search engines rank websites based on their content proportion. Relevant content on your site maximizes the chances of keyword inclusion. Remember, however, keywords alone don't do the whole job. Search engines do not rank websites very well if they are rich in keywords but scarce on content. Understand that the search engines couldn’t care less what you are selling—they are there to provide information sources to web users. Make sure you provide information that will be “rich content” in the form of articles, news, descriptions, tips, reviews, whatever will create an air of “authority” for the subject/product you present on your site.

While many of these techniques will get you closer to the first pages of the search engines, one other factor will also make a difference—time. The age of your website will mean even more as you remain in business, and your authority moves upward.
So among all these methods to implement, it may be that the practice of patience could be the most important of all.

You must know EXACTLY why the top 10 ranked sites in Google are currently ranked where they are. You can't guess by simply looking at their web page itself.
Drive traffic to your site with search engine listings that will rank right up there with the big guys with your own SEO tool.

Stumble It!

Newbie? Need to take that first step to build a site?

2008-10-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

Gosh darn it, the biggest step to take that could be holding you back from getting started online doesn't have to be so scary! But too often, not getting ANY kind of site can be a brick wall that could kill your business idea. At some point, you may have to look at passing along the web designing and building to the pros but if you really aren't there yet--financially and mentally--just getting that first site up can open the floodgates to other sites and real income.

Get and install a simple (and free) web page editor. With everything laid out in illustrated steps, you'll soon be zipping out websites like a pro.

"How To Build And Upload Your First Website" shows you exactly what to do ... with highly-detailed screenshots and simple directions:
Learn how to create links (to those affiliate products or your own), add pictures, create sales copy and much more.

What do you want to learn? Take your pick from the Toolkit:
The Newbie Toolkits:
How to Set Up a Domain Name
How to Set Up A Website
How to Set Up Your Autoresponder
How to Set Up a Free Blog
How to Get and Promote an Affiliate Product
How to Set Up Email for Online Business

Don't let "not knowing how" slow you down! Without knowing some basics of how your site should work, you will always be at the mercy of someone else who does. Who should be in control here? Go for it with your very first website and learn those things you need to know.
The Newbie Toolkit can get you going and to be honest--you couldn't buy a cup of coffee (or in some cases, a gallon of gas!) for such a big return.
Let me know where you are in your internet business introduction. I welcome questions and want to be a part of something really special for you.

Shopping Cart Digital Download Delivery Made Easy!

2008-10-06T17:52:00.000-04:00

Digital delivery from your ecommerce site can be tricky if you don't know where to host your ebook or software for download. If you are using Mal's e for your shopping cart, good news for you!
Integrated with Mal's as well as several other carts, selling digital products such as music mp3’s, software, e-books, photographs or any other download file, Linklok will automate the delivery process keeping your clients happy and making your life just that bit easier.

Want to know more? Try the demo and download the manual so that you can see what Linklok Mals can do for you. We provide extensive documentation in PDF format for our products and not just a quick readme text file. Requires Adobe Reader.

Are your site visitors vanishing without a calling card?

2008-10-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

In the days of Gone with the Wind, visitors who came calling left a “calling card” to let it be known that they had stopped by. Today, we are beyond this courtesy, even past the personal perceptions of etiquette due to the impersonal nature of our communications. There are no feelings to be hurt if one clicks away and visits other websites. But your business will be hurting if you don’t even have the chance to “answer the doorbell” and invite someone to remain a little longer.

Lately, I have witnessed several tactics that delayed me from leaving a site—sometimes with very interesting offers. For anyone on the fence about your product or service, a quick exit response, like those from InTelliChat, can deliver that “but WAIT” addendum we see so much on TV (because it works!). Whether you are looking for the answer to why the visitors are leaving or are asking them to take you up on a special offer, that one more chance to entice them has proven to be phenomenal in its conversions.

Order form and cart abandonment are frustrating for your business. Would one more chance, one more crack at the sale make a difference?
The only way to know is to test. The best way to test is with an exit strategy—literally.

You can see a demo of the process at Intellichat where they provide extensive tracking, stats and reports, results management and split testing of campaigns. It is not as complicated as you might think. A simple line of code will activate your customized response by way of an automated sales agent window. You are in control of what offer is made and what action can be taken.

“Your intellichat agents will give customized responses to any questions they are asked. This will increase your customer satisfaction as well as increase your conversions. Unlike real agents who will answer questions incorrectly and are costly to employ, intellichat agents will answer exactly how you want them too, and you only have to pay them per conversion.”

How cool is that? Pay by conversion rather than a monthly fee. And it’s all automated.

As you progress in your ecommerce education, you will build up a need for testing and for converting with the addition of marketing strategies such as exit statistics. Your goal is to make the sale—don’t leave the door closed when they click away. Give them an offer they can’t refuse or get their calling card at the very least before they go.

Take a look at the demo at InTelliChat.

The Way of The Web? Or Natural Progression

2008-06-27T12:54:00.000-04:00

The way to get our attention today as compared to yesterday, last year, a decade ago, has moved from the lemonade stand at the end of the driveway, to an ad in the newspaper, to a website with pictures and a few descriptions, to the ultimate visual--video "commercials" online. It's not likely that many of us have managed to keep up with how fast a message gets delivered or how thoroughly we must "keep up with the Joneses" just to be heard.

At my house, we like to rent old TV shows. Watching Miami Vice, it seems incredible how the good guys (and the bad guys) managed their jobs with no cell phones or Google. You could call it a simpler time when using your wits and your resources was the norm. Even looking at how many wonderful inventions and services we now take for granted for using in our daily connections, there is still room for learning and adapting to new challenges.

In the past, I could print out a basic, double fold, self designed newsletter to send to my clients (I had a portrait photography studio). In time, it took a slicker newsletter, professional printed, to keep up with the image my clients came to expect. With other studios copying my efforts, I always resorted to "the newest and next big thing" to keep my competition jumping. Many did not take the time to learn how or to implement the techniques that makes clients take notice and I was determined to out do any imitations of my business.

Today, websites have reached a point that there is either too much going on (music intros, lots of flash, girating images) or bland (a header, some sales copy, and maybe a product or two). Take into account the differences in the builder/owner/designer of these sites. Someone who loves to show off their technical skills (but may lack marketing skills) can sometimes go a little overboard. Sometimes the owner of a site has no skills to build it and doesn't know any better than to contract a designer to have "carte blanche" to create their baby. Or a do it yourselfer may pick a template for economy of time and skills and gets too generic.

Enter today's stand out in this crowd of over/under done online businesses---the online video. Another adaptation to accomplish! When life stops throwing you challenges or you stop catching them, you are either retired or the alternative.... Over the next few weeks, I will be studying this phenomena and taking the challenge to learn how I can do this myself. Not to age myself, but I remember (in the "old days"??) when personal video meant 8 feet of tether cable to the 50 pound VCR recorder box to tape my son at play. Now I can make a video on my laptop and add it to my website just like the big boys at Turner Broadcasting do every day---well, good enough for selling my products. That's the point, isn't it? I already learned how to send personal images--who'd a thunk this would work for a business? It ain't YouTube because it's better.

Subscribe to my blog and follow along as I tell you about my adventure in 21st century advertising, online video style....who knows, you might tell your kids you were there in the "old days" when video was a new idea online.

"Today is a gift--that's why they call it the Present".

Your business--The Future On Your Mind?

2008-06-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

Are you finding more customers shopping online as opposed to going to physcal stores? Give your comments and voice your concerns (or glee as it may be) that sales have shifted to a virtual venue. How is the economy changing your selling tactics? Or are you someone considering going into business and would offer your take of whether it is wise to start a new business today.
Speak up and let's take a look at the future and how we, as business owners, must react.

Finding Products Wholesale the Easy Way

2008-06-19T11:21:00.000-04:00

Boy, did that title make me think--never have I thought of locating wholesale suppliers for my business an easy task. Until this last week.

The A#1 problem that ANY one has on the first day is "what the heck do I sell?" followed closely by the next question "what the heck is selling?". I have found more than just a tool for discovering both answers.

In the past, I bought every $47 software that came my way, touted as the savior of my search for wholesale products and suppliers. I admit, the first ones got me a leg up over doing everything manually, if there is such a thing. I was able to determine a few niches that looked promising but only after giving the software up to several hours to sweep the internet and give me results--often not very useful and tedious to wait for.
Then there was the one that based its data on what was selling on eBay. Well, while there are a lot of people making great sales with that model, I am just not an eBay person (comments welcomed but I am not ready to be converted :-).

Flash forward to this week and picture my astonished face when I got a series of videos from my old friends at World Wide Brands...and how I must have wanted to look over my shoulder and see if these guys were listening to me grumble about my product searches. They have completely filled in the blanks (my head still has plenty of blanks but at least these were filled to overflowing!), giving me not only the tools to find what to sell and what sells, but the tremendous amount of support is more than I have ever seen. They have been there all along but very quietly raising a voice I was grateful to be hearing (or should that be seeing since it came by way of video?). Just the blog posts alone contained an entire webinar or ecourse on getting started the best way possible in making money online.
But the reason for my ravings and accolades will be obvious when you read the blog posts or see the videos. And forgive me for telling you so late--the Whole$ale training and resource addition to the membership is on SALE today. I wish I could have given you a heads up sooner but I am not an internet marketer who jumps on the "get it before it's gone" bandwagon. This is definitely a personal recommendation. At the very least, get the membership info. It is worth gold.
If you really have struggled as I have to figure out the mystery of getting products to sell, especially those that are NOT info products someone is pushing, you owe it to yourself to listen to what this company has to offer.
I give it an A#1 approval rating...
Check it out here.

2008-06-17T12:51:00.001-04:00

Greetings! First let me tell you my purpose here.

After two years of teaching myself how to start internet businesses, I have finally cracked the "code" and found my way. I can now literally have a business idea and follow it through to launch in a short period of time.
Though there are a lot of ecommerce instructors out there, it is always the path one must take to learn who and what to learn and to believe. As I make my journey through the good and the bad, the failures and the successes, I hope you will follow me along side while I bear it all to save someone else the pain of struggling--to avoid my mistakes or decide if my successes are repeatable. Only an entrepreneur would think that a lousy climb up the ladder would be "fun". Keep me balanced and maybe somewhere along the way, I can be your boost when you need it or your reason to say "I told you so" and not have it backfire on you.
Till the next reason to post......seek whatever you desire.
Jay