Whether you are seriously interested in advertising on a specific website, or you’re just plain nosy, you can find out a lot about many websites using Google’s AdPlanner.

Launched nearly two years ago, in conjunction with DoubleClick, the Planner is really aimed at advertisers seeking to plan an online media campaign. It also enables publishers (i.e. website owners) to give information about their website’s metrics to prospective advertisers.

But, for internet marketers, it can also give useful information about the strength of competitors. Not that they are competitors of mine, but I queried Ken Evoy’s popular “Sitesell.com” website. The Planner gave me information such as how many visitors per month the site gets, demographics about the visitors (gender, age, education etc.), which keywords people used to find his site and what other sites his visitors are likely to go to.

You won’t get data about every websites - just the bigger ones.

Fascinating stuff! And, as a publisher, I may try to use the service to get more advertisers to place directly with my main content sites.

Here’s where you can log in to Google’s AdPlanner.

http://www.IanSays.com/AdPlannerTool

Oh, and there’s more detailed info in this blog post from Rebekah Paul::

http://www.IanSays.com/Article/AdPlanner

I’ve just had great fun in the past half hour playing with a new toy I’ve just purchased from the Instant Buzz guys - “Instant Video Articles”. I broke off from writing this newsletter to try it out.

Basically, you can, very quickly, create a series of slides, like PowerPoint, turn it into a video and, if you want, upload it right away to YouTube.

You’ll see, in the next article in this “Update”, that I’ve written up a new “Webmasters Trick”. I have a site where I display these little webmastery methods.

What I did was to take most of this page and turn it into a video using this little bit of software. It’s up there on YouTube now:

http://www.IanSays.com/Watch/MyLatestVideo

Now it’s not brilliant and there are a few mistakes, but boy, was it a rapid process. And I was even able to add a music track to the video - you get a selection of MP3s included with the software.

The one thing that I found missing in the software was the ability to preview it. But, once you’ve hit the “Create” button, you can always go to the movie file (there’s a choice of formats you can create it in), watch it, and then go back to the software and make more changes.

If I’d have had more time, I’d have done that - and realised that the music I selected as background wasn’t long enough!

But, hey, it was the first time I’ve used it!

You can get your hand on this Windows software for just 17 bucks. I’m being up-front about the price because the sales page doesn’t give that info.

In fact - and it’s an annoying thing- the sales page just consists of an 8-minute video and an “Add To Cart” button. That sort of thing bugs me! Here’s where you get the software:

http://www.IanSays.com/TryOut/IVA

Anyway, that’s why I’ve been up-front about the price. And, since you’ll be paying me, not InstantBuzz, if you find you don’t like it, I’ll take care of any refund issues.

Go on , give it a try. It’s the fastest way I’ve seen of getting a video up on YouTube. And it is so easy to use that I hardly even needed to look at the tutorial page!

http://www.IanSays.com/TryOut/IVA

Oh, and why is it called “Instant Video Articles”? Well, Calvin Woon, one of the co-owners of Instant Buzz, explains that you can use the software to make videos from articles. Sure, you can. And in a way, that’s how I made my first video with it, using a web page rather than an article. So that explains that!

I’ve got to admit that I took a bit of a flyer when I launched my “Digital Photo Niche Goldminer” on Wednesday. It was quite a new departure for me, and I wasn’t quite sure how well it would go down.

It was a completely new type of product for me.. not in the internet marketing or web building market, but something to get internet marketers, both “newbies” and more experienced ones, into another, vast niche market.

As always, when I launch a new product, I always give my “Update” subscribers a “Special Deal” in advance of the full launch.

And the take-up on this deal, and the feedback I’ve had, has been great If you didn’t go to the Special Deal page after my mid-week “Update”, here’s where you’ll find it:

http://www.IanSays.com/DigiPhotoGoldmine.html

The core component of the “Goldmine” is a brandable give-away software program which is of great value to anyone who owns a digital camera. And that’s millions of people!

But that’s just the tip of my “Digital Photo Niche Goldminer” package. I give you all the tools and advice that will help you to penetrate this vast consumer market.

I show you how to add multiple revenue streams to this give-away product. I give you an eBook you can sell to these digital photography consumers - built into the whole give-away system I’ve designed for you.

And I’ve revealed all the tactics that I’ve used over the years to leverage give-away products! They are all in a 35-page, no-fluff “User Manual & Training Guide” I spent days writing.

To see everything that’s included in this package, have a look at your Special Deal page here:

http://www.IanSays.com/DigiPhotoGoldmine.html

You’ll see that there’s a time limit on this Deal - Wednesday, 10th March. I know that some folks get their wages at the month-end, so I’ve given quite a wide window for you to get on board. But, at 5 pm UK time on that day (12, noon EST in the USA), that page vanishes! I’m getting a few JV partners on board to start promoting the “Goldmine” at a much higher price, starting the following day.

Don’t miss out. Start to get your slice of this $multi-billion market today!

http://www.IanSays.com/DigiPhotoGoldmine.html

Oh, and on that page, you’ll be able to download the give-away software and see how I have branded it. You might also find it a great tool to use if you own a digital camera!

http://www.IanSays.com/NewsletterShuffle

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The deal between Microsoft and Yahoo is getting closer to completion. Yahoo Search will be powered by Microsoft’s “Bing”, whilst Yahoo will take over the management of the combined premium search advertising network. There’s a summary of this news here:

http://www.IanSays.com/YahooSearchGoing

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Michael Fortin likes the entrepreneurs-vs-investors TV show “Shark Tank” (similar to the UK’s “Dragons Den”). And he draws from this show some valuable lessons for internet marketers. He asks if we’re prepared to stand up and take a bite out of bad ideas, bad businesses and bad marketing practices.

http://www.IanSays.com/SharkTankStrategies

I quite like Firefox, and I use it for some things, such as downloading multiple files. But I’ve also been using Chrome regularly, taking advantage of the feature to open multiple sites when you start it up. I access all my daily “housekeeping” sites (PayPal, ClickBank and so on) in this way each morning. It’s also a very fast, light-weight browser.

When I first started to use Chrome, there were very few third-party extensions. When I switched to Chrome full-time, I decided to see what is available now.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of extensions available. About a dozen are used by more than 100,000 people. There are two which I installed, which I find very useful:

• “Chrome SEO”. This extension is useful to get information about any site you visit. It gives you a mass of info including Page Rank, Alexa Rating, backlinks to the site, number of pages indexed by the main search engines, and so on.
• “LastPass”. A very useful password manager. If you’re paranoid about your sensitive data being stored on another server, you need have no fears about LastPass. All your passwords etc. are encrypted and stored on your computer. LastPass is also available for Firefox and Internet Explorer. It’s saving me a lot of time, since I’ve set it to automatically log in to a number of sites that I use.

So far, Chrome has been very stable for me, with no crashes.. And, unlike Firefox, Chrome updates itself in the background, with no irritating delays as happens with Firefox.

You can read a fairly recent review from PC Magazine here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2352974,00.asp

If you haven’t tried Chrome yet, why not give it a whirl? Download it from here:

http://www.IanSays.com/Chrome/DownloadPage

Each month, I add a “Premium PLR Package” to the Members’ Area. Each package comes with a high-quality report, which you can edit and put your own name and other material in (such as a.dverts!).

But you also get a ton of tools to help you to sell the report, such as a give-away report, a squeeze page, complete with an autoresponder sequence, a blog theme and blog posts, suitable ClickBank products to add into your report.. and a lot more!

This month’s package is all about CPA Marketing - that’s “Cost Per Action”, an increasingly popular alternative to Pay Per Cl.ick a.ds and affiliate marketing.

Right now, you can get your hands on this Premium PLR Package and a heap of other good Private Label Rights products for less than twenty bucks! That’s all your first month’s subscription is. And it’s risk-free! If you don’t like what you see, you can bale out and get your initial subscription refunded - no questions asked!

I’m accepting new Members right now! Sign up now and get immediate access to the CPA Marketing package.. and a lot more! Look here at everything you’ll get:

http://www.PrivatePLRClub.com

Amazon has a huge affiliate base. But most of Amazon affiliates are not active. They do very little so they earn very little.

OK, Amazon’s commission rates are not particularly high - but they are similar to other companies selling and shipping physical products. And Amazon’s pages do a great selling job! Even better, many people purchase high-priced items from Amazon, so the commissions can soon mount up.

Savvy Amazon affiliates have latched on to this and set up websites devoted to selling particular types of high-priced products. They draw visitors to these sites through search engine optimization techniques and, if their affiliate site is set up well, they make sales.

That’s the principle, but what about actually doing it?

I’ve just finished watching a fascinating video series on setting up an Amazon affiliate site. It’s something I’ve thought about in the past, but never got around to carrying out.

But these videos opened my eyes to a number of techniques which I should have known about, but didn’t. These included such techniques as how to quickly find a Wordpress theme appropriate to a particular niche, how to select good products on Amazon, a few search engine optimisation tips.. and other good tips.

You might learn even more from the videos than I did! For an overview of what’s in the videos look here - but DON’T purchase from this page. I’ll tell you why in a minute:

http://www.IanSays.com/Amazon/DontBuyHere

The videos, all 78 minutes of them, have been made by Tim Carter. In my opinion, Tim produces some of the most instructive training videos available. He explains everything in great detail, so that even a complete “newbie” can follow each step.

I reckon that, by following Tim’s step-by-step videos, you can set up your first Amazon Affiliate Site in less that two hours. Subsequent sites will take even less time, as you get accostomed to the techniques.

Now, about the price.. I could have just sent you to the page I mentioned above. You would then have paid the full price for the video set.

Instead, I went ahead and bought “co-ownership” rights. This means that you’ll be paying me, but the videos are downladed from Tim’s server.

But, even more importantly, this “co-ownership” means that I can give you the key to the back door - which saves you nearly 40 per cent on the full price! So use this link instead:

http://www.IanSays.com/Amazon/BackDoor

Enjoy the videos! And remember - act on the information, and you’ll get results!

http://www.IanSays.com/Blog/WonderWheel

If you don’t know what the “Wonder Wheel” is, do a Google search, use the “Show Options” link, top-left of the page, and select “Wonder Wheel”. Have a play with it, then read John’s article.

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I, personally, place a lot of importance on giving good customer service. Michael Newman shares my views. Read his article about one positive benefit of giving good service:

http://www.IanSays.com/GoodService

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Did you miss any of last years developments which affected affiliate marketers? Mark Roth has a neat article summarising what came along big time last year:

http://www.IanSays.com/AffiliateMarketing/Changes

As far as I know, mine is the only such Private Label Rights club that provides this service for Members. Most just stick up a load of products and leave it to the members to sort out.

I like to over-deliver Oh, and I’ve just added 200 Private Label Rights articles to the Members Area!

I’m accepting new Members right now! Sign up now and get immediate access to this month’s new products, my Monthly Notes.. and a lot more!

http://www.PrivatePLRClub.com

http://www.IanSays.com/Blog/NewPluginTest

Now just move your cursor over the first link, “Alexa ranking”. A little popup window appears, and you can now watch a short video on how to check your website’s Alexa ranking.

Once installed (a 5 minute job) all you need to do when creating / editing your post is to highlight keywords and hit a button in the edit toolbar (Wordpress version). The plugin then searches for audios, videos, images, and so on. Just select and preview an appropriate item and add it. That’s all there is to it.

You can download the free plugin from Apture’s site:

http://www.IanSays.com/Try/Apture

It’s available for self-hosted Wordpress blogs, Blogger, TypePad, Drupal and others. If you have a blog, why not try it out. It’s great fun, and is yet another way to keep visitors on your blog pages.