I don’t believe there is a guaranteed way to make money fast. Unless you have a full piggy bank and a hammer of course!

The Internet is awash with get-rich-quick schemes. Many will generate some degree of wealth for the creator. Almost all of them will fail to put money in your hands.

If you’re hell-bent on making a lot of money I suggest you study what actual confirmed rich people actually did, rather than allow yourself to be take in by schemes concocted by anaonymous scam artists.

There are plenty of books that describe how millionaires made their money. For example, The Millionaire Next Door provides enough detail to conclude that making money requires a lot more than joining some make-money-fast scheme.

I’ll go so far as to say any scheme that requires you to grow an extensive downline is a world away from the every-day tasks outlined in the The Millionaire Next Door. And odds are, you will not get rich by joining and/or otherwise participating in it. In fact, you are highly like to leave with less money than you started.

Everything we’ve learned about the universe over the last 200 years tells us there is no free lunch. A few people get lucky (e.g. lottery winners), but always at the expense of others (e.g. lottery losers). The overwhelming odds suggest that you and I will have to work for our money.

And frankly, I prefer it that way.

Side note: My favourite IT Support Company.

This time Apple wants to prevent Samsung from showing the world just how disappointing the iPhone 4s was by halting the sale of the vastly superior Galaxy Nexus.

Given the seeming ability of Apple to stop anything by waving its arms, I’m surprised The Outfit hasn’t yet managed to patent the action of wiping one’s bottom with toilet paper and charging the rest of us for the privilege. After all, it’s no more idiotic than the ability to detect a phone number in free-form text and make it clickable.

Yet that’s exactly what the moronic dimwits down at the US Patent Office let Apple get away with

Christ on a bike! What next? Will Apple successfully patent the action of breathing in air and expelling carbon dioxide? How about farting? Or better still, the process of engaging in spurious legal action against one’s competitors?

Whoops, I’ve just received a cease and desist order from Apple. Apparently Steve Jobs secured the patent on ranting back in 1998.

Meanwhile…in a boardroom somewhere in Cupertino a reptilian lizard overlord sits down to a meeting. “Well boys” he rasps, “who do you want to sue today?”

With 20/20 hindsight we now know this prediction was (ahem) somewhat incorrect. Apple still dominates the tablet sector. Samsung has produced 3 exceptional tablet products this year, none of which has sold in numbers.

A question Samsung might be asking itself is “why?”

There is one well-known reason why Samsung’s tablet sales have fallen short of expectations. Apple has got into the habit of suing anything that moves companies that make products it considers too similar to its own. This has been especially egregious problematic for Samsung in Germany and Australia.

But Apple’s ‘shoot-first’ legal tactics haven’t been an issue for Samsung here in the UK or the United States.

In the US Amazon released the Kindle Fire, a $200 seven inch tablet designed to make it easy to buy from Amazon. It has sold well in the US – no doubt thanks to its low price, ‘better-than-stock-Android’ user experience and easy access to Amazon’s own App store.

So what’s holding Samsung back here in the UK? I may be able to shed some light on that. You see, Samsung makes a tablet that I am was very interested in buying. It’s called the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and in my opinion it’s the only tablet on the market that offers genuine advantages over an iPad…

• It’s 138 grams lighter
• It’s thinner
• It’s smaller
• It has a better screen

I am currently was looking to replace my notebook with a tablet. My laptop is was dragged all over London and used for a variety of purposes…

• Live demonstrations of websites/programming to clients
• Presentations to potential clients
• On-site running repairs via the CMS, FTP and/or SSH
• Training

An iPad can do does all of the above very well indeed. Even better – it has the added advantage of weighing 800 grams less, the battery lasts much longer, and it takes up less room in my bag. When you’re out all day on London’s overcrowded tubes and streets – less of everything is definitely more.

My thinking is that even less must be even more – hence my interest in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.

But I have enough experience with Android devices to know that it’s best to try it before buying. I’m not willing to fork over £389 on an Android device until I know I’ll be happy with the result. I needed a chance to play with the device, and I bet I’m not alone in thinking this way. And right there we get to the heart of Samsung’s two biggest problems here in the UK…

• It’s selling the tablet through consumer electronics stores
• None of the stores I visited had the product in stock (most had never even heard of it)

In the UK consumer electronics stores seldom provide demonstrator models that are connected to the Internet. To properly assess whether or not a tablet is going to work for me, I need to give it a test drive while connected.

In the interests of balance I decided to find out whether I could perform such a test on an iPad. Strictly speaking, I didn’t need to do this because I know plenty of people that own one and had already determined it could do everything I needed it to.

Never-the-less, I wanted to compare the experience of shopping for a Samsung tablet versus an iPad and visited the Apple Store in Regent Street. Here’s what happened…

• Numerous iPads were on display, available to use, and connected to the Internet
• Pages and Numbers were already installed. I fired them up and marvelled at how much more useful these two apps are with the extra space and functionality available on an iPad versus an iPhone
• I visited the App Store and searched for both FTP and SSH apps. The App Store presented me with tablet-specific versions of these apps (another issue for Android tablets)
• I couldn’t find a mobile version of Firefox so I suppose I’ll have to make do with mobile Safari. I’ll give Opera a test-drive as that is available (I’ve now tried Atomic Web and Opera Mini. Atomic Web is worth keeping on my iPad, Opera Mini is headed for the great big delete bin in the sky)
• Apples employees didn’t bother me during my ‘test’. Several Apple store members hovered momentarily, apparently realised I was happy enough and gracefully hovered away

If you’ve ever visited a consumer electronics store in the UK, you’ll understand why the above experience is so special. Yet Samsung has chosen to sell its Galaxy Tab 8.9 through consumer electronics stores. I can only marvel at the idiocy of this move. Samsung UK apparently doesn’t understand what they have in the Galaxy Tab 8.9, and why it might appeal to business people (lighter, smaller, no-compromise on screen-size/quality).

I tried very hard to get my hands on the Galaxy Tab 8.9. This includes asking Samsung where I might find one, only to be told they didn’t know either (slow face-palm).

No wonder Samsung can’t sell tablets. Frankly, it doesn’t deserve sales. It’s as if Samsung has given up.

I certainly did and bought myself an iPad from Apple’s Covent Garden Store. The purchase experience was second-to-none in terms of a retail experience here in the UK.

No matter how poorly the French Rugby Team plays during the opening stages of the tournament, they will still strike fear in the hearts of all New Zealanders if we meet them in the final. Why oh why is it that France is always the team that seems to crush our hopes and dreams?

The All Blacks managed to hold on to a single point lead for about 4 million years until the final whistle blew. And finally, at long last, that 24 year long draught has ended and The All Blacks have once again been crowned the Rugby World Cup Champions.

Apple may be impressed with itself having released a shiny new iPhone, but frankly the 4s doesn’t hold a candle to its existing Android competitors. Let alone the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Apple’s problem isn’t that the iPhone 4s is a poor phone (it’s not). Apple’s problem is one of human nature. We’re never satisfied with what we have, especially when there’s something much better on the other side of the fence.

My view is that our evolution is driven by an innate dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. As a rule of thumb, a company can expect its customers to quickly grow accustomed to even the most incredible technology.

Consider the world into which your grandparent’s grandparents were born. This was an alien world as far as you and I are concerned. No electricity, motors cars, computers, telephones (let alone anything resembling a smart phone) or TV. One child in two died before puberty.

Yet the incredible discoveries and inventions that literally changed the world are now taken for granted. Almost every parent dies before his/her children. It’s possible to make a free call to the other side of the world using a mobile phone (via Skype). These developments are amazing. You and I should be gob-smacked by them. We’d certainly miss this technology if it vanished.

Yet neither you or I are astounded at the ‘miraculous’ world in which we are privileged to live. We have to stop and think about it before experiencing any sense of wonder or privilege.

Why is that? Why is it that we human beings take such ‘miracles’ in our stride?

I think it comes back to an inherent state of dissatisfaction (or striving for something better) that is literally written into our DNA. If human beings as a species were generally happy with our lot, I think we’d still be swinging from the trees.

As marketers it’s essential to keep this in mind when promoting a new product. And Apple’s latest iPhone offers a useful lesson in this regard.

In my view, Apple made the right decision when it named its newest iPhone the 4s rather than the 5. The 4s does not compete head-to-head with the best Android phones. And going forward, the new iPhone will look increasingly poor against an overwhelming onslaught of Android-based competitors. It would have been damaging to the brand to pretend otherwise by naming it the iPhone 5.

I think Apple made the wrong decision by releasing the 4s. The 4s already looked shabby compared to the 6-month old Galaxy 2S. And each new high-end Android phone to hit the market will reinforce how tired the iPhone 4s is.

I think the biggest problem with the iPhone 4s is it’s tiny screen. All those pixels would be far more useful if displayed across a bigger screen. The existing iPhone has the space in which to seat a bigger screen.

When the iPhone 5 is finally released it will almost certain contain a bigger screen. I’m sure Apple will make much of this fact. Yet those of us actually buying phones will know that the competition have had better and bigger screens for over a year.

Apple is now playing catch-up, yet its still charging as if they offer the market the leading phone. The company is no different to any other, and its iPhone will not compete for long on those terms.

Tech savy people aren’t tempted by this phone. Gradually the message will spread, and regular folk will begin to realise there are better phones out there for the money.

Human dissatisfaction with the status quo will drive this trend, and Apple will continue to see its market share erode as a result.

If your site is more more than 6 months old, and is either unranked or has a PageRank of zero – something is wrong. Check your site’s PageRank here.

Does your site have a low PageRank score? Then there are things about the site Google doesn’t like. Here’s a list of possible issues…

• Duplicate content (multiple URLs access the same web page)
• Duplicate site (2 or more URLs point to the exact same website)
• Too many ads on the page
• Low-quality content
• Repetitive content
• Too much content copied from other sites
• Too many keywords on the page (keyword stuffing)
• Attempts to display different content to Google than is seen by a site’s visitors
• Very low quality content throughout the site
• Too little content on each page and/or too few pages on the site
• Site is built using Adobe Flash with no attempt to display alternative content for non-Flash visitors
• No external inbound links to the site
• Too many very low quality external inbound links

The fastest way to fix issues like these is to hire an SEO Professional and have him/her rework the site from scratch. If you have the skills to do the donkey work yourself, it’s probably cheaper to hire a Professional as a consult and have him/her explain what needs to be done.

Either way, I suggest you get 3 quotes and average them. Then try to work out whether the average amount being asked is likely to return a profit through increased exposure on Google. An SEO Professional can help you with this too (e.g. you employ him/her to help you vet SEO proposals submitted by other SEO companies).

I’m not kidding. I tried to buy the damn thing and got fobbed off with some rubbish about living on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

Excuse me? This is me you’re talking to. ME! Have you checked my order history lately Amazon? I think it only fair that you make an exception in my case. Either that, or start selling the damn thing here in the UK.

Here’s why I want a Kindle Fire

It’s lighter and smaller than an iPad. The iPad is too big and clunky for the use I have in mind. I need something I can use comfortably while on the tube. I get a lot of use out of an iPhone App called QuickOffice Pro. It has the ability read, write and edit both Word and Excel documents. I use it to…

• Review notes on the tube while traveling to meetings
• Make notes when heading back from meetings
• Write Proposals when heading to and/or from meetings
• Create, edit and/or review financial projections

QuickOffice Pro syncs with Dropbox. This means my notes, proposal, and/or spreadsheet are on my laptop when I arrive at or get back from meetings. The work I’ve done while on the tube is ready and waiting.

In other words, QuickOffice Pro and an iPhone allow me to be productive while on the tube. This time is no longer lost. And it’s especially valuable if there are delays on the tube.

An iPhone does an adequate job but I’ve been looking for something bigger. I want more screen real-estate and a larger virtual keyboard. I’d use this device to run presentations too, and leave my laptop in the office.

I looked long and hard at the iPad, and almost pulled the trigger. In the end I decided it’s just too big and heavy. The Kindle Fire is a far better fit for me.

Other tablet makers offer a 7″ device, but none of them can replace Apple’s App and support infrastructure. Amazon can. And now they have (what looks like) the very product I’ve been looking for.

I have already tried to place an order through my Amazon US account. No such luck. They won’t ship it to my UK address. The question is, why won’t the buggers sell it to me?

It’s a fantastic idea, in theory, because it promises to help a site go from SEO zero to hero with relatively little effort. Simply create the link bait itself, and then sit back and wait for world domination.

Of course it’s not that simple. Here’s what they don’t tell you about link bait…

• It won’t work if the ‘bait’ isn’t truly amazing
• Coming up with something truly amazing (not to mention original) is hard work. It requires a combination of creativity and effort that most people aren’t prepared to invest
• On creation the link bait requires promotion. On average, 1 in 10 people will link to something that’s very good
• If 1 in 10 people are needed to secure 10 links, you’ll need 100 people to visit the ‘bait’ just to get 10 more links. Those links will result in another link. That’s 11 links. Of those 11, an average of one will deliver SEO value (link juice) to your site
• To realise significant benefit in Google, you’ll need to invest time and effort in sending at least 10,000 people to your site to get 1,111 links – 100 of which will deliver useful amounts of SEO value

Of course, once you have those 1,111 links they’ll start sending visitors to your link bait. This will generate more links, and 9% of them will produce SEO value.

This SEO value will benefit your entire site, including the ‘bait’ itself. Which will deliver even more visitors to the ‘bait’. Which will generate even more links, delivering more SEO value, further increasing the visitors you’re getting.

This is a virtuous circle, and is the very thing that is great about link bait. To summarise, SEO link bait…

• Is difficult to create
• Is hard to replicate
  If you manage it you’ll own the value that ‘bait’ produces
• Requires promotion in and of itself
  This makes success even more elusive
• Eventually reaches critical mass
  The bait becomes a self-running virtuous circle that produces visitors and SEO benefit

It’s not easy to create successful link bait. If you manage to do so the rewards are spectacular, and difficult for others to replicate.

If you’re willing to put in the effort I urge you to do so. You won’t regret it.

To qualify as true viral marketing a campaign needs all of the following…

• A mechanism for infecting others (e.g. a ‘mail this to your friends’ form)
• A motivating factor that has one person want to infect another (a marketing version of one’s own sex drive)
• A sales or marketing benefit for the promoter of the virus

A mechanism for infecting others

Technically, a built-in mechanism for infecting others isn’t required for a marketing campaign to go viral. If the viral campaign is good enough it will spread on its own (e.g. one person emails it to another).

My view is that leaving things to chance increases the odds that human inertia prevents a campaign from gaining enough traction to go viral. One way to improve the odds in your favour is to provide people with one or more ways to tell others about it.

You can see an excellent example in this fun quiz from online sex-toy retailer Electric LadyLounge. I suggest you click the link, visit the site, and take the quiz (2 minutes tops). On completing the quiz you’ll see a results page that tells you your score, rates your knowledge (a giggle) and gives details on how your friends have done.

It also offers several ways to spread the virus – including Facebook, Twitter and Email. This makes it incredibly easy for people to spread the virus.

A motivating factor

Giving people the means to spread your marketing campaign doesn’t mean it will happen. People also need a reason to do so. The aforementioned Electric LadyLounge has provided 3 motivations…

• It’s fun:
  People are going to want to spread this, just to see how well their friends have done.
• There’s an incentive:
  Every time someone you refer takes the quiz you get an entry into their competition. The more people you tell, the more entries you get.
• It’s about sex toys:
  Let’s face it – we’re all interested in sex, and enjoy a good laugh. If one of your friends is told s/he is ‘a danger to self and others’, it’s good for a giggle.

Most of us aren’t going to be able to use sex to help our viral marketing, but we can make it fun. And we can introduce one or more incentives.

A sales or marketing benefit for the promoter

The benefit of the above viral to Electric LadyLounge is obvious. They get to…

• Have fun with potential future customers (as well as existing ones)
• Showcase some of their products (you’ll note they link to them)
• Strengthen their relationship with customers
• Bring more people to their website

This particular viral marketing application could continue to generate traffic (and sales) for years, yet the cost to deliver it is relatively low (and fixed). What’s not to love about that?

• unknown-entity.co.uk – £120
• amazon.co.uk – £130

Which of the above would you buy from?

If you’re like most people, you’ll buy from Amazon. Why? Because you’ve bought from them before and you you can trust them…

• If it’s defective they’ll replace it
• It gets lost in the post they’ll send you another
• It will arrive tomorrow
• They have a long established history of actually doing the above

It’s the last point that matters most. Any online store can say it will replace a damaged item, but how do you know they’re telling the truth? And if it gets lost (or stolen) enroute, you may well have a battle on your hands convincing an unknown estore that you’re telling the truth.

The thing that makes a client hover over the ‘buy’ button without clicking is doubt. It’s the #1 killer of sales. Doubt should be on the FBI’s 10-most-wanted list.

The key to overcoming doubt is trust. The question is, how do you overcome trust if nobody will buy form you in the first place? There are several strategies you can pursue…

• Make it impossible to say no by offering something at a silly price, just to establish that first sale. Consider this to be a cost of marketing
• Build trust over time by establishing a different kind of relationship, such as a supplier of knowledge or assistance
• Borrow trust from another organisation, such as Amazon’s own stores product
• Collect at least 30 video testimonials from genuine customers. This provides overwhelming evidence of your trust-worthiness. Unlike written testimonials, it’s easy to spot a fake on video and this makes them inherently trust-worthy
• Continue to communicate with prospects for years. This keeps your name in front of people, but also implies trust through longevity (i.e. you’re not a fly-by-night organisation)
• Incorporate and include your company registration number on your site, with a link to its Company’s House record. It helps present the idea that you’re a real company, thus overcoming some doubt. The longer you’ve been incorporated, the more trust this approach conveys
• Invest in viral marketing if your products/services and target market are suitable. Because viral marketing depends on friends passing the item on, it carries a degree of credibility with it
• Ask clients to personally recommend you to their friends, colleagues and associates

Which of the above strategies should you use in your business? Use all that are useful. The more trust you convey to your clients, the less doubt they’ll feel when hovering over the buy button.