How To Make Money Online and Build Wealth : Internet Marketing Wealth Building Basics

Uncork, Plug In - Could Making Money Online Be The Entrepreneurial Breakthrough For You?

2008-09-19T13:41:00.004-04:00

I've been away for a little while. I apologize, but I've been really busy working to make money online. And, some of the "balls in the air" that I'm constantly juggling, I just couldn't continue to keep in the air all at once.

But there's something on my mind, and I just had to share.

These are strange financial times in which we find ourselves. Things are going badly, and everyone is acting as if it's a surprise.

I know an individual who accurately predicted, as much as several years ago, what the future held for the financial condition of this country (the US), including our mortgage debacle and what is currently happening with the financial markets and on Wall Street. She could clearly see this coming and she's not a financial professional; just a "regular" person trying to make it the same as the rest of us.

If you're concerned about what's going on in the US business and financial arenas, and how it is affecting you personally, you should be. Too often, we ignore bad news or unpleasant news, hide our heads in the sand and wait for somebody else to "fix it".

But the day will come (as it has for many already) when that news will affect you, in your world, in a very personal way. The question is, what have you done to prepare yourself for it, and will you be as prepared as possible when the time comes? Only you know the answer to that question.

Some people use these types of circumstances (the current problematic financial environment) to make excuses for why they're not attempting to change or improve their life circumstances, even though it may be painfully clear that they should be. They make the argument that to attempt to build wealth/start a business/generate extra income in times such as these is irresponsible, too risky, or doomed to fail.

Instead, they choose to play it safe, maintain their current condition (even when it's a bad one), and continue to rely completely on outside employment and employers to look out for their best interests for the remainder of their work productive lives.

The way I feel about it is this, no one and I mean NO ONE has more of my best interests at heart

than I do. I think I'm a bit more interested, invested and qualified to make informed decisions affecting my finances and my future.

That's why I personally support and promote entrepreneurship, even as difficult and risky as it may be to venture out and build a business of your own. Does it work for everyone? Nope. Do I advocate that everyone should quit their jobs right now, today, to start their own business? Nope.

But what I do advocate is this: Wake up from your self-induced stupor. Take the blinders off, stop covering your ears. Listen and PAY ATTENTION to what's happening in the world around you and around the world; even if, and especially when, the news and information is unpleasant.

Plug in, become an active participant in all aspects of your life, because you only get one shot at this. Take more control and responsibility for directing the course of your life, and of those for whom you may be responsible, your family.

If you can do better, not just financially, but regarding other factors in your life to make it more fulfilled, enriched, beneficial and valuable to yourself and to others, then change some things. Make a plan and start working toward something; a better something.

End rant.

If you are looking for ideas or ways to begin generating extra income, replacing the income you have, or creating a larger income, here are a few places you can start:

Work From Home Employment

Learn About Affiliate Marketing - You Don't Even Have To Have A Website To Begin Making Money

This Way

20 Ways To Make $100 Per Day Online

How To Make Money From Online Auctions, An Easy Place To Start

Learn The Truth About Network Marketing

The Warrior Manifesto

EZ Niche Builder - A New Website Design Choice That Rocks!

2008-07-30T06:24:00.002-04:00

Good Morning All!

The following post comes under the heading of "Shameless Promotion", but for good reason. A new product has come out that will be a GREAT tool for many marketers, so I decided to share it with you here. If you don't want to be faced with a blatant marketing ploy today, just go an read one of my other posts:)

Okay, Here Goes:

***************************************************************************

http://www.gignoskein.com/eznichebuilder.htm

Are You INTO or THINKING of Getting Into the BANS Craze, Creating multiple Niche Sites or Adsense Sites?

IF SO, STOP RIGHT NOW !

And READ This Entire post on a Completely NEW Approach!

I want to show you a brand new, POWERFUL script called EZ Niche Builder that will help you to quickly and easily build and deploy hundreds of Niche Stores on every topic imaginable!

And I am NOT talking about some spammy little site replicator that leaves massive footprints all over the Internet getting you de-indexed a month from now.

I'm talking about a system that allows you complete control over the design or "Look and Feel" of the site, and your choice of using either the built-in stores (Amazon, ClickBank and Ebay) or plug in your own Affiliate Products, Adsense, Yahoo, CPA Offers or ALL OF THEM!

Use one of the four built-in News Feeds (Google, MSN, Yahoo or a Generic Feed of your Own) to add continually updated, highly targeted content to every page!

And best of all, adding your own fresh content is as easy as uploading a plain text file with your article in it. Your article, with your store will be AUTOMATICALLY folded into the site without any further effort on your part! Just imagine this - you order 10 articles from your favorite writer and when they're delivered, you upload them to the site. That's it. You're done. Fini!

You just expanded your site by 10 new pages, with stores or other products AUTOMATICALLY plugged right in and targeting your Niche. How cool is that?

This is most likely the LEAST COMPLICATED product we've ever made available. The designers worked hard to make it simple to maintain and expand a Niche Store Site so you can focus on what you do best.

Check EZ Niche Builder Out Here:

http://www.gignoskein.com/eznichebuilder.htm

Once you have your content, you simply add a template, configure the script and upload it. All you will ever need to do from this point forward is upload text files containing new article content if you want to.

The content pages all appear as HTML files. EZ Niche Builder uses Apache's Rewrite Engine in much the way a blog does for SEO purposes. Every article is remapped to your keyword and coupled with a domain name containing similar keywords - you should rank very, very well!

Every web page title, description and keyword metatags are automatically filled in for each new article you add. Even the title of your article is automatically wrapped in h1 tags for SEO purposes! However, if you want to "Dress Up" individual articles with additional HTML, graphics or special offers, sign up forms, etc., you can do that easily right in the text file. Using Tokens, you decide the placement of the built-in products or place your own in the template or text files.

Building a Niche Store has never been easier, especially when it comes to expansion and maintenance of it. Here is all you need to do:

* Do your Keyword Research (make sure products are available)

* Write or Buy a Few Articles Targeting Your Keywords

* Create, Find or Buy a One-Page Template for your Niche Store

* Configure EZ Niche Builder (add your various ID's and plug in tokens)

* Upload Everything to the Root of Your Domain

Almost forgot - start promoting it and making money!

EZ Niche Builder comes with our standard 60 day refund policy, so you're not taking any risk at all - we do honor our no questions asked guarantee.

Here are some quick answers to a few questions you may have about EZ Niche Builder:

Can more than one news feed be used? Such as a different feed for different pages or can only 1 feed be used site wide?

Answer - For the news feeds, stores and other elements, you can choose to do them site wide or on individual pages. You're not limited to just one news feed - you could add all four to a page or all pages - same with the stores.

Why do I have to find or buy my own template?

Answer - The reason we left the template creation up to the user was to minimize the possiblity of having a significant footprint on all the sites. It also leaves the user with total creative control.

Can you add more than 10 pages to this?

Answer - You can add as many pages as you want. Since each page targets a specific keyword or phrase, it depends on the niche topic in terms of how many pages you want to add. If each page has a couple of paragraphs of good content, it will help you to rank better in SERPS.

When you purchase EZ Niche Builder and begin working with it, you'll learn for yourself just how much potential it has. You won't need BANS or XSitePro or anything else to do this work - you can even use it just to make up sales pages if you want - it's that simple!

To find out more and to order your EZ Niche Builder now, follow this link:

http://www.gignoskein.com/eznichebuilder.htm

As always, please be aware that I am available to answer any questions you care to
ask about your business building. I'd love to hear from you.

To Your Multi-Website Success!

Kimberly Clay
http://www.GetMyWealthNow.com
http://www.MakeMoneyOnlineTalk.com

Discover The Secrets Of A Six-Figure Blogger

2008-07-24T20:17:00.003-04:00

If you have ever wondered how someone makes a
six-figure income online using a blog, I have
a video you just HAVE to watch.

Here's the link:

Six Figure Blogger Secrets

Yaro Starak, a well-respected blogger and blog
trainer, released a free video that takes you
inside his Internet business, which is based on
just one blog.

Using his blog, Yaro generates a steady $10,000 to
$20,000 each and every month.

His system is not your usual story of using a blog
and sticking AdSense on it - he's taken a much
more BUSINESS focused approach.

He calls his system "Conversion Blogging"
because it combines a blog with an email list to
create consistent income.

Inside the video you will learn -

- Why blogs are the only Web 2.0 marketing tool
you will ever need

- Exactly how Yaro uses his blog to build a
MASSIVE email list

- How just a blog can turn you into the No. 1
authority in your market

- What methods Yaro uses to translate his blog
into a steady cash-flow stream

- How you can replicate Yaro's methods using just
one blog and get started in minutes

I loved this video because it's not full of
marketing hype, just a very down to earth and
practical presentation.

I guarantee you will enjoy this and learn something
too.

Set aside 32 minutes now, grab a drink, sit down
and

Watch This Video

Bye for now,

Kimberly

4th Of July, Independence And Making Money Online

2008-07-04T11:07:00.004-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

I know you must be asking yourself what the 4th of July, Independence and making money online have to do with one another.

When many Americans in the United States think about the 4th Of July, thoughts turn to patriotism, Independence and the freedoms that many of us enjoy, and quite often take for granted at other times throughout the remainder of the year. And while those are good, relevant and important thoughts given the holiday, my thoughts this year are related, but a bit different. I find that I am indeed thinking thoughts of independence and freedom, but of a different kind. I'm thinking more along the lines of financial freedom.

As oil-per-barrel prices continue to increase, and gasoline prices skyrocket at the pumps, as thoughts and plans regarding transportation of any type, short or long distance, are now a constant issue for consumers, and other transportation-related consumer products (food) also increase, I'm thinking thoughts of financial freedom.

You see, I can't help but think that while those individuals in our society who are on the “well-heeled” side most certainly have concerns about the issues currently affecting our economy, they're not yet being forced to make the types of decisions that many other “not-so-well-heeled” individuals are already being forced to make. For example: “Do we fill the cars with gas so my spouse and I can work this week, or do we pay on the daycare bill so the kids can still attend?” “Do we buy the groceries we need for this week and hold off on the light and water bills, or do we pay the mortgage/rent payment on time, but have no money to carry us through to the next paycheck?”

These are the kinds of decisions that people are making right now, not an example of how bad it may get. “Bad” is here already.

So I'm thinking, what would it be if financial freedom, the kind of independence that comes with the feeling of financial security, what would it be like for our families, households, and communities if more of THAT could be spread around to others? Would it cure what's currently happening and the challenges we face in terms of our national and global economies? Of course not. But people who are not constantly engaged in “crisis mode” are much more likely to consider positive and contributory ideas that can help our overall situation. They're much more likely to actively participate in the problem-solving process. And they're much more likely to be contributors to, rather than only consumers of a community's resources.

4th Of July, Independence, and Making Money Online...

Think in terms of new possibilities. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'm Ready For Ten

2008-06-26T11:00:00.003-04:00

In articles and interviews that I've read over a number of years, successful people; internet marketers, entrepreneurs, people from a variety of interests and pursuits will invariably state that nine out of ten ideas they have for a new product/service/whatever are flops. They don't work, they bomb, they stink. But the same successful people will also tell you that the tenth idea, or eleventh, or the twelfth (don't get too hung up on the numbers here), that one idea is the one that's worth all the rest put together.

What most of us don't see, and what those who are truly successful know, is that success doesn't often happen overnight. Much to the contrary. Not only does it not happen overnight, success usually exacts a hefty price in the process.

It's easy to focus, when a person has reached a certain level of success and begins to be noticed by others, on the “trappings” of an individual's success; the relative ease with which they seem to move through business and through life. Successful people, the ones who've made it, they get the business, the best clientèle, the most customers, the promising opportunities and the most lucrative deals. But what we don't see at that stage of their success is what it actually took to get “there”.

We don't see the long nights, days or evenings spent locked away from family or friends, the frustration of having yet another project fail after hours, days or months of hard work and investment, the pressure of mounting or unanswered bills and financial obligations, or the pain and disappointment of the lack of support and understanding for what they're trying to accomplish and the goals they're attempting to reach. We're not privy to any of that, and so the picture appears very “rosy” and their efforts nearly “effortless”.

Well, I'm here to tell you that success is never “effortless”, despite much misinformation to the contrary. Olympic athletes train for years, even lifetimes to put everything they have on the line for just one chance, one opportunity to demonstrate they're the best in the world. Performers often go through hundreds or thousands of auditions, continually being told they're not good enough, not “right”, not “whatever” until that one chance, that one opportunity where they're able to demonstrate that they are indeed THE ONE. And visionaries like the Wright Brothers, Alexander Graham Bell or even Bill Gates endure years of being told what's not possible, when they know in their very beings that what they envision is possible.

So, if you really and truly are searching for success, if you're not fooling everyone, and most of all yourself, about what it is you want to do and what you want to accomplish, get your gear on and then Go. Suck it up, quit whining, making excuses or wasting time. If you've hit on failure...Welcome to the Club. If you plan to succeed, chances are much more failure is coming your way. But if you stick it out, if you can stand the excruciating pain of the failure experience, I promise you, you will succeed.

How do I know? Because I've seen the faces of success. I've heard their voices, talked with them personally and listened to their stories. And you know what I've found? Success isn't some disembodied phantom. It exists in real people. And some of those people are not so different from you or I. Not so different at all. But you have to be honest about what you really want, then you have to be willing to do what it takes to get it. Are you?

If so, battle on.

I'm ready for number ten. How about you?

My Top 7 Marketing Blogs

2008-06-13T10:59:00.004-04:00

(This is a page you'll want to bookmark.)

I'm in a sharing mood today, and I thought I'd start a first of what may become a series of my top ten favorites...Only today, it's my top eight.

Today, we're talking blogs.

There are so many blogs on the Internet now that there's just no way you could possibly become familiar with more than a thimble-full. What that means is that unless someone brings a particular blog or blogger to your attention (even regarding some of the better-known names and blog sites), chances are good that you may never discover them on your own.

So today, I've decided to share some of my very favorite blogs in the marketing niche with you. Some don't have a strictly marketing focus, but discuss marketing and related issues. I've included my personal Top 7 Favorite Marketing Blogs List below.

I like each of these blogs and bloggers for different reasons, but what they all have in common is great content, either through each marketer's ideas or the ideas they share, the information they present, their unique marketing perspectives and in a few cases, their style. So, without further ado, here goes:

#7 SEO Fast Start – www.SEOFastStart.com – Dan Theis is the consummate SEO professional. He's able to communicate and explain what, for some, are technical and difficult concepts, in a manner that everyday people can grasp and understand.

#6 Courtney Tuttle – www.CourtneyTuttle.com – While Courtney's style can take a bit of getting used to (I imagine that he may have issues with hyper-activeness if you met him in person), his Internet marketing insight and advice is honest, forthright, detailed (check out his 5,200+ article on Starting A Blog or 102 Ways To Make Your Site A Backlink Superstar) and effective.

#5 Dosh Dosh – www.DoshDosh.com – What I like about DoshDosh (don't you love saying it?) is that this blog offers plenty of brain food. I never come away from here without a new idea or a way of looking at an issue or challenge in a new light. The author, Maki, is most often quite thorough in “fleshing out” a subject and whether or not I agree with a particular viewpoint, whenever one is offered, I always feel that I've gotten good exercise in exploring a particular subject matter.

#4 Make Money For Beginners – www.MakeM oneyForBeginners.blogspot.com - Griz's blog is one of the best blogs I've read. The advice and insight he shares here with those attempting to make a “go” of making money online is of exceptional quality, informative, well-thought-out, helpful and action-oriented. Just wish he would post more often. Be prepared though, he can be a bit on the abrasive, “no-nonsense” side at times, so if you're at all thin-skinned, be warned. He is one of the few bloggers I've seen who really takes the time to answer comments and questions completely and thoroughly, and seems to relish doing so.

#3 Top Rank Blog/Online Marketing Blog - www.TopRankBlog.com – Lee Odden and his team are awesome. Nothing but the highest-quality information here, and because they cleverly invite commenting in their posts, you are never at a loss of additional information, insight or questions on a particular subject. First rate.

#2 The Blog Squad – www.TheBlogSquad.net - Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman, are the dynamic duo. I especially love Patsi's writing, and this blog gives it to you straight and to the point. You can get more information in a 400 - 500 word post here than you could find in an article elsewhere that's three times as long. In reading this blog you can hit it, get it, and be gone.

#1 The Marketing Maven - www.GoMarketingMaven.com – I love everything about Wendy Maynard's blog. I love the style and layout of the blog, I LOVE her logo, I really love and appreciate her style of communication. She's very laid back, and she “feels casual” without really being casual. Make no mistake, this lady is all business; no fluff, only the meat of the matter, but her style of communication fools you or maybe it's better to say “lulls” you into a state where you fell like you're reading her for enjoyment rather than working. I really like her blog.

That's it. Be sure to bookmark this page as a resource. These are all great blogs in their own right, and I encourage you to visit each and every one. They will provide you with great help and information as you move along your entrepreneurial journey.

Toodles.

Kimberly

Capturing Our Aha Moments

2008-06-11T08:34:00.002-04:00

I'm not a stupid person. Far from being the dullest pencil in the box, I am fortunate to have had two parents (Love you Mom. Miss you Dad.) who may not have been able to agree on much of anything else, but they certainly agreed on one thing...They would have bright, sharp and intelligent children, even if it killed us.

Strategic planning, creative thinking and problem solving are all things I've become very familiar with in my professional lifetime. But there are times when it seems that I simply can't get an idea or concept “into” my head. Take calculus for example. Any of you familiar with the rigors of calculus? In college, I flunked my calculus course a full three, yes that's THREE times before I ever passed it (with the help of a VERY bright fellow student, who I think had calculus oozing out of her pores. To this day, I'm indebted to her kindness, generosity and most assuredly her patience in helping me to finally pass that course. At the time, calculus was a “required” course for passing my major field of study, and I couldn't have graduated from college in my chosen field without it). I just couldn't seem to absorb and embrace the concepts that calculus involves.

I'm not quite sure if continuing to take the class over and over (rather than changing to an easier program) ranks as another question of my level of intelligence, or is further demonstration of another trait I received from both parents... utter stubbornness and refusal to accept defeat (otherwise known as being “pigheaded”). Anyway, back to my topic.

I study information related to Internet marketing intensely, or as intensely as I can with only 24 hours in each day, and a gazillion things to accomplish in that time. I study Internet marketing because I want to be very good at it. I want to understand the concepts so that I can be more successful in my strategic planning. I want to understand what works, so that I can be better at problem solving, and sharpen my creative thinking in the development of products and services. I want to be a successful Internet marketer, so I study.

At times though, it just seems too overwhelming... and banging my head against the wall really gets quite painful! Sometimes, I become completely frustrated with the whole Internet marketing/make money online thing. Why? First, because like anything else, to be truly successful at this, no matter how “easy” people may tell you it is, you really do have to work hard for it. And second, I know that the “big dogs” in this arena, the people who are pulling down "mega bucks" in this niche aren't any smarter than I am (sorry guys, no offense intended). So it's frustrating that it can at times be extremely difficult to work through and understand the information needed to achieve success.

What I mean is for the most part, not one of them (the big dogs) seem to possess any extraordinary abilities. Of course comparisons can be made; some are much better salespeople than others, some have brought considerable skills from offline business experience into the online arena, but these people are not geniuses; not Einsteins. For all intents and purposes, they're very “regular” people. So why is it that they can grasp a concept and see in it things that I don't, which helps them to be obscenely successful, while I often-times feel like I'm just barely feeding on the crumbs around the edges of a whole bread loaf?

But just when I've had about enough (when my head should be completely bruised from all the head-banging), something magically opens up, just as simply as a light switch being flipped into the “on” position. It often happens that information I've seen and read numerous times will all of a sudden finally “click”, and I see a problem or a strategy in a whole new way, a way that leads me to some new paradigm, if not a complete solution.

At the risk of sounding too Oprah-ee, these are the “Aha” moments. The moments when you can see something with absolute and total clarity, where the pieces of the puzzle finally fit neatly and perfectly together and all is right in the universe.

These “Aha” moments are few and far between, but when you've had one, you know it. Because nothing after it is again the same...if you hold onto the moment.

By “hold onto the moment” I mean write it down, record it, document it , do whatever you have to do to capture that moment of clarity. If you don't, it may not last.

By capturing each aha moment, you create for yourself a road map, a way finder, a navigable course. And from the tool that you create for yourself, you can work your way to the success you seek.

Capture your “Aha” moments.

More On Business Blogs...

2008-06-07T23:56:00.005-04:00

In my last post about blogging for business, I left you with a few brief tips for better business blogging. Since then, I've come across an excellent if not timely article on the subject by Lee Odden that you can view on Online Marketing Blog, entitled "5 Reasons Why Business Blogs Fail".

In the article, Mr. Odden discusses five top reasons that blogs fail. They include the following: no clear objectives, unrealistic expectations and resource allocation, not sourcing content for the long term, no feedback mechanisms and the "do it yourself" syndrome".

Although the focus of the article seems to be geared toward business or corporate entities, it certainly relates to, and is applicable to the sole proprietor's circumstances as well. Overall, according to his article, the failure of most business blogs often boils down to little or poor planning prior to the blog's creation.

For a very interesting and informational discussion on the subject of business blogs, I highly recommend you review "5 Reasons Why Business Blogs Fail". It's well worth your time, and will help to enlighten you relative to your own situation.

Toodles.

I'm Back, And Are You Blogging For Business?

2008-06-05T09:52:00.003-04:00

Hello All-

I know, I know...It's been a little while since I last posted, and some of you may have thought, even hoped, I'd fallen into the abyss. No such luck! I'm still here, it's just that the last month or so has been extremely busy for me both personally and professionally.

And while many bloggers offer guest posts when they're going to be "out", that's not something that I've decided to do on this blog. One reason is that I have not actively cultivated a list of potential guest bloggers, and no one has volunteered to be on any such list. Another reason is that even when a guest blog is published, I am still required to review the material to ensure the quality of the message, and the information being passed on to you through my blog. In other words, even when I host guest bloggers, I still gotta do some work that requires time and attention.

Anyway, this is a short message to let you know that I'll begin posting more regularly again now, and I do apologize for my extended absence.

Also, I did want to announce here that the winner of our $50 cash drawing for the online marketing survey, which ended June 1st, was Chrisanthi Alexandrou.
Congratulations to Chrisanthi!

Before I go, let me ask a question?

Do you blog for business? Blogging has become an extremely popular method for businesses, both large and small, to stay connected to their clientèle and to reach out to new prospects. As I wind up today's post, let me leave you with some brief tips for better business blogging:

1. Blog with the goal of educating, informing, entertaining or engaging your readers, or better yet, when possible, do all of these.

2. Infuse your blog with your own personality. Do you have any idea just how many blogs there are now? Millions and millions. In order for readers to want to read your blog more than the one time they just happened to find it, you have to give them something worth coming back for. And while everybody has access to information, facts, figures, etc., no one else sees, interprets and communicates that information to others in exactly the same way as you do. Make your blog something truly unique.

3. Whenever possible, link to other information sources related to your post. This connects your blog to other blogs, credible information sources such as industry news and authoritative sites, and boosts your own credibility as an authority and a source. It also helps you to establish network connections within your niche or industry.

That's it for today.

See You Soon! Toodles!
Kimberly

Are You interested in making money from your blog? If so, click below to get your free copy of The Blog Profits Blueprint.

Here's A Chance At $50 Cash – No Strings

2008-05-23T06:01:00.003-04:00

How would you like a chance at an easy $50 in cash?

Here's the deal:

I need your help. I'm currently working on developing some better ways to help you to succeed online, but I need to know how I can best do that. I need your input.

In return for completing a brief questionnaire, you will be entered into a drawing for $50 cash, to be paid directly to you if you're the winner.

No gimmicks, nothing else to do. Here's the link to the survey:

Online Market Survey

Just complete the questions (very short), and remember to fill in the information at the end to be entered in the drawing. The drawing winner will be announced on June 1^st.

Thanks for your help. In the meantime, if there's anything that I can help you with, please let me know. You can email me here at kclay@getmywealthnow.com.

Toodles,

Kimberly

Making Money Online – Sometimes Marketing Solutions Are A Matter of Applying Common Sense

2008-05-15T11:45:00.004-04:00

I've been very busy lately with various aspects of my online business, doing a lot of the "behind the scenes" stuff. In other words, those tasks that aren't so fun, the ones that are technical, tedious and boring, but highly necessary. And something occurred to me this morning that I thought I'd share with you.

Your online business requires continuous monitoring, evaluation, tweaking, and fixing. If you're not doing these things constantly, or having them done for you, I guarantee you're not making any money online and you're most likely not going to be profitable anytime soon.

For small business entrepreneurs this can be especially frustrating because you can only split yourself - your time, efforts, concentration and energy so many different ways. That's why it is so important to plan and prioritize as much as you possibly can, so that you know where your efforts can result in the most benefit for you.

Anyway, before I get too long gone down another path, I want to remind you of this today... Sometimes things require a little KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don't neglect to use your common sense.

If you're just beginning your attempts to make money online, you may not be able to afford all of the latest techniques and tools, and a lot of them you don't need anyway. But if you stop or at least slow down long enough to look at things from a common-sense standpoint, you can often see problematic situations, evaluate them and make a determination for a solution based on common sense alone.

What in the world are you talking about, Kimberly?

Let's say you have a website, a really great website or so you think. You regularly monitor your competition and know your website could use some improvements and tweaking, but overall it's a pretty OK website. However, you are not making many sales and/or you're not getting very many subscriptions to your newsletter (you do know that you're supposed to be building your own list, right?).

Okay, so there's not much going on here, and because you're not getting much traffic and everyone tells you that you need traffic (of course you do, otherwise where will the sales come from), you assume that you need to concentrate most of your efforts and resources on getting more traffic. Right?

Well, the answer is yes and no. Yes, you need traffic to be successful with any online business, just as if you had a "brick and mortar store", you would need a constant stream of customers coming through your door to sell things to. As with any type of sales and commerce, online business, much of it, is a numbers game. You have to have a certain volume of traffic, a threshold that you can eventually determine, that is required for you to get whatever results you require or desire.

But, listen to this...if your website is not performing well, then I'm willing to bet that traffic is not your primary problem. Why?

Because even if you have a little traffic (and this is where a little bit of common sense comes in handy), if the traffic you're getting is not converting (you are not making sales or accumulating new subscribers) then there's most likely another problem. And until you determine what the other problem is, it doesn't matter how much traffic you get, your sales will still lag.

Recently, we talked about using Google analytics and evaluating things such as your bounce rate. If you're only getting 500 visitors per month to your site, but nearly 100% of them are bouncing (i.e. not staying on your site longer than a few seconds), then something is wrong. And, what is wrong is not simply that you're only getting 500 visitors.

There could be a number of other possibilities that are causing a problem. For instance, it could be that you are targeting the wrong keywords.

Let's look at an example. If your website is about chocolate candy bars and you use the keywords candy", "chocolate", "bars", "sweets", you may attract people looking for your product. But, chances are a number of the people being attracted to your website are looking for something completely different. People using the search term "candy" to arrive at your site, could just as easily be searching for hard rock candy, lemon drops candy, saltwater taffy candy, peppermint candy or any number of thousands of other candy types. Individuals searching with the term "chocolate" could be looking for baking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate cookies, chocolate cake or any number of things other than chocolate candy bars. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

So in this example, a few better keyword choices may have been "chocolate candy bars", "chocolate candy bars varieties", "gourmet chocolate candy bars", "best chocolate candy bars", "low-fat chocolate candy bars", "crunchy chocolate candy bars", etc. Using these keywords would ensure that only people primarily looking for some type of chocolate candy bars would be finding your website. Thus, you would have a much greater percentage of people interested in your products, interested in subscribing to your site for more information, and a much better chance to sell chocolate candy bars. Cha Ching! And it had nothing to do with increasing the amount of your website traffic, which at the outset you may have thought was your primary problem!

This post is getting way too long already, so I'll stop. But I do want to reiterate that it's quite possible that the "success key" you're searching for is something that's right under your nose. In terms of identifying the sources of problems in your website and in your business, sometimes "over-analysis" can be a detriment. Try to look at issues and challenges from the simplest perspective first. You may find that you can identify your problems much more quickly and easily with just a touch of common sense.

Discover Backlink Strategies To Improve Your Website Traffic

2008-05-09T09:15:00.003-04:00

I have been busily working on a number of projects lately, not the least of which is a website redesign (not in terms of appearance as much as in the information being presented) for our main make money online website at GetMyWealthNow.com. But that's another story.

Anyway, as a result, I have been very focused lately on strategies related to getting back to the basics of making money online, especially those issues relating to the generation of targeted website traffic and customer conversions. Why? Because these are the topics about which new Internet marketers and webmasters most often have questions.

One of the very important elements of driving traffic to your website is one-way backlinks; the links that point to your website, but are not reciprocated by your site. The more one-way backlinks pointing to your website, the more the search engines (Google) perceives your site as a popular information source, and is therefore more likely to more highly rate it in terms of pagerank and the search engine results.

Anyway, I want to direct you to an article by Courtney Tuttle (www.CourtneyTuttle.com), a highly successful blogger and a great source for Internet marketing information and help. The article entitled, "102 Ways To Make Your Site A Back Link Superstar", was written sometime ago, but has some very good ideas for increasing the number and relevance of your website's backlinks.

Contained within Courtney's list are a variety of ways to generate backlinks, some of them better than others, some more time-consuming than others, but all worth consideration in terms of your efforts to increase the visibility of your website, and improving it's ability to attract more and better web traffic.

So, if you're at all concerned about increasing the traffic that your website receives, read the article to get some ideas that can help you to do just that.

http://www.courtneytuttle.com/2007/04/09/102-ways-to-make-your-blog-or-site-a-back-link-superstar/

Toodles.

We've Changed Our Name! Welcome to MakeMoneyOnlineTalk.com

2008-05-03T07:29:00.008-04:00

Hello All-

In case you may not have noticed, this blog's name and address have changed to Make Money Online Talk at http://www.makemoneyonlinetalk.com.

If you've bookmarked us at http://www.blog.getmywealthnow.com, you'll still be able to reach us from there, but you may want to update your bookmark at some future point.

There are several reasons for the change, most notably that the blog needed it's own top level domain name, rather than residing on a subdomain.

If you experienced difficulty or were not able to connect here in the last several hours, I deeply apologize for the inconvenience. We ran into unexpected technical difficulties in the change over.

But, I'm here now and want to thank you for your patience.

Before I go, I just want to let you know that Willie Crawford is hosting a networking/brainstorming call today. These calls are free, and are always great for picking up information and asking questions. The call takes place at the following times:

12 Noon - 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
11AM - Noon Central Standard Time
10AM - 11:00 AM Mountain Standard Time
09AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

Today's call is open discussion, but will focus on
setting up joint ventures, and launching products.

The dial-in number is 641-594-7500 and your
access code is 673255#.

If you have time today, take advantage of this opportunity. And, as always, you're more than welcome to submit questions to me here.

Have a great weekend, and I'll meet you here on MakeMoneyOnlineTalk.com!

Toodles.
Kimberly

Making Money Online With SEO

2008-04-29T06:22:00.002-04:00

Are Your Keywords Getting You Website Traffic?

I am going to pick up from my last post where I was discussing website traffic and the importance of using Google Analytics as a traffic building tool. Today, I'm going to talk about keywords. Selecting the appropriate keywords is crucial to your success in climbing the SERPs (search engine results pages). The reason you want to be at the top or nearly so of the search engine results is that that's where the money is. Something in the range of 80% of searchers using Google, or any other search engine for that matter, never look beyond the first page of results. So the lion's share of traffic is to be found within those first ten results. If you're not there, guess what? Here we go.

If you're signed up for Google Analytics and are now getting statistical reports for your websites or blogs, you are able to clearly see how much (or how little) of your website traffic is coming from the search engines. If your website is not getting much search engine (Google) traffic, then you need to improve your search engine optimization.

If, on the other hand, you're getting a good portion of your traffic from Google, but your site is not doing well in terms of sales it could mean a several things; either you're not targeting the right keywords so that searchers looking for your product or service can find you, or you're not getting enough traffic volume to generate sales. It may also indicate that you are not using the proper strategies to convert your visitors to customers once they've arrived at your site to produce sales, or any combination of these problems.

Today, I'm going to focus on keywords, because they are a critical element of your search engine optimization and your ability to get the search engines to list your website in the top of the search engine results for your targeted keyword term.

Fist of all, I'm no keyword expert, and there are MANY places on the Internet that tackle this subject because it is so very important to the success and profitability of any website. So, I realize that if you're serious about making money online, then you know about keywords, what they do and their importance. However, knowing that, it is amazing that so many people still get this part so wrong, myself included. I have gone through keyword changes several times in my chosen marketing niches in my efforts to correctly select the keywords that will give me the highest volume of traffic for my targeted audience.

If targeted traffic for your website is what you desire, then you simply must get the keywords right. By getting your keywords right, I mean that your keywords must exactly, or nearly so, match the terms that searchers are using to search for your product or service.

As an example, in the Internet marketing niche, so many websites whose target audience consists of beginners, focus on the keyword term “Internet marketing”. Okay, question...How many beginners that you know use the term “Internet marketing” when searching for information on that topic? None. Why? Because beginners don't know the term Internet marketing, so how in the world are they using it to search? Get it? So if in that instance you're using the term “Internet marketing”, either you are not targeting beginners or you've selected the wrong keyword search term for your targeted audience.

Take a look at the keywords you're using on your website or blog. Do they accurately depict your website's subject matter and the products and services you offer, or the message that you're trying to promote? If not, then you need to revise them immediately.

Another concern is ensuring the keywords you select allow you to stand out in the SERPs. In other words, if you have a great deal of competition within your chosen niche, it will be harder for you to select keywords for which you can be ranked in the top ten (i.e. first page) search results.

So, you have to use longtail keywords; keywords that include your basic search term, but are still distinctive. For example, you may be focusing on the gardening niche, which is quite competitive. But rather than targeting very broad keyword terms like “gardening” or “vegetable gardens”, you select more specific longtail keyword terms such as “lima bean gardening” or “vegetable gardening in moderate climates” to better target your search audience. Sounds simple enough, but the trick is to develop longtail keywords that are also terms that would be readily used by someone searching for the information on your website.

Two keyword search tools that I recommend are the SEO Book Keyword Tool (this one is FREE) and Wordtracker. Wordtracker also has a free trial search tool, but between the free versions, I like SEO Book's Keyword search better.

If you are serious about making money online, you may eventually want to invest in the full version of Wordtracker. It is an excellent tool for developing the laser-targeted longtail keywords that you'll need for developing multiple websites or blogs.

As I said earlier, I've struggled with finding right keywords myself, and it's a lot harder than it first seems. The trick is in getting into the minds of your searchers. When they sit down at their keyboards and initiate a search for what you want them to find on your site, what are they typing in? That's what you have to nail down.

Then, once you've found the appropriate keywords for your website or blog, you have to use them in such a way that they stand out to the search engines, and the search engines “see” your keywords and understand that those selected terms describe what your site is about. But that's a subject for another post entirely. Go work on your keywords.

Toodles.

Traffic Is The Lifeblood of Your Online Business

2008-04-25T10:10:00.005-04:00

You Need Google Analytics

If you're serious about making money online, then you know by now that traffic is the lifeblood of your business. Unfortunately, there are thousands of websites on the Internet that are languishing in obscurity because they don't have enough website traffic. Today, I'm going to try to help you with that.

I apologize that I haven't posted for a week, but I've been extremely involved in multiple tasks and issues, but hopefully you can benefit from some of the information I'm sharing with you today.

As online entrepreneurs, we all know traffic is important, but most of us don't know how to get traffic consistently, get enough of a volume of traffic to our websites so that we can convert a sufficient number of visitors into customers, and we often don't adequately target the traffic we want or need to generate sales.

If traffic is one of the challenges to your online business, then I'm going to suggest that you do a couple of things.

First, let's be clear that the traffic that I'm talking about getting is the traffic that you don't have to pay for. Free traffic. In other words, we're looking for search engine traffic, and more specifically, web traffic from Google. Why Google? Because they're the biggest search engine, and the majority of searchers use Google to find what they need on the web.

Okay, now that we've clarified what traffic we're trying to attract, let's move on.

In order to know what to do to get traffic, you have to have information about the traffic you currently have. I know that many of you out there may have a web host that provides "cpanel". Cpanel for those who may not be familiar with it is simply a website management interface that allows webmasters to manage their websites from a centralized platform. Basically with the click of your mouse, you can access all of the different aspects of your website from file content to databases, email accounts, subdomains, etc.

Within your cpanel is a button for "awstats" and "webalizer" that provides you with detailed statistical information about your website; number of visitors, unique visitors, referring sites (sites from which visitors are coming to visit your site), page views, etc. If you have this information and you're using it, that's good. If you've never really paid attention to the information, you need to start examining and understanding it.

Your statistical information helps you to know what kind of visitors are landing on your site, how they found you, what search terms they used to find you (for search engine traffic), how long they stay on your site, how many pages they view while they're on your website, what browser they use, etc. There is a wealth of information here. From it, you can get a pretty good idea about your website traffic. However, there is something better. And that's Google analytics.

Again, if you are serious about making money online, I strongly suggest you use the Google analytics tool. Google analytics is a tool that provides an analysis of your website traffic. It provides detailed, easy-to-understand reports that give you an overview of the activity on your website or blog.

Google analytics allows you to easily see where your traffic comes from, including breakdowns showing how much is referral traffic, how much is direct traffic and how much of your traffic comes from the search engines. It also provides critical information such as your "bounce rate".

For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, a bounce rate is the number of visitors to your website that immediately "bounce" or leave the site. The bounce rate is important to you because it is an indicator of how well, and more importantly, when you're falling short, of accurately targeting your visitors.

For example, a high bounce rate indicates that the individuals finding your website through the search engines (Google) apparently didn't find what they were looking for. This could mean a couple things to you:

1.The keywords that you are using to attract people to your site and to describe what your website is about may need to be tweaked or completely changed, so that they more accurately depict your product or service, and communicate that information to potential visitors.
2.The landing page of your website may need to be edited or changed to provide a better or more pleasing experience for your visitors. If visitors to your website are bombarded with too many messages, if they're overwhelmed with information or if they don't understand what they should do or where they should go to find what they need immediately, they'll leave, post haste.

So, a high bounce rate tells you that there is something wrong, there's some type of disconnect between your website or blog and the visitors you are attracting.

Okay, this post is getting much longer than I intended for today. So, I'll wrap this up.

If you aren't using Google analytics, go get it. It's free. It will help you to improve your website and your marketing. I promise you within just a fews days of putting Goggle analytics to work, you'll discover things about your website that you didn't know, and you'll begin to get a much better overview of your web presence and promotional and marketing issues that may be affecting the level of traffic you're currently experiencing. We'll talk more later.

Toodles.

Internet Marketing - Reprogram Your Stinking Thinking

2008-04-17T07:26:00.008-04:00

I “borrowed” my subject line from fellow blogger and marketing expert, Wendy Maynard, the “Marketing Maven”. She used the term in an excellent article published a few months back entitled “Rev Up Your Inner Game For Outer Success”.

Millions of people spend time everyday searching for ways to succeed. They want to improve their lives, get better jobs, lose weight, get healthier, increase their finances or pursue their dreams. Last week we talked about goal setting and it's importance, but you can't set life-changing goals and realistically expect to attain them if you don't first change the way in which you think.

Any success you achieve, all starts with your mind; the way you CHOOSE to regard your circumstances and situations (yes, it is a choice!), the way you perceive yourself, the way you interpret opportunities, and the way you visualize your future all affect your ability to accomplish whatever it is that you set out to do. It's very simple – if you don't change your thinking, nothing else for you will change.

In order to succeed, you must be willing to rid yourself of the thoughts and feelings and ideas that are poisoning your system, hindering your progress and clogging the channels of your success. In other words, you have to rid yourself of your “stinking thinking”. You must shed those things which are negative, unproductive, destructive and in conflict with your endeavors to achieve success.

So, how do you accomplish that? Begin to gradually replace those things that are negative and toxic in your life with that which is positive and nurturing, and that will continue to attract and manifest positive and nurturing things. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Begin each day by exposing yourself to positive thoughts and affirmations. Read them and repeat them to yourself by speaking them out loud. Write a short list of what you're blessed with or thankful for on that day. Sounds silly, but from the time your mind becomes active and aware each day, this exercise forces you to first acknowledge the positive in the Universe, and take on the power of that positive energy as you prepare yourself to meet each day's challenges.
Do at least one thing each day that forces you to think or act creatively or in a way that is outside of your norm. If it's nothing more than taking a different route to work or school or the grocery, change something about your daily routine. This is a very small way of broadening your thinking and training your senses to accept new and different possibilities. At the very least it causes you to really “see” and recognize your surroundings, avoid the “daily rut” syndrome, and not take so much for granted.
Stop limiting yourself. The are enough obstacles to overcome in working toward success without our adding more. But so often the causes for our failures are really self-inflicted. We can think of a million reasons why we can't, won't, shouldn't. Try this: look for the ways in which to broaden your capabilities and potential. Find how you can be better, more knowledgeable, more skilled, more polished, through engaging in new and unfamiliar situations.
Restrict your exposure to negative influence. These days there is so much negativity in our daily living environments. Insulate yourself from that negativity by surrounding yourself with more positive messages. Stop constantly watching the evening news and reading the daily newspaper . They continually bombard us with negative information without balanced exposure to good and positive news.

And before you roll your eyes and sigh, making some remark about my being a “Pollyanna”, I'm not suggesting that you “plug your ears and stick your head in the sand”. What I am suggesting is that the “what bleeds, leads” view of the world from today's media is not the complete picture. While the world is filled with negative people and events at any given moment, it's also filled with a great deal more positive things than the media ever exposes us to. And ceaselessly taking in and on that negativity changes who you are on a daily basis. You have to be willing to “tune in” to a different message.

This also applies to the people you choose to be around or allow to be around you. If your friends and associates tend to be negative people or attract negative influence, find new friends and associates. It may sound insensitive, but it's absolutely true that negative and positive cannot coexist. They will either always be at odds, or one eventually takes over influence of the other. You cannot expect to attract good and positive and wonderful things and be ensconced in the bad, negative, and life-draining elements.

If the source of negativity is within your familial relationships, find ways to distance yourself from their influence.

Feed your mind. Be open to new ideas and information. Don't allow yourself to hold on so tightly to the ideas and thoughts you now possess that you're not flexible enough to change them when you receive new or improved information. Always be eager and willing to learn new things, so that you are continually expanding your depth of knowledge and experience to put new ideas and strategies to work.

Your mind needs to be fed and nurtured just like any other living thing. It requires a fertile environment, one that promotes growth and development. You can't reach for the stars if you're constantly being occupied with the mud and stones and dirt on the ground. Freshen your thinking, renew your perspective, grab hold of new and different opportunities with enthusiasm and determination. That's the way to achieve unimaginable success.

Visit the following link for information and help with goal setting.

Internet Marketing Basics - Search Engine Optimization vs. Personal Contacts – Which is better for Your Web Business?

2008-04-14T10:04:00.002-04:00

Internet marketers often find themselves in a schizophrenic environment; caught between two very strong issues in developing their web business. Do I concentrate my efforts and limited resources on SEO or do I focus my attention on making and nurturing personal contacts and networking to move my business forward?

There are of course, valid arguments for both. Search engine optimization is what gets you "found" in a sea of literally millions of websites on the Internet. Without SEO, it is nearly impossible for your business to rise to a level within the search engine results where the people who are looking for you, and the products and services your business offers, can easily find you.

But personal contacts are also immensely important to the success of your online business. Meeting other individuals who are involved in the same niche, have similar backgrounds, are pursuing similar interests or goals, or who may be potential partners or future clients, can put you light years ahead of your business competition. Just making one or two of the "right" contacts has the potential to skyrocket your business overnight.

A great example is the development of a JV or Joint Venture partnership. When you are able to identify and acquire a suitable JV partner, you have the opportunity to greatly multiply your efforts. You gain access to a larger circle of influence, and an opportunity to directly connect with a greater number of individuals specifically interested in what you offer.

So which is it, SEO or networking? If there had to be a choice between the two, which will help you more? Hands down, the answer is personal contacts, and here's why.

You can never lose site of the fact that your website is a tool, it's not your business. Your business is you. Even if the sum total of your business has its presence online, if you have no building, no sales office, no studio, the business exists not because it's presented in a website, but because of you. The virtual real estate you own or rent is the means by which you conduct business, but is not the business itself.

Therefore, one of the most important tools and assets that you can develop and cultivate are the personal contacts you make. That's how you develop your knowledge and awareness of what is happening within your niche and market. That's how you meet and cultivate new clients. That's how you promote and market your business, so that you can reach into territories to which you would not otherwise have access. That's how you keep your finger on the pulse of what's in demand and how you can meet that demand with your supply. That's how you make connections with people who will propel you and your business forward; whether competitor, peer or partner.

So, while I completely understand the necessity and the importance of search engine optimization, if you ever have to make a choice between SEO and making personal contacts or networking, in terms of where to place your resources, you now have your answer. Business is people.

Making Money - For Love & Money – Minimize Financial Trouble In Relationships

2008-04-11T06:04:00.001-04:00

Dealing with money matters within relationships is much like mixing oil and water. All too often, the two simply don't mix. Whether we're talking about family members, friends or others close to us, when money concerns enter into the relationship, things often turn out badly.

This is especially true when dealing with intimate relationships such as marriage. Issues involving money are presently recognized as leading causes of divorce. (It may also be argued though, that while finances are a significant issue in many breakups, money problems are often symptoms, not necessarily the root cause, of the problems in a relationship. But that's another day and another article.)

Why is money such an issue? I think, two reasons. One, I don't know many people who aren't passionate and opinionated when it comes to money matters, and two, because as crazy as it seems, a great many individuals still fail to thoroughly discuss financial matters before they enter into close personal relationships.

You'd think that we'd be much more willing to discuss an issue that most of us have such strong feelings about, but that's not often the case. We're either too timid to discuss money, too hesitant to bring up what may be a sensitive issue or one that could possibly present some challenges (ya think?), or we're just too naïve to realize that things don't magically fall into place simply because we're in love.

Anyways, here are a few tips to help you to avoid unpleasantness in your relationships because of money:

Talk About Finances Before Jumping In – For heaven sakes, if you're contemplating spending the rest of your life with someone, don't you think it might be important for you to know more than a little bit about their financial condition? What debts are they bringing into the partnership, and just as importantly, what assets? How does this person feel about money? What are their attitudes about saving, spending, financial planning? Are they experienced in the aspects of money management? What were their parents' attitudes towards money? What examples or modeling did they have in terms of money-related habits? Does money seem to "melt away" in their possession, or do they hold onto every penny like it was the last piece of money on earth? What financial goals do they have? What other goals do you each have that may be dependent on your financial condition?

Getting the answers to these types of questions is not prying, and if the person with whom you're dealing feels that it is, then perhaps you've learned something about them already. These are all extremely important details to discuss with your partner before entering into any type of life-altering stage of a relationship, such as marriage. And if you're contemplating co-habitating with someone without benefit of marriage, it is just as important an issue, if not more so. I cannot stress this point enough. No matter how squeamish or uncomfortable you may feel about discussing finances, do this before you get involved in a situation that will be difficult, at best, to undo if things don't go well.

And just so you know, these are also important issues to discuss with friends with whom you are contemplating living, as well as roommates or family members who will be sharing the same living space.

Agree On A Plan, Work Together – Once you've gotten all of your financial cards on the table openly and honestly, then you have a good idea of what you have to work with, possible benefits and where potential pitfalls may lie. From this point, create a plan together to address how the finances will be handled. How and by whom will the bills be paid? How will you save money and for what purpose? How much will you save/spend within a given period (monthly budget)? What methods of investment will you use? What about an emergency fund?

Be Flexible, "XXXX Happens" - Okay boneheads, that's "LIFE Happens". In spite of our best efforts and planning, and whatever else anyone may tell you, life can neither be completely controlled nor predicted. Unexpected and unforeseen challenges are much of what life is about. So, when those unexpected circumstances present themselves, you need to be ready and willing to alter your financial plans to fit your current situation.

Once you have a plan in place, make certain that is isn't so rigid that you are completely discouraged from following it. Make certain that your plan leaves room for flexibility. A financial plan should be a “living” plan, meaning that it should be developed so that it is easily altered, has room for growth and can accommodate the inevitable changes that will occur in your life and financial status.

Consult With Experts – Chances are you're not a professional money manager. In order to give yourself and your partner the best chance you could possibly have to get the most benefit from your finances, consult with a professional. That doesn't mean to simply hand over your fiscal responsibilities to someone else, but rather have someone (or preferably several credible resources) that you can rely upon to help you to see your financial situation objectively, help guide you around possible pitfalls and trouble spots, and steer you on a course that allows you to manage your finances to effectively accomplish your life goals.

Money matters don't have to adversely affect your relationships. If you do the work to ensure an open and cooperative environment, especially in terms of financial matters, you place yourself and your partner in the best position to achieve financial success.

Internet Marketing Tips - The Key For Achieving Your Goals

2008-04-09T05:48:00.008-04:00

I recently read an article, written by Tamara E. Holmes, published in this month's issue of Black Enterprise magazine (www.BlackEnterprise.com). The article dealt with attitude enhancement and attaining goals, and discussed the importance of accountability to goal reaching. And that got me to thinking...

In the Internet marketing and online business industry, we often discuss goal setting. Most often, there's a great deal of emphasis placed on identifying, planning and striving for goals, but honestly, we're often a bit weak when it comes to the discussion of accountability.

In the Black Enterprise article, an entrepreneur discussed her sense of freedom when opening her own business; not having the burden of answering to anyone else, and the relief that “there was no one forcing” her to keep her business open (just in case things weren't working out). However, she soon realized after overhearing an employee's conversation that the success or failure of her business not only affected her, but those she employed. That realization made her view her entrepreneurial venture a bit differently, and forced a less cavalier attitude about what she was doing. She came “face to face” with Accountability.

I think often times online entrepreneurs feel much as the above-mentioned entrepreneur did in the beginning of her journey. Most often we are “one man/woman shows”, so there is a common perception that “if this doesn't work out, oh well, I'll just go on to something else.”

What we're really saying though, is that we don't want to be accountable for attaining the goals we've set for ourselves. And, if we're not accountable, then we can say things like "It's the economy"..."It's the soft market"..."I didn't have a fair opportunity"..."My competition has an unfair advantage"..."We're just too small to compete"...or offer any number of other excuses for failing to reach the goals we've set for our success and the success of our businesses.

So what does it mean to be accountable?

Again from the article in Black Enterprise, life coach and founder of Whole Life Coaching (http://www.wholelifecoaching.us/), Thornton Prayer promotes the SMART system for goal setting. According to Prayer, goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based. In other words, you have to see your goals very clearly and in detail. If you work in non-specific generalities, chances are very good that you'll never be able to accomplish what you seek. And not only that, others will fail to take you seriously, most notably because you won't appear to be serious yourself, about what it is you're doing or attempting to accomplish.

We all want to be successful in our endeavors, but don't ever be fooled. Success takes work. And part of that work is setting goals, and then ensuring that you do what it takes to attain them.

Formulate your goals, develop a plan for achieving them, then track your progress.

For more information and help with goal setting, I suggest you check out this tool for Goal Setting.

Toodles.

Internet Marketing Tips - Business Networking - Spiderman's Not The Only One Building Webs

2008-04-07T22:16:00.004-04:00

Business Networking is crucial to the success of your business. Building a foundational web of contacts, support and resources can be the difference between success and moderate success, or success and failure.

If you are new to online business, Internet marketing, or the business of doing business, you may not be as familiar as you should be with business networking. Let's discuss this very important aspect of doing business, especially as it relates to business online.

The term business networking refers to the practice of people spreading knowledge of their business, products, and services to others in a manner that leaves a good impression, lets people recall you and your business, and encourages the formation of strategic alliances. It is a process of meeting and familiarizing yourself with others, and building relationships that are important to the success and profitability of your business.

Most Internet marketers and entrepreneurs quickly come to realize that in order to grow their businesses, they needed to engage in business networking for all of the same reasons offline businesses do – sharing services, forming partnerships to help promote one another, building sources of support, and expanding their reach and resources. This is really the crux of business networking, to form alliances which translate to mutually beneficial relationships.

Even though some entrepreneurs have years of business and professional experience offline, for whatever reason, they often ignore the practice of networking when becoming engaged in online business. This may be due to their unfamiliarity or inexperience with the Internet, where they may not immediately grasp its fundamental principle. After all, the Internet is networking; the ultimate means of sharing of information.

Business Networking is an activity. Its purpose is to find and build upon connections and relationships that will benefit you and your business. Period. It requires the active participation of the parties involved, and it includes connecting with other people who may be your peers, potential mentors, individuals who have similar business interests, or people who have other things in common with you.

You will likely discover various benefits of networking. These may include new sources of support, added business knowledge, and increased financial resources, however, always be clear in your understanding that the end goal of your networking is to find what benefits you and helps you to succeed.

There are numerous business networks in existence, both online and offline, where members may share special privileges and benefits. For example, a network may encourage members to share or exchange services among one another within the network for reduced fees, in comparison to what is available to outsiders.

Some networks are more formal than others, sometimes having administrators who coordinate activities and events within the organization, enforce governing bylaws of the membership, or collect membership fees annually. Other networks may not actually conduct business within themselves, but serve to gather people of like interests and bring them together. Meet-up.com is one such business network, and allows its online members who share the same interests and location to actually meet face to face.

Now that we know what networking is and some of its benefits, let's take a look at networking online, beginning with a quick glance at social networking.

Social Networking - The last two years have seen a substantial rise of social network activity and the growth of related sites such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace among others. Since its purchase by Google, YouTube, has continued to become an immensely popular success story. The site allows amateurs, with little knowledge of the web and no software to download to facilitate participation, and literally anyone with a camcorder or camera/video phone to upload personal videos online and make an impression.

YouTube started as a place for friends and families to share videos, but with time, businesses and entrepreneurs began to see the importance of using YouTube to facilitate marketing and business networking. At the close of whatever type of video, publishers simply embed links or other contact information for their businesses or websites. With the immense volume of traffic to YouTube, this has developed into an extremely effective tactic. Social network sites exemplify the concept of viral marketing at its best.

Let’s look at another example.

Facebook is another hugely popular site where friends can share interests, information, sell goods and services to each other, upload photos and videos and even join existing networks. Businesses which join Facebook, enter a world of virtually limitless opportunities and potential leads. As a result of their activities, members can experience a phenomenal surge in traffic to their websites or businesses.

The most important thing to remember about the advantages of online networking is that you can position yourself and your business to benefit from worldwide contacts and relationships, the potential of which is immensely greater than that to which you may otherwise be exposed. And the results of those connections can develop exponentially within short periods of time.

One last thing. In dealing with online networking (where you may rarely have the opportunity of meeting your partners face-to-face), it is especially important to focus on three fundamentals of good business: professionalism, courtesy and great customer service.

Excellent customer service skills can mean the difference in whether or not your business is recommended or selected for a contract or project. It also leaves a lasting impression on the people with whom you come into contact, helping them to remember you. With numerous online sites and portals, many businesses are engaged in competition with one another, and what may very well be a distinguishing factor is customer service and courtesy.

A few tips for business networking:

1.Create a Website-If your main business is offline, create an online presence with a website featuring an easy means of contacting you. Most offline businesses have now realized the advantages of having an online presence. A very large proportion of business is now conducted online and people usually go online to research a company before they conduct any business with it. These days, without a business website, it is impossible to fully tap into the benefits of business networking.

2.Business Cards-It may seem an archaic concept, but business networking, even for online businesses, should not be confined to the Internet. In order to succeed in networking, a business representative should have business cards as part of their marketing plan, which contain the basic elements of the business's contact information.

3.Be skilled in Customer Service - As stated earlier, customer service can make or break a company. With numerous businesses competitors, a crucial aspect is customer service.

4.Join Social Networks Online - We cited Facebook, YouTube, and My Space as excellent sites to join in order to generate exposure to your business, and there are of course many others including common interest groups and forums.

Business networking is of utmost necessity if you are to grow your business in this immensely competitive environment. In many ways, the Internet has leveled the playing field so that small business organizations can effectively compete among each another, and against larger entities. Use this to your advantage. Create your own immense business webs. Spiderman has nothing on you.

Internet Marketing Tips - A Recommendation For ListDotCom... Or Not.

2008-04-01T06:02:00.005-04:00

Because I am a person who has had to be concerned about finding the least expensive ways of building online businesses, and because I've always been interested in passing along information on effective resources at little or no cost, I'm always on the lookout for what really works.

There are a number of websites, products and services that claim to help new marketers with business building. One of those is Mike Filsaime's ListDotCom.

In a nutshell, ListDotCom is a giant email list for marketers who have not yet built lists of their own or have had difficulty in building a substantial list. ListDotCom provides a means for having a list to whom products and services may be marketed.

Advertising to the members of ListDotCom is free or nearly free. In return, all members agree to be included on its email list to receive messages and offers from other members. A good deal for all concerned right?

I have been a member of ListDotCom for about a year, having received it as a bonus for purchasing a particular product. But in the last couple months, I have seriously considered unsubscribing. One reason is that the messages just aren't of interest to me. The majority seem geared toward new and less experienced marketers. Another reason for considering unsubscribing is that the volume of email I now receive from List.com has greatly increased recently. With each new day, I'm receiving more and more sales messages, and rather than offering information or services and products I might really be interested in, they just seem increasingly "spammy".

From a marketer's perspective, I also think that the list is losing its effectiveness for anyone using it to distribute their promotional messages. Because ListDotCom is hell-bent on branding itself, all of the messages it sends are branded with ListDotCcom's name. So, when the recipient of any of the email messages from ListDotCom views the message's "sender", it is always shown as ListDotCom (rather than the individual sender). While that's a great for ListDotCom's branding (otherwise, why would they do it), it certainly creates a bit of a disadvantage for the marketer actually sending the message.

The reason? When I open my email box and see that two-thirds of my messages are from ListDotCom, I tend to indiscriminately hit the "delete" button. And the thing is, I may very well be missing a message that I would otherwise be interested in, but because it's another "ListDotCom message" I'm much more inclined to delete it without ever reading it.

So, if you're an entrepreneur looking for ways to get your message out to a larger audience, is ListDotCom worth your time and effort? On one hand the answer may be "yes". It's a legitimate list and I think a responsive one, much more preferable to using safelists (which have not worked for anyone I know) or huge email blasts. However, due to the current level of messages they're distributing, it's likely that the responsiveness from ListDotCom's list may soon be compromised because people won't be opening the messages.

If you're using ListDotCom, you should only be doing so as a temporary measure, while you diligently work to build your own list. In the long run, that's what's to your best advantage.

Master One Thing

2008-03-31T05:57:00.008-04:00

Happy work week everyone. Today you're being treated to a guest blog from Damien Riley.

Damien has a wonderful blog, Postcards From The Funny Farm, where he keeps an eye on pop culture, the news, and humor all around us. He is a father and teacher, as well as a very energetic entrepreneur. I think you'll enjoy reading him, and certainly be able to understand his perspective in the following article.

Toodles.
Kimberly

*******************************************************************

By: Damien Riley

A friend asked me recently how I defined "success." I thought about it and said what I have thought for many years on the subject:

"If you do the right things consistently, the right things will happen to you ... that is success."

I want to tell you about one "right thing" I believe in strongly. Indulge me if you will, and perhaps you will agree once you try it.

In the quest for online wealth, you hit a lot of technological "walls." I'm sure every "Make Money Online (MMOL)" blogger can relate with hearing about the latest and greatest way to make money and then giving up somewhere between registration and implementation.

An example I have hit a wall with lately is Squidoo, my latest venture to make money online. Even though it's been very tough, I am not giving up ... too many people are making thousands of dollars a month, why can't it be me?

The answer to that question is simple: It can't be me when I am spread too thin. When I am working on too many projects with too much technology that I am not familiar with, I can't even get the basics to throw my hat in the ring. Squidoo is just one money making service available to bloggers.

At the footer on this post, I will link the services that are currently making me money. You may choose to spend your time trying them out. I'm not a rich blogger by any means, but I am getting close to paying my student loan payment through blogging.

For me and my family, that is truly a testament that I am doing the right things. One "right thing" to do is to master one online service or technology at a time. Right now, my day consists of marketing my page through avenues I have already mastered as well as reading, learning, FAQ-ing (can I make a word up?) and experimenting with Squidoo.

I will not let my attention go elsewhere until my lens is either a) making money or b) I decide it's not for me. BUT I will not give up until I know how to do it completely. Nine times out of ten when I know the service/system, I am successful at making money. Convinced?

I would encourage you strongly to make a list of those "peripheral vision" services you've been curious about but haven't tried. If you must, register at all of them but try mastering one at a time. You will find you can make more money on one simple service that you know like the back of your hand, than you will make registering on ten sites that you don't have a clue about. Try it out, and see how it goes!

New technologies are complicated, even though they seem user friendly.You need to take the time to master them to give you an edge. MMOL is one vocation, whether part time or full time, that is best attempted with much patience. Below as promised are the links to sites that are collectively working together to make me hundreds of dollars a month. Best of luck on your path to online wealth and success.

Pay Per Post
PayU2Blog
Associated Content
Helium
Squidoo (not making money currently, but mastering!)
Loud Launch
Project Wonderful
Entrecard (excellent for marketing your blog, which you need to mmol)
Adsense
Private Writing assignments (Google: freelance online)
Private Ads (Interview blogs where you see these ads)

Internet Marketing Tips - Does Anyone Offer Real Customer Support Anymore?

2008-03-30T19:38:00.004-04:00

I've had a frustrating week this past week, especially the last couple days. I've been dealing with some technical issues, and I'm not a technical person. In addition to that, I can't seem to find any help.

I've spent two days trying to get help in solving one technical problem dealing with html code and webdesign/layout.

One of my "pet peeves" about online business are the companies that have huge customer bases, but no technical support. I'm sorry, forums and FAQ's are nice and can often be quite helpful, but that's not true support. That's people sharing information with one another, trading stories and experiences, which as I said can be of some help.

However, when you offer a service or product where people are bound to run into complicated issues, or problems that may not be complicated if you're a "techie", but can hold "average everyday people" up for days if they're not technically knowledgeable, then you need to have some form of "real" help.

Okay, I'm done.

I'm An Idiot

2008-03-28T17:25:00.002-04:00

Okay, there has been some speculation over the years, some hypothesis, rumors and innuendo. But, this week I proved it...I'm an idiot.

Just figured out that there's Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org and they're different, which explains some serious confusion I've had in attempting to deal with Wordpress.

So, there you have it. Now, no one can surprise you with the news. I've admitted it publicly.

Happy Friday!

Internet Marketing Tips - A Business Networking Source That Works

2008-03-27T16:01:00.003-04:00

Since my early days online, I have tried a number of low cost or no-cost programs, schemes and the like with the idea that they would help me with business networking and building traffic to my websites. Unfortunately, I found little if any success from which to build upon. I clicked, visited sites, participated in forums and exchanges, but never really got any sustained traffic for my efforts, and certainly no real networking opportunities or benefits. Until...

(Okay, I know if you've been to any Internet marketing blogs or blogs focused on making money online lately, you've already heard of this, but I'm mentioning it again because it really works.)

Entrecard.

More than any other program I've tried including BlogRush, Blog Catalog, Traffic Swarm, Link Partners (okay I'm reaching waaay back on that one) or a myriad of others, Entrecard has really been great.

I'm not going to go into the specifics of the program here, there's already too many places to get that information, but the basic premise of the program is to get people to visit each other's blog sites, if only briefly. The difference that this program has made for me is 1) I have discovered some really cool and interesting sites, 2) I have found some great resources for new information, business tools and article writing, 3) I've come across some ideal sources for generating traffic to my sites, and 3) I have made some great contacts and begun to establish what I think will be valuable, long-lasting business relationships.

In a very short period of time, I have seen the results of my efforts not only in traffic to my sites, but also in sales. Now before you get all excited, I'm not breaking the bank by any means, BUT there has been enough of a sales increase to let me know that as I concentrate on the networking and contacts I've been able to make, and as I continue to develop new ones, my results will only get better.

As a believer in finding what works (then dangit, keep doing it!), I am always striving to learn and then share what's really useful. Entrecard works for me.

If you've signed up for Entrecard, but really haven't participated in the program, take a second look. It could be the tool you've been looking for. If you haven't heard of the program before, or just haven't signed up with Entrecard, check it out. It really may help to boost your online business.

We all know successful Internet marketing doesn't come from doing just one thing. There's no one magic potion. It comes from piecing together a series of small things THAT WORK FOR YOU AND YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, and then repeating those actions, building upon what works, until you reach your goal.

Now, get to it.