Oliver Olsen offers an entire course titled Speedy Web Videos on Video Marketing for only $37. Incredible value, amazing tutorials!

While this video features Microsoft PowerPoint, you can easily use the free program from OpenOffice.org to achieve the same thing. Oliver shares resources, including free programs, such as that in his tutorials.

The cool thing is that it’s only $10, and that $10 is credited back to you to spend on any of his other products.

Sound confusing? It’s not.

You can see the details at:

http://www.iBusinessOwner.net

I decided to sign up this morning and check it out. Honestly, it’s a steal at only ten bucks considering the source. Jimmy D. Brown is one of the longest running successful online marketers, and his training material has always had a gold reputation. I’ve purchased several of his products over the years and have never been disappointed…

While it’s great to be creative and innovative in your business, you can’t dismiss the power of learning from those that have figured out solid strategies that work.

Often I will purchase products or services from people in the industry just to study their model – with the product being the bonus.

Jimmy’s products have always been my favorite because he actually DOES what he teaches, so you often end up with a live working example in your hands along with the step-by-step training.

I’m off to log in and check it all out, and I recommend you do the same. At the very least scan over the page and take a look at what all he is offering for only $10:

http://www.iBusinessOwner.net

Enjoy!

Best,

I’ve been having great fun with my new Video Blog too. If you’ve been following along at LynnTerry.TV then you already know I’ve been organizing and working on new projects – and getting things all lined up to kick the New Year off with a bang.

Speaking of, Paul Evans is hosting some *great* free training right now to help us all build our online business even stronger in the coming year. Have you had a chance to check that out yet? If not, here is the link – it’s called Prime Power.

It’s free – and his training & content is ALWAYS top notch!

I hope you enjoy it. I always love a good “push” this time of year to help me get things moving in the right direction. A new year is like a fresh start, and an opportunity to really turn things around – or start fun new things.

Have a great rest of the week. I’ll be in and out myself, but if you have any questions about biz or marketing, you can find me in my forum at http://www.clicknewz.com/members/. It’s a great community, and a great place to get feedback & help. You can also find me on Facebook or Twitter of course.

Best,

p.s. Don’t forget to check out Prime Power. It’s happening between now and January 3rd, and it will be a great boost as we head into the New Year with big ideas!

Smartphones and other mobile devices like tablets are becoming more and more popular, and an ever-increasing variety of models, prices and sizes is beginning to define new and exciting ways in how we communicate.

Based on current trends, mobile internet use will surpass desktop use in a few short years. You may have an amazing website already, but if it isn’t mobile-ready, you stand to lose a large audience.

Here are 7 reasons why you need a mobile website and some suggestions on how to get going:

#1 Your current website is not mobile-compatible.

If your current website is not mobile optimized, chances are it is a nightmare for your mobile visitors to use. Smaller screen sizes and mobile web browsers mean your website displays differently on a Smartphone.

Without mobile-optimized code, most websites force mobile users to scroll or zoom, or become unusable because the content is squished together. Fonts can become so small that they are unreadable, and if your website uses Flash, you can be certain no one on an Apple device will be viewing it.

Mobile websites are not just minimized versions of your main website – they must be responsive, fast and designed with the mobile user in mind. Besides adapting to the smaller screen of a mobile device, mobile websites are easier to navigate using touch and help visitors get to the information and features they need faster.

#2 Mobile Search is a universe of its own.

Everyone seems to live a fast-paced life nowadays, depending on their mobile devices to get information. What’s more, they expect it instantly.

Google®, Bing® and Yahoo!® each index mobile and mobile-compatible sites separately from non-mobile sites and are investing heavily in developing faster and better tools for mobile search to meet this demand.

After social networking, searching is the second thing mobile internet users do the most with their mobile web browsers. The earlier you adopt new technologies, the more time you have to build high rankings and secure a highly visible position.

As an added benefit, you are more likely to be discovered and found by local mobile users thanks to the way mobile search includes your website in local search results, maps and other localized applications.

With 50% of local searches being done on a mobile device, that’s a big deal!

#3 More people buy mobile phones and tablets than desktop computers.

The shift in how many people access websites using their handheld mobile device has been dramatic to say the least. A staggering 2 billion people worldwide have a mobile device. More and more people will be browsing the web and searching for you using these devices, so capitalizing on this growing demand is critical for your future success.

Because of the growing popularity of tablets and Smartphones, having a mobile website is no longer a novelty targeting the affluent. Rapidly developing nations have far more Smartphone users than desktop computer users, which means your global reach increases significantly by building a mobile web presence.

#4 Not everyone is doing it.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but the name of the game is to stay ahead of the curve. The mobile web is still an emerging idea so your competitors may not be aware of the need to optimize for mobile. Less than 5% of online businesses have a website that is compatible with mobile. By going mobile now, you will be more experienced and in tune with your mobile market later, which is a huge competitive advantage.

Mobile traffic to sites designed for the desktop Web has increased in 2011 from 8.3% to 11%, a 32% increase!

#5 People spend money on mobile.

42% of mobile internet users earn over $80,000 a year, and spend more on their mobile devices and mobile activities. In 2009, $1.6 billion was spent on the purchase of goods through mobile apps and websites. This is exciting news if you are an entrepreneur selling goods or services online.

According to mobile research, people have more trust and confidence in buying from a handheld device over their desktop computer, likely due to associating desktops with malware and other threats.

Shopping isn’t the only way mobile users are spending money. Budgets for mobile marketing are expected to exceed 500 million by 2012, a huge indication of just how booming the mobile industry is becoming.

This translates into more opportunity for your business from an advertising perspective, and potentially more ad revenue for your mobile website.

#6 Mobile sites are faster and more accessible.

Speed really does matter. A huge advantage of mobile websites is the compact size and lightweight approach to content, allowing it to load faster than a full website.

You must keep in mind that the majority of mobile internet users are connecting via 3G, which is considerably slower than the broadband internet speeds enjoyed by desktop users. Mobile users tend to be on the go or in the presence of company – if your website is not mobile optimized and loads too slowly, your visitors attention span wanes and it is more likely they will move on to something else.

Mobile websites give them precisely what they are looking for quickly and simply.

#7 Mobile websites are cost-effective.

Money is usually the obstacle in diving into any web project but your internet presence is the single most important investment you can make in getting yourself noticed. In most cases, mobile websites are inexpensive and much easier to develop.

Depending on how many bells and whistles you need to include and which devices you want to target, mobile websites can be created  professionally by adding optimizations to your current website, or be built free of charge without any coding knowledge whatsoever.

One such example is Wix, who offer free mobile website templates that you can customize yourself with their super-simple website builder. The result is a fast-loading mobile website that is compatible with most handheld devices, and an excellent solution to get you started on the mobile web.

=== About the Author:

Vail is a designer and writer with a geeky love for gadgets.

When she is not hard at work designing something, she loves writing for WixMobile, the free mobile website builder.

===

If you don’t have the time and money to spend on a lawyer, a quick and affordable alternative way to protect yourself is the new eBook Legalese v. 2.0 that was just released.

eBook Legalese covers all major eBook publication formats (PDF, AZW, MOBI, EREADER, EPUB) and topics.

Given that I am working on some products for 2012 in a variety of formats, I downloaded the package myself this morning. If you have ebooks or plan to publish ebooks, you’ll need the proper “legalese”. This includes copyright notices, disclaimers, disclosures, etc.

It’s super easy to use no matter what your topic is (health, business, pets, etc), or what format you’re publishing in (Kindle, PDF, etc).

Basically fill-in-the-blank and copy & paste.

The product was developed by Mike Young of the Internet Attorneys Association. He has created many great products over the years that help protect webmasters and online business owners.

Don’t leave yourself at risk! Check out Ebook Legalese and look over all the details to decide if this is something you need. It’s much cheaper than hiring a lawyer – on the front end OR the back end…

Best,

One of those being that you aren’t passionate (or even remotely interested in) your niche. If that’s the case, don’t feel bad – you’re not alone.

Countless people have chosen niches based on things like assumed profit potential, market research strategies they were taught, etc.

You’ll know, without a shadow of a doubt, if you chose the wrong niche or the right one. And there is no right or wrong outside of what is right or wrong for YOU. Given a bit of market research combined with a bit of common sense, of course.

Considering all the potential topics, niches and markets there are… it makes no sense to work in a niche you don’t truly ENJOY. There are entirely too many options. Why even start a business that isn’t profitable and enjoyable?

“It won’t be hard if you’re doing what you love more than anything else. I don’t care if your passion is rehabilitating abandoned ferrets; if you learn to tap into everything the digital world has to offer, you can turn water into wine – you can transform what you love into a legacy-building business that makes a crapload of money, and still be true to yourself.”
-Gary Vaynerchuk, Crush It!

How do you know if you chose the right niche?

You’re having FUN. Period.

If you’re struggling to create content, get engaged with your market via Social Media channels, get traffic, or dread working on your site/blog… you probably chose the wrong niche. And I don’t mean struggling as in figuring out what to do and how, but struggling as in you dread it worse than a root canal and procrastinate constantly just to avoid doing it.

Working in a niche you love means you actually LIKE the market, you probably *are* your target market, you consume content from the Market Leaders, and you truly enjoy talking about the subject.

(It’s incredibly difficult to serve a market you can’t really relate to or connect with.)

“I’m convinced that if something is your true passion you can find 500 things – 500 *interesting* things – to say about it. Most people talk themselves out of success before they even start. Their passion is stickers, but they think, “There’s no way I can make a hundred grand talking about stickers.” That’s why you’re going to crush it – because you’re the type who’s going to say, “Stickers? Hell yes, stickers!” -Gary Vaynerchuk, Crush It!

Now What?

I don’t need to get long-winded about this topic. You know in your gut whether you’re working on a business you LOVE, or whether you’re selling yourself short.

And let’s be honest. You’re not just selling yourself short if you’re in the wrong niche. You’re selling your market short. Both of them actually – the one you’re trying to target, and the one you’re ignoring too.

Your DNA dictates your passion – whatever it is you were born to do; being authentic, and being perceived as such by your audience, relies on your ability to ensure that every decision you make when it comes to your business is rooted in being true to yourself.” -Gary Vaynerchuk, Crush It!

Are you being true to yourself and your values in the online business you started? Are you an asset to your market? Do you wake up every day thinking about, and ultimately talking about, something related to your niche?

Just to clarify, learning the technical stuff and having the occasional bout of writer’s block isn’t a sign that you’re in the wrong niche. You KNOW if you are or not. Some telltale signs might include: you wouldn’t discuss it with your mother, the topic *never* comes up in casual conversation, or it feels even slightly “slimy” or “spammy”.

If you did choose the wrong niche, no big deal. Jump ship, sell the site on Flippa.com, and start working on something you look forward to every day!

Starting your own business should be liberating and fun, even when the hours are long. In the right niche, you can work 18 hours a day and love every minute of it!

Consider this your free ticket out of Niche Hell.

It’s never too late to start over and do it right.

Best,

p.s. I shared several quotes from Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk. AWESOME book. It’s full of niche ideas, success stories, inspiration & how-to. I highly recommend you grab a copy if you haven’t read it already!

Also See: How to Choose a Niche

2. You aren’t passionate, or even interested in, your niche *or* your market.

3. You spend too much time trying to figure out a way NOT to do certain tasks.
(In that same amount of time, you could have just achieved the tasks – and had time to spare.)

4. You don’t take action on profitable ideas because you worry it isn’t the right action to take. (Taking NO action is a surefire way to avoid profit – and to avoid mistakes that will help you figure out what works and what doesn’t.)

5. You try to be someone you’re not, which is unnatural and awkward – and obvious to your target market.

6. You spend the majority of your day doing “busy work” instead of Priority Tasks.

7. You make excuses instead of creating solutions.

8. You compare yourself to others, instead of comparing your progress against your own goal.

9. You get caught up in meaningless technical details, instead of creating meaningful interaction with your target market.

10. You *worry* about competitors, instead of looking at ways you can leverage their success to your benefit…

David says: I’m having a problem that I suspect many marketers share. Quite simply … SEO or just buy the traffic. I noticed that you switched to SEO because you like the passive income component. But when I consider ALL the work and ongoing moving parts to SEO .. visions of the hamster on a treadmill appear in place of couch potato cash. Have you noticed that there is always something new to do … now it’s Google+ ect. and “more to do” is surly on it’s way.

It’s reached the point where it’s mind numbing.

I’m thinking about “less to do” sites with physical products … Amazon and other merchants. And adding a PPC campaign instead of using social media and constantly toiling away building links and writing articles.

Is there an easy way to get sites like this to rank while profiting with some paid traffic? Your opinion on this dilemma .. SEO vs PAID traffic or both would be much appreciated.

The term “couch potato cash” made me smile. One of the reasons I stopped doing pay-per-click advertising heavily was the fact that it was constantly changing, and required active monitoring.

My personal experience was with Google Adwords, and I can tell you firsthand that it took up a lot more of my time than my organic online marketing strategy does now. In addition to actively monitoring each campaign there was split testing, updates & new policies (aka “slaps”), etc, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah.

Not to mention that the ad rates have gone up dramatically over the years, as has the level of competition, and you can easily lose your shirt overnight if you’re not keeping a close eye on things.

Pay Per Click Advertising is still a great online marketing strategy mind you, it’s just not passive or “set it and forget it”. This is just my personal opinion based on my personal experience – and personal preference. I did quite well with my Adwords campaigns back in the day, but there was nothing “couch potato” about it (lol). I was constantly monitoring and managing and tweaking my campaigns.

I had tons of time invested in my campaigns by the time I got them running smoothly, where they required less attention. And guess what? Google made a policy change that dramatically affected my campaigns. Tanked everything I had built up, in fact. Not that I was doing anything wrong (or “blackhat”), simply that the rules changed. And I wasn’t willing to stay on THAT hamster wheel.

Start over? No thanks.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m bashing PPC or Adwords, because I’m not. I simply want to give you a detailed answer, and explanation as to why I made the switch to SEO and organic marketing strategies.

Specifically because there’s no way I would go on an unplugged vacation, or take 14+ hour flights to Australia and back, with PPC Campaigns running.

That doesn’t mean I won’t run the occasional pay-per-click campaign, just that I don’t use it as my primary marketing strategy.

Ideal Online Marketing Strategy

You mentioned writing content, getting backlinks and social media – basically an Organic Marketing Strategy – as a more time intensive alternative to PPC. I would disagree with that, and for a few reasons:

• Outsourcing PPC is expensive
• Outsourcing content development is cheap
• PPC is just as time intensive, if not more, in my experience
• PPC requires MORE ongoing monitoring & maintenance
• Social Media is more FUN than testing ad campaigns
• A proper organic marketing strategy can take off on it’s own

That last point is actually the most important of them all. Done right you will have other people (your market) doing your social media & link building for you. They will share, like, vote up and link to your content and spread it exponentially.

With any new website, no matter which online marketing strategy you choose, there is going to be a substantial investment of time needed to get it off the ground.

Ideally you will use a variety of marketing strategies, but it’s not necessary to use paid advertising. I’ve managed to take my new site to profit, with a couple dozen first page rankings and active social media channels, all in under 90 days and with zero invested – outside of hosting, which is covered by profits.

I did that, too, in about an hour a day plus 2-3 hours on Saturday mornings. I can only imagine what I could have accomplished in that niche working it full time.

The thing is, it’s actually been FUN. Unlike tweaking ads, I’m actually out there meeting people and having conversations. And as a result they are inviting me to guest blog (links), sharing my updates, linking to my posts, etc.

If you dislike link building and social media, the key is to build a community where they do those things for you. Or the majority of it anyway. I focus on creating great content, and providing the tools to easily share that content.

As for content, like I said earlier that can easily be outsourced. There are also many ways to make it easier, such as inviting guest bloggers to post and doing interviews (where all you write are the questions).

Once your content ranks well in the major search engines, even more people will find it – and share it or link to it. Rankings bring in a constant source of highly targeted free traffic. And THAT is why I love it. Because even when I am on an unplugged vacation, or a long flight overseas, my sites are getting traffic and making sales – hands off.

Unlike PPC, over time an organic marketing strategy will take on it’s own steam and it will take very little work to manage or maintain.

The only real key being high quality share-worthy content. And even that doesn’t have to be as difficult as it might sound…

I hope that answers your question, and clears up any confusion. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and everyone’s thoughts on this topic.

What online marketing strategy do YOU prefer – and why?

Best,

You might not remember me, but a few years ago I guest blogged here at Clicknewz with an article called Outsourcing and Hiring a Virtual Assistant. Well I’m baaack but this time I’ve got graphics advice for you DIY business owners and/or service providers who want to help out clients with a really useful (and free tool).

In today’s post I’m going to show you the best way to remove an image background if you’re on a budget and in a hurry. Sound good? We’ll be using Lynn Terry’s fabulous picture from Low Carb Traveler as an example…

Don’t panic! This tutorial won’t require you to spend hundreds in photoshop or spend hours learning how to operate a complicated program. In fact, this tutorial is going to show you how to use a program that rivals Photoshop (but it’s free) to remove the background from any picture or graphic you like within minutes.

Remove a Background From a Picture

Now the fun begins! Here’s the original picture I want to work with:

Step 1: Get Gimp (It’s FREE!)

Download Gimp for free here: http://www.gimp.org

First, click that orange download button once you get to the main page:

That will take you to the download page where you’ll need to click the link that looks like this:

Sorry to Mac users, but Gimp is available in Windows only.

Step 2: Open up Gimp, Your Graphic and the Layers Toolbar

After you’ve downloaded and installed your new toy then you’ll need to click on that little Gimp mascot buddy and open it up.

Next you need to do the typical ‘File’ > ‘Open’ action to open up the image you want to edit. In this case we’re editing Lynn’s picture I showed you above.

Step 3: Outline & Cut Out Your Image

In this step you need to click on the ‘Paths Tool’ so you can outline your image. Use the mouse to click point by point around the part of the image you want to keep. Go all the way around the image and make sure to join up the first and last points to complete a full path right around the piece to cut out (kind of like using a scalpel to cut around an image you want to cut out of a piece of paper).

For Lynn’s image, I’m going to make the picture bigger so it’s easier to see what I’m outlining. You can do this to by clicking on ‘View’ > ‘Zoom’ > then pick your zoom setting

Here’s what it looks like now:

Once you’ve outlined your image and you are happy with it your next step is to hit ‘ENTER’. This will outline the image and you’ll see that it’s ready to be removed from the background.

After you click enter your image should start to flicker a bit and be outlined. Next all we need to do is just click on ‘Edit’ > ‘Cut’ and you will remove the image.

Now you can paste it anywhere you like!

Step 4: Adding Your Image To a Background

To send Lynn to some really cool places I opened up three images and pasted in the cut out. Here is the result of this quick edit (remember, the more time spent on the Paths tool, the sharper it will be):

Lynn Terry at Niagara Falls and Stonehenge

Lynn Terry at the Sphynx and The Great Wall of China

Pretty Cool, eh?

You can do a lot more than that with Gimp, but this should keep you busy for a start.

Ok so you now know how to make Lynn show up anywhere in the world – what do you do with this information?

You can:

• Add your professional photo to an ecover.
• Crop a picture to add to a website header.
• Crop ugly backgrounds out of an otherwise great bio picture or headshot.
• Isolate product pictures to add to your salespages.
• Draw a mustache on your least favorite GURU (male or female) .

More Resources for Graphics With Gimp

I’ve also created a video on the best way to remove a background from an image in Gimp. I’d like to invite you to access the video AND a bonus, free Q&A webinar that I’ll be hosting to answer your questions on how to use graphics to make more money with your business.

It’s all available when you sign up for my video course, Gimp Graphics Mojo.

I like that term.

It’s nothing new mind you, just the same organic online marketing strategies I’ve been using for years. Strategies that work.

But I think it’s well worth discussing in detail, considering how difficult a time many people have with the task of getting quality traffic to their niche sites. And getting those numbers to convert into engagement and conversions…

“Marketing helps you shape your message to your audience, ensure it has the impact you desire, and drive the type of response you want. It also allows you to increase the penetration of your message, growing your audience every step of the way.” -source: The Blogger’s Guide to Online Marketing

Key Elements of an Organic Marketing Strategy

What Phil called “aggressive organic marketing” is what I would simply call a smart content marketing strategy combined with a strong social media strategy – done consistently, and with purpose. It boils down to these key elements:

• Keyword Targeting
• Content Optimization
• Creating “Link Bait” & “Share Bait”
• Natural Link Building
• Increasing Your Reach
• Leveraging Competition
• Meeting Your Market Where They Are
• Being Proactive with Merchants & Brands

These are all terms and concepts you’re probably familiar with already. I’m not going to make “a tutorial” out of each individual element, but simply give you some ideas and actionable tips on each point to consider.

These elements are what make up the marketing strategy for my own niche affiliate site, which is (at the time of this writing) just under 90 days old. In other words, brand spanking new – but in profit, and growing at a very fast pace.

Keyword Targeting & Content Optimization

Not targeting specific keyword phrases that your market is using, and optimizing your content properly so that they can find it, is doing a disservice to your market.

Read: Keyword Strategy

Don’t make SEO overly difficult. All you have to do is research the keyword phrases your market is using to determine what they are really looking for. Look less at the numbers, and more at the intent of the search and the overall group of related phrases. Create content that responds to those queries. Period.

To optimize your content, there are 7 places you want to use the keyword phrase on each individual page or post. See Web Page Optimization for an easy checklist.

Link Bait, and now: Share Bait

Link Bait is content that is so great, other people link to it naturally. It might be funny, negative, controversial, thought provoking or otherwise highly interesting. Consider the things you’ve linked to yourself. “Share Bait” is a new term for content people link to (or share) on their favorite social media channels.

Key: Don’t just write great content and hope people will share it or link to it on their own. Make sure you have social media & sharing icons on each post or page of your site. Encourage them to share or link to your content.

It’s also important to put your content out across the social media channels yourself so that it can be shared, liked, +1′d, retweeted, etc.

Make sure it’s there, so it’s there to share.

Meet Your Market Where They Are

Forget what Expert A or Expert B told you was the best way to market your blog or website. A marketing method or a specific medium should not define your business. Your goal is to find out where your target market IS, and join them there.

For example, Michelle MacPhearson turned me on to Tumblr.com. I’d heard of it before, but had never considered using it until she mentioned it on the IMTW Podcast. I tested it with my niche blog, and discovered my keywords were heavily used there as Tags. My market is active there!

Tumblr is now consistently one of my top 10 referrers for traffic.

Different markets will hang out in different places online. Find them, and join them there. That’s the first step to ultimately getting them to join you at your site.

Key: Go where your market is most active, and engage with them *there*.
Don’t try to force them away from that site. Interact with them where they are.

Increase Your Reach and Leverage Your Competition

You can’t just write great optimized content, and hang out in a few places online, and expect your website to take off on all it’s own. That rarely happens.

Constantly look for ways to increase your reach. Find new places to interact with your target market, new angles (keywords) to reach them in search results, study what they share most and create that same type of content, etc.

You should also seek out the Market Leaders in your niche and consider ways you can leverage their success. Join their forums, comment on their blogs, interact with them on social media channels, share their content, become their affiliate, review their products, etc.

Guest Blogging is one of the easiest ways to get in front of their audience. See: Increase Blog Traffic for my experience with that. Not only will you get in front of an established readership, and get an inbound link from an established blog, but you’ll also likely get in front of their email readers & social media followers.

Natural Link Building

There are many things you can do to get your link(s) out there on the web: social media updates, set up niche forum profiles, guest blogging, submit to niche directories, etc.

But you also need variety to your inbound links. If you have top ranking pages on specific topics, people will link to them naturally. If you interact professionally with your market via social channels, answering questions and offering suggestions, people will naturally mention and recommend you (your site).

You can encourage this a bit by offering to be interviewed, engaging others in a Cross Blog Conversation, hosting contests, etc. And by simply including your contact information on your About page with an open invitation to get in touch with you for opportunities.

Proactive Communication with Merchants & Brands

Step One is to make a list of all the merchants, products and brands you would like to work with in your niche. Be proactive about reaching out to them. If you get denied for their affiliate program, respond and request reconsideration.

Review products you like whether you’re an affiliate or not. They will ultimately notice the traffic source (you) and/or your rankings for their brand or product.

Like their Facebook pages, follow them on Twitter, and be sure to “@” them in your updates regarding their products. These are all great ways to get in front of them, and put yourself in a position to potentially work with them in some way.

If they see you have an engaged readership or following, they may be open to sponsoring contests or even sponsoring your blog.

Note: I used to *only* mention merchants or brands I was already an affiliate for. The web is changing, and so are the opportunities. Make that list, and start creating content as if you DO have relationships. You may be surprised at the relationships that form because of your unsolicited mentions/content.

Above All, Be Consistent

The two most important aspects of your marketing strategy are not how much time you spend, and how much money you spend. It’s simply variety, and being consistent. Variety is particularly important in regards to SEO – and also in terms of true testing to see where you get the most response from your market.

Being consistent, and consistently present, will go a long way toward building a loyal following and readership. And in building trust and the level of engagement.

And it’s that following – your loyal readers – that will link to you naturally, recommend your site to their friends, share your content across social media… and ultimately do much of your marketing for you.

(So if you hate link building, start “community building” *wink*)

By the way, I only spend about an hour a day on my new niche affiliate site – plus the occasional Saturday morning.

I’m not working on it “full time”, but I am working on it consistently.

And yes, with that little time (and only around 10 bucks) invested, the site is making money – in less than 90 days. The first two full months it saw almost 2,500 unique visitors/month and ~43,000 pageviews/month. Not bad for a brand new site with zero paid advertising and so little invested…

If you’re interested in following the detailed Case Study on this site, “from start to profit”, you’ll find it all in my Private Brainstorming Group in the Live Case Studies section. From ideas to specific actions taken – and why – as well as screen shots of merchant communication & commissions, and much more. *Nothing* is left out.

Best,

p.s. I am releasing a detailed download of the Case Study and my Organic Marketing Strategy soon, which will be free for Elite Members.

You can join my Private Brainstorming Group to follow along live and get the Case Study download for free. Or make sure you are subscribed by email (below) to get notification when the Case Study is available:

This is not a typical one-time launch type release, but rather a new product hitting the market… that is here to stay.

I was just checking this out earlier today myself, and discussing it with some friends on Facebook, and wanted to share some of the creative ideas that came to mind while I was reviewing the product. 7 creative ideas actually, or different ways you might consider using AWG to create passive income in your online business.

It’s basically an automated webinar system where you can run “live events” without actually having to be online. You’ve seen these already, I’m sure. I have – and I wondered what tech they were using to set that up…

I’ve been leaning toward switching to GoToWebinar for live webinars and replays, which is around $100/month for only 100 attendees. This new system is unlimited use (on unlimited domains) with no monthly cost. Of course Automated Webinar Generator doesn’t do live webinars, but what it CAN do is pretty cool.

7 Creative Uses for the Evergreen Business System

• Host Training Events or a How-To Series
• Evergreen Promotions (for your own products, or as an affiliate)
• Take Questions Upfront for an Evergreen FAQ or Q&A Replay
• Re-purpose Your E-Courses/Autoresponders into “Multimedia Events”
• Create a Dripped “Multimedia Content” Paid Membership Site
• Re-purpose a Membernaire-style Course into Multimedia Format
• As a bonus, or even an upsell, to your products – Offer a “live” step by step Multimedia Training Series that follows your guide or course…

There are many creative ways to use the Automated Webinar Generator. You’ll want to watch the video to get familiar with all the features. Once you do, you’ll probably get a few creative ideas of your own that apply specifically to your business.

You can offer these pre-recorded events as a paid product, while building a list of buyers that you can follow-up with. You can offer them free to build your list, or make them public and use them to promote products as an affiliate.

Video, Events and Multi-Media are VERY effective ways to engage your market and increase your conversions.

If you’ve looked at the system, you have to admit that the templates and screens are very professional. Definitely better than what I’ve been able to produce myself using other event & webinar solutions.

I’m interested to hear what you think of it.

You can watch the video OR read over the list of features here.

Also, if you haven’t already, download the Free Report:
Evergreen Event-Driven Marketing by Rich Schefren ($47 value)
To get the report free, go to http://pwc2.com/rg and then click “Learn More” and select “Why Automated Webinars?” The free report is at the end of the video there.

I just downloaded it myself and am going to give it a read this evening. I look forward to hearing your thoughts, or any other creative ideas you come up with for using the “Evergreen Business System”…

Best,

An online merchant account is essential for any business that wants to accept credit card payments online. Traditionally, merchant accounts were hard to get and online merchant accounts were even trickier.

Now, due to their incredible rise in popularity, the process is simple. Applications are available online for merchant account providers, and most take less than 30 minutes to fill out.

A good credit history is important, as is having all your basic business information in order, but beyond that finding a merchant account provider is easy as long as you pay attention to three basic areas…

• Security
Before you start filling out applications and weighing the pros and cons of various companies, make sure that they are secure. You will be dealing with sensitive banking information through this company from the moment you fill out an application, so first and foremost make sure that their site is secure. You can check this by looking for sites that have a URL beginning with https://

Because online card payments are done without physical verification of the card, they are particularly vulnerable to fraud. Look for merchant account providers who use authentication services like MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa.

• Fees
Fees vary widely between online merchant account providers, both for services and applications. A good rule to follow is to never do business with an account provider who requires an application fee. Plenty of excellent providers exist who don’t charge applicants, and unfortunately many of the less reputable providers do charge for simply filling out an application.

After your application for an Online Merchant Account is accepted, the amount providers charge for their services also has a lot of variation. Most providers charge several different fees, such as a set-up fee, a monthly fee, a transaction fee and an annual fee. Make a list of all the fees a provider charges and then compare how much the total would be for a year of identical sales with each.

• Flexibility
Different providers allow for different degrees of flexibility, and you want to find the one that best meets your needs while giving you the most freedom. Some providers require a long-term contract, some require no contract and some give discounts to customers who agree to contracts. The same wide variety of options occurs in other areas like shopping cart use and international gateways, so be sure to compare companies thoroughly before committing to one.

About the Guest Author: Hello my name is Nisha Sandhu I am 26 years old and I am an Editor at www.MerchantAccountForum.com, whom I have been working with for 2 years now. I love to write and give online business advice to new and growing businesses.

I am currently reading Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet by Marc Ostrofsky, which just came out May 2011.

I just started it this week, so I’ll be sure to post a detailed review when I get to the end. So far, I’m really enjoying it!

Yesterday I ordered the Google AdSense Secrets: 5th Edition (2011) (Kindle version) by Joel Comm. I am also looking at his The Google AdSense SEO Guide for Kindle, which is only $2.99.

Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve studied Adsense (or used it much at all), but I did read Joel Comm’s original Adsense guide several years ago and really enjoyed it. I have a renewed interest in optimizing Adsense for the highest possible payout with some of my new niche projects.

In addition to those 3 books, I have booked 8 pages and videos this week that you may find of interest. Topics range from making money with apps to a checklist for writing sales copy, with a little of everything else in between…

Lynn’s Top 8 Bookmarks For The Week

• Twitter co-founder Evan Williams on Blogger & blogging’s future
• Getting Through the Unbearable Task of Writing Sales Copy
  (checklist by Alice Seba)
• The First Step In Creating A Social Media Content Strategy
• Google Sending Notifications Of Unnatural Links Pointing To Your Site
• How To Make Money With Apps
• Google Analytics & Tools Now Track the Impact of Tweets, Likes & +1s
• SEO from Experience with Jeremy “Shoemoney” Schoemaker (video)

This last link left me with questions, but I decided to include it anyway:

• The Secret to Profiting From Your List

The article & video is from/about Chris Farrell. He’s fairly new on the scene, starting around 3 years ago, but I am not sure if he’s ever made money online outside of the Internet Marketing space. From what I can tell, that’s where he started (as a newbie himself 3 years ago) and that’s where he has stayed.

I bookmarked the article because that stood out to me and I wanted to do a bit more research into his teaching…

That’s it from me.

What’s on YOUR reading list this week??

Best,

In April of 2011, a massive tornado hit Joplin, MO.

Chris Lucas, 27, was a Pizza Hut manager on duty who saved 15 people’s lives by getting everyone into the cooler and holding the door shut with a rope.

However, the force of the tornado was so powerful, it pulled Chris away to his death. He left a wife and two kids.

That was such a heroic and selfless action that Chris took. The difference he made in the 15 people’s lives is something that they will never forget.

As internet marketers, we have the power to make a difference in people’s lives as well. It isn’t something that is talked about a lot though…

It’s usually “all about the Benjamins” or about the houses and cars.

Sometimes fear of success or fear of failure gets in the way of our success. I know I have had those struggles at points in my internet marketing career.

I wonder if we focused more on others, like Chris Lucas did, if that would bring us closer to having more success in our internet businesses?

What if we realized that the articles we submit to article directories had the power to change someone’s life (change thoughts = change actions)!?

What if we realized that we all have talent in certain areas and have solutions to people’s problems. Each day that we don’t take action, someone is struggling that doesn’t have to if they had our information in their hands.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write for Lynn at first, but I remembered what the sign says on the front of my car:

“Start A Business – Make A Difference” (see photo above)

In the rest of this article, I want to share with you lessons that I have learned from running my own successful online business for 9 years. I hope it helps you with your business and allows you to make a difference in other people’s lives.

- Tips On Starting or Running A Business That Have Helped Me Succeed

1. Have a strong reason why – The thing that gets me do what I do each day is having a strong desire or reason why. It has to be the thing that is deep in your gut, not “I want to make money online”.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask – Kristi Frank is a friend of mine. She was one of the contestants on Donald Trumps The Apprentice show. You know how we became friends? I reached out with an email (to her youtube account of all things) and then a phone call about hiring her. We hit it off and she liked what I was doing so she gave me a testimonial for my Get Connected report.

3. Build a list of 50 – This is a VERY powerful lesson. The majority of the money I have made is a result of making connections with people. Build a list of 50 influential people in your niche and add them to a spreadsheet in google docs. Using google docs allows you to access that list from anywhere.

Put together a plan to contact those 50 people and start building a relationship with them. You might contact each person differently but get to know those 50 people on your list. Don’t be shocked if business starts coming your way.

Case Study: I am a fan of David Frey. In 2006 or 2007, I sent David a gift in the mail called SendABall. You should google it if you have never seen it. Anyway, it blew him away so much that he sent an email to his list of 50K subscribers at the time, telling them about me and what I did.

A few days later, millionaire online marketer, Ryan Lee called me. He said he saw Dave’s email and any friend of Dave’s is a friend of his.

Ryan sent me a copywriting client a few days later. It was the world’s strongest man’s (Phil Pfister) business partner. They wanted to hire me to write copy for their dvds. Wow!

A month later, Ryan hires me for a five figure consulting gig.

This is all from stepping out and working my influential list of 50 people.

4. Google Alerts – This tip goes along with the last one but nobody really teaches this. To help build your list of 50 people, use google.com/alerts to find other blogs in your niche. Put your keywords in the box and have google email you once per day. Add the blogs that have potential to your spreadsheet. Next, start meeting the people behind the blogs.

5. Pick a model – Pick one business model and as Lynn says, see it through from start to profit.

6. Realize you won’t die by not buying the latest product launch – Don’t get sucked into buying everything that is launched. Only buy it if you need it.

Ideas On Making A D.I.F.F.E.R.E.N.C.E.

In my latest free report “10 Ways To Make Money And Make A Difference”, I share 10 ideas anyone can use to make money and make a difference. Here are the ideas and some details on one of the ideas.

Way 1: DONATE A Portion Of Your Profits Page 6
Way 2: IGNITE A Viral Marketing Website Page 8
Way 3: FACILITATE A Local Meetup Group Page 10
Way 4: FIND Stories And Compile A Product Page 12
Way 5: EDUCATE People On A Webinar Page 14
Way 6: RUN A Contest Page 15
Way 7: ENABLE A Charity To Advertise Page 17
Way 8: NOMINATE An Apprentice For Profits Page 18
Way 10: CREATE A Product For Charity Page 20
Way 9: EMPLOY Auctions And Profit Page 21
Earn Money How To Make Money And Make A Difference With This Report Page 22

1. FIND Stories And Compile A Product

Idea: You would think of a topic that people struggle with and find others who have overcome this problem. Have the people submit their stories and you compile each story into a product to sell.

In my opinion, I think this is one of the best ways to make money online and make a difference in people’s lives.

Let me say that again….

In my opinion, I think this is one of the best ways to make money online and make a difference in people’s lives.

It is also one of my favorites as well. I could go on and on about this particular idea but let me give you some things to think about.

Here is a test for you. Fill in the blank:

The Bible is the top selling book of all time.

The Bible is a compilation of _______________

People Magazine is one of the top selling magazines.

People Magazine is a compilation of people’s _______________.

Reality television shows are the most popular shows on TV.

Reality television are shows about the ___________ of people’s lives.

www.ResaleRightInterviews.com is a popular website teaching others how to make money online in a step by step format.

www.ResaleRightInterviews.com uses the power of ___________ from experts to help people make money online.

If you answered with the word stories in each of the blanks then you are one smart cookie!

Listen, stories sell and facts tell. That’s how we learn.

Find a very big problem people are facing and put it in an ebook format or even use Amazon.com’s create space to make it into a printed book to sell. You could even do audio interviews with people like I do.

How You Make A Difference: You are taking the time to put together a compilation of information on a subject that people struggle with. You are giving people a solution and creating it in a format that people can benefit from which can make a huge difference in people’s lives.

If you wanted to take it a step further, you could use idea #1 and donate a portion to a cause as well.

How You Make Money: You could make money from the sales of the product that you compile.

Another idea is you donate ALL the proceeds of the product sales to charity and inside the product you include affiliate links that you make money from on the backend. You can do that if you have an ebook or printed book as well.

Bonus Idea: If you want to take this idea up a notch then try this.

The stories of the people you interview are influential people in your niche who market to the same prospects that you have.

When the product is done, ask them to promote the product to their list to support a good cause. Using this one idea, you could move A LOT of your new product!

Action Steps To Take:

1. Find A Pressing Problem People Have In Your Niche
2. Request Stories From People In Your Niche By Going To Forums And Researching google With Related Keywords
3. Decide How You Want To Compile This Product (Ebook,Book,Etc)

I hope you received something from this article that will make you think about how you can make more money online and make a difference as well.

——
David Dutton helps people learn and earn from info products while raising money for St. Judes Children’s Hospital. You can download a free 30 day traffic bluepint by visiting his resale rights membership site.
——

I’ve been checking out some cool stuff since I got home earlier this week, and sharing some of it on Facebook & Twitter, but I thought I’d share my favorite bookmarks & notes from the week with you here so they’re all in one place…

There’s some pretty cool stuff happening around the web this week!

1. Jimmy D. Brown just announced a brand new free email newsletter on traffic & conversions. Get it free at Traffic F.U.E.L. “Each issue of the Traffic Jam Newsletter gives you details on effective strategies for generating and/or converting website traffic.” He has a new membership too, but Traffic Jam is free.

2. I secured us a killer coupon code from Phil Hollows! If you missed the special offer on http://www.listbuildingforblogs.com last month, you can use our special discount code to get $10 off. Download it today for only $14.95 using coupon code “clicknewz” (without quotes). Thanks, Phil! See my review here

3. Free Membership Site Blueprint is now live by WishList Member – the easy to use membership solution that can turn any WordPress blog into a full-blown membership site. No matter what solution you use for creating membership sites, you’ll want to download this free video & blueprint while it’s still available!

The free Membership Site video & Blueprint/Worksheet will walk you step-by-step through the 7 elements of a successful membership site. The 20-page PDF worksheet is fill-in-the-blank simple.

4. Free: Learn LinkedIn From the Experts This is by hubspot and does require an opt-in, but it’s on my list to study while I’m traveling this weekend. My son has had great success with LinkedIn and I simply won’t be out-done by a 19 year old. LOL. Download the 24-Page Practical Guide to Leveraging LinkedIn

5. 10 B2B Social Media Case Studies and Examples Great reading if you’re interested in details and examples for creative inspiration in your own social media campaigns. And who isn’t, right?? Read Here

6. Free Social Media Partners Search Engine Speaking of social media (above), if you have a business where you offer social media services, you’ll want to get listed in the free directory at http://www.InvestinSocial.com. It’s free to advertise your social media business, and free to find social media partners too!

7. Video: Three Golden Rules of Online Success The video is under 4 minutes, and is an interview with Jay Berkowitz (author of The Ten Golden Rules Of Online Marketing Workbook) . Click here to watch the video.

I decided to check out his book and found that it’s on Amazon.

One of the more recent reviews got my interest:

“If you’re interested in learning more about search engine optimization, link building, PR for web marketing, blogging, Facebook, Twitter and more – you want to give this book a try.

It’s written in a very simple and user-friendly format – focusing on the story of Annie’s Costumes. This costume retailer went from a small storefront shop to the largest online retailer for costumes.

It’s quite a story when you consider it.

I found the book enlightening, and I liked the way the information was presented.

If you’re a beginner in internet marketing, this book will assist you with “real-world” examples. If you’re advanced, you’ll still get a lot out of it by looking at it as a case study. Either way, there is real value here.” -source

Definitely adding that to my list to check out. You know, for those warm summer nights when I just feel like curling up on the back deck with a good… Kindle.

Somehow that just doesn’t have the right ring to it.

Stay tuned though, because I’m going to be giving away a Kindle here soon to one lucky ClickNewz reader! You’ll want to make sure you’re subscribed by email so you don’t miss that opportunity! There’s a subscription form at the end of this post.

And just for fun, a goofy pic of my great dane Slim – completely crashed out on the back deck just outside my home office:

LOL -that’s one tired dog. It’s a good thing he’s cute when he sleeps, because he doesn’t do much more than that!

Have a great weekend…

Best,

p.s. My next trip, for business at least, is to attend the Savvy Blogging Summit in Colorado Springs in mid-July. Registration closed on June 1st, but they’ve had a few cancellations which opened up some new spots.

If you’re interested in joining us there, you’ll want to book fast before those few spots fill up. Details are on my Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/lynnterrybiz/posts/107613185997280

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