Just last weekend I bought something at the store and the cashier gave me too much change.  It was only 36 cents but I told him he gave me too much change and gave it back to him.  Later that same day when I was paying my greens fees at the golf course I found a golf club I had lost the previous week.  The golf club was worth a lot more than 36 cents too.

Was it karma?  Was some supernatural force looking after me since I had done a good deed?  Heck if I know.  But it’s uncanny how things like that seem to happen.  You do something good and something good happens to you.  It doesn’t always work out like that but things like that happen often enough that I notice.  And maybe that’s proof enough.

Don’t worry.  I’m not into “crystals” or any other New Age type of stuff.  I believe in luck but I pretty much believe people make their own luck for the most part by recognizing opportunities and taking advantage of them when most people either don’t see the hidden opportunities or are too lazy to act on their ideas.

This belief guides me to make a sincere effort to treat people fairly.  It’s always in the back of my mind that if I don’t treat someone fairly, it will come back to haunt me at some point in the future.  Granted there are jerks who try to steal from me and who make ridiculous demands.  And I won’t rehash the lying jacka$$ who basically started a smear campaign in a failed attempt to ruin my reputation and run me out of business.  Sometimes I’m not so nice to people like that but I’m not perfect.

It’s apparent by the way some people treat others that they don’t seem to care about “karma” and that’s fine.  To each his or her own.  What do you think?

Tags: Traffic, Websites

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I’m talking about boring copy from an appearance point of view. If your sales letter looks like a formal report, then it has a boring appearance. The whole point is to get the message read. The human eye is naturally drawn to things that stand out. And nothing stands out in a sales letter that looks like a formal report you’d hand in to a school teacher. You’re not trying to get an ‘A’, you’re trying to make a sale.

So how do you make the copy more visually appealing? Easy. Do simple things to emphasize the important points. Use things like highlighting, underlining, capitalizing, bold, italics, different fonts, bigger fonts, different color fonts, photos, handwritten notes, arrows, etc. CopyDoodles are great for handwritten notes, arrows, etc. I’ve been using them for about a month.

Those are all effective tactics for attracting the attention of the human eyeball. And once you have the reader’s attention, hopefully your copy is good enough to keep the reader’s attention long enough to convince them to buy or opt-in or whatever your particular goal is.

But don’t overdo it like many people do. I’ve seen sales letters where it looks like the whole page is highlighted. What’s the point? If everything is important, then nothing is important.

The best exercise I’ve ever done is finding sales letters written by copywriters known to be very good and typing them into my computer. Reading them isn’t enough. Typing them and using the same formatting provides much more insight into how the letter was written and you’ll learn more. Try it.

Take the same sales letter and split-test it. Use CopyDoodles (or some other form of graphical enhancements) on one version and not on the other. I bet I know which one wins.

Tags: Websites, Blogs

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Anyway, here’s what happened. I was at the gym yesterday. I’ve been working out most of my life and I’ve been a member of several gyms but not for the past few years. I just recently joined a new gym and got reacquainted with the same type of people who annoyed me the last time I was a member of a gym.

People use gyms in different ways. I go to the gym to exercise and workout…period. Ocasionally I’ll make new friends at the gym but that isn’t why I go. It’s obvious other people think of gyms as some type of social gathering place or even some type of singles club…but that’s not me. The worst are the ones who view the gym as a place to go lounge around for a few hours. Apparently they do this so they can tell people they’re a member of a gym and work out every day.

When I’m at the gym, I don’t stop moving. I mix it up. Sometimes it’s the machines, other days it’s free weights. One day I’ll get on the stair master, the next time the elliptical machine, etc. I can do 3 sets on 6 different muscle groups and 20+ minutes of cardio in an hour or less. I’m in and out. You don’t need to work out 3 hours every day.

The people who annoy me are the ones that slow me down. I wonder what the hell they are even doing at the gym. They go to the gym and sit on the equipment like it’s a La-Z-Boy recliner…and it really annoys me. Usually I just keep it to myself and go find another machine.

But sometimes there are people parked on several machines and I swear some of them are actually sleeping. There’s literally no movement for several minutes. So occasionally I’m “rude” enough to inquire as to when now might be a good time to either start working out or go home and quit taking up valuable space.

Actually I would say the rude ones are those who are inconsiderate of the fact that some people actually have a purpose for going to the gym but I digress so I won’t go there. But I really do wonder why some people even bother going to the gym. They don’t sweat. They do 3 sets per hour. And they walk around like zombies in Night of the Living Dead. It’s pathetic…and they’re obviously not doing themselves any good.

Maybe I’m being too hard on these people and maybe I’m not but they do annoy the crap out of me. So what’s all this got to do with an Internet business? Simple. There are lots of people claiming to either have a business or want to start a business but they’re all talk and no action. They’re just like the people who go to the gym and sit on the machines. It’s not doing them any good.

Somebody’s making money alright but in the gym’s case, it’s the owner of the gym and in the case of an Internet business it’s the people selling information, etc. You’re not going to magically get fit just because you have gym membership. You actually have to exercise. And you’re not going to get wealthy just because you went to some seminar or bought some information. You actually have to apply it.

You’re not going to lose 30 pounds overnight any more than you’re going to become a millionaire overnight. But if you have a purpose (or a goal), put forth persistent and consistent effort to achieve it, and track your progress, you will eventually reach your goal. Simple as that.

So who’s got any advice for handling these nimrods at the gym?

P.S. I’m not dead and I haven’t abandoned my business…actually quite the opposite…but I’ve moved in a slightly different direction for now which I’m not getting into at this point (maybe later) and that’s why I haven’t been posting for a few weeks.

Tags: Websites, Blogs

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The same concept applies to an information business. The Internet might be a great new media enabling you to literally reach the world instantly…but at the end of the day it’s just another media, another way to generate leads or make sales. The fundamentals of building a successful information marketing business have not changed.

The media used has changed over time (direct mail to telemarketing to fax to email) and new obstacles emerge over time like the lists of people who don’t want calls from telemarketers, don’t want broadcast faxes, don’t want “junk” mail delivered by the postman, and soon probably a list of people who don’t want “junk” email delivered to their electronic inbox. The playing field changes constantly but the fundamentals do not.

So what are the fundamentals? Well, you need a widget to sell (or to give away if you’re using a two-step process). Then you need traffic. You could use PPC, SEO, banner ads, etc. but traffic is essential because if nobody visits your “virtual store” then you won’t sell any widgets.

Third you need to convert the traffic into leads and/or sales. What good is all that traffic if nobody buys a widget? Conversion hinges on copywriting aka “words that sell.” That’s a broad topic but it involves an attention-grabbing headline, an irrestible offer, and often a guarantee that takes the risk out of buying. There’s a lot more to it than that but that’s a good start.

There’s more to conversion than copywriting though. The only way you’ll know which sales letter or lead-generation ad (aka “squeeze page”) is most effective is to test and track the results. Test headlines, prices, offers, bonuses, etc. to see which combination of variables produces the best results. You can use a free tool like Google Website Optimizer for testing. If you’re not testing and constantly trying to beat the “control” then you’re making a mistake.

Finally, you don’t want to find a customer to make a sale. That’s a short-term strategy. A better strategy is to make sale to find a customer. Then you can maximize the lifetime value of that customer by offering other products and services through upsells, cross-sells, etc. It’s exponentially easier to make another sale to an already satisfied customer who’s already predisposed to buying from you than it is to constantly be looking for new customers who don’t know you and have no previous relationship with you.

If you want more detailed information on the fundamentals, check out Jim Straw’s Power Tools for Entrepreneurs. Jim has been making money offline (and now online) probably since before Ben Hogan figured out the “modern” fundamentals of golf…so I’d say Jim is well-versed in the modern fundamentals of making money.

Tags: Domain Names, Testing & Tracking

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Christine has accomplished quite a bit so far in life.  She ran away from home at 16 to become a model in New York City.  Six months later she talked her way into college without a high school diploma.  She didn’t care for either fashion runways or college so she became a Bhuddist monk.  At 24 she broke her vows.  At the age of 25 she got a job with Microsoft despite the lack of a college degree. At 27 she decided to become a millionaire.  Ten years later she had made over $10 million and consulted to 700 companies in the Fortune 1000.  And she retired at 40.  I’d say all that qualifies her to write the rules for renegades.  What do you think?

Remember, she doesn’t even have a high school diploma proving once again that formal education is over-rated.  She says an MBA is optional, but a GSD is essential.  GSD stands for “gets stuff done.”

She started her first company on the spur of the moment while she was a contractor at Microsoft.  Something happened such that Microsoft could no longer pay them directly so 300 contractors were called into a big meeting to announce the change and encourage the contractors to become employees of Volt Technical Services who would then pay the contractors (forgive me if the details are not exactly correct but that’s the basic idea…it had something to do with taxes).

Of course Volt takes a percentage off the top of all the contractor’s wages and makes a killing.  Quickly doing the math (as Christine did), if Volt makes $10/hour for each contractor, they make $3,000/hour (300 contractors x $10/hour) which is $24,000/day assuming an 8 hour day and $120,000/week.  And all they really have to do is handle the payroll & tax withholding.  How hard can that be?  Not much work for $120,000 per week.

Christine realized this, recognized an opportunity, and more importantly quickly acted upon it.  She stood up in the middle of the meeting and announced she had a company providing the same service and would take a smaller percentage of the contractor’s earnings than Volt.

She had no idea how she was going to accomplish any of this, but she would figure it out as she went along.  After the meeting she passed out her email address, made a phone call to register a corporation, rented office space, and outsourced the payroll to another company.  By the end of the next day she had 35 employees.  Her plan was to take 5% less than Volt.  So if she made $9.50/hour for 35 contractors that’s a bit less than $350/hour, $2,800/day, $14,000/week, and $900,000/year.  She created a business on pace to gross nearly $1 million/year in little more than 24 hours.  Not bad.  Sounds like a classic reptile brain.

That little excerpt is from the first 10 pages of the book.  There’s plenty more and like I said I haven’t even finished the book yet.  I recommend you read it.  You’re bound to get some good ideas.

Tags: Monetization, Domain Names

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“Robert, this is one of the best guides to getting more traffic and general SEO that I have received. Fred has a great site, and the advice he gives is top-notch. You did a great interview. I encourage all to get this - it really cuts through the ‘hype’ of SEO and traffic issues.”

If you need more proof, read the post Fred made last week: SEO: #1 & #2

In this intervew, Fred & I cut though all the crap and tell you in plain English how we rank #1 & #2 in the most popular search engine for this highly-competitive search term. You can do it too. All you need to do is follow the simple plan we share in the interview.

Click Here to Download the SEO Interview

Tags: Video Products, Traffic

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Over the weekend I read Broken Windows, Broken Business by Michael Levine. The title is based on the Rudy Giuliani’s clean up of New York City when he was mayor in the 1990s. In a nutshell, the theory is that if there are broken windows in the buildings of a neighborhood, it sends a message of tolerance. And if the broken windows ar not cleaned up quickly, the neighborhood will decay and more serious and violent crimes will become commonplace.

It all starts with a single “broken window.” Giuliani and the NYC police chief implemented a strict “zero tolerance” policy on crime. Even simple things like jaywalking were not tolerated. Many ridiculed the policy and said it would never work but within a few years, the violent crime rate in NYC had dropped dramatically. Giuliani’s policy was widely praised for this success. (The authors of Freakonomics attribute another factor the drop in violent crime but that’s not the point here.)

Levine argues that the “broken windows” theory applies to any business too. He cites several examples of companies, like K-Mart & American Airlines, that tanked as a result of “Broken Windows Hubris” which means they failed to address (or in some cases even recognize) the broken windows in their businesses.

This is not only about large, behemoth corporations. The author cites bad customer service as the “ultimate broken window.” And that applies to an Internet or Information Business too. Levine talks about expectations vs. realities. Any customer of your business has certain expectations…most of them reasonable and some not so reasonable. But if you fail to at least meet those expectations, your business is headed for disaster. That means in some cases employees or you (if you do your own customer service) can be the biggest “broken window.”

There’s even an entire chapter dedicated to the Internet. Of course simple things like broken links are considered “broken windows” but on a larger scale a website might be the first (and only) exposure a prospect or customer has with your business. If there are “broken windows”, the likelihood of losing that prospect or customer for good are increased…and the worst part is that you probably won’t even know it. For example, if someone is looking for contact information or FAQs, they should be easy to find.

It’s a short, easy-to-read book (162 pages). I recommend you march on down to the local public library and check it out like I did.

Tags: Create Your Own Products, Success

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[Special Offer expired...you can now get the interview for $39.]

Fred’s site, PQInternet.com, has consistently ranked #1 for a highly competitive search term…and you can use his simple strategies to do the same. I know this because several of my own sites have risen to the first page of the rankings for very competitive search terms…and all I did was follow Fred’s advice.

Click Here to see Proof of our High Rankings

If you have any interest in top 10 search engine rankings in the biggest search engine (and the traffic that comes with it), you’ll want this interview because Fred & I cut through all the crap and tell you what’s important…and what’s not.

Click Here for the SEO Interview

If you follow the simple process laid out in the interview, don’t be surprised if you find your own sites ranked on the first page of the most popular search engine.

Tags: Create Your Own Products, Article Marketing

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This paragraph is written in bold type on page 248…

“Just about everybody I’ve ever met in business frequently has good ideas. CEO’s of big companies, owners of small companies, solo entrepreneurs, and my own peers in the information marketing field, like authors, speakers, conference promoters, and publishers. All these good ideas are useless and valueless until they are DONE. Compressing the time between idea & action, and between action and completion, is where all the profit is.” - Dan Kennedy

Last week I described an example of how I followed this speed imperative to create a product by interviewing Fred Black about how to rank highly in the search engines. You can read that post here: How to Create An Audio Product Practically for FREE

How many good ideas do you have that haven’t been acted upon yet? They don’t even have to be your ideas. Copywriters have huge “swipe files” full of sales letters and advertising materials written by other people. In other words, the “swipe file” is full of other people’s ideas. Ideas that can be “swiped” and used again in your own sales letters. Please note: I said “swiped” not plagiarized. It’s not very difficult to see a good idea and figure out a way to alter it a bit or add your own unique twist to make it apply to your situation.

I can think of several recent examples of where I’ve done this myself. Another good idea is to keep your eye on what known-successful people do and follow or “swipe” their example. Last month I saw another marketer having a sale based on tax stimulus rebate checks so I had an Internet Business Stimulus sale. Last week, I got a message from someone offering a discount on their information product through Father’s Day and I decided that was a good reason for me to have sale too. Incidentally, neither of these people is in the “make money online” market but their ideas can easily be applied.

Back to the Father’s Day Sale. Having bought in to “the speed imperative,” I immediately announced a Father’s Day Sale of my own, constructed several offers, wrote up a sales page, and launched. It all took less than 24 hours. However, in my haste, I didn’t realize Father’s Day was June 15th, not June 8th. Heck I just figured somebody else was having a week-long Father’s Day Sale but apparently it’s two weeks long.

Friday morning I was talking to a married friend with children and asked her if she had any plans for Father’s Day. She informed me that Father’s Day was not in 2 days as I thought but the following Sunday. Whoops! So I made a mistake. So what? Big deal. Shoot me. I’ve made lots of mistakes in the past and I’ll make more mistakes in the future. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying new things and you’re not learning. Yes, I realize it would have taken about 5 seconds to figure out Father’s Day was the 15th and not the 8th…but oh well, lesson learned. It’s commonly said that an expert is someone who’s made all the possible mistakes in a certain field. I’m getting there.

Fear stops many people from being as successful as they could be. It stopped me for many years. I might still have a slight fear of failure but I’ve gotten over it for the most part. Most mistakes are easily fixed. I changed my Father’s Day Sale into a Pre-Father’s Day Sale [Special Offer Expired] and since I screwed up, I’m extending until midnight tonight. I bet few people even remember this mistake in a few days or a few weeks. I’m not dead. I’m not injured. I’m not embarrassed. I’m laughing at myself. It’s not a big deal. I’m over it.

Remember: “Compressing the time between idea & action, and between action and completion, is where all the profit is.”

Do you have an idea about starting an Internet business? If so, you have a good idea but it’s a useless idea until it’s done. If you’re ready to compress the time between idea & action, and between action & completion, click here [Special Offer Expired, Link Removed] to discover tools & information that will help you get started today with: Product Creation, Link Building, Webmaster Basics, & Internet Business Basics.

These tools will be available after today but they’re only deeply discounted until midnight tonight. Why not get started now? That’s where all the profit is.

Tags: Article Marketing, Blogs

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So I made a mistake. So what? Big deal. Shoot me. I’ve made lots of mistakes in the past and I have no fear of making more mistakes in the future. Why? Because if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying new things and you’re not learning. It’s commonly said that an expert is someone who’s made all the possible mistakes in a certain field. I’m getting there.

I’ll have more to say about this on Monday…but for now all I can do is change the Father’s Day Sale into a Pre-Father’s Day Sale [Special Offer Expired] and extend it until Monday at midnight.

You now have an extra day to take advantage of useful tools & information on:

Creating Information Products

- How to Create Your Own Profitable Online Video Courses & DVDs & Choose Slam Dunk Markets

Building Links to Your Sites

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Internet Business Basics

- It’s Like a 2-Day Seminar on How to Run a Successful Internet Business…at a Fraction of the Cost

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Invest in any of the above and you’ll get my recent SEO interview with Fred Black. It’s 2 hours & 6 minutes of two guys who’ve figured out how to rank in the top 10 of the search engine rankings for highly competitive search terms. We cut through all the crap and tell you what’s important and how we did it.

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Tags: Create Your Own Products, Domain Names

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