The Newsletter is Online

Posted by in Uncategorized 0 comments

Click here to read
In this newsletter:
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1. A blog contest to kick off 2011
2. Meet the “Auction Cash Cowboy”
3. Quick tips:
   – Paypal and the IRS
   – Offer an “over the top” refund policy
   – I’d like ot hear your story

What are your 2011 plans? What did you learn in 2010?

Posted by in inspiration 212 comments

Use twitter? Help spread the cheer–>

In your comment I want to know:

  • what worked really well for you in 2010 (be specific or general about it if you want to protect your idea) OR
  • what your business plans are for 2011 OR
  • what you like (or don’t like) about my blog, membership sites, books or newsletter OR
  • what you’d like help with in 2011 regarding your online business efforts

Happy New Year!

To leave a comment please use the comment link at the top of this article. Be sure to check back on this blog post after the comments start rolling in. There will be some GREAT ones I promise!

The Newsletter is Online

Posted by in Uncategorized 0 comments

Click here to read
In this newsletter:
===============
1. Affiliate marketing done RIGHT
2. MY PROBLEM with “Social Media Marketing Machines”
3. Quick tips:
   – Being irrational can be very wise
   – Affiliate Summit West anyone?

Better than cash in the bank?

Posted by in Affiliate Marketing, inspiration, reputation and influence, Social Media, Traffic Generation 85 comments

Quietly over the last 10 years or so a new world currency has been introduced.

I predict…

In 2011 those that hold this new currency will thrive, while those that do not will increasingly struggle.

See if you can figure out what the new currency is…it’s a bit of a challenge I have for you.

This currency is far more powerful and available than any previous currency used by businesses or individuals ever before.

In the coming years businesses and individuals will either be rendered irrelevant by a lack of this currency, or they will thrive if they have an abundance of this currency in their possession. Numerous examples of this effect are all around us already.

Some facts about this new currency…

  • it is more stable than the dollar, the euro, the yen or gold.
  • it is invisible but easy to recognize when you see it.
  • it can’t be used to purchase anything, but those who have it lack for nothing.
  • it can be invested for nearly unimaginable returns.
  • if used incorrectly even just one time it can virtually vanish overnight.

Those possessing an adequate amount of this currency will have doors open to them regardless of how much traditional currency they do or don’t possess.

Your race, age, gender, location, and education have nothing to do with your ability to obtain this currency.

Traditional education gives you no advantage in obtaining this currency.

Traditional currencies cannot be converted into this new currency using any reliable methods.

Right now many people have a great deal of this currency but are not using it for any meaningful purpose.

Have you guessed what the new currency is yet?

After many guesses in the comments section I’m revealing what my take is on the “new currency”. Don’t read on unless you want to know my answer!

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The currency, if you haven’t figured it out yet, is “influence”.

Why is “influence” going to be such a big deal from now on?

It’s a world where a 10-year-old like my son has a YouTube account with videos that have over 100,000 viewers, and where college students have followings of millions of fans because of some simple software concept they launched from their dorm room. It’s an economy that allows tiny niche market experts to have thousands of readers because they write words that appeal to their eager fan base spread around the world.

In all cases these “influential” people have a stockpile of currency that could carefully be converted at any point in two real “money”, but even real money can’t get them the full benefit of the currency they now hold.

Take craigslist.com for example. It’s one of the most visited websites on the planet, it’s not pretty by any means, and there’s no charge to use it for 99% of users. Craigslist has been valued as being worth billions of dollars, but they’ve chosen not to sell and not to accept advertising (for now). Is this crazy? Are they just holding out? Or is it just that they understand something about the stability of the new currency called “influence”?

Craigslist has a massive mailing list of loyal followers that they could use to move virtual mountains if they so chose to. Is that better than having money? In an age when virtually all currency is unstable I’d say that it is worth holding on to.

How can you tap into this “new currency”?

If you aren’t in the habit of “creating content” you need to start doing it. All influential success stories start with audio, video, or written content on a topic that has appeal to their target audience. Content can be ebooks, articles, blog posts, useful or helpful facebook posts or twitter posts etc.

While you are creating your content on your blog, website, youtube, facebook etc. keep one rule in mind. Give people more than they expect and then give some more before you ever ask for anything in return.

Online the “influential” will increasingly be those that are best at “giving” more than they take while earning loyalty. If you can do that there will be no need to “spread the word” because your audience will do that for you…and your “new currency” net worth will explode.

One way to establish influence QUICKLY is to partner with other influential people in a win/win/win way. Make sure you make them look good, and help out their audience while also expanding your email list. For example, I’ve had people GIVE me 100% original special reports (very well written an informational) about topics of interest to my readers. This report had my name on the cover as the author and all they asked was that I give (or sell) the report to my mailing list. In exchange they have a reference to their blog or mailing list inside the report. That’s an example of a win/win/win that grows the influence of someone seeking more of it.

In order to tap into your influence potential you’ll need a way to communicate with your following. This is best done via email, but growing your connections via SMS (text), facebook fan pages, traditional addresses, twitter, etc. will all remain important in measuring the extent of your influence.

Those of you that guessed “time”: This is a very creative guess, but we all have a limited amount of that resource in order to do what we’ve been put here to do!

Those of you that guessed “relationships”: I like this guess, but the term “influence” hits the nail on the head a bit better.

Thanks for the creative cooperation guys -lots of great answers! By no means is this anything other than MY OPINION and an attempt to let you in on the way I think, but there are some GREAT ANSWERS below. I’m floored by the response really. Check out the comments!

Do I Love or Hate Affiliate Marketing?

Posted by in Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing tips 19 comments

I need to clear some things up.

There seems to be a conflict in my recent messages about affiliate marketing.

On the one hand…

I use affiliate marketing in my own business to endorse products that I believe in. This means that occasionally I get paid a commission on products that I endorse on my blog or in my newsletters (I ONLY endorse what I fully believe in – that’s how I protect my reputation). I don’t accept advertising EVER.

… but at the same time I’m writing articles like these in recent weeks:

How can I seemingly LOVE and HATE affiliate marketing at the same time?
To make matters even more confusing for you there’s the fact that I earned a good portion of my income last year finishing in the top 5 (total sales) in several affiliate marketing promotions (that’s just good ol’ fashioned full disclosure).

Am I contradicting myself?

YES I AM…unless you know a couple of important facts!

Once you’ve been “educated” you’ll find out that I’m being 100% consistent with my message and there is ZERO conflict.

I’ll explain:

There are TWO entirely different approaches to affiliate marketing (there’s only one term that covers both though unfortunately).  Here are the differences:

  1. I don’t like “Stranger Danger Affiliate Marketing”:  This form of affiliate marketing is getting HARDER to do all the time with fewer and fewer true success stories. This is the dying strategy of driving random traffic to thin SEO optimized pages that contain affiliate links.  More and more “experts” are getting out of this game (while eager newbies keep falling into the trap of thinking it’s “easy” and they keep buying the courses and training from often unscrupulous “experts”)
  2. I LOVE “Relationship Based Affiliate Marketing”: This is the other affiliate marketing strategy that is GROWING in popularity and the results are there to prove it for those doing it. Protecting your reputation and genuinely caring for people are at the heart of success in this model.

If you are trying to earn money from RANDOM TRAFFIC without building relationships (approach #1) I think you are playing a TOUGH GAME that will only get harder and harder over time.  Strangers are easily replaced. There’s not such thing as “proven” SEO strategies that will work indefinitely. Google doesn’t even really like you in my opinion!

If, on the other hand you are GROWING YOUR OWN CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE and providing valuable content to an increasingly loyal and expanding audience (approach #2), then you are in affiliate marketing heaven (that’s where I am currently).

This audio explains the difference if you’d rather “hear” your lesson instead of “read” it:

Please leave a comment or your questions by clicking the comment button at the top of this article.

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