Social Media Marketing 101

Social Media Marketing System Costs; pt 5

2009-02-25T13:15:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: Social Media Marketing System,Brian Campbell,John Chow,business strategy,hidden costs,credibility,niche,product,marketing strategy,spam,store front,hosting services,domain,credit cards

Over the past four articles we reviewed Brian Campbell’s path to making $10,000 in just a few weeks, how he created buzz with a review by John Chow, how the buzz grew at virally to unimagined proportions, how the Social Media Marketing System was borne, and now, lets hit the bottom line. How much are the hidden expenses of an online business?

The answer to that question depends on your business strategy. What do you want to achieve? How fast? How will you go about it? What tools do you need? Lets start with something simple, you need:

a. Credentials…

1. Your credibility depends on what you have being doing up until now. If the only thing you have on your website, or profile are pictures of last weekend party, and of you throwing up, you have a hard road ahead of you. We will discus how to go about fixing your persona on another article.

b. Niche…

1. You need to specialize in a particular area. Otherwise, you will be a Jack of all trades and master of none. It is ok to refine your target as you go, but you will need to know sooner than later if you want to go about creating a site about education, golf, party, science, archeology, politics, or what.

c. Product…

1. Will you be selling a service, or a tangible product? Will it be golf clubs, memberships to a club, information, an e book, coaching… You need to know this because you should be able to see how much your product cost to produce, fixed expenses like storage, shipping, postage, handling, etc…

d. Marketing strategy…

1. Will you use word of mouth? Will you buy advertising? Do you have the know how to do everything yourself or will you need coaching? How will you create buzz? Do you want to find a joint venture partner and pay him or her to create the buzz for you? Will you do radio or TV? Magazine ads perhaps? Do you own a list of potential customers? Remember that spamming is against the law. My best suggestion is to get a list of double opt in leads. You will need an auto responder. I suggest Aweber.com.

e. Store front…

1. Many Internet Hosting Services will provide you with a store front, and will help you set up a business account somewhere. As you grow, Pay Pal will not be enough. You will need to be able to accept credit cards. Your store front can be your website. Will you have a blog (highly recommended). This cost money. You will need a domain name or several, be ready to pay at least a year in advance. It will be cheaper, and you will be able to snatch the domain name that you like right away. If you don’t, many domain providers will keep the information or the proposed name and if you do not buy it, next time that you go and check, the domain will be unavailable unless you pay a hefty premium.

What have I forgotten? Let me know and give us your opinions… What are your questions?

Remember to…

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2. Of course, make sure to share this advise with your friends via Digg, Stumble, Face Book, or your favorite social networks.

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2008-12-28T16:41:00.001-07:00

"Relationships are like a book, in that they are for learning."

2008-12-27T10:40:00.001-07:00

"Savor the wanting as much as the having."

2008-12-26T11:47:00.001-07:00

As we count down to a new year, let's remember the blessings we have received, and continue to keep our faith, and make 2009 our best year ever.

Social Media Marketing System; pt 4

2008-12-25T22:48:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: Social Media Marketing System,Social Media Marketing 101,Social Media,Brian Campbell,marketer,military leadership,search and rescue,hidden costs,buzz

Social Media Marketing 101

Somehow, Brian came up with the Social Media Marketing System, and opened a membership plan where if you were among the first bunch, you could join in and receive personal training from Brian himself. There were three levels, bronze, silver, and gold. I joined in as a Bronze Member and quickly upgraded to Silver.

Brian’s teachings were eye opening, and I do not regret joining. His group of marketers are at the cutting edge of Social Media Marketing, and his teachings are first rate.

The bottom line is simple, there is no amount of instruction that you can get that will make you successful, if you do not implement those principles.

Ooops, I forgot, Brian had no trouble whatsoever making the $10,000.00. He later on gave them to John Chow in a public ceremony.

Our Social Media Marketing 101 continues to grow and it is a forum to present business opportunities…

I enjoy passing along what I have learned from Brian, through 22 years of military leadership and experience, through 8 years of search and rescue experience, and a few other endeavors that have opened my eyes and helped make me successful.

On the first article of this series, I promised that we were going to analyze:

a. Brian’s technique to make $10,000 in a few weeks using FaceBook. We did that.

b. Hidden costs. That will be the topic for the next and last article.

c. Tools. Will be discussed on the next article.

d. Buzz. You read how the buzz spread, starting with John Chow’s Article, and through all of us who followed Brian’s path to success.

By now, you know the drill:

2. Of course, make sure to share this advise with your friends via Digg, Stumble, Face Book, or your favorite social networks.

3. Do subscribe to our Newsletter.

4. And, remember to subscribe to our blog’s feed.

5. Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

6. Recommend this blog to your friends…

2008-12-23T23:48:00.001-07:00

"Determine where you are going and how you will get there will become obvious."

Viral Buzz; pt 3

2008-12-22T19:11:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: buzz,Brian Campbell's goal,FaceBook,faceBook profile,john chow dot com,Pied Piper,YouTube videos,friends

I started this series of postings with “The Road to $10,000.00 in 37 days”. And, just yesterday I posted the second part of the series called: “The John Chow Review, Buzz”. Today, we will continue with the “Viral Buzz”.

What do you think happened when the millions of people that read and subscribe to John Chow dot Com read John’s review about Brian Campbell’s goal of making $10,000 in a few weeks using FaceBook?

On the words of John, “when someone says that he is going to make $10,000 in ___ weeks, he either makes it or don’t…” so, the seed of curiosity is planted. The buzz has started. John also published Brian’s FaceBook profile name so we could add him as our friend…

To be honest, I did not owned a FaceBook account, and really was not that much curious about Social Media either. But, I had to see if Brian was going to succeed.

I started my FaceBook account and added Brian as my friend. He was explaining step by step what he was doing… and was asking us to imitate him… so, what could we loose, I started adding friends too. Quickly, I had a few hundred like minded friends who were watching Brian, and, like the Pied Piper, he was leading us. He started the P.R.I.S.M. group, and asked us to join, we did. He started making YouTube videos, and we watched. He asked us to post our ideas and opinions on his group wall, and, since we were actually learning by doing, and following his example, we complied. His wall had hundreds of comments, and we were excited that our personal friends number was growing by leaps and bounds. Soon I had 500 friends.

I met great marketers. I made great friends from almost every Nation in the world. All of us with a goal, watch and see if Brian was going to make it.

Brian taught us the value of cultivating friendships. He told us to make sure and we shared our knowledge. He also asked us to start our own groups on FaceBook, while following his example, and he instructed us to pass along the knowledge that he was giving us for free.

By doing this, by creating groups, and by spreading the knowledge that we had recently acquired, we learned even more, and we established our credibility.

Brian’s groups promptly multiplied, and he quickly reached the magic number of 5000 friends, the maximum you can get on FaceBook.

He told us to listen when FaceBook displayed it’s dreaded warning labels. And soon, we all were learning not only from Brian, but from each other’s experience.

In a month, I reached over 1000 friends, and my group reached 500, not as exciting as 5000 friends and 1500 group members, but I was learning…

By now, tens of thousands of people were following Brian, watching his videos, and asking for more…

Please, remember to:

2. Of course, make sure to share this advise with your friends via Digg, Stumble, Face Book, or your favorite social networks.

3. Do subscribe to our Newsletter.

4. And, remember to subscribe to our blog’s feed.

5. Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

6. Recommend this blog to your friends…

2008-12-22T16:59:00.001-07:00

"Your body will produce what your mind believes."

The John Chow Review, Buzz; pt 2

2008-12-21T05:31:00.002-07:00

Technorati Tags: John Chow dot Coma,Entrepreneur Magazine,niche,develop a reputation,internet presence,Brian Campbell's story,entrepreneur,FaceBook,making money online

This is part two of the "Road to $10,000" saga.

I came across John Chow dot Com via Entrepreneur Magazine. John had been in business for a while and started by reviewing gadgets on his website. This was in the early days of the web 2.0 revolution, or the turn of the century. John once wrote that he wanted to have a place where he could just post his rants and opinions, John Chow dot Com was born.

How does all of this translate so far?

a. John became an expert in his field or niche (gadgets review). He develop credibility.

b. Because he developed a reputation, he develop a following.

c. He had a website, and an Internet presence.

d. He started his blog. His audience followed him.

e. I am not sure if it was here, but he became a millionaire, and became famous.

f. He published Brian Campbell’s story.

Who was Brian Campbell?

Brian Campbell was an entrepreneur who became successful selling investment information online. By his own admission, he made several million dollars from his previous presence online. Then, he semi retired.

Somehow, he came up with his next marketing idea. He was going to make $10,000 in a few weeks using FaceBook. Let’s dissect this proposition:

a. FaceBook has millions of users.

b. The idea of making money online attracts people.

c. What if you could help lots of people to make money at zero or nearly zero cost? ANSWER: You can make a lot of money as a result of helping others.

d. How can you achieve this?

Tomorrow, we will continue the $10,000.00 saga…

Remember to:

2. Of course, make sure to share this advise with your friends via Digg, Stumble, Face Book, or your favorite social networks.

3. Do subscribe to our Newsletter.

4. And, remember to subscribe to our blog’s feed.

5. Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

6. Recommend this blog to your friends…

2008-12-21T05:12:00.001-07:00

"Nothing has any power except the power that you give it."

2008-12-20T10:01:00.001-07:00

"Everything begins in thought and the reality is only our interpretation of the situation."

The road to $10,000.00 in 37 days; part 1

2008-12-18T19:45:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: SEO,keywords,tags: Recession,meta tags,links,pay per click,ads,link baiting,traffic grneration,Black hat SEO,White hat SEO,stuffed cookies,spider friendly,copywriting,advertising,marketing campaign,adsense,adwords,make money online,John Chow,Brian Campbell,FaceBook,hidden costs,Buzz

SEO says:

You need: keywords, tags, meta tags, links coming in, links going out, pay per click, ads, link baiting, traffic generation, …

Black Hat SEO says you need:

Stuffed cookies, blog generating software, ip rotating software, and a bunch of other junk…

They both say that you should write in a spider friendly way, while continuing to write in such a way that your reader understand and is interested in what you are saying.

I have read more e-books on link baiting, traffic generation, stuffed cookies, stuffed turkeys, content writing, copywriting, advertising, pay per click, adsense, adworks, … than I really care to remember.

And after the smoke cleared from between my ears, I can tell you that yes, you can make money online, but it will not be easy.

Take for example the great John Chow… I read an interview in Entrepreneur Magazine that highlighted his multimillion dollar empire based on blogging. John is a good guy… he wrote a free e book and tells us how to do succeed. Great advice, I have read his book, twice.

He wrote a column about a guy named Brian Campbell. Brian was going to prove that he could make $10,000? In a few weeks using FaceBook. Well, he did, and gave the $10,000 to John Chow as a gesture of appreciation. He did more than that, he did $25,171 in 21 days.

So, let’s analyze this great example of marketing genius here…

By the beginning of next week, we should have covered:

a. Brian’s technique to make $10,000 in a few weeks using FaceBook.

b. Hidden costs.

c. Tools.

d. Buzz.

Ready? Let’s do this…

Don’t forget…

2. Of course, make sure to share this advise with your friends via Digg, Stumble, Face Book, or your favorite social networks.

3. Do subscribe to our Newsletter.

4. And, remember to subscribe to our blog’s feed.

5. Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

6. Recommend this blog to your friends…

SEO Glossary…

2008-12-15T15:14:00.002-07:00

Technorati Tags: Absolute link,AdSense,AdWords,AJAX,Algorithm,Alt Tags,Anchor Text,Back links,Black hat SEO,Blog,click-down ad,click-within Ad,clickthrough,cloaking,cookie,cost per action,CPA,cost per click,CPC,CTR,Click Through Rate,Key Phrase,Keywords,keyword density,keyword stuffing,keyword rich,landing page,link baiting,link building,link farm,link spam,meta description,meta keywords,meta tag stuffing,meta tags,PageRank,PR,Pay for performance,pay per click,PPC,Pay per post,PPP,SEO,Search Engine Optimization,SERP,Search Engine Results Page,SPAM,SPAMGLISH,Spamming,Spider friendly,Spider,Splash Page,Syndication

Definitions courtesy of: http://www.seoglossary.com/

Absolute Link
<a href="http://www.netconcepts.com">www.netconcepts.com</a>
The above is an example of an Absolute Link.
It specifies a
- transfer protocol
- domain name
- and often a file name
AdSense
Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website's content pages and earn money. Because the ads are related to what your visitors are looking for on your site — or matched to the characteristics and interests of the visitors your content attracts — you'll finally have a way to both monetize and enhance your content pages.
AdWords
Google's CPC (Cost Per Click) based text advertising. AdWords takes clickthrough rate into consideration in addition to advertiser?s bid to determine the ad?s relative position within the paid search results. Google applies such a weighting factor in order to feature those paid search results that more popular and thus presumably more relevant and useful. Google has also started taking into account the quality of the landing page and applying a quality score to the landing pages.
AJAX
Asynchronous JavaScript And XML
Allows you to create a more user-friendly web application by working behind the scenes (inside a web browser) by making web pages feel more responsive.
In short, it allows JavaScript scripts to send data requests and receive responses without having to reload the entire page.
Algorithm
An algorithm is an operational programming rule that determine how a search engine indexes content and displays the results to its users.
Alt tags
Alt tags alternate text associated with a web page graphic that gets displayed when the Internet user hovers the mouse over the graphic. Alt tags should convey what the graphic is for or about and contain good relevant keywords. Alt tags also make web pages more accessible to the disabled. For example, a vision-impaired user may have a web browser that reads aloud the text and alt tags on a page. (For those familiar with HTML, "alt" isn't actually a tag by itself but an attribute to the "img" tag.). Note that the value of Alt tags for SEO have been discounted over time by the search engines to the point that now it is of minimal value.
Anchor text
Anchor text is the actual text part of a link (usually underlined). Used by search engines as an important ranking factor. Google pays particular attention to the text used in a hyperlink and associates the keywords contained in the anchor text to the page being linked to. Also see "Google bombing."
Back links
Back links are inbound links pointing to a web page.
Black Hat SEO
Black Hat SEO is sometimes called spamdexing (the opposite of White Hat SEO). Black Hat SEO can be any optimization tactics that cause a site to rank more highly than its content would otherwise justify or any changes made specifically for search engines that don’t improve the user’s experience of the site. In other words, Black Hat SEO is optimizations that are against search engine guidelines. If you step too far over the mark, your site may be penalized or even removed from the index.
Blog
Also known as a "weblog". An online diary with entries made on a regular if not daily basis. Some blogs are maintained by an anonymous author who uses a nickname or handle instead of his or her real name.
Click-down Ad or Click-within Ad
An ad that allows the user to stay on the same web page, while viewing requested advertising content. Click-downs display another file on the user's screen, normally below or above the initial ad.
Click-withins allow the user to drill down for more information within the ad.
Clickthrough
The action of clicking an ad element and causing a redirect to another web page.
Cloaking
serving different content to search engine spiders than to human visitors. Cloaking is basically a "bait and switch" tactic, where the web server feeds visiting spiders content that is keyword-rich, thus fooling the search engine into placing that page higher in the search results. Yet when the visitor clicks on the link they are given different content, which may be totally unrelated. Search engines frown upon this practice and some will penalize or ban sites that they catch doing it.
Cookie
information placed on a visitor's computer by a web server. While the web site is being accessed, data in the visitor's cookie file can be stored or retrieved. Mostly cookies are used as unique identifiers (i.e. user IDs or session IDs) to isolate a visitor's movements from others' during that visit and subsequent visits. Other data that may get stored in a cookie include an order number, email address, referring advertiser, etc.
Cost Per Action (CPA)
the cost incurred or price paid for a specific action, such as signing up for an email newsletter, entering a contest, registering on the site, completing a survey, downloading trial software, printing a coupon, etc.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
the cost incurred or price paid for a clickthrough to your landing page.
CTR - Click Through Rate
Click Through Rate is a measure of the number of clicks received from the number of ad impressions delivered.
The formula to calculate CTR is:
“number of clicks” / “number of ad impressions” x 100
Key phrase (or keyword phrase)
a search phrase made up of keywords. See "keyword."
Keyword
a word that a search engine user might use to find relevant web page(s). If a keyword doesn't appear anywhere in the text of your web page, it's highly unlikely your page will appear in the search results (unless of course you have bid on that keyword in a pay-per-click search engine).
Keyword density
the number of occurrences that a given keyword appears on a web page. The more times that a given word appears on your page (within reason), the more weight that word is assigned by the search engine when that word matches a keyword search done by a search
Keyword stuffing
Placing excessive amounts of keywords into the page copy and the HTML in such a way that it detracts from the readability and usability of a given page for the purpose of boosting the page's rankings in the search engines. This includes hiding keywords on the page by making the text the same color as the background, hiding keywords in comment tags, overfilling alt tags with long strings of keywords, etc. Keyword stuffing is just another shady way of gaming the search engines and, as such, its use should be strongly discouraged.
Keyword-rich
when a given page or bit of text is chock full of good keywords rather than a bunch of meaningless words (e.g. "welcome", "click here") or irrelevant words (e.g. "solution").
Landing Page
The landing page is a web page where people go to once they click on an online advertisement or natural search listing.
Link bait
Useful or entertaining web content which compels users to link to it.
Link building
Requesting links from webmasters of other sites for the purpose of increasing your "link popularity" and/or "PageRank."
Link farm
A link farm is a group of highly interlinked websites with the purposes of inflating link popularity (or PR). A link farm is a form of spamdexing, spamming the index of a search engine.
Link spam
Links between pages that are specifically set up to take advantage of link-based ranking algorithms such as Google's PageRank (PR).
Meta description
a meta tag hidden in the HTML that describes the page's content. Should be relatively short; around 12 to 20 words is suggested. The meta description provides an opportunity to influence how your Web page is described in the search results, but it will not improve your search rankings. Make sure your meta description reflects the page content or you may be accused of spamming.
Meta keywords
a meta tag hidden in the HTML that lists keywords relevant to the page's content. Because search engine spammers have abused this tag so much, this tag provides little to no benefit to your search rankings. Of the major search engines, only Yahoo! still pays any attention to the meta keywords tag.
Meta tag stuffing
Repeating keywords in the meta tags and using meta keywords that are unrelated to the site's content.
Meta tags
Meta-information (information about information) that is associated with a web page and placed in the HTML but not displayed on the page for the user to see. There are a range of meta tags, only a few of which are relevant to search engine spiders. Two of the most well-known meta tags are the meta description and meta keywords; unfortunately these are ignored by most major search engines, including Google.
PageRank (PR)
Google uses a weighted form of link popularity called PageRank™. Not all links are created equal. Google differentiates a link from an important site (such as CNN.com) as being better than a link from Jim-Bob's personal home page. The Google Toolbar (which is a free download from http://toolbar.google.com) has a PageRank meter built into it, to see which web pages are considered important by Google and which aren't. PageRank scoring ranges from 0 to 10, 10 being the best. PageRank scores get exponentially harder to achieve the closer to 10 they are. For example, increasing your own homepage's PageRank from a 2 to 3 is easy with not a lot of additional links, jumping from a 7 to an 8 is very difficult to achieve. The higher the PageRank of the page that's linking to you, the more your site's PageRank will benefit. The better your PageRank, the better you'll do in Google, all else being equal.
Pay-for-performance
a pricing model based on delivering sales or something else that can be directly attributed to the bottom line. Contrast this with traditional banner advertising which is based on impressions, a chunk of which come from people you have no desire or ability to do business with.
Pay-per-click (PPC)
a pay-for-performance pricing model where advertising (such as banners or paid search engine listings) is priced based on number of clickthroughs rather than impressions or other criteria. Overture is an example of a search engine which charges advertisers on a pay-per-click basis.
Pay-per-post (PPP)
A website designed to help content creators such as bloggers find advertisers willing to sponsor specific content.
SEO
acronym for "search engine optimization" and/or "search engine optimizer."
SERP
An acronym for Search Engine Results Page.
Spam
Manipulation techniques that violate search engines.
Spamglish
keyword-rich gibberish used as search engine fodder instead of thoughtfully written, interesting content. Spamglish often includes meaningless sentences and keyword repetition.
Spamming
as in "spamming the search engines". Spamming is most commonly associated with the act of sending unsolicited commercial email, but in the context of search engine optimization, spamming refers to using disreputable tactics to achieve high search engine rankings. Such spamming tactics include bulk submitting spamglish-containing doorway pages.
Spider
Also known as a bot, robot, or crawler. Spiders are programs used by a search engine to explore the World Wide Web in an automated manner and download the HTML content (not including graphics) from web sites, strip out whatever it considers superfluous and redundant out of the HTML, and store the rest in a database (i.e. its index).
Spider trap
An infinite loop that a spider may get caught in if it explores a dynamic site where the URLs of pages keep changing. For example, a home page may have a different URL and the search engine may not be able to ascertain that it is the home page that it has already indexed but under another URL. If search engines were to completely index dynamic web sites, they would inevitably have large amounts of redundant content and download millions of pages.
Splash page
A home page that is, for the most part, devoid of content. Often times created in Flash. Splash pages usually say something to the effect of "Enter Here" or "Choose our Flash-enabled site or the HTML version". Splash pages are an annoyance to Internet users as they introduce an extra hoop that the user has to jump through before they get to any meaningful content. Splash pages are also damaging to search engine rankings. Consider that your home page is typically considered by search engines as the most important page of your site. If your home page is a content-less splash page, then it's a wasted opportunity.
Static
As in "static web page." Means that the web page was not created dynamically from a database, but instead previously created and saved as a HTML file.
Syndication
An option that allows you to extend your reach by distributing ads to additional partner sites.

Google SEO Page Rank rigged

2008-12-14T21:10:00.002-07:00

Google admitted that their Page Ranking System is rigged. That tells me that SEO’s attempting to sell expensive services to dominate master Google are mostly full of baloney.

Here is the original article:

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/12/googlewashing_revisited/

Google cranks up the Consensus Engine

Manufacturing isn't dead - it just went to Mountain View

By Andrew Orlowski (andrew.orlowski@theregister.co.uk)

Posted in Music and Media, 12th December 2008 19:38 GMT

Free Download - Comparing Data Center Batteries, Flywheels and Ultracapacitors

Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.

Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer lives on at Google News, where we are assured that:

The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program.

A few years ago, Google's apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited (http://www.internetisshit.org/2.php), and technology utopians began to herald Google as the conduit for a new form of democracy. Google was only too pleased to encourage this view. It explained that its algorithm "relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. "

That Google was impartial was one of the articles of faith. For if Google was ever to be found to be applying subjective human judgment directly on the process, it would be akin to the voting machines being rigged.

For these soothsayers of the Hive Mind, the years ahead looked prosperous. As blog-aware marketing and media consultants, they saw a lucrative future in explaining the New Emergent World Order to the uninitiated. (That part has come true - Web 2.0 "gurus" now advise large media companies).

It wasn't surprising, then, that when five years ago I described how a small, self-selected number of people could rig Google's search results (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/03/antiwar_slogan_coined_repurposed/), the reaction from the people doing the rigging was violently antagonistic. Who lifted that rock? they cried.

But what was once Googlewashing by a select few now has Google's active participation.

This week Marissa Meyer explained that editorial judgments will play a key role in Google searches. It was reported by Tech Crunch proprietor Michael Arrington - who Nick Carr called the "Madam of the Web 2.0 Brothel" - but its significance wasn't noted. The irony flew safely over his head at 30,000 feet. Arrington observed:

Mayer also talked about Google’s use of user data created by actions on Wiki search to improve search results on Google in general. For now that data is not being used to change overall search results, she said. But in the future it’s likely Google will use the data to at least make obvious changes. An example is if “thousands of people” were to knock a search result off a search page, they’d be likely to make a change.

Now what, you may be thinking, is an "obvious change"? Is it one that is frivolous? (Thereby introducing a Google Frivolitimeter™ [Beta]). Or is it one that goes against the grain of the consensus? If so, then who decides what the consensus must be? Make no mistake, Google is moving into new territory: not only making arbitrary, editorial choices - really no different to Fox News, say, or any other media organization. It's now in the business of validating and manufacturing consent: not only reporting what people say, but how you should think.

Who's hand is upon the wheel, here?

None of this would matter, if it wasn't for one other trend: a paralysing loss of confidence in media companies.

Old media is hooked on the drug that kills it

Today, the media organisations look to Google to explain what is really happening in the world. Convinced that they can't lead, the only option left is to follow. So they reflect ourselves - or more accurately, they reflect the unstinting efforts of small self-selecting pockets of activists - back at us. In the absence of editorial confidence, Google - the Monster that threatens to Eat The Media - now defines the purpose of the media. All media companies need do is "tap into the zeitgeist" - Google Zeitgeist™!

Take this example from a quality British broadsheet.

One journalist on the paper lamented that:

...it's becoming all too clear at The Telegraph, whose online business plan seems to be centred on chasing hits through Google by rehashing and rewriting stories that people are already interested in.

The digital director of the Telegraph recently suggested the newspaper could work even closer with Google... by subsuming its identity into the Ad Giant. Why couldn't The Telegraph run off a telegraph.google.com domain and allow Google to take care of all the technology? he mused (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2008/sep/18/uk).

Not all companies have the same suicidal lack of foresight as The Telegraph's resident guru - but many share the same apocalyptic conclusion.

Today, Google's cute little explanation of being "uniquely democratic" is no longer present on that page. A subtly different explanation has taken its place - one which acknowledges that in the new democracy of Web 2.0, some votes are more equal than others.

PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page's importance.

Picture culled from Google's 2006 analyst presentation

So you see, it's not rigged! How could Google "rig" a system that only reflects our finest and most noble sentiments back at us - mediated by a technocratic priesthood of unquestionable moral authority?

Google has taken Googlewashing in house. ®

Gene Chizik

2008-12-13T22:30:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: Gene Chizik,football,Auburn,Iowa,opportunity,winner

Gene Chizik

accepted Auborn’s proposal to become their new football coach. Iowa is hurt since Chizik had only coached for them two seasons. Chizik jumped to the opportunity to coach at Auborn and Jamie Pollard, Iowa State Sports Director and Chizik’s previous boss said that this is a dream job for him. Auborn however, has not confirmed the story yet, even though Associated Press put it out about 45 minutes ago.

Chizik’s impressive record of leading the Tiger’s to victory, make him a valuable commodity.

What does this teaches you?

1. Do become indispensable.

2. Keep an eye open for the next opportunity.

3. Plan your strategies and run with what works.

4. Even though we are in a recession, there is plenty of money out there for those who perform.

What else can you learn from this story?

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The Heisman trophy winner is…

2008-12-13T22:27:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: Heisman Trophy,quarterback,strategy,business strategy,winner

And the

Heisman Trophy winner is… Up until now, 6:30 P.M. nobody knows who the winner will be. There are three outstanding Quarterbacks deserving of the statue. All three have outstanding record, and have proven to be phenomenal athletes. One thing is for sure, at the end of the evening, one young man will go home happy, and two will go home sad.

I always taught my children that life is not fair, it does not have to be. Life gives you what you put into it. These three young men have put their hearts on the line, but at the end, only one of them can have the trophy.

The other two can have the satisfaction of giving it their best shot, and maybe, next season, they can win it.

In business, you do all you can to succeed. The bottom line is that you have to show the grit, the determination, the smarts, and the capability to draw a winning strategy if you want to come on ahead of the game. Your ability to create a winning business strategy will make the difference between the winners, and the also ran…

Update: Sam Bradford, from the University of OK, received the honor.

What are your thoughts?

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Internet Marketing Fundamentals

2008-12-11T18:44:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: SEO,PPC advertising,email marketing,your blog,and online press,social media marketing,marketing,internet marketing,blogs,forums,brand,time management

SEO, PPC advertising, email marketing, your blog, and online press releases are the basis of your online business..

What is a fundamental? Fundamental is defined as an essential part of something. To define internet marketing fundamentals it is important to know what is the objective of internet marketing. According to the dictionary, marketing is the process of presenting a product or service in a way that makes them desirable. So, internet marketing is the process of representing products or services in a way that makes them desirable to your customers.

How do you accomplish that?

1. Proper selling techniques. Sales letters, proper web design, relevant information about how the product fulfills the needs of the prospective customer. Adequate copy writing.

2. Ensuring that the message is seeing by prospective customers. Websites, blogs, forums, press releases, Advertising networks, social media, email campaigns, expert search engine optimization…

3. Your brand.

4. Time management.

The main problem of many internet marketers is twofold.

First, they spend too much time hanging around social media sites. This, thus becomes a full time job, and soon becomes unbearable. You get bored, and becomes a chore rather than a pleasant task. I personally dislike phones. I do because in one of my previous assignments, I was required to make two hours of phone calls 6 days a week. Cold calling, “hot leads”, tips, you name it. I did that for 3 and a half years. It became so boring to me, that I rather go to the dentist than picking up a phone. If you call my house, I will not pick up the phone.

When you spend your time in social media sites trying to push your product, unless you are a disciplined individual, you will eventually get bored, and will dread doing it. Anything fun in excess becomes tedious.

And second, since you get sidetracked by your social media extracurricular activities, you neglect the meat and potatoes of the process, which is to provide decent content, and put it in front of potential customers eyes. That, in other words, is expert search engine optimization.

Lack of discipline, lack of proper time management skills, will sink your ship before you have time to get out of the bay.

How do you tackle your internet Marketing Fundamentals?

Six more things to do now:

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Merry Christmas, Make Money Now, SEO

2008-12-08T18:52:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: Tags: Recession,holiday season,economic crisis,economic meltdown,bailout,auto industry,UAW,Senate,Congress,Make Money Now,lay away (in all its varieties),gifts,bargains,sales,electronics,birth certificate,Constitution,Christmas,Hanukah,traditions,Merry Christmas,Happy New Year,loose weight,expert search engine optimization,blog,website,Muslim,SEO,store

Recession, holiday season, Make Money Now, financial crisis, economic crisis, economic meltdown, bailout, auto industry, UAW, Senate, Congress, lay away (in all its varieties), expert search engine optimization, gifts, bargains, sales, electronics, birth certificate, Constitution, Christmas, Hanukah, traditions, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, loose weight, SEO, etc…

What do all of those words have in common? They all have being on the news lately. It is Christmas time, and for the most part, a lot of people celebrate Christmas.

I had a conversation with my wife last night, and she has been instructed by her Company to use the politically correct term “happy holidays” That expression, for many of her customers, and for me in particular, is annoying beyond belief. Think about it. Whether you believe in Christmas, Hanukah, are a Buddhist, or a Muslim, or believe in Wicca, or are an Agnostic, if I wish you Merry Christmas, I am wishing you happiness during the particular Season. I am not asking you to celebrate it with me, nor am I trying to make you a Christian, I am just expressing my wish for you to be happy. The logical answer to someone wishing you Merry Christmas, whether you believe in Christmas or not, would be a quick and polite “Thank you”, since they are wishing you happiness, unless you really want to be miserable, in which case, you are on your own…

Why did I start this article with that bunch of apparently unrelated words, and my tirade about saying “thank you” when someone Wishes you “Merry Christmas”?

You want visitors to come to your business, whether it is a physical business with tangible products, doors, walls, etc. or whether it is an online store selling services or products.

A lot of people pay millions of dollars to have someone tell them what to write, how to write it, where to place it on the internet, and how to advertise it. That is fine, I do think that if you provide a great product or service that others value, at a reasonable price, advertise it properly, and develop your brand, you will eventually succeed. Expert Search Engine Optimization is not rocket science, nor it is something that you can do the same way, following the same rules, over and over, year after year, attaining the same results.

What use to work two years ago, do not work today. What works today, might not work next year.

There is one thing that usually works in a consistent basis: common sense.

The common thread in all of those words is that they are relevant to today. Those words and many more related to them are being Goggled as we speak. So, if you use those words, and can foresee what people will be searching for in the near future, you can make money, since the search engines will present your website or blog to those who are searching for those terms that you just thought of. So, here is the bottom line:

a. Think of the words that people will be looking for on their search engines.
b. Make sure that you write blog posts targeting those topics. Make sure that you are teaching something of value, or that your opinion provides valuable information.

c. Make sure that your website, or blog, use those buzz words, and that your tags, meta tags, titles, and posts, are properly coded to reflect the words that are in the public arena now, and the ones that will be popular next week, next month, etc.

Think ahead, and you will succeed.

Bonus nugget: I came across a website while doing my research. The good people at “One Project Closer” are doing a great job at promoting sales, coupons, money saving ideas, and all together providing value to their visitors. They were even giving a $100.00 Home Depot Gift Card. So, after you finish visiting my sponsors, go visit them and take advantage of their wealth of information.

What other nuggets of wisdom can you share with us? Join the conversation…

Six more things to do now:

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7. Recommend this blog to your friends…

2008-12-07T05:39:00.001-07:00

It is early Sunday morning, time to start writing more content for blogs and groups.

Financial Crisis, Get ready Now…

2008-12-04T22:33:00.001-07:00

Technorati Tags: Financial Crisis,Economic Crisis,entrepreneur,FDIC,Budget,emergency fund,Satellite TV,alcohol,cigarettes,medical emergencies,Stock Market,investing in gold,gold

Many people all over the world are being affected by the current economic or financial crisis. Today, I want to talk a bit about how to prepare. Yes, I know, for some, it is late. That is why I wrote the previous set of articles. Today, I am talking to you, the entrepreneur that because of his or her work ethics and foresight, have been able to keep afloat, and maybe prosper in these difficult times. But I do not want to forget those who read my previous posts, and are just threading water, since this situation will come to pass, and you will see better days. When those better days get here, make sure that you don’t forget the lessons of today.

Here is a list of a few things that we need to do now:

1. Create an emergency fund. Set aside, if possible, the amount of money needed to pay our bills, and survive, for several months. Survive means: eat, dress modestly, and pay the mortgage and utilities. You might be called upon reducing your utilities bill. This might be done by reducing your Satellite TV account, or by using skype instead of regular home phone. So called experts will want you to believe that you need to have access to the amount of money needed to live without an income for six months. Consider this: if you loose your job, unless you have being proactive, you might not get another one, similar to what you were doing, for several years. But you might be living from pay check to pay check, so you will need to start by streamlining your expenses, tell your kids that the cell phone privileges will be postpone to a later date, and that the $100 sneakers will have to wait. Trim down your budget, and that extra money, put it aside until you meet your goal. Let’s face it, we have lived as well as we possibly could for years, now is time to tighten our belts, and make do with what we have. If you are not in a pinch, congratulations, remember to be grateful, and help those who have less.

2. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was created here in the United States, in the first part of the twentieth century, and up until recently, used to insure up to $100,000.00 deposits. What this means is that if you have less than $100,000.00 in the bank, you will not loose your money, as long as your financial institution is insured. If you have more than $100K, consider branching out and place your money in several different financial institutions. I am not talking about having $100K in the Denver Branch of the First National Bank, and another $100K in the Colorado Springs Branch. What I am saying is to have your money in more than one different Banks; not branches of the same Bank.

3. Establish a budget. If you can live without it, you don’t need it. No, Starbucks is not a necessity, pack your lunch at home. You will be healthier, and save a lot of money.

4. Stop dinning out.

5. Stop pedicures and manicures. You really don’t need to go to the beauty shop or the nail salon if you can do it yourself. There is no need to go out with friends on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. Alcohol is not one of the basic food groups, and neither are cigarettes.

6. Trade your expensive car for a smaller, pre owned, and fuel efficient. I know, oil is about $55.00 per barrel; but that price is this week. If the oil cartels have their way, we will be paying a lot more for gas soon. Remember the days of $125.00 per barrel? OH, yeah, it was just a few months ago… By doing this, you can drop a few hundred dollars of your monthly bills. If you just finished paying your car, do not buy another for a few years unless you really have to. Remember: want is not the same as need.

7. Lock up the credit cards. If you cannot pay cash for it, you don’t need it. Medical emergencies are an exception.

8. Keep the amount of money that you will need within the next seven to ten years out of the stock market.

9. I would consider investing in gold. Big nations are dropping their gold because they also need to pay their bills, so there is a lot of gold out awaiting to be bought.

10. Make sure that you become the company’s best asset. There will be cuts, and downsizing, just make sure that you have cross trained and can perform your job and several others too, that will put the odds in your favor, and make you valuable, the more valuable, the less possibilities of a lay off. Just because you belong to the local union does not mean that you have a steady permanent job. If your employer goes bankrupt, the union’s contract, and negotiated agreements will need to be renegotiated. Unfortunately, many union bosses are way too greedy, and are killing the Golden Geese. By forcing the hand of the employers to agree to excessive demands, they are condemning the business to bankruptcy. Yes, the company can always streamline operations, but that also means cutting down in the personnel department. Employers and Employees are in a symbiotic relationship. The one needs the other for survival, when demands are unreasonable and beyond what the employer can actually agree to, the situation becomes a parasitical relationship, and the host will end up dead. If the employees force the employer out of business, they in turn will become unemployed.

These ten suggestions can help you maintain your current status quo. However, that does not mean that you can become complacent. It means that you have the opportunity to prosper. As you do prosper, remember to make sure that you maintain a “what if” fund, and that you extend your hand to others that need help.

What did I forget? How are you preparing to navigate through this financial maelstrom? Make sure to add your comments to our blog.

* Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, nor do I dispense investment advise. These are ideas that have worked for me. Before you decide to invest, or not invest, or to pull your money out of the market, make sure that you get advise from a properly credited investment professional or financial advisor.

Six more things to do now:

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Word Press vs. Blogger, my thoughts!

2008-12-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

Technorati Tags: Blogger,Word Press,University of Puerto Rico,Seth Godin,Darren Rowse,Mike Glaspie,John Chow,Blogging,Social Media,SEO,Business Strategy,Marketing,COBOL,Fortran,payroll,entrepreneur

A respected friend, and esteemed entrepreneur ask me why I keep my blog on the Blogger platform and not on Word Press. I have to admit, that I have asked myself the same question, specially after reading so many derogatory articles by fellow bloggers and entrepreneurs.

The common wisdom is that serious entrepreneurs will not give you the time of day if you host your website or your blog on a free platform, because they think that you might not be serious or are small potatoes.

Here are my reasons for using Blogger and MSN Office Live:

1. Well, I am small potatoes when compared to Seth Godin, Darren Rowse, Mike Glaspie, John Chow, and the likes. I am still in the process of making my fist few millions of dollars, so, I cut expenses, while at the same time producing the best product I possibly can.

2. I have always liked to challenge the system. Back in 1977, my old Fortran teacher told us that you could not create a Payroll in Fortran. When asked by my Special Projects teacher at the University of Puerto Rico to program something different, I did just that, I created Payroll in Fortran. It gave me a headache, but, what the heck, I proved my teachers wrong and got an “A” for originality.

3. If at least one person has being able to do something, and succeeded, that means that someone else, with determination and smarts, can do exactly the same thing.

4. Of the five platforms that I tried, three free and two paid, I like Blogger better (call it personal preference). I would like to change a few things on my blog, but right now I am way too busy, so I enjoy the ease of use.

5. I am sharing my experience free of charge. I do not do private consulting (yet), and even though I keep a few ads on my site, I make my living from my other day jobs. So, if someone does not want to read my blog because I am on Blogger, it really does not affect my bottom line.

I have read many really awful blogs in English and Spanish. I’m talking about orthographical, and grammatical mistakes galore. Yes, I still make some of those. And, in some blogs, the writer’s train of thought and logic is hard to follow, but I have found some incredible nuggets of wisdom here and there. Whether it is on SEO, or Business Strategy, or Social Media, or Marketing, or Blogging, I read almost every blog I can find, and learn from all of them. In my opinion, those who refuse to read a blog because it is published on a free platform, are denying hemselves valuable information. So, I will continue to use blogger, and most likely will continue to use MSN Office Live to host my sites. Word Press has more plugins, but I still like Blogger.

Remember to let me know what you think, and what other topics you would like me to cover in our blog…

Six more things to do now:

2. Of course, make sure to share this advise with your friends via Digg, Stumble, Face Book, or your favorite social networks.

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Business Strategy, A Square Tire

2008-11-28T10:41:00.002-07:00

Monday, I introduced this series of articles in which I was to come up with a way to get out of debt fast, show you how to fix your personal finances, and show you how to succeed in business. My first article was “Get out of debt fast, a parent’s rant”. On the second article, “Self Responsibility, let’s stop the mooching” I probably touched some reader’s nerves, since I did not pulled too many punches. I also promised you that I was going to show you a square tire, and here is the picture. I found that tire in a back alley shop in Kuwait City (and yes, that is in Kuwait). Along the way, I am supposed to make these series of articles so interesting, that you will want nothing more than to bookmark my blog, and recommend it to your friends. So, let’s see…

What can you do with a square tire? Other that using it as a fairly big paperweight, or exhibit it as a curiosity, it is worthless. Now, imagine how many people would buy a square tire. A few would, since you can sell almost anything to most people. Soon, however, the novelty would wear out, and you will no longer be able to sell square tires. What is the problem with that business model or business strategy? You spend money buying raw materials, pay employees, pay benefits for your employees, and produce something of little value. As time goes by, revenue diminishes, raw materials probably increase in value, fix expenses remain there, and suddenly, you realize that you are on the road to bankruptcy.

What am I trying to say here? I will probably hurt some sensibilities yet again, and that is ok by me if I can get you to think outside the box. Someone once said that the only people that like changes are “babies with wet diapers”. So, here it goes:

First thing first: Lets check out the reason the Economy of the United States tanked, and see if we can learn something from it.

Early in the twentieth century, the American Dollar was king, and the reason for it was that the Dollar was backed by gold. Money being printed, actually had an intrinsic value, since it was to be readily converted to gold. Later on, someone came up with the great idea that the United States, the great industrial Nation that introduced the so many advancements to the world, including the assembly line, could still guarantee the dollar, and the currencies of the world were to be measured against the U.S. Dollar, which was supposed to be converted to gold. As you can see, there is really no big problem, since we still had gold to back our monetary system. This was an international compact called Bretton Woods Agreement.

Somewhere along the way, the United States continue to prosper, sure, we had our rough patches. Who can forget the Great Depression in the late twenties and thirties caused by protectionist laws, and lost confidence in the economic future of our Nation. With an average jobless rate of 25% and most able to workers having their hours cut, in addition, we had a President that ruled for four terms (FDR) and yes, I am using what I believe is the right term, since he ruled for four terms. Thanks God the Constitution was amended to prevent further Presidents from Governing more than two terms.
Unemployment during the Carter years, was over 10%. And interest rates were over 20%. Just imagine if you had an Adjusted Rate Mortgage in those years. Compare that to a more or less 6% unemployment rate today, our economy is in bad shape, but it is still better than on the Carter years. The claim that we are in a depression equal to the Great Depression, is a severe exaggeration. Are we going to get there? Who knows. Also, Iceland, Russia, Venezuela, and many other Nations are just in as bad a position as we are.

But, I see some alarming trends. An out of control government is one, the mistake that we as a Nation made to go from a production Nation to a purely consumerist society, is another.

Now, I am not an economist, and even though I have tortured myself with marketing, macroeconomics, microeconomics, managerial accounting, and a few more of those… I have over 195 college credit hours, I do not claim to be an expert. However, I have made plenty of economic mistakes, and I have seeing first hand how not to run a business.

Let me ask you a simple question… if you have no assets, and your debt is twice as much as what you make, can you survive? In your private business, if your debt is twice as much of your assets, you are not producing anything of great value, will you be able to get a loan? I do not think so.

Right now, according to the to The Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp), the Gross Domestic Product for 2007 in the United States was about $3.4 Trillions. The latest estimates of the financial bailout of the United States is in the $7 Trillion Dollars. You know as much as I do that when the Government gives you cost estimates, they are usually wrong; these are the people that paid about $700 for a hammer, for goodness sake, and the same people who cannot run their own Cafeteria without tax payers subsidies.

What does that tell you? Our primary lender has several Trillion Dollars of our debt in their possession, and if they decide to cash in, how are we going to pay that debt?

What does the United States produce? Other than debt? Our auto industry is destined to fail. Their business model does not work, remember the square tire? They cannot compete with the foreign auto industry, and if they get a bail out, we are only prolonging the patient’s death. The auto industry can be revived but it needs to be allowed to go bankrupt, so their debt, and contracts can be renegotiated, their business model can be streamlined, and it can go back to be a world class industry. Remember the square tire? If I give you more money to continue producing square tires, I am wasting my money, and eventually, you will want to get more money from me, since I just slowed down the rate of which you go bankrupt. Next time, I will have no more money, because I will be the bankrupted one.

I declared bankruptcy once, it was not easy. But I can say that I learned my lesson, how about the big executives of the many businesses that are too big to fail, have they truly learned from their mistakes? Our

politicians are still receiving counsel from the likes of failed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae who cooked the books in order to receive bigger bonuses, one of such received over $90 million dollars in salary. The ones who are screaming the loudest in Congress are the ones who were saying that there was no problem in the United States Housing Industry. The politicians come up with a new bailout scam almost every other day, and use the money for whatever else, other than what they say it is.

The United States deficit is in the Trillions of Dollars, and Government has not specified one government program that they are going to cut, or reduce. They keep increasing the size of Government, and by the looks of it, nobody has a clue of how to fix the problem.

When a Nation stops producing, taxes their businesses, and overtaxes the higher earners, it slows down the economy, since it is those people and businesses that create jobs, thus stimulating the economy (Economics 101). The top 10% of earners in the United States pay he highest capital gains taxes in the Planet (http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/422013187855, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris).

So, the bottom line:

1. When you get advice from someone, don’t imitate Congress, do your research and make sure that you understand what you are getting yourself into.

2. Fire those who are not producing, lie to you (like politicians do), and if they have no clue what they are doing, and cannot be trained, fire them also.

3. When your operating expenses are close to matching your own revenue, it is time to streamline your operation, reduce personnel, and decide whether is time to close shop or start a new paradigm.

4. Do not get so in debt, that you cannot fulfill your obligations.

5. And last, but not least, learn to “Fail Forward Fast”… If your project is not working, scrap it, and do something different. Make sure that you do your homework.

6. Make sure that you are producing something of real value for your customers.

This is just common sense, if what you are doing is not working, what makes you believe that it will work?

Learn to be flexible, and be smart about it.

I am not an economist, but, like someone likes to say, “I am a thinker”. Follow your gut instinct, take action, and use common sense.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. I encourage you to post your best business strategies; and, since I am not a historian, you are welcome to expand in the history of the topics expressed here.

Let me know what topics you would like me to cover or rant about. Let’s make this blog your blog.

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Technorati Tags: Get out of debt fast,self responsibility,Kuwait City,Business model,business strategy,economy of the United States,American Dollar,great depression,auto industry,marketing

Self responsibility, let’s stop the mooching

2008-11-26T18:05:00.002-07:00

In my previous post, I introduced the topic of getting out of debt, and pointed out the need of our society to change the focus, from one of entitlement, to one of diligence and self reliance. These two characteristics, together with the one that I will introduce in this post, are the basis of entrepreneurship. Some might believe that this topics have nothing to do with social media marketing, or internet marketing, or business strategy, or SEO, but as Mr. Christensen commented earlier, these are the basis that need to be laid if we want our society to thrive once more.

You cannot fix what you do not know is broken. The first step to deal with addictions (alcoholism, drugs, sex, etc.) is to recognize that you have a problem. It took a long time for me to identify my shortcomings, because in my eyes, I couldn’t do anything wrong. It is human nature, and thanks in part to the mental health community (it is your parents fault, or someone else other than you) and the “what’s in it for me” generation, it is the other guy’s fault that I am broke, and cannot succeed. “It’s the man’s fault for keeping me down.” Unless you live under a dictatorship, there is usually a choice.

Quoting a hated radio talk show host: “It makes blood shoot out of my eyes” when I hear the excuses that people use to justify their addictions, their marriage failures, their lack of ambition, their acceptance with the status quo. I wanted to throw a brick at my radio when the radio played a clip of a sobbing woman saying that, and I quote: “I don’t have to worry about my mortgage, or about putting gas on my car now, because…” a particular candidate for President won.

You might hate my guts for what I am about to say, if I make you think, it is worthy.

Chances are, if you are reading this blog, you are either en entrepreneur, a thinking person, someone looking for a way out of poverty, or have within you the spark of entrepreneurship.

The First Step on the Road to Success, as an entrepreneur, or as a person, is Self Responsibility.

Unless you were born a paraplegic, or with any particular condition that prevents you from reasoning and working, have been slaved, are held against your will or are a child, you are where you put yourself. Think about it:

1. If you do not have a High School diploma, it is because you chose to drop out, or refused to study. We have free schools in this Nation.

If you say that the schools are not adequate, or that the school system does not have enough money, I beg to differ. Throwing more money to the school system is not going to work. It has not worked, and will not work. You, as an individual need to decide to make good use of the education that is freely provided to you. My parents did not know how to read or write, my father was an alcoholic, who worked in construction in Puerto Rico, and other than food and basic clothing, everything else that he earned went to alcohol. We never had a vacation, and I cannot remember going to the movies when I was growing up. I learned to do research by myself, and maintained good grades.

Consider that some of today’s greatest minds in the Nation, do not hold a college degree and they earn millions every year. Our movie stars do not much else than throw their lives away in excess, for the most part have no talent, or useful skills, nor, in my opinion, their reasoning process is anything to write home about.

2. If you have bills to pay, but have money for alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, you really have no excuse for those bills. You chose to use cigarettes, drugs, or alcohol; and can choose not to use them.

3. If you do not have a job because you do not want to work at Burger King, or any other job because is too low for you, you need to quit the whining, and get to work. Two part time jobs are better than no work, and they are hiring.

Do some introspection. If you are hanging out with people whose idea of a good time is getting drunk or high, or spend the day playing video games, HERE IS A NEWSFLASH:

“It is not the man who is keeping you down, is you and your so called friends.” Decide to change, and improve yourself. Others have done it, you can too.

Nobody will pay your the rent for you, nor should they. That is your responsibility. Even if you are in dire need, you can lift yourself by the bootstraps. Read the Story of Christopher Gardner, The Pursuit of Happiness, he was homeless, and with a son, and became a millionaire.

Again, the key is self responsibility.

Here is the key to stabilize your financial situation (you are going to hate my guts even more, but again, I want to make you think).

1. Learn to live below your limits. Eliminate the Starbucks, or the soda (water is better for you anyway). Eliminate the movies, and cable; they only teach you to blame someone else. Eliminate candy and chips. Learn to eat healthy. You will loose weight this way, and improve your health. Eliminate cigarettes, alcohol and drugs.

2. If this is still not enough, get a part time job. If you have teen age kids, have them get a job. If they want to go to the movies, they can pay for them themselves. If they want a cell phone, they can pay for it themselves also. Cell phones, movies, bowling, hanging out, are not human rights.

3. If you have able bodies living of you, put them to work. Our society has degenerated into a parasitic society, where young people believe that they can live of their parents until their parents die. That is not fair to their parents. If they are living at home, they need to get in gear, and at least pay rent, groceries, and not take one penny of their parents or grand parents. They should also be looking for a pace of their own. No job? Again, Burger King is hiring.

4. With all your savings, pay all your debt. If you are smart, you can do it in just about three years; with the exception of probably your car and mortgage.

5. Contrary to what the politicians want you to believe, owning a house is not a human right. There is nothing wrong with renting until you pay your bills and can afford a house.

6. Learn to buy because you really need it to survive, and not because is a nice to have.

7. Become an entrepreneur.

Do this, and you will be debt free, and will be a lot happier. Stress tends to disappear when you know that you have a steady flow of income, the kids have moved away from home, and are not leeching their way through life, and you are living within your means.

There are many ways to pay your debts in about a fourth of what they would usually take. It just requires for you to:

1. Recognize that you are responsible for your situation.

2 Recognize that you can do something about it.

3. And like Nike: “Just Do It”.

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Technorati Tags: social media marketing,internet marketing,get out of debt fast,expert search engine optimization,seo,self reliance,self respnsibility

Get out of debt now, a parent’s rant

2008-11-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Our society is in crisis, our economy is quickly going down the drain, and heads of households are asking for help. How can I get out of debt now; how can I make money now; as an entrepreneur, how can I succeed?

I saw my wife have “a talk” with one of our kids, and made me proud of her. We try to watch our spending, we are not perfect, but we are as responsible as we can. There was $45 extra on the cell phone family plan. Quickly, my wife found out where the glitch was, one of our kids went 17 minutes above what we allocated to him, and the other went over a hundred minutes above. Normally, they are pretty good about staying within their limits, and this is the first time in almost a year that we had that situation. So the conversation went something like this:

Momma: “Jerry (name changed to protect the not so innocent), you went over your minutes this month…”

Jerry: “My bad…”

Momma: “Yes it is. I will collect some money for you to help pay for the bill, and you will stay within the limits.”

Jerry: “We need more minutes, 200 minutes is not enough, I call my girlfriend during my break at work…”

Momma: “Well, it sucks to be you, I cannot afford a bigger plan, we have bills to pay. You will reduce your minutes use spending and you will help pay this bill.”

The extra $45 dollars is not going to kill us, but we do work hard for the money we make. We jumped on our kids when we overheard them talking about how they threw away nickels and pennies. Our society is so used to abundance, and wasting that they have no concept of the real cost of life.

All of Hollywood’s self and immediate gratification marketed to our youth have made our Nation soft, wimpy, …

“If my parents don’t get me a Jaguar for my sixteenth birthday, I will harm myself…” was the comment of a young bimbo in a reality show. “If my boyfriend wants me to look sexy at the dance, he will have to buy me the gown…” was the conversation I overheard at the mall. This last one was a girl that could not be more than 12 years old. What in the world a 12 year old needs to be sexy for?

I spent a year in Iraq, and was fortunate to live in an 8 feet by 20 feet metal container. I had a room mate, and for two months we had three people living there. I say that I was fortunate, because some of my friends used to live in buildings where the windows and part of the walls and the roof had been blown to smithereens by bombs; and you have to see the sandstorms that we get over there.

We worked hard to help the people of Iraq to obtain potable water, to rebuild their schools, to convince them to allow their daughters and wives to attend school. We help provide medicines, and medical care. We provided security so the husbands could open their markets and work. Most of them are happy to be able to work in order to bring food to their table. Life can be rough over there.

In other places in the world, you are lucky if you get one meal per day, and some families go without food for days at a time. I remember help feeding the betrothed right after Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990, in the Middle East.

I also remember seeing “adashi” (hangul for man) leave the frail shack at about 4:30 a.m. for the rice paddies, and work well into sunset so he could feed his family.

So, when I see our kids wasting money, and behaving like the world owes them a living, or someone wants to take the money away from those who work hard to earn it, I grow increasingly frustrated.

I make a decent leaving, and I am grateful to God for it, I dedicate time to volunteer work, and donate money to charity, because I know that there are others out there that are not as fortunate as I am. My bedroom bathroom is bigger and a lot more comfortable than the place where my buddies and me used to live in Iraq.

These life experiences make me what I consider a better human being, and I try to pass the experience along to my children and to all who would listen. We work hard…

The economy in the world is in shambles. The Russian Government has threatened their media (the press) in such a way that hey will not report their economical crisis, and how their banking industry is no better than ours here in the good old’ U.S.A.

Still, we have a lot to be grateful for. You don’t believe me? Answer this then: do you have a roof over your head? If you have being foreclosed on, can you rent a place to live? If you go to the emergency room, do you get emergency care? How many television sets are in your house? Do you get cable or satellite TV? Do your kids have cell phones? Do they have a school to go to? Do you get at least one hot meal per day? Do you have easy access to potable water? Do you have easy access to a washing machine (a Laundromat counts for this one)? If you can say yes to most of these questions, you are Blessed.

I know that this article has nothing to do with Social Media Marketing Strategies, nor with expert Search Engine Optimization, or with Social Networking, or getting out of debt now, nor with making money now. My next two articles this week, will deal with the economic crisis. I might make a few of you mad at me. That is fine, as long as I make you think. My next article will deal with family budgeting, getting out of debt, and economic success; while the last of this series, will deal with business economics and the concept of “Failing Forward Fast” and I will show you a “square car tire“.

Talk to me… voice your opinions, and if you find these articles worthy, don’t forget to bookmark them to your favorite social networks.

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Technorati Tags: social media marketing,social media,get out of debt fast,expert search engine optimization,seo,gratitude,selfishness

Recession proof yourself Now

2008-11-20T21:32:00.013-07:00

I think that it was Abraham Lincoln who said that if you had an hour to chop down a tree, you should spend the first 45 minutes of your hour, sharpening your axe.

I usually am the opinionated kind, and like to do my own writing, but yesterday, I found an article on a blog that impressed me. The author was trying to convey his or her thoughts about how to get ready for the upcoming recession, and use the acronym G. U. T. to convey the message. Grow your Network, Uncomfortable, and Tout your success.

I can relate to the post, because those three tips are things that you should do anyway on a regular basis if you want to remain competitive. Let me explain:

As a Soldier, I was brought up to understand that, and now I quote from one of my favorite authors Richard Marcinko, “the more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in combat”. Everything that we do as Soldiers is training. When we take care of our families, is in preparation for combat, for when we are not there and they have to fend for themselves, when we get up at 4:00 a.m. and run like maniacs through the neighborhood, is training, when we go to formal schools is training, when we go “camping” is training… Because when the time comes and we are called to go to combat, there is no time to get ready, it is too late to train or to sharpen the axe.

As entrepreneurs, or bloggers, or whatever we call ourselves, is easy to forget that we are making money now, but, what about tomorrow?

Growing up in Puerto Rico, one of the major companies in the region used to be the Commonwealth Oil Refining Company (CORCO). We used to hate the stench around it, but we also were amazed to see the ritzy neighborhoods in the nearby towns. There were no mansions, but the houses looked big and comfortable, and the neighborhoods where pristine. One day, the news hit the island like a ton of bricks, CORCO was closing its doors. A lot of people that worked there, suddenly found themselves with no job. People that were just a few years away from retirement, suddenly found themselves thinking about how they were going to be able to retire, when the source of their retirement income had vanished. It was sad. Decades later, the area economy is still in shambles.

Twenty to thirty years ago, the paradigm changed from “you work hard for thirty years for the same company and then retire” to the current 401K or IRA retirement accounts that you drag with you every time you switch jobs.

We are now more familiar with the uncertainty of job availability. So, it only makes sense that you will prepare yourself in the event that “change” comes and you are suddenly laid off.
The aforementioned blog post starts with growing your network. I agree with that. Social Media Marketing can make you money, and you can use it to market yourself. There is nothing wrong with self promotion. Social Media is a tool that many misuse.

Nobody really wants to see the pictures of you acting foolish drunk out of your mind, and neither do your future employers.

“But, but, it is my life, and I have the right to my life”. NEWSFLASH: YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE UNEMPLOYED TOO.

Create and maintain tasteful profiles, job scouts, now days, conduct a search for your name on the web to see if you are a suitable candidate to work for them. If your online behavior has being shameful to say the least, chances are, they will hire the other candidate. Don’t believe me? On the job questionnaire required if you want to work for President Elect Obama’s administration, several questions have to do with whether there are any potentially scandalous events in your past, and online… go figure.

So, in other words, take down your semi naked pictures, and clean up your online persona. Also, start participating in forums and online groups related to your expertise. Do contribute to the forum, otherwise, you will be considered a spammer, and worst, if you claim to be an expert in your area, your comments will either verify your claims, or expose you as a fraud. The “U” of the acronym, the article expands, relates to “Uncomfortable” or learning to grow.

As we grow and settle in our ways, it becomes harder to expand our knowledge base. I am amazed at high school kids graduating and swearing never to touch a book again.

I believe that the moment you quit learning, you start dying. In the Army, we cross train our people, to the point where every member of a section knows how to do the others jobs, and old timers like me, have a certain disdain for those who believe that they can get away with saying that such task is “not their lane”.

My personal philosophy is to do something outrageous, or something I have never done before at least once a year.

Pushing your comfort zone on a regular basis, prepares you for the unpredictable, and makes you a better asset on the workforce. Finish your degree, get another degree, just do something our of your comfort zone on a regular basis.

And last but not least important, promote yourself. It is hard to maintain a balance between becoming a rambling lunatic, and an expert; but if you can manage, your credibility will grow with your popularity.

Use business Social Networks like Linked In to post your resume and keep it updated. Participate in professional forums, and you will grow. Social media marketing can give you a leg up the competition.

All these things are steps that we should be doing on a regular basis. This is the twenty first century. We are living in historic times, and we have the opportunity to make history. We either make history, or we are history.

What will it be?

Again, think about your previous experiences. Has this article given you new ideas? Share your ideas with us…

If you enjoy the article, please add it to Digg, Stumble Upon, or your favorite social media sites so more people can enjoy it, and learn.

Read more at:

The world is in turmoil; Door of Opportunity

Why do you want to be an entrepreneur?

So you want to make money online?

Should you write your goals down?

The responsibility we have grown to lack

Why is it that some people are more successful than others?

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Intellectual Honesty in Marketing and Life

2008-11-17T20:47:00.008-07:00

When I spent a few weeks without updating my Face Book Groups, I was expecting to see their membership reduced probably by a few dozen people. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in all actuality, the groups did grow, if not by much, they were alive and thriving.

I have friends who have groups three and four times the size of mine; and I am happy for them. Hopefully, they are making a lot of money, and helping others at the same time. I could have grown my groups by a lot, if I had used the same principles that I used to create them. But in reality, I am more interested in giving freely to the community. My work schedule could be considered backbreaking; so I do not feel bad about not having breached the thousand members yet.

This morning however, when I visited my groups for a second, I saw that three people had signed off. I was in a hurry, since I was running late for my part time job. “Note to self, Blog about my part time job.”

A few hours later, I started my research, and an idea came to mind.

My last post was about Honesty, and credibility… If you have not read it, please do.

I knew when I wrote that post, that it would be controversial; specially, after I posted another bit of news (this time from a newspaper blogger) to my Face Book Profile. It did generated a lot of views, controversy, and comments.

I dislike conflict, that is my nature. You would say, “yeah right, this guy spent 22 years as a professional Soldier, is a martial artist, at 42, earned the 2d Infantry Division Heavy weight Tae Kwon Do Championship for his belt class, and he says that he hates conflict?” Well, believe it or not, I do.

But I ran with the post. I try to be intellectually honest, and as a blogger, I express my ideas. If you have read some of my posts, by now you know that I emphasize honesty and integrity in business and in life. Yet, when you stick by your guns, speak your mind, and make your beliefs known, people will call you controversial.

I do a lot of work in Civil Rights, and unfortunately, I see the good and the bad in mankind, more often than not, I see the bad; and have to confront it face to face. So, when on my last post I started by exposing how the media here in the United States used the comments of a blogger , a fake one at that (the author of the blog was a fictional character created as an idea for a TV show according to Associated Press), to trash a candidate for Vice President of the Nation, I knew that I would be touching some readers sensitive spot. Yet I ran with it anyway.

So, at this point I tell you today, that as a business person or an entrepreneur, there will be times when you will shake your head. And have doubts about what you are about to do. That my friends, is the time to ask yourself some questions:

1. Is it legal? If not, why are you considering it in the first place?

2. Is it morally right?

3. Who will be affected by my decision?

4. What kind of effect will my business suffer, or enjoy, as a consequence of my actions?

5. How will the image of my business or mine be affected?

6. Will I loose revenue? Will I have to lay off personnel?

7. Is there any other way to achieve my goal without harming anyone?

Intellectual honesty brings rewards as well as not so great consequences; but at the end, to me, it is important that I can look at the guy who is looking back at me when I face a mirror and be satisfied.

One of the hardest things that humans do, is becoming aware of themselves, and the reason it is hard, is because sometimes we do not like what we see. Sometimes we see weakness, or selfishness, or ignorance, or evil. Some of these characteristics, can be changed, but is not that easy.

I equate these traits to an addiction. You cannot change anything in yourself, if you are not aware of it. The alcoholic will not stop binge drinking as long as she or he does not realize that they have a problem. The addict will not quit the habit as long as he or she continues to find excuses for their behavior.

Businesses take the identity and some of the traits of their founders and managers. Why am I saying this? A business will be only as successful as their managers or owners. So, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, I suggest that you start by analyzing yourself. What are your motivations? Making money? There is nothing wrong with that. Is how you go about making your goals a reality that matters.

Remember the list of questions that I suggested you ask yourself when you are about to make a decision and the butterflies start messing around in your gut? Use the same questions when is time to make a business decision as when is time to make a personal one.

Intellectual honesty does not come cheap or easily, it takes guts, but, as you make it a habit of doing the right thing, it will indeed become easy. That uneasy feeling is what is call a cognitive dissonance, in other words, when your values contradict what you are about to do. Understand that your values are yours alone. Some other people might believe the way you do, but some others will believe otherwise, and there is where controversy starts. There is no way to convince everybody all of the time; and the sooner you come to terms with this reality, the sooner you will achieve peace. As long as you remain honest to yourself, your conscience will be ok.

But, as always there is a but somewhere in there… as a good friend of mine suggests every time we teach, look at yourself in the mirror. Be honest with yourself, find something that you cannot quite put your finger on, and that either cause you to doubt, or straight up makes you feel uncomfortable, and you would like to improve on. Understand where that trait, or habit came from, and figure out a way to modify that behavior, habit, or way of thinking. Make it a point to improve yourself, one day at a time.

Being intellectually honest with yourself, makes it easier to be honest with others as well. And as you portray the image of the honest person, you also portray the image of the honest business person. A lot of people might not agree with what you say or do, but eventually, they will learn to respect you and your business. Personally, I don’t like crooks, and can’t care less what they think of me. As long as I am honest with myself, and in all my dealings, my business will be ok, and so will I.

What values are important for you and for your business? Why? Who taught you those values? Have they changed over the years? Let me know.

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Have you ever tried to herd cats?

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Intellectual Honesty 101

Intellectual dis honesty

Military Strategy and Business

2008-11-15T15:26:00.001-07:00

Freedom of Speech, Responsibility, credibility and Niches

2008-11-13T18:11:00.008-07:00

Today I read a news piece that really got me irate: "MSNBC retracts false Palin story; others duped". Yes, I know that my Nation prides itself on our Constitution, and the First Amendment of the Constitution, guarantees our Freedom of Speech. MSNBC confessed today that they went half cocked taking the comments of one blogger, and making it into National News. Remember the story about Governor Sara Palin not knowing that Africa was a Continent? MSNBC explained that they got this rumor and ran with it without verifying it; and it so happens that the comment came from someone who created a fictional character as an idea for a TV show. The blogger does not exist, since it is a fictional character, and of course, the character never worked for the McCain campaign as claimed. The media took pleasure on running pointless stories about topics that had no merit, and forgot to investigate and run the ones that were really important to the American public.

Why am I writing this article that has to do with politics, not for my politics blog, but for my social media marketing blog? The answer is very simple. Our political campaign here in the United States was plagued with rumors, innuendo, half truths, and misdirection. Are not all political campaigns like that? Sure they are. But the point of this article is to highlight the importance of bloggers and social media in this day and age, and the key to your credibility.

Rumors, innuendo, and half truths almost ruin the political campaign of Governor Sara Palin, and caused undue stress to her family. Yes, she is a public figure, but my question is, what gives people the right to write whatever they want on blogs as if it is the truth, without the proper disclaimers?

Yes, we have Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of speech is an incredible power. But, on the words of Peter Parker, AKA Spider Man, “with great power comes great responsibility”.

Now, my point is simple. News outlets acted irresponsibly, when they did not verify their stories before publishing them, and did not published the realy important ones. It wasn’t the first time, and it will not be the last. But that bit of news throws egg on the faces of serious bloggers, and entrepreneurs that publish their blogs as a marketing tool.

Growing up, my father taught me that my word is my bond. As an entrepreneur, it is just as important to ensure that whatever product we endorse, and whatever we publish, is air tight. People will be making decisions based on the information that we publish, and some, will invest serious amounts of money.

Honesty is very important because our words have repercussions. I cringe when I see headlines that say: “I made $75895 in a month and I will show you how how”.

Think about it. If I make so much money, why am I selling you a $4000 weekend with me? I sure as heck would have better things to do to spend my time; and those who brand themselves as philanthropists, would do workshops more affordable.

I publish everything I know for free. I could use a few more millions, but I believe that the more I give, the more I will eventually receive.

No, I am not trying to discredit anyone, nor I am trying to lower your expectations, or ambitions. My goal is to eventually make $10, 000,000,000. So no, I am not lacking ambition. The more money I make, the more people I can help.
What I am trying to drill into you is very simple: HONESTY.
Honesty will do more to improve your credibility than any shenanigan you can pull. False scarcity, incredible claims, false testimonies, I see them in sales letters and landing pages all over.
Learn from others mistakes. MSNBC had to recognize that they didn’t do their job the right way. Neither do many others news networks. But I want to bring you back to your blog, and your business.

Social Media, and Social Media Marketing are a force to be recon with. There are millions of blogs out there. Take pride in your craft, even if you are an aficionado. The bottom line is, that whatever you do, you will reap the benefits from it, or the consequences of your behavior. I have made mistakes in the past, and I bet that so have you. But I can honestly say that I try to verify what I publish.

I want you to succeed, and as you succeed, make sure that you keep a clean image, if nothing else, because that will add to your credibility, and to your bottom line.

What do you think? How important is honesty in business to you? Would you buy something from a crooked business person?

Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

Other articles related to business strategy can be found here:

Why do you want to be an entrepreneur?

So you want to make money online?

How do you define honesty?

Honesty... can you really handle it?

Will the Wall StreetStorm have a Giant Silver Linning?

Intellectual Honesty

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Making Money

2008-11-10T19:06:00.006-07:00

Twenty years ago, in Germany, I approached my Troop Commander, I was supposed to communicate an important message to him. He was a very busy man, we all were on those days, and the pace has not slowed down yet. His opening statement to me was direct and to the point: “I have ADD, if you cannot tell me in less than two minutes, do not waste your time or mine”. His ADD did not slowed him down. He went to become a very successful leader, and he taught me a very important lesson. “Objectivity” + “Purpose“ + “Specificity“ = “Success“. Let’s see if we can apply that lesson to making money.

Objectivity: I have a degree of Attention Deficit Disorder myself, and like my old Troop Commander, if you describe every single detail of a conversation, you will drive me nuts, you will bore me to death, and even though I will try to be polite and listen to you, the bottom line is that I will probably be thinking of something else within the first few minutes. I have limitations. I know that. As a Martial Artist, I know that my ground fighting abilities are not as good as I would like. As a writer, I still have trouble differentiating between the word belief and believe, you see, English is my second language.

It is important to be objective and know where your weaknesses and strengths are. So, when I listen to an audio class, and the speaker is talking about wiggling his fingers, I start shaking my head and doing something else, like right now, I’m writing, and trying to listen to a class. I have learned to overcompensate for my weaknesses. I’m a ferocious fighter, and will overwhelm you in the first few seconds of the fight, that is enough for me to win. In combat, you just need to win the fight and survive, it does not need to be pretty, you just need to keep yourself and your party alive. Some people cannot see their weaknesses, and cannot see how to overcompensate in order to accomplish their mission, whether it be survival, or making money in business.

Understand that you need to know what your weaknesses are, and figure out a way to overcome them, or go around them. If you are lousy at Statistical Analysis, find a friend that is good at that, and is willing to help you. If you are a lousy teacher, find someone who can teach. If you don’t know how to make a website, learn.
Purpose: What do you want to achieve? I have talked before about William Tell and how hard, if not impossible, if for good ole Mr. Tell to hit the apple on his son’s head, if he was blindfolded. Remember my old Troop Commander? I figured out that if I could tell him what I wanted to do in three sentences or less, he would always say yes. You need to know what your goal is, and the more that you can narrow it down, the easier will be for you to achieve your purpose.

Specificity: This is a quality that you need to cultivate. How many of us do hate meetings? How many of us like meetings? My main problem with meetings is the wanna be leaders that cannot say what they need to say in three sentences or less, shut up, and sit down. I found that I can finish a meeting in 15 minutes or less, if I am objective about what we need to do, what our limitations are, what our capabilities are, and what resources we can muster; if I know what my purpose is, and if I can narrow our goals as specifically as possible.

In every organization, you can find people that have incredible capabilities, your only problem is that you need to get to know them. If you are a lone wolf, like me, I try to learn how to do everything; we call that cross training in the Army. But you can always find someone who can give you a hand. Remember the story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Making money is easy, you know how to do it, you just need to figure out a plan of action, put everything together, involve the right people, take action, and voila…
In short, “Objectivity” + “Purpose“ + “Specificity“ = “Success“.

Think about your previous experiences. Has this article given you new ideas? The way you do business, could you use new ideas? Can you change the way you do certain things in your day to day operations that would save you money, and improve your output? Share your ideas with us…

Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

For more information on ADD, follow these links:

NHS Blog Doctor: Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder : AAADD

Treatment Options for ADHD

Virtual ADD ADHD Conference

The Looming Attention Crisis

What I Said May Not Be What I Mean

Military Strategy and Business

2008-11-07T17:29:00.008-07:00

What does it get you?

In the two previous posts, we cover the “why” or why does it matter? Why do we really need it? Or is it that we really want it, but can do without? We also covered the “How much does it cost?” factor.

An important factor in deciding whether we can have it or not is as expressed in article number two of this series of three is if we can afford it. If we cannot pay for it without getting behind in other bills, or without putting our financial stability at risk, or without using money that should have gone to pay other bills, or without counting with future income (future income might not arrive), we cannot afford it. It is that simple. And, if we cannot afford it, then, guess what: we will have to wait.

Now, we go into the “What does it get us?” part of our discussion.

When I arrived to the organization I currently work for a few years back, the common wisdom was to pay the print plant for the books that we would use to give to the students of our training program. We also bought two or three boxes of two inches binders, and spent hours poking holes at the books printed so we could place them on the binders, and pass them on. That was a very inefficient use of our time. The rational was, that our organization did not have that much money, so we needed to save. I walked into the print plant and asked how much money were we talking about to have them bind the books, and put a cover to them? They told me about $25 per job. We were spending about $50.00 in binders per job, plus the manpower.From that point on, we quit buying binders, and poking holes, thus saving us money that we redirected toward internal training for our people, and we were able to pass on a professional looking training manual to all our students. It also reduced the last minute stress of preparing the binders, since we now don’t have to.

For the other course that we teach, we used to pass on a manual that we never did cover during the class, and a few handouts. We used to spend about $400.00 in binders, and printing; plus the manpower to put everything together.

I made a master DVD with the manual, a few other regulations, and the flyers that we usually printed and placed inside the binders. Total cost? The cost of a spool of DVD-R, and someone recording them. A lot easier than poking holes on papers and trying to place them in binders, and a lot cheaper.

“What does it get you?” A more professional look? A cheaper product? Think outside the box. I saved my organization thousands of dollars in training materials, and used the money to diversify our people’s training, thus having more prepared and professional employees, improving the quality of training that we provide, and eliminating the stress of hours of boring manual labor.

What does it get you? Remember the previous question? “How much does it cost?” Sometimes, just knowing how much something cost is not enough to make an intelligent decision.
The final output might be the determinant factor in whether you are really saving money or not. Here is a more mundane example:

I criticized my wife for buying every movie that came out! Yeap, you know it, I was wrong… patiently, she explained to me that if we were to take all three children living at home at the time to the movies, that would be about $25.00, plus fuel, plus, pop corn, plus drinks, that would be a grand total of about $50.00 plus the aggravation of three kids arguing with each other. She spends less than $15.00 at Walmart, and the kids can watch the movie at their convenience, by thus actually saving money, and eliminating the aggravation. My wife is a heck of a lot better manager than I am.

You get the point. Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective. Challenge the usual paradigm. If what you are paying for does not produce a more professional output, or at least reduces stress and aggravation, is it worthy?

If you are counting on future revenue in order to get those decorations for your office, will the money not be better used by applying it toward your bills? If you think that by skipping a step or two you are saving money, are you presenting a professional appearance to your customers?

Think about it: Why does it matter? How much does it cost? What does it get us?

Again, think about your previous experiences. Has this article given you new ideas? The way you do business, could you use new ideas? Can you change the way you do certain things in your day to day operations that would save you money, and improve your output? Share your ideas with us…

Add me as a friend at Sta.rtup.biz, on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile…

Read part one of Military Strategy and Business here.

Read Part two here.

Marketing on Budget.

Military Strategy and Business part 2

2008-11-03T22:55:00.012-07:00

Why does it matter? How much does it cost? What does it get us?

How much does it Cost?

I don’t know you, but budgeting has always frustrated me. I quit my Managerial Accounting class back in 1977, and still have not taken it again, but life experience, decades of falling flat on my face, and having to get up and start all over again, have taught me a thing or two.
First things first, understand the term “delayed gratification”.

The past two generations, have being so influenced by MTV, movies, and reality TV, that for the most part, they can hardly understand the difference between reality, and fiction. It takes a significant emotional event to wake them up from their “I want state”. Have you seeing the teenager that cannot wait to get his or her driving license because daddy is going to buy them a Jaguar or a BMW? Or the 15 year old girl who cannot wait for her birthday bash, because mommy is going to spend thousands of dollars in a party so she can flaunt here social status?

Guess what, for the most part, as parents, we have failed in teaching our children the value of an education, money, and unselfishness.

Well, that is enough of my soap box, let me step down from it, and bring our conversation back to business.

I was reading the political blogs the other night, right after a political infomercial, which I did not watch even though I am an avid student of politics here in the United States, and someone commented that one of the “real life persons” that had a role in the infomercial acted shocked when receiving the bill for the food that he had ordered at a restaurant, and proceeded to indicate, that because of the bad economy, he will not be able to eat out as much. I could not believe it.

First of all, if the economy is bad, and you have a hard time paying your bills, you prioritize. And eating out, unless it is an emergency, does not constitute a priority. TRANSLATION: you do not eat out until your bills are paid off.

You do not buy a new car or trade your old one, until you can afford it, or makes sense to do it. You do not spend thousands of dollars in a party for your children, you do not spend hundreds of dollars in new clothes, in cell phones for teenagers, or for yourself for that matter if it really does not make financial sense.

It is the same for your business. You do not hire somebody to take the trash out, if you are not making a profit, and you can actually take it out yourself.

You do not buy new computers, unless your old ones crash and you can afford them.
Think about it. You are in business because you want to make money, right? Otherwise, it will be a hobby.

Find out what your overhead expenses are, find out how much they are per month, and for the entire year. Overhead expenses or fixed expenses are the ones that you need to pay on a regular basis or you cannot operate; rent, mortgage, car payment, electricity, DSL Internet, phone, office supplies, etc.

See that I did not included Marketing, or employees in there. The reason is simple, if you cannot pay an employee, you will have to do the job yourself, or will have to contract it out. In the beginning, you will need to do the marketing yourself. Remember, if you cannot pay for it now, you just cannot afford it; TRANSLATION: Do Not Buy It.

I taught my children that if it was too expensive, we could not afford it, which means, we either get a second job, or do not get it. Both of my kids at home work, and I am proud of the fact that they are showing signs of responsibility; if they want it, they pay for it themselves, and do not expect a hand out.

As entrepreneurs, the same should apply to us.

I failed several years ago at business ownership, mainly because I did not make my intentions really clear, and while I was absent, my business partner went crazy purchasing inventory that we could not dispose of. That put us in a financial bind. Lesson learned.

How much does it cost? Can we afford it? Can we afford it now, or, if it really important, do we need to wait until we can afford it?

Write down all of your expenses. If it does not matter, why buy it? If it is too expensive, can we make do with something more economical? Or, can we improvise a way to achieve the same results without the expense of buying the hi tech, ultra fancy doohickey? Can we afford the new house and give a 20% down, or will it be more reasonable to rent while we fix our credit and save for the down payment?What expenses can you cut? Is it necessary to stop by Starbucks everyday for a latte at $5.00 plus or $25.00 a week? Or does it make sense to buy a $30.00 esspresso maker, and have as many lattes as you want daily? The $30.00 espresso machine will pay itself, if today is Monday, by Monday next week.

If the only work out you do at the gym is walking on the treadmill, and your membership is $500.00 a year, you can buy a treadmill for $500.00 and safe the membership for the next few years.

There are many ways to cost expenses. Remember, you are in business to make money, if all your money goes to business expenses, and you have not cut expenses by now, you are probably a lousy manager. There is usually a way to cut expenses, and streamline production.
Why does it matter? How much does it cost?

On our next post, we will cover the question: What does it get us?

Tell my your experiences with budgeting… What have your experience taught you?

If you are enjoying this series of articles, consider posting it to DIGG, or Thumb it on StumbleUpon.

Again, think about your previous experiences. Has this article given you new ideas? The way you do business, could you use new ideas? Can you change the way you do certain things in your day to day operations that would save you money, and improve your output? Share your ideas with us…

Read more about management and budgeting:

Military Strategy and business

Reasons for my absence

Money Matters

Marketing on a Budget

Add me as a friend on FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile, check me out at Sta.rtup.biz…

Military strategy and business management

2008-11-03T19:39:00.010-07:00

Why does it matter? How much does it cost? What does it get us?

I had the opportunity to be at a meeting on Friday. Under normal circumstances, I dislike meetings, but this one was a bit different; it provided the opportunity to network, the guest speaker was a distinguished military leader, and he was to provide some information that would be important, if I was to forecast the future. Every manager is a fortune teller, every CEO is supposed to be gifted with the capabilities to pierce the veil of secrecy if the fates. Those who don’t, are destined to mediocrity, and failure.
All along, this military leader keep reminding us the mantra used by him to change the paradigm of day to day business.

See, the United States Military is like the hydra of many heads. Each head has a brain, that contrary to popular belief, it is used on a regular basis, and each head has an enormous amount of authority. But, like with every major enterprise, when you have many heads at the helm, little is accomplish, unless you standardize procedures.
That is why this meeting was important to me. It is at times of war that you realize, very quickly, what will work and what will not. What works in peace time might not be as efficient during war, and will probably fail royally.

So he told us the story of how the military obtained money for different projects, and how, some sections of the military where very well trained, but their infrastructure was deplorable, think 21st century military, housed planning, and working from World War II era buildings; and some areas of the same military were just not as well trained, but their infrastructure was futuristic, and majestic. Obviously, there needed to be a change if the military was to continue providing a service of excellence.

The change needed, was a change in the state of mind of the decision makers; or, train each individual head of the hydra to think alike, within the same principles.
Why does it matter? How much does it cost? What does it get us?
And that new paradigm, has literally transformed the U. S. Military in the course of a few short years.

Why is this important to you as an entrepreneur, Social media marketing expert, expert search engine optimization manager, Internet marketing director, program manager, service manager, etc?Simple, lets start with the first question, and I will use the other two as the topic for the next two posts of this blog.

Why is it needed?

Do you remember William Tell? Or are you too young to know of the Archer who was forced to shoot an apple from the head of his son?

If you are an American who has never being overseas, and suddenly I drop you at the port of Ashueibah (I know that the spelling of this name is probably wrong, but trust me, it does exist), and then tell you: “your mission is to prepare the area for the arrival of 25,000 people, and about 15000 vehicles, combat systems (some of those top secret), weapons, explosives, computers, pencils, notebooks, printers, bullets, kitchen appliances, soccer balls, weight sets, Bowflex systems, rifles, school supplies, water purification technology, generators, and who knows what else… notice the disparity in the classes of supplies, facilities needed to house or store each individual class, and personnel needs to be able to do it efficiently… you are dropped there with a friend of yours, no money, no food, no map, just your wits.

Well, that happened to me in 2003.

What would you do besides crawling to a corner, assuming the fetal position, and cry like a baby?

Bring back William Tell… will you?

What would have happened to Mr.Tell’s son if good ole Bill would have being blindfolded, spun around, and ordered to soot? His son would probably have died, or the arrow would have being wasted, since Mr. Tell could not possibly find his target.

It is the same with your blog, website, business, marketing project, career, life, marriage, etc.
You should have a clear picture of what you want to achieve, and why does it matter.
Having a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, and why does it matter, gives you the perspective needed to prioritize, and work more efficiently. Why does it matter where I place my ads on my blog? Why does it matter if I hire an expert search engine optimization professional, or not; why does it matter if I spend my entire budget on part “B” of my project or not?

Answer that question, and you will be ready to begin, and yet, if it really does not matter… why are you doing it anyway? That if the mentality that you need to posses, in order to sort through the cluster of seemingly unrelated tasks that you face day to day, and not crawl into a dark closet, assume the fetal position, and cry like a baby. That mental attitude, will give you a more concise list of tasks to accomplish, in order to accomplish the mission, and be successful.

Tell me what you think, what principles do you use to keep you focused?

Again, think about your previous experiences. Has this article given you new ideas? The way you do business, could you use new ideas? Can you change the way you do certain things in your day to day operations that would save you money, and improve your output? Share your ideas with us…

Add me as a friend on FaceBook, MySpace, follow me on Twitter, StumbleUpon my articles and profile, and Sta.rtup.biz…

Read other related articles:

Reasons for my absence
Money Matters
Marketing on a Budget

My top 10 influential people on the Internet

2008-10-29T18:49:00.019-06:00

In the world of expert search engine optimization, social media marketing, strategic internet marketing, everyday life reporting online, and personalities who have make a mark in history, I can think of 10 (actually 11) whose contribution, in my humble opinion, have made a mark and raised the Nations level of consciousness, and in some cases, have made life easier, set an example of exelence, or open new and exciting ways to succeed. As with every list, opinions are subjective, and you are welcome to disagree with me.

Number 10: Glenn Beck. Yes, I know, he seems nuts and is a Conservative. So am I, believe it or not. I like Glenn because he is real. He expresses his opinion, and keeps an open mind, he also has the ability to see the big picture, and foresee what might happen in the future. He is also a great family man, and, as a recovering alcoholic who seven years ago was broke, an inspiration to all of us who think of America as the promised land and still thinks that the American Dream is alive and well.

Number 9: Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger who produced the famous wikipedia. Even though anyone can edit the aricles and it is not considered an authorize source for research, when you are in a crunch for time and need information really fast, the good old wiki is priceless. Of course, before you submit any information gathered from wiki, you do need to verify it with a quick Google search.

Number 8: Seth Godin. An entrepreneur from an early age, Seth has written several books, has several blogs, and one of his most important contributions to mankind is Squidoo.

Number 7: Darren Rowse. Darren (of http://www.problogger.net/ fame) is a professional blogger who in 2002 read an article on blogging, and the rest is history. He is one of the authorities in blogging techniques, and online success. If you want to learn from one of the best, problogger.net is a must read.

Number 6: John Chow. A Vancouver, Canada entrepreneur, who launched a tech review site in 1999, and the rest is history. Later on, he started a blog, like many others, and decided to start teaching how to make millions online. His free e-book, “Make Money online”, is one that I read every so often for it’s timeless advice. Get his free ebook. (http://www.johnchow.com/)

Number 5: Matt Drudge. The prototypical problem child, aimless and a lousy student, became famous by being the first to break the Clinton scandal that eventually got to his impeachment. Starting as a “gossip by email newsletter” the “Drudge Report” is news aggregator so thorough, that the main talk show hosts in the United States routinely use it as their main source for up to the minute information. If you want to see and read the news that most likely will not make the 10:00 p. m. news, read Drudge. (http://www.drudgereport.com/)

Number 4: Skellie (of Skelliewag.org). Skellie is a political science major in Australia, she has being creating excellent content for her blogs for years. I became a fan of hers after reading some of her articles in Pro Blogger. Her insight into entrepreneurship is, in my humble opinion, outstanding. Her blog is a must read. (http://www.skelliewag.org/)

Number 3: The entrepreneur. There are millions of people trying to make money online. As long as we maintain a goal in front of us, and as long as we continue to have freedom, we can, and will, improve the world’s quality of life, and make the planet a better place to live.

Number 2: Bill Gates. He is prototypical example of the American Dream. Get an idea, develop it, and become a zillionaire. He has done more for the Internet, than most, while reaping the benefits.

Number 1: Brian Campbell. He became famous yet again this past summer when he re created himself, and promised to make $10,000 in 37 days. From that point on, Media Marketing became a household name for millions of people around the globe. Brian prides himself of providing free tips, that when followed correctly, will help you become an Internet expert, with the potential of making a lot of money.

Who are your favorite Internet personalities and why? Let me know…

Feel free to stumble, Digg, or post this article in any or all of your favorite Social Media Communities. Follow me on Twitter as joseacolon, and make sure to befriend me on Facebook as joeacolon, and Stumble me on StumbleUpon.Who are your favorite Internet personalities and why? Let me know…

Herding cats, easier than getting organized

2008-10-26T22:09:00.009-06:00

Herding Cats, organizing yourself…

Social Media Marketing 101 is the title of this blog, and obviously enough, the main topic. Someone once said: “If you want something done, give it to someone busy”. I want to find he who said that and choke him or her, since it seems that everybody wants to give me something to do.

Don’t take me wrong, while being depended upon is a royal pain in you know where, it just means that you are good at what you do, and that you are needed; but there is a limit.

If we continue accepting task, after task, we will never have a life, we will grow resentment, and soon, our lives will be so unmanageable, that we might want to scream. Social media has significantly contributed to the increase in our work load.

So, here is to mental sanity:

1. STOP. Make a list of everything that you do on a daily basis, I suggest you use a spreadsheet.

2. In column number 2, in one word write down why (i.e. “recreation“, “family”, “friendship“, “work“, “school“, “social media”, “no clue“) and yes, I know that no clue is two words. TIP: consider the fact that if you have no clue of why you are doing what you are doing, is time to knock it off and drop that from our schedule.

3. Sort the list by those words that you used to describe your tasks. Put all that fall within the heading of “work” together, same with “recreation”, “friendship”, etc.

4. Now that you have several lists, assign each task from every class a priority: A, B, or C. You either have to do it now or today, it can wait until tomorrow, or, who cares if it gets done.

5. Every day, you should establish a specific time frame for “Work”, time for your “family“, “study or school”, “part time job” could be growing a business, or expanding your network (social media), and some “recreation”. Balance your life. Make sure that you do those tasks on each category marked “A”. If there is time, do “B”, and if there is still time, then and only then, do “C”. Do not let one category interfere with the time of the other, specially, if the one bleeding and preventing you from achieving your goals is either “friends”, “social media”, etc.

Remember that you need to work for a living, and that your family needs you. But lets keep perspective. A needy relative, that can take care of himself or herself if push comes to shove, needs to learn just that, that you are not their personal slave, that will empower them to become self reliant. That is a good thing. “Give someone a fish, and you fed them dinner, teach a man to fish, and you fed them for the rest of their life”.

Social media can be an unruly master, or a 500 lbs gorilla how many of those plants are you going to send on FaceBook? How many groups are you going to belong to? The “underwater basket weaving club” can do without your presence, so feel free to press “IGNORE” on silly things like that. I do not need to know when you go to the bathroom through Twitter, or “when you got drunk or had sex last” on FaceBook, or MySpace.

Remember: Social Media is being used by 21st Century corporations to check you out when you apply for a job, so, the pictures of you drunk like a skunk, are not cute, or, the pictures of yourself or your girlfriend seating in the bathroom doing number two, are not only embarrassing, but disgusting. So, you are no longer in a fraternity or a sorority, you are an adult; and if you belong to one, remember that those days are only a phase, and you will be forced to deal with whatever dumb things you did.

By facing these simple tasks, you will tame that big monkey that prevents you from being productive.

What other ways of taming the 500 lbs gorilla can you think of? Share them in our comments section.

Feel free to add me to your list of friends on StumbleUpon, FaceBook, and/or follow me on Twitter.

Reason for my absence

2008-10-23T18:30:00.004-06:00

I haven’t being as actively involved lately and for about a month now, I have only made regular posts to my political blog.

Those of you who follow me regularly, know that I have being a Soldier in the American Army and am proud of it, since I have served and served well. I have being able to make a difference in the world and have being there when history is in the making. I have saved countless lives and help improve the quality of many with education and technology.

I have always being an innovator and so, early this year, I decided that it was time to join the 21st century by submerging myself in the social media experience and, unknown to me yet, the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

So, I started by researching the field. I found John Chow, and after reading his book, I decided to create a blog. As many of you will know, when you first start, you do not really have a clear picture of what or why you are doing what you are doing.

I found Technorati, and of course, the giants My Space and Face Book. I was skittish about My Space because of all the hoopla, but, since I have being in regions of the world where there was no guarantee that I would survive, why not? I got my account.

Late Spring, while reading John Chow.com, I found out about Brian Campbell, the man who in my opinion revolutionized the Social Media Experience by attempting and achieving earnings of $10,000.00 in 37 days. John Chow, said, that when someone “tries a gimmick of this magnitude, he either succeeds or fails”. It was going to be a good way to learn from someone who was doing what he was suggesting, and a great way to learn step by step what to do. So, Brian exhorted (wisely, I might add) all to become his fan on Face Book, and to follow him on Twitter, and to copy his strategy, thus, teaching by example, and helping countless others succeed along the way.

Over the years, my experience have taught me that the best way to learn is by teaching; that the best way to succeed is by reaching to others and bring them with you, and that the measure of your success is proportional to the amount of people you help along the way. Brian epitomizes these principles, so I started my websites: “Social Media Marketing 101”, and “Today’s Realistic Solutions”; my social media blog: “SocialMediaMarketing 101.blogspot.com”, and, my political blog: “Thinkingamerican.blogtownhall.com”. I must warn you, my political blog might turn some of you off, since I am highly opinionated, and have no problem expressing my opinions. That is why I keep my political life separate from my business life.

Following Brian’s advise, I created two Face Book groups: “Social Media Marketing 101” and “Mercadeo Social 101 en Face Book”. Soon, I was burned out translating from English to Spanish, since I have a full time job, and a part time job, while working towards my college degree. It gets pretty hectic every once in a while.

One thing that brightens my day, is when writing for the Business Forum, and for Helium.com. Helium specially, allows me the flexibility to write about anything that comes to mind, and find a niche to publish it in. That fact has rewarded me with several stories featured on their front page. I have also developed a fairly good following on my political blog.

One thing that has helped my budget is that I try not to sign for anything where I have to pay ahead of time, or there is a monthly fee, Brian’s “Social Media Marketing System” being an exception, since he keeps a decent forum, and there are a number of fellow Brian students, who collaborate and help each other.

The issue here, and the purpose for this post, is to give my loyal readers a reason for my absence, and why I am doing what I am doing.

Every so often, I believe that you should stand back and watch your work, re evaluate your goals, and the path that you are following to achieve them if you must. Otherwise, you are taking the risk of getting lost in the forest that is life.

Remember, it is hard to put the arrow in the center of the bulls eye target, if you are blindfolded , and cannot see your target.

In the Army, we have a way to express this perspective, where we plan for the 50 meters target, the hundred meters target, and the 200 hundred meters target. The 50 meters target is what you can actually almost touch, from now until 90 days from now. That is almost happening as we chat; and is important to keep it in mind because otherwise, you will forget a detail or two that can mean the difference between success or failure.

The hundred meters target is your longer range planning. That usually includes 90 days to a year from now. Why is that important, we have time to react.

That is just it. When the only thing that you do is reacting to what life throws your way, you really do not control your life, life controls you. What would you like to achieve during the course of the year? By knowing that, you can start modifying your 50 meters target, in such a way where you are actually achieving successive small steps toward your 100 meters target. It is those small victories that transform into a chain of events that brings you closer to successes.

Now, it is time to look at where you want to be five years from now. What is the definition of insanity? Keep doing the same thing over and over, while expecting a different result? Look back to five years ago. If you can say today, that things have not really changed for you, and you have not really improved your quality of life, and have not achieve ever increasing levels of what you could call success, chances are, five years from now, you will be in the same spot you are now, doing the same thing and growing resentful, angrier, and frustrated.

So, lets recap, shall we?

Number one: establish your 50 meters target, write it down, and work toward achieving those goals every day.

Number two: establish your 100 meters target, or what you want to achieve (or need to achieve) in three months to a year from now. Modify your 50 meters target so you actually work towards your 100 meters target every day.

Number three: establish your 200 meters target. This time, review your 100 meters targets, and modify them accordingly, so they become steps on the road to your 200 meters target. Don’t forget to modify your 50 meters target accordingly.

And there you have it, that is how the American Army plans their missions and succeed at attaining their main goals.

There are many other ways to do Goal Setting. These techniques have work for me. Which do you like? Which do you prefer? Why? Let me know. Your comments are always appreciated.

2008-10-20T17:20:00.001-06:00

13 ways to promote your blog

2008-09-17T17:50:00.002-06:00

Darren Rowse, in his post on Pro Blogger gives us 13 ways to promote our next blog post:

Read and learn… It is an excellent post:

Written on September 16th, 2008 at 10:09 pm by Darren Rowse

13 Ways to Promote Your Next Blog Post

Blog Promotion,You’re slaved over your post - crafting titles, opening lines, adding depth, designing the post to be eye catching and more - you select the perfect time for your post to go live and hit ‘publish’!

It’s over - another post ‘released’ into the wild - there’s nothing more you can do except sit back, see how people like it and start on your next post…. or is there?

Instead of seeing the moment of publishing a post as the end point in the posting cycle of a post - I see it as the birthing moment of a post. The work has only just begun and what you do in the minutes and hours after it goes live can exponentially increase the effectiveness of the post!

Original Image by Elephi Pelephi

Today I want to talk about promoting your blog posts.
A lot is written about promoting and marketing blogs (as a whole) but I’ve found looking at ‘promotion’ on a more micro level (at a post by post level) can be a highly effective strategy.

Having hit publish on your post - don’t just leave it to chance that your post will be read by people. Giving it a few strategic ‘nudges’ can increase the exposure it gets exponentially.

Let me describe a few post promotion activities that I engage in.

note: I don’t use all of these techniques on every post but instead see them as a variety of tools that sit in my blog promotion toolbox and pull out different ones on different posts depending how suitable they are.

13 Ways to Promote Your Next Blog Post
1. Pitching Other Bloggers
One of the most effective ways of getting the word out about a new post is to let other bloggers know about it. There isn’t much more powerful a way to find new readers than another blogger recommending something you’ve written to people who trust them.

Getting other bloggers to link to your posts is not always easy though - particularly in the early days of a blog or if you don’t have some sort of profile or pre-existing relationship with the bloggers that you’re pitching. However it isn’t impossible. Here are a few tips on how to pitch your posts to other blogs:

Relevancy is key - don’t pitch stories to other bloggers that have little or no relevance to their blog. You’ll just be wasting their time and yours.
Only pitch your best posts - you will have a much higher success rate at getting a link if you only do it with your best stuff. I would only ever do this with around 1-2% of my posts.
Give them an angle - don’t just shoot the link over - tell the blogger what the story is about and why it might be relevant to their blog. Save them a little work by showing how the post might be interesting to their readers.
Keep it brief - if the blogger wants lots of details about your post they’ll click the link. Be to the point, communicate what you need to say and then let the blogger get on with their day.
Be polite - don’t assume you’ll get the link or insist that they link to you - make the suggestion and let the blogger decide if it’s relevant for them.
Be personal - use their name, their blog’s name and show you are not just spamming thousands of blogs with your email.
Read more tips like these on pitching other bloggers at 13 Tips on Asking other Bloggers for Links.

2. Social Messaging
An increasingly large source of traffic for my own blogs over the last year has been Twitter and other social messaging sites (like Friendfeed and Plurk). I use a mixture of automated tools and personalized tools to drive this traffic. On twitter I use TwitterFeed to tweet items from my blog’s RSS feed.

I find that this works best if your blogs feed is not the only thing that you’re putting up on Twitter. Add your own personal tweets, link to other people’s content, ask readers questions etc - the more you mix it up the more effective your own automated tweets will be accepted and clicked upon by your followers.

Don’t be afraid to use social messaging to promote posts that have good discussion on them also. I find that 12-24 hours after my post goes live can be a good time to shoot out another tweet if there’s a particularly hot conversation going on (in fact this can drive even more traffic than the first TwitterFeed automated tweet as it alerts your followers to a conversation rather than just content).

3. Social Bookmarking
This is something that I only do on selected posts - those that I think could do well on bookmarking sites like Digg or StumbleUpon.

I won’t go into great depth on this topic in this post as I recently wrote on how to get to the front page of Digg and have posted other tips at Using Social Media Sites to Grow Your Blog’s Traffic.

4. Internal Links
A great deal of blog promotion tips focus upon how to promote your blog on other people’s blogs and sites - but a great way to promote your blog post is to do it on your own blog.

One thing that I try to do with my best posts after I publish them is to think about where I could promote it on my own blog.

While it is at the top of my blog’s front page (the primary place to promote it) if you think hard you’re bound to find a few other posts in your archives that you could link to this new post. Find places where you’ve covered similar topics before and add your link as a ‘related reading’ link or even add a link to your new post within the content of an old post.

You might also want to add your new post to previously written ‘sneeze pages‘ or your sidebar if it’s a key post. Every link you add on your own blog to your new post potentially sends your current readers to your new post but also helps your blog with Search Engine Optimization (internal links count too).

5. Newsletters
If you have a newsletter list on your blog and you’ve written what you consider to be a key blog post - include a link to it in your next newsletter. Doing this will drive traffic but also signal to your readers that it’s a pillar post that you feel deserves their attention.

As with each of the points above - only do this with your best and most relevant posts. If you do it with every post reader will become desensitized to your recommended reading.

6. Other Blogs Comments Sections and Forums
NOTE: tread carefully with this one and only do it occasionally and in a way that adds value.

If you’ve got a post that you think relates strongly to something that another blogger has written about or that is the topic of discussion on a forum - leave a link to your own post.

The key to pulling this off without being labled a spammer is to leave a genuinely useful comment on the blog or forum. The comment itself should add value, be right on topic and contribute to the conversation. Then if you include a link introduce it with a ‘I’ve written more about this at….’ type comment rather than just a spammy call to action.

The other option is to email the other blogger first and ask if they’d mind if you leave the link. You might even find that the blogger will add the link to the post itself (don’t assume this).

7. Email Signatures
If you use a service like Feedburner they have a little widget that you can add to your email signature that highlights your latest blog posts. I’m not sure how effective that this is at driving traffic but the principle is a good one.

I know of a couple of bloggers who do the same thing by hand - they pick one or two of their latest key posts and add links to them as ‘featured posts’ in their email signatures. Many of us have links to our blog’s main URL in our email signatures but it strikes me that a link to a recent individual post could actually be more effective as it sends people to your very best content - food for thought.

8. Followup Posts
If you’ve just written a post that you feel is important a great technique to give it a second round of attention is to write a second post extending the first in some way.

This technique is very powerful at adding a sense of momentum to your blog.

‘Treat every post as an introduction to your next’. Here’s an image that describes this process taken from How to Keep Momentum Going by Building on Previous Posts.

Also check out how I use Mind Mapping to extend posts and do followups like this.

9. Advertise Your Post
This one won’t be for everyone and is definitely only for those special posts that you write that you particularly want to drive traffic to - but why not put a little budget aside to promote a post with some advertising.

Key posts that have a high ‘usefulness factor’ to potential readers are a great way to find new loyal readers to a blog. Rather than advertising the front page of your blog a high quality post can actually be the perfect landing page for an advertisement.

There are a variety of ways to advertise a blog but one of my favorites is on StumbleUpon where you can actually start an organic rush of traffic to a good blog post with a relatively small budget. Learn more on how to do it at Run a StumbleUpon Advertising Campaign for your Blog.

4 More Ways to Promote Key Blog Posts
The list could go on - here are a few more quick tips on how to promote individual blog posts:

10. Write a Press Release - some press release services don’t cost anything (or much) and they can be surprisingly effective with a little luck.
11. Pitch Mainstream Media - some posts will have mainstream media appeal. Shoot a paper, magazine, TV or Radio station an email - you might get lucky.
12. Article Marketing - while I’ve never done article marketing I know a few bloggers who swear by writing articles for ‘free article sites’ as a way to promote themselves. While they often include links back to their main blog in these articles I think there’s some strong arguments for doing it to individual posts.
13. Add a Comments Competition - if you want to increase reader interaction on a particular post run a comments competition where you give one commenter a prize. To increase the ‘quality’ and not just ‘quantity’ of comments offer a prize for the ‘best’ comment rather than a random comment.

How do You Promote Blog Posts?
I’ve covered 12 ways to promote an individual blog post above. What would you add?

How have you done it? What success have you had?

Keep in mind I’m not asking about how you promote your blog in a general sense - but how do you drive traffic to individual blog posts?

Read the Full Series
This post is part of a series on how to craft blog posts. It will be all the more powerful if taken in context of the full series which looks at 10 points in the posting process to pause and put extra effort. Start reading this series here.

The world in turmoil, the door of opportunity opens

2008-09-15T21:27:00.001-06:00

As the world is in turmoil, and hopes and dreams are crushed, the weak will lay down and perish, while the visionary and the strong will just get up, brush off the dust, and keep on going. One of my favorite sayings: “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”, is as valid as always.

The eyes of the world are fixed in the United States. Will the economy of the most powerful nation in the world recover, or collapse? Will the United States repeat the mistakes of the past and re live the great depression of the 30’s?

Who knows… Seth Godin has a point when he said: “most of us aren't focused on flipping assets. We're building value by creating interactions that work, by writing stories that spread or by designing products and services that actually create something worth paying for.”
We are talking about the bloggers, the marketing experts, the thinkers, those who pride themselves on providing a worthwhile product, and more often than not, they provide value.

There will always be a place for those who refuse to give in, and with hope, and optimism, face the future, thus, making life better, not only for themselves but for others as well.

There is no limits to what the mind can create. Success does not come easy either. It requires discipline, persistence, and intuitiveness. A good does of imagination does not hurt either.

Keep on trucking, keep on writing, the doors of opportunity will always be open for those with the right frame of mind.

Delicious web site

2008-09-07T22:44:00.001-06:00

While reviewing and researching businesses for an article, I came across Chris, who is a self-described entrepreneur. She made the case for starting your own business, facing the risk of assuming full responsibility for your decisions, and provide a product that you could actually sell.

While I am not into selling food, or selling anything for that matter, I am a fan of true courage and responsibility. It takes guts to put your money where your mouth is and start your own business; and that is what Chris did. She started the Dippy Chick Company, in which she sells dips, and shares recipes Here is her link, check her out, you might like her recipes, and dips: http://www.dippychick.com/

Pay it forward 4 profits

2008-09-07T22:39:00.002-06:00

Many of you have probably seeing or heard about Pay it forward for profits. Well, so did I.

I joined “Pay it forward for profits” since I kind of liked the concept. I found that someone had reviewed what the program was about, and how much money was required to actually make money from it. Here is the complete scoop, the program was reviewed on www.scam.com, and there is an interesting very long thread on it, I just copy and pasted the important parts, which is the description of the program, hidden costs, and what is all about.

If you want to try it, sign in only AFTER YOU FINISH READING THIS POST, here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/Payitforwardnow.

Again, do not sign in until you have read this entire thread, I did the homework for you; the least you can do is read it, and make up your own mind.

Here is the scoop:

Part 1: Funded Sponsoring (Franchise System) Explained

Part 2: Affiliate Programs
There are 3 Major Parts to the Funded Sponsoring Franchise of Pay-It Forward 4 Profits that you need to set-up:

1. Funded Proposal
Global Domains International: $10/month

2. Secondary Sales
Traffic Oasis: $59.95/month

"Traffic Oasis is a Leads Membership company...THEY DON'T SELL LEADS! They provide exclusive leads to it's members each month. These leads are the best. How do you know they are any good? Because chances are, YOU are one of the Traffic Oasis leads your sponsor received with his/her membership :-) So, all you have to do is invite these leads to your Pay-It Forward 4 Profits website and give away the free membership! Then let the system take over from there!

3. Primary Business for Long Term Wealth
"The 3rd product that you need to be affiliated with is a Primary Network Marketing or Affiliate Business. The main reason we include the opportunity to have a 3rd Affiliate Program is that this will be your bread and butter, long-term residual income business...and YOU CAN CHOOSE to use any business that you feel will help you reach your goals."

Comment: I guess this is really optional since you have already paid $69.99 a month to PIF4P ($10 + $59.99). So if you sign up their MLM, then it is icing on the cake. If you use your existing MLM, it is good for you.

Part 3: Your Auto responder
Where Does Every Single Internet User "Travel To" On a Daily Basis; Their Personal Email Inbox. This is our "Location" in an Internet Business ... Remember, the BEST LOCATION to be on the Internet is in your Prospects Email Inbox.

To be successful as an Internet Marketer (or Network Marketer) you need to:

Build A List == > Build a Relationship and Market To Your List == > Cash Your Checks

Your Auto responder Is The Most Important Tool In Your Internet Marketing Business.

Sign up for Response Magic + Hit Counter for only $17.95/month!

You have 3 websites and 3 individual auto responder email series.
CFM ( Cashflow123.com)
PIF4P (PayItForward4Profits.com)
3STEP (3StepSecret.com)
Then you continue to another system.

Fast Start Traffic School

Part 1: Traffic Swarm

Part 2: Co-operative Advertising Program
"With the Co-operative Advertising Pool, you will be able to harness the power of leverage through pooling money with other members to get better results in the advertising, and also you are able to take advantage of an already skilled advertiser in Joel Broughton, as Joel will be running the Google Ad words campaign for the Co-operative advertising pool."

1. Cost is $25 per share; you will receive 5 members per share
2. Payable to: Joel Broughton
3. Be sure to Include Your Full Name, PIF4P's Username, and Your Phone Number, and Number of Shares that you want.
4. Mail To:

Joel Broughton
829 Norwest Road, Suite 104
Kingston, Ontario
K7P 2N3
Canada

Part 3: Direct Matches
"Direct Matches is the first in the online business and social networking industry to deploy a multi-matchmaking system that helps people locate everything from business contacts to network marketing professionals. It is the first business and social networking service with a contact management system that operates on a "dynamic basis", where members are able to select from dedicated networking communities."

"You will want to get at least a "Managing IR" membership ($19.95) to be able to get the most out of this tool."
Part 4: Ad Land Pro
You are invited to sign up with a free Ad Land Pro site to create ad. You get some 500 free credits. I don't know what the regular credit cost.
After this, you really get to see the Advanced Internet Marketing Success Guide.
Day 1 - Get to know your new websites
"Pay close attention to what I am about to say...

Referring people directly to your Pay-It-Forward 4 Profits website is more profitable than referring people to the individual company's links.

I'll say it again in highlighted bold. It's that important.

Referring people directly to your Pay-It-Forward 4 Profits website is more profitable than referring people to the individual companies links! (Don't send them to the individual company websites directly)
Now I want you to say this out loud to yourself, just to make sure we've got it:
"I will refer people directly to my Pay It Forward 4 Profits websites because it will be much more profitable for me than if I refer people to the individual company's links."

Why?

Why would it be more profitable to refer people to your Pay-It-Forward 4 Profits website than to your GDI, Traffic Oasis or your Primary Business Affiliate links one at a time?

That is a very good question. I'll answer that for you...

First, sending people to your Pay-It-Forward 4 Profits website is more profitable for you because it is a DIRECT RESPONSE website designed to have a very specific, focused purpose. Generate an opt-in and direct them to your member's area! The members’ area is, in fact, a multi-million dollar sales letter that is designed to very effectively inspire your visitor to sign up in 4 of the most lucrative moneymaking programs on the Internet under YOU. This page has been carefully crafted and is extremely effective at making the sales for YOU.
By sending people to your Pay-It-Forward 4 Profits website, you have an extremely high likelihood that they will sign up with you in Global Domains International, Traffic Oasis, your Primary Business, and Success University. Without the Pay-It-Forward 4 Profits website, the possibility of enrolling someone in these 4 programs with you is dramatically reduced. The Internet is a DIRECT RESPONSE environment and to succeed, you must learn to promote DIRECT RESPONSE information websites. This is very, very, very important to understand. If you don't "get it" yet, read the paragraph above again until you DO get it. Your success depends on it."
Day 2 - The Key To Success: You and Your Prospects!

Day 3 - Set up your FREE Traffic Accounts & Start Earning Traffic Credits!

Day 4 - Tell Your Friends, Family & Everyone You Can About Your Website

Day 5 - Setup Your Sig File, Get Involved and Make at Least 5 New Posts Today

Day 6 - Get Instant Access To Over 100 Million People In Less Than 10 Minutes With Google Ad words

DAY 7 - Unleash Your Residual Income Profits!

Day 8 - Newspaper Classified Ads

Day 9 - Fill Your Auto responder And Start Earning Automatic Email Profits

Day 10 - Get Your Own Article Written And Published All Over The Net To Earn Automatic Lifetime Income

Day 11 - Launch Your Own Blog And Attract Free Traffic And Profits For Life

Day 12 - Use Ezine Solo Ads To Pull In Big Auto-Pilot Email Profits

Day 13 - Expand your Forum Presence & Create More Signature Files
Here are the suggested forums:
http://www.WAHM.com
http://www.netmarketingforums.com
http://www.mlmforums.com
http://www.onlinemlm.com
http://www.workathomenetwork.com

Day 14 - Start Your Linking Campaign & Drive An Unstoppable Flood Of FREE Traffic To Your Website!

Day 15 - Start Placing Free Pay-Per-Click Advertising

Day 16 - Place Over 200 Million Ads Online Instantly for FREE

Day 17 - Stop Learning and Start Doing!!

Day 18 - Schedule Your Weekly Ezine Solo Ads!

Day 19 - Expand Your Google Ad Words Campaign!

Day 20 - Continue Growing Your Opt-In Email List!

Day 21 - Maintain Your Productive Habits
After skimming over day 1, I lost interest. So here you are, the first brief summary of PIF4P and its initial cost.

Global Domains International: $10/month
Traffic Oasis: $59.95/month
Response Magic + Hit Counter: $17.95/month
"Managing IR" membership: $19.95
Co-operative Advertising Program: $25 per 5 members

This is so far the best MLM that I have seen - no fixed cost (office, factory, storage, etc.) and no variable cost (material, management, employees, etc), just initial marketing production cost and monthly website hosting cost. In addition, each program is linked/tied to other programs.

Again, if after you read the entire article you want to give it a try, here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/Payitforwardnow

Free search engine optimization tip of the day

2008-09-07T22:27:00.001-06:00

Over deliver and you will be a star. Your free search engine optimization tip for today is simple. Over deliver, over deliver, over deliver. Social media owes it’s popularity to the fact that people is tired of the inhuman touch. The human being is a social creature. We enjoy each other’s company, and as long as we are comfortable, we are happy in the company of friends. Web site marketing or social media marketing will only make you successful if you remember that you work for one person only, your reader.

But there are other considerations in web site marketing. You cannot satisfy your customer’s need if the search engines cannot find you. How can we help the search engines so they can help us help our customers?

It helps if we know what our customers want. What exactly is our customer looking for? How does the customer find what they are looking for? This is elementary; they go into a search engine, and type a few words related to what they are looking for. They will type something like: Colorado Springs. But that is way too generic. They will soon realize that here are thousands of links to follow, so they have to refine their search, so they enter “Colorado Springs Museums”. That narrows the field, and makes it a bit more manageable. So, lets say that the customer wants to find an art museum. So, he or she types: Colorado Springs art museums. Bingo, that zeroes in on what they want, and they are happy. I do not want to sound patronizing, but those words that the customer used to find the art museums in Colorado Springs, those are key words; and you need to know what key words your future customer will use to so you can provide them for them.

Here is another free search engine optimization tip: use a keyword tracker, Google has one, or you can go to http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com and enter the generic key word you want. This word tracker will tell you how many times that word was used last month, and will give you specific phrases, and how many times they were used. Here is a suggestion: the word “marketing” was search 3820 times when I researched it. That is too much; it is too generic. Find a phrase that was searched about 100 times. That is the phrase that you will need to build or write your web site, blog, or article about, and make sure that you use that phrase on the meta tags, tags, title of the article, title of your website, or blog, and of course, you use it on your article.

That key word or phrase is what the customer is looking for; so it is your job to provide as much information as you can on that topic. That means: RESEARCH IT.

Now, here is another free search engine optimization secret: since you used the key word so many times, the search engine ranks your article, web site, blog, whatever, highly relevant for that particular key word, and hopefully, you will break the top 10 or 20.

So, here is one benefit of over delivering in your web site, when you give your customer what he or she wants, you are, at the same time, giving the search engines robots or spiders what they want. You have in fact become a partner in providing a quality product for your customers.

Also, make sure that you do not use black hat search engine optimization techniques.

This next paragraph is an example of what not to do, see if you can figure out why:

“People engaged in web site marketing, in their futile efforts to rank high on the search engines, often try to use not so innocent tricks. One that I saw not to long ago, and it really sucks, was to include Monica Lewinsky’s name and bill in the same paragraph, and since you already saw the word suck before, it should give you an idea of the intent of the paragraph, specially since we are in the middle of the presidential campaign.”

Please do not do that, it is offensive to your customers. You are trying to trick them, which means, that when they visit your site, they will leave in disgust.

If you use black hat search engine optimization techniques, whether you do them for free, or you pay someone, I suggest you stop. When the search engines find out, they will ban you.

Again, let me know your opinion, and fell free to contribute, comment at will, feel free to subscribe to our blog, or visit often.

Celebrate life.

Two money making ideas, or how to make more money

2008-09-05T20:30:00.003-06:00

Everybody wants to make money¸ everybody is selling something, or joining the next best affiliate program, or talking social media, or Internet marketing. So the question now is, how do I weed out what works and what does not?

I sent a note to my FaceBook group about a business opportunity, which by the way, has the potential of making tons of money, and immediately, I received four affiliate offers on my inbox.

There are a lot of people that will graciously give you tips ant try to help you by telling you that their program is the best; and you know what? They might be right; and then, they might not. I am convinced that a majority of those who send you their promotions are: trying to make money, and not trying to swindle you.

Here is the bottom line. You want to make money online? The best two ways of doing it are:

1. Affiliate marketing. You either sell your own product, or, if you are not that good at writing, public speaking, or just talking for the sake of talking, sell someone else’s stuff. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it is a good product.

2. Provide content, and sell advertising.

I prefer the second way of making money. It allows me to express my many opinions, help others by answering honestly, and frees me to find the next best thing.

I can tell you that I have being called “a great teacher”, twenty two years of Army experience, teaching everything from survival, to how to read a map, and lately, cultural awareness, tend to make you good at what you do; and when you spend as much time as I have teaching, and some of the things that you teach, if you teach it incorrectly, can cost someone’s life, you better take it seriously. A blog is hardly that exciting, but again, if you are going to teach, is best if you have something to teach.

You can create a blog, like this one, or why not, an e-zine. But, if you are like me, you get bored with articles that are designed to just sell you stuff. So, the first and best tip that I have for you is to respect your readers enough to let them know when you are selling something.

I have read dozens of free books on how to write copy, or sales letters. I don’t know who came up with those names. To me, copy is what you make on a copy machine, and copyright is what you apply for and pay so nobody plagiarizes you. But, it annoys me beyond belief when I see sales letters with testimonies, some of them legit, some out of someone’s mind (read between the lines on this one), trying to tell me that if I do not jump now and buy whatever it is, I will be missing the opportunity.

So, the bottom line again, respect your reader, and provide them with something useful, like CONTENT.

It is ok to place ads on your blog. Just look to the left of this article and you will see ads; or read between the articles, and you see more ads intended to have you click on them. I make money when you do. And, if Google is reading this, please note that I have not asked readers to click on them.

So, spend some time often enough, researching your topics, so you can provide useful and up to date info to your readers.

Read many blogs, and make yourself useful. What do I mean by that? Contribute to their readers by commenting on their articles. Make it a legitimate contribution. Share your ideas. Become a regular. Once you have done this, email the blog creators, maybe they will be willing to add a back link to your blog. Back links will help you gain “authority”. The search engines will see that as a sign that you actually know what you are talking about. Your ranking will improve. Make sure that you understand that they, the bloggers, are not obligated to place your link on their blogs. It is not personal, it is just business.

And, of course, make sure that you grow your list of contacts, and potential customers.

This takes time. Be patient. Rome was not built in a day.

It is called social media for a reason; you need to cultivate friendships. The more friends you make, the more possible customers you get.

We talked about content, research, back links, and your list. If you follow these tips, you will make money, eventually.

Let me know what you think. I am always open to new ideas, and contributions.

SEO Simplified or Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

2008-09-01T21:35:00.001-06:00

More about SEO, black hat, white hat, no hat

2008-08-28T21:50:00.002-06:00

Since I wrote an article warning about not wasting your money on “link farms” to try and get better page ranking, lets write another one about search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. Search Engine Optimization or SEO has become a multi million dollar industry, since most web owners want to make money with their businesses and websites, they realize that the only way to do it is by driving lots of highly targeted visitors to their particular portal, web page, or store front. Lets get busy:

1. Avoid “black hat SEO” techniques. If someone recommends you to hide links by changing the font color to the color of the background, don’t do it. Also, when you write for your blog or web page, make sure that the content of what you are writing makes sense. Some people used to advocate writing all your keywords, several times, in a long nonsensical litany of words. Avoid, making duplicate web pages, with the same content. The problem lies that when the search engine Gods find out, and they will, your website will be penalized and possibly banned form search engines.

2. Tags and Meta tags make sure that you know the difference, and place your keywords on the title tag accordingly.

3. Ensure that you repeat your key words in the body of the article. Please write coherently. It is counterproductive to write your keywords over and over trying to write so the search engines will pick them up. When you write that way, you forget the primary target demographic: humans. I don’t know you, but I get annoyed easily, and if what I am reading does not make sense, will never subscribe to your blog or page.

4. Use Google web master tools (they are free) to search for html coding mistakes.

5. Think your keywords through. Most of the times, people use phrases when they search for merchandise or just doing research. So if you are selling cowboy hats, make sure that you include “cowboy hat”, “white cowboy hat”, “black cowboy hat”, etc. Got the picture?

6. Link building. In three words: “forget link farms”. Get your links the old fashion way, by commenting on blogs, , giving things away, and trading with other webmasters. Yes, I know, it is not easy, and it takes time. But I never did promise you that it was going to be easy, did I?

The bottom line is that search engines search and assign page ranking based on an algorithm, and unless you are a math mayor, or a computer guru, you will not know what it is. And here is the bad news, the people that is selling you the promise of a better page ranking, probably doesn’t know either, since the search engine gods change the algorithm to fool those who try to cheat.

Provide great content, participate in discussions on high traffic blogs, volunteer to write a guest post for a high traffic blog, and “never give up, never give up, never give up”.

Social Media Marketing and how to waste your money in SEO

2008-08-25T19:21:00.002-06:00

Lets face it, Social Media Marketing is a growing phenomenon, and here at social media marketing 101, we try to help you with business ideas, relevant topics, how to, and how not to succeed on Internet Marketing.

With Billions of websites in the web, competition for the number one spot in the search engines is fierce. Those who can achieve the coveted top ten places per specified keyword have the potential of making millions of dollars. This fact has created an entire new industry, Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization can make you a millionaire, or rob you of your hard earned money.

The main purpose of SEO is simple enough: to be showcased in the top spots by the search engines for a particular key word or phrase. How to do it, is as clear as muddy water, and like in the Old West, the Snake Oil salesmen are a dime a dozen. Inbound links is one way to get there.

When your credibility as a blogger, or as a subject matter expert is well recognized by all, people will quote you as a source on their own blogs, or websites; or they will just simply cut and paste your article, links and all, and pt it on their website or blog. That is an inbound link. When search engines comb the net indexing websites, they find those inbound links to your site and think: hmmmm, there is a lot of people linking to this site, content should be good, let me place it high; and your page rank increases.

When your buddy and you place each other’s links on their respective web sites, a reciprocal link is formed. You have two links pointed at each other. It is not hard to figure out that you are doing me a favor and I am returning the favor. Google does not assign that much value to those links. They are not bad, but not great.

Unless you work for Google as a programmer, or you are a world class psychic, you will not know exactly how to place high on the search engines.

Those ads that you see promising #1 Google Ranking in days, might be the proverbial Snake Oil chuck wagon. Since what many of these businesses do is to collect hundreds or thousands of domains, and create thousands of web pages, in which, for a price, they will place the link to your website. Those are called link farms. When search engines find you there, they tend to penalize you by not counting your links (you just wasted your money) of by blocking their indexing robots from going through your site.

It is believed that in some occasions, when the same URL appears many times within a single web page, it is counted only as one, thus defeating the purpose of commenting many times in particular blogs, or web pages.

So, since I have just given so many bad news, let me give you some middle of the ground news: do try to contact the webmaster or admin of popular blogs, offer them to write an article for them. If it is well written, and offers promise, and they publish it with your links, chances are, those will give you a lot of inbound links; and the best part, it is free.

Talk to me, tell me your opinion, and money-making suggestions, readers will thank you.

What is an affiliate program?

2008-08-24T22:13:00.002-06:00

What is an affiliate program? How do I find the one for me?

An affiliate program is any system that allows you to interact, contribute, improve upon, distribute, and or market a particular idea, product, or service.

An affiliate program has many of the benefits of owning your own business, without the hassle of actually having to run it by yourself. Payroll, storage, shipping, handling, delivery, etc, are some of the most gratifying tasks of owning your own business, but like everything in life, too much of a good thing, can be hazardous to your health. At first, you might be having fun, but unless you absolutely love what you do, it will eventually get old, and something will have to give, either your business suffers, or the freedoms, and perks of owning your own business will translate to slavery (working 10-16 hour days, always taking care of problems, and never being able to take a day of).

But how many affiliate programs are there for me to choose? Two words: TOO MANY. So, how do I find out, which are worth my time and hard earned money? Lets do this:

a. Find something that is worthy of receiving your endorsement. Remember, if you are going to advertise it, your name brand, your name, your image, will be associated with it. If you peddle every little junky product out there, you will loose credibility. On the same token, if you always recommend high quality products and or services, people will learn to trust you. So, the best I can tell you is that you make sure to do your research, because in everything that you invest money in, there is always the risk of loosing your shirt. It is a lot easier to maintain an honest image by virtue of being honest, than it is to reinvent yourself every few years.

b. Only you can determine what is too little money for you. You might be very altruistic, but the bottom line is that if you want to continue to be altruistic, you need to make money. The more you make, the more altruistic you can afford to be. So make sure that whatever program you get yourself involved with pays a decent commission. To me, a decent commission is anything over 30%. Some will pay you 50%, and if you are lucky, you might find something paying 60%. Who knows, it is up to you. But remember that if you are investing the time, you need to be paid.

c. Ensure that your affiliate program tracks every possible way to sell a product and service. Unfortunately, with the advent of the Internet, many affiliate programs concentrate only in the online portion of the business. So the fax orders, the mail orders, the phone orders, are fulfilled, but not credited to you. Make sure that whatever affiliate program you go into, can track the old fashion snail mail transactions.

d. Check out how easy it is to make a sale. If five people of every hundred that visit and inquire about the program joins, or purchase it, you will be doing great. The higher the percentage rate, the better.

e. Is your program sink or swim? When you get your affiliates, you should provide them with tools for success, from links, to examples of advertisement. The better the support, the longer they will stay being your affiliates.

f. Read all contracts, agreements, and websites. Also, do a web search for the names of the people affiliated with the management of the program, and try to find anyone who has done a review of the particular program you are contemplating joining. I have found that just five minutes and few well placed key words, can provide you with food for thought, and give you judgment elements that you will need in order to make an intelligent decision.

g. As with everything, only invest money that you can afford to loose.

Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify, change niches, and try several programs. Life is flexible, you be too. Do your homework and you will be successful.

Why do you want to be and entrepreneour?

2008-08-19T21:30:00.001-06:00

For the money? Freedom (Braveheart comes to mind), dreams, hated your old boss? Why do you do it? Who knows? For some strange reason we love the challenge, and we insist on putting our necks on the line every day, or at least our wallets.

As an old Army recruiter, we were taught that people joined the military for five reasons: Money, Adventure, Education, Patriotism, or to Travel.

Oh heck there he goes again telling old war stories… LOL

Well, I did spent a lot of time in the Army, I might have learned a thing or two, and might as well share it with you all.

Lets condense review reasons and see what motivates most of us to become entrepreneurs.

Money is probably number one. Many of us would not get out of bed if we were not going to get paid. Money does not buy happiness, but it sure can help us provide for our families, and take us places where we can expand our horizons. In addition, money allows us to expand our business, and make more money. Ok, so it is a vicious cycle. I haven’t heard those who complaint about the rich people state that they ever got a job from someone who was broke, or that they were able to become debt free without making money first.

Adventure is a concept not usually associated with becoming an entrepreneur, but if you think about it, there is the excitement and the anticipation of planning the next business deal, and the adrenaline rush that comes from masterfully presenting your business proposal, and the ecstasy of succeeding where others failed. So the same emotions that we feel when we are entering uncharted territory are felt by the entrepreneur looking to seal the next deal.

Education is needed if you are going to succeed in business, whether formal (college) or informal (someone took you under his or her wing), unless you are willing to learn by failing, you will need to spend time sharpening the proverbial axe. Abraham Lincoln once said that if you had one hour to cut down a tree, you should spend the first 45 minutes sharpening the axe. Translation? Prepare yourself. Learn the art of persuasion, hypnotic selling, study the laws of the State where you will do business, learn about Internet Marketing, the sky is the limit.

Traveling is one of my favorite activities. I love meeting new people, new cultures. Today, the economy of the planet is a global economy, and unless you are just trying to open a street corner grocery store (nothing wrong with that) we have the potential of having a truly international business. So, if you really want to succeed, expand your horizons, learn to appreciate diversity, and get to know other cultures. So what if they speak funny, to them you speak funny too. In all my travels around the world, I found out that most people, in every culture, just want to feed their families, and be happy.

And patriotism; what can be more patriotic than to help stimulate the economy of your Nation by virtue of being a successful merchant or marketer. When the economy of a Nation grows, education follows soon after, jobs are created, health is improved, mortality rates decrease, and in many instances, a sense of National Pride is common among the citizens.

So why again do you work so hard to be an entrepreneur? Who knows, but whatever your reason, the ramifications are far reaching and the good that you achieve and spread makes us all better people.

Leverage, the key to success:

You want to be an extremely successful individual, don’t you?

I dare to bet that you have seeing many would be marketers, with incredible potential come and go, and for a long time, you have asked, how come so and so, with his or her powerful presence, knowledge, and drive, did not achieve the success that was there for the taking.

And you have asked yourself, maybe a few times, if he or she failed, then how can I expect to succeed?

The reality of the situation is that even though those would be successful MLM, or Social Media Stars, had the potential to succeed; sometimes they do not have the right tools to ensure success.

The purpose of any marketing campaign is to put a product or service in front of many sets of eyes, and convince them that such product or service will fill a very important need in their lives. The job of the marketer is to ensure that this happens.

This premise seems simple enough, right?

Well, not really, it so happens that it fails to take into consideration a critical part of the equation, the prospective buyer.

Why would someone not buy this incredible product or service that I am promoting? Maybe:

a. They do not want it.
b. They do not want to buy from you. They do not trust you.
c. They do not have the money.
d. They do not need the product.

Ok, lets look at all of those, I could write a complete chapter on each of those, but lets limit our analysis to the basics.

a. They do not want your product. Most of the things that we buy on a daily basis, we do not really need. You did not need the house you just bought; you already had a roof over your head. And yet, you purchase that house. Once we see the house, the new car, the diamond ring, or someone shows them to us and explains their advantages; we can no longer live without that product or service. Appeal to their emotions, and they will become receptive to your message.

b. Your customer does not want to purchase from you, because they do not trust you. You either remind them of their brother in law, ex husband, ex wife, or they have being burned before, or heard that someone lost their shirt because they bought whatever it is that you are selling. Unless you develop credibility, and act and look professional, your sales record will not impress anyone. Start by becoming a real expert on your product, and while you are at it, make sure that you yourself would purchase that product or service; otherwise, your prospect will see that you do not believe in the product, so they will not buy from you.

c. They do not have the money. Lets face it, the economy is not doing that great and many people live paycheck to paycheck. So, unless you have a way to finance whatever it is you are selling, and you honestly believe that your customer’s life will be better off by purchasing your product or service, find a new customer.

e. I hate pushy salespeople. If they do not need your product or service, don’t sell it to them. They will appreciate your honesty, and you can probably get some referrals from them, and who knows, maybe, in the future, they might call you and get your item.

The bottom line is that not everybody will buy your product; but trust me, it is not personal.

Remember that your prospective customer is a human being, treat them with respect, not just like a prospect, or a future down line, and chances are, your sales stats or your recruiting average will improve.

Money matters

2008-08-17T22:28:00.001-06:00

When we talk money, as a business owner, we need to make sure that we keep tabs on income and expenses, keep a very through record of assets and liabilities, and generate adequate forms to fulfill the needs of our business.

You can track income and expenses using the register of your checkbook; or the old fashion way, using a ledger or notebook with columns. The main point here is that you should categorize your debits (income) into some sort of income category. Lets see, if you receive revenue form the selling of e-books as an Amazon.com affiliate, you can create a category called “Amazon income”, or if your income came from selling something on e-bay, “E-Bay”; while at the same time, you create categories for your liabilities (expenses). If you have a home office, you might deduct a portion of your utilities from your home, or a portion of your Internet bill. Do remember to consult our professional tax advisor for clarification of any doubts, and if nothing else, to ensure that you are familiar with the new laws. Our Tax Code grows by leaps and bounds every year.

Microsoft has it’s own accounting program that can help you with these items, and so does Quicken.

Using a checkbook program like Quicken assumes that you are using cash based system for your business, or in other words, you get paid in cash, you deposit the money, and you write a check for your expenses. If you have inventory, you should consult your Tax advisor, since you might get yourself in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. Tracking cash advances, and services received in advance, can present its own variety of challenges to a cash based system.

Invoices, checks, credit memos, contracts, monthly statements, purchase orders, inventory forms, are just a few of the forms that you might need to standardize if you want to be effective accounting for your business traffic, inventories, sales, demand, liabilities, etc. Quick Books, Peachtree’s Complete Accounting, or Microsoft Business might help you out. I sometimes create mi own forms with Microsoft Office.

The computer you just bought for your business, your fax machine, your fancy teleconferencing phone, the scale you just bought to weight your packages before mailing them, your car if you use it for business, are some assets that you might need to keep track for tax purposes. Office supplies, alarm system, etc, are just but a few others. Again, check with your Tax Advisor.

There is no one formula to ensure that you will have an efficient accounting system if you insist on doing it yourself; just make sure that you keep the number of a professional CPA handy, in the event that you feel overwhelmed, and be weary of your buddy who tells you that you can take certain Tax deductions when he actually majored in “Partying and boozing” while in college.

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Good managers and lousy ones too!

2008-08-14T22:13:00.000-06:00

After spending twenty-two years in the U. S. Military, I can say that I have had my share of excellent leaders, and lousy ones too. I myself have learned by doing, which means, I have made plenty of mistakes. This experience translates to my civilian life. And as so, you can use it to save yourself some time, expedite your business, and improve the bottom line.

When you are an entrepreneur, is easy to forget that you are still a manager, of one, but never the less, a manager, a leader, you are leading yourself. Unfortunately, not everybody has the tools to be one, or have being taught how to do it.

People tend to admire those who appear to obtain the loyalty of others, and are followed by all. But many are just looking at someone’s charisma, and thinking that they are natural borne leaders. Charisma does not equal leadership skills. I have seeing the young strong, rugged, and impetuous novice “leader” fall flat on his or her face, because instead of learning to plan, and think about the consequences of each possible course of action, the intrepid novice rushes in for the kill, just to fail.

In combat, it is those leaders that get their troops killed, while more experienced leaders, come out unscathed, and their troops, have greater possibility to survive.

In business, it is the manager who rushes in, who unless lucky, will loose his or her shirt.

Observing good leaders, I realized that there are a few tactics that will make you a better leader, manager, or supervisor:

1. “Sharpen your Axe”, I think that it as Abraham Lincoln who said that given one hour to cut down a tree, he would spend forty five minutes sharpening his axe. Take time to prepare yourself, gather knowledge, get to know and understand your contacts, and customers, also your market. Know and trust your product. If you are into Internet marketing, ensure that you become an expert in Search Engine Optimization. And also, make sure that you take time to exercise, eat correctly, and get a proper amount of rest. You will function better.

2. Stay in control. My father once told me: in order to solve a problem, you need to look at it. That was his way of telling me that I needed to analyze the situation, and find the real cause of the problem. Once you find the real cause, you can find the real solution.

3. Time management. Someone was asked to help create a time management system. This gentleman came back an next day, he told the executive to write a list of everything that needed to be done. He also ask him to identify which was the critical task. Then, identify the second critical task, and so on. Next day, he was to do task number one until completion, then task number two, and so on. Whichever tasks could not be accomplished that same day, that was fine, they could be move to next day, and priorities re evaluated. But the most critical tasks were accomplished every single day. Do the same.

4. Know your people, and their characteristics. Know their strengths and weaknesses; that way, you can use your team more efficiently.

5. Respect your team. You will only be respected when you respect others first. Take care of your team, and your team will take care of you. We call that “Leading from the front”. It is incredibly hard to lead from the rear; you are then only pushing your team, not leading, and nobody likes to be pushed. It is those who care for the team, lead by example, and are willing to go the extra mile, who distinguish themselves as leaders.

So in retrospect, make sure that you take time to sharpen the axe, stay in control so you can have a clear and accurate view of the situation at hand, mange your time, know your people and use them according to their skills, and make sure that you respect your team, and that your team respects you.

Let me know what you think.

Five not so secret keys to marketing

2008-08-12T19:18:00.000-06:00

A lot of people talk about marketing, they want to develop a marketing business, they talk social media marketing, multi level marketing, and truth be told, many do not have the least idea of what marketing implies. Lets bounce five ideas that might give you a leg up and kick-start your business.

First things first: lets talk about your level of commitment to your product. Are you convinced that it is the best product available? What does that has to do with marketing? I am a firm believer that your integrity has to come first. I cannot advertise a product that I cannot honestly say it works, or has the true potential to work. As so, I am truly passionate about what I do, and the passion can be felt in my writing, in my speeches, and in everything I do. You would be surprised at the difference that commitment makes in an advertising campaign.

Number two: how is your support system? Who is your partner, and what kind of ideas he or she brings to the table? Are they zapping your energy with negativity? They need to be as committed to the product as you are. Their passion should complement yours.
Third: make sure that you give 100% effort to your customer, or whatever it is that you are marketing. A half-baked idea, or a lacking ad campaign will produce just that, mediocre results.

Fourth: do the absolute best job that you can do for every customer. Your fame will multiply, and you will get what others envy: repeat customers, and true referrals. If your product is good, you have the passion, and your firm exemplifies ethics, values, and an emphasis in customer service, you will have no problem later on, since your customers will give you the greatest compliment of them all: referrals.

And fifth: not everybody knows everything. So when you have doubts, talk to your loyal friends. If you are a good friend, the relationships that you have cultivated, will be there for you. Ask, and when your friends ask for suggestions, you be there for them too. In that way, it is a mutual benefit relationship.
Do this, and you will prosper.

So you want to make money online?

2008-08-10T21:30:00.000-06:00

I want to make money with my blog.

Blogs, electronic journals, e-zines, e-books, online versions of paper magazines, the options are endless. How can you find the blog that you would like to read? That seems like a stupid question to ask, the stereotypical answer would be: “Google it”. Yeah right. Try it, and when you have pulled every hair on your head, let me know. Search engine categorize blogs by keywords, and there are exponentially, as many ways to find your blog, as there are words in whichever language(s) you are currently using.

The next problem that you will find, is that people tend to start a blog entry, and suddenly, a friend comments on the blog, but instead of adding content, they start a non-related conversation about the immortality of crabs or some nonsensical topic like last night’s dance. Don’t take me wrong, that is totally ok. But it does not serve the purpose if you are limited in time and want an expedite way of research.

The problem is that blogers are human beings, they get bored, they get busy, they become frustrated, and that lends itself to inconsistency. Inconsistency breeds the mess that we find now on the Internet.

The thing is, that this is supposed to be a blog about making money, business opportunities, and social media. So why did I started this post in such a convoluted way? You guessed it, here is the answer: you can make money with a blog if you follow a few very basic rules. Many people have done it. It does not take a rocket scientist. I read about a teenage girl that started designing “wallpaper” for her MySpace account, and gave it away for free on her blog. Suddenly, her popularity skyrocketed (went viral) and at seventeen, someone offered her over $1,000,000.00 for her blog. Yes, that is over one million dollars. She declined, the upped the offer, and the rest is history. John Chow, started a ranting blog, and now he receive tens of thousands of hits (visitors) a week. He makes a killing on advertisements.

How does that benefit you? Simple, start a blog; the experience alone, even if you make no money of the back, is worthy. You will get used to the pace, posting, replying to comments, and placing ads on your blog. You can start a blog for free, get an Adsense account (from Google) and start making modest amounts of money. But if you really want to make money, you need traffic; you need to drive visitors to your blog. Your writing needs to be interesting; your blog should have good content, and need to be updated often to keep people visiting you often.

Tell me again why I should start a blog? Here it goes again: a blog is a diary that others read, get interested on, comment on your postings, and gives you the opportunity to reply to those postings, thus establishing a relationship.

Follow me now... You suddenly get many friends to follow your writings, some will agree with you and some will not, no surprise there, but if you are honest, treat everybody with dignity, they will come back. You have managed to establish a following. You are establishing yourself as an authority.

Keep up now, I’m going fast here… what is marketing? Marketing is the art or science of advertising a product or service so people will purchase it. The marketer should be credible and savvy enough to advertise a product so the viewers, readers, friends, etc. accept his or her word for it, and want to purchase such product or service. But how can you advertise if you have no credibility? And how can you create or develop credibility if people don’t know you? Enter the BLOG… Got it?

Got it. Get your name out there, for the right reasons. Be serious about it. Research your postings before publishing. Treat others with a modicum of respect. Advertise your blog to your Social Media friends; hopefully you will have more than ten. Have your friends recommend your postings to their friends. Have them Digg, or Stumbelupon, or bookmark your articles. Soon enough, not overnight though, your name will be on the search engines. And your blog will have a good following; making you an authority. Oh, remember the adsense and other advertising that you started doing on your blog? With some luck, you will be bringing some revenue as your visitors click on your advertisements.

So, lets summarize:

a. Create a blog.
b. Add fairly good quality articles or postings; make sure that you research the topic.
c. Place some advertisements on it.
d. Tell your friends and ask them to ask your friends to visit your blog, if it is good, some will continue visiting and reading it.

Tell me what you think… leave your comments below.

Get attention

2008-08-02T20:39:00.000-06:00

by: Rikki Arundel

We live in a world of noise ? not just auditory noise but total sensory overload. Everywhere we go marketing messages are shouting at us day and night. Hundreds of TV and radio stations, thousands of newspapers, magazines and books, millions of ezines, brochures, and leaflets, billions of emails and web pages. And unfortunately much of it is junk so it's hard to find the important stuff.

You have to cut though the noise and get people to see and hear your message. If people don't see you or hear you then there is no way they are going to buy from you. If people don't visit your web site, read your articles, brochures or sales letters, attend your seminars etc., why even bother to produce them.

Now I know this is going to sound blindingly obvious, but most important ideas are just common sense things that we have stopped doing. The key to Getting Attention is to give people what they are looking for. Find a bunch of people with the same problem keeping them awake at night and offer to take away the problem. People buy for two reasons only:

Desire for Gain or Avoidance of Pain.

The one that motivates us most is avoidance of pain, removing a problem. What problem does your product or service solve? Look for people who have that problem, market to them and you will get their attention because that problem is on their mind, they are thinking about it they are looking for a solution so they are much more likely to see your message. This is what gives pay per click its potential and why it's so important to build tightly targeted mailing and ezine lists.

Write these words on a large poster and stick it up on your notice-board.

Get Attention ? Be Remembered

Now once you have their attention it's a lot easier to keep that attention and even get them telling their friends about you, provided you get them to Remember You. This is so important but so many businesses do nothing to be remembered. The cost of acquiring a new customer is about 10 times the cost of repeat business so it's crucial that you do everything to make sure that customers remember you and get into the habit of doing business with you.

Consider the Lifetime Value of a customer. One purchase may be worth $100, but if that customer comes back to you just 4 times a year for the next 5 years their value is $2000 ? 20 times their first purchase. If every year that customer refers another 2 customers to you who each spend $400 a year, at the end of 5 years that one customer will have introduced 8 customers with a total value to you of $10,000. Now if maths is not your strong suit you will just have to trust me on this, but if each new customer also referred 2 additional customers each year, you would have a total of 121 customers with a 5 year value to you of $48,400. Nearly £50,000 dollars from one $100 customer.

What you are doing to make your customers feel really great about doing business with you. Be creative. It's not what they buy it's who they introduce that makes the difference. How can you overwhelm people with the quality of your service, massively exceed their expectations and give them real value, especially value that doesn't actually cost you much.

One day I was booked in at a small 3 star hotel. As I approached the door, a lady welcomed me and opened the door for me. As I waited at the reception to check in, she brought over a tray offering me a glass of sherry or brandy while I waited. As soon as I had checked in a porter took my bag and escorted me to the room showing me around. 15 minutes later the reception called just to check that everything was OK. This was an inexpensive 3 star hotel yet they delivered the kind of service that even 5 star hotels struggle to match. The result; I became an evangelist selling their hotel to friends and contacts at every opportunity because they massively exceeded my expectations.

So the marketing process is ? Get Attention to acquire new customers by giving people what they want, - Be Remembered by massively exceeding expectations so they do your marketing for you by recommending you to their friends.

About the Author:

Founder and First President of the Professional Speakers Association (PSA), Rikki Arundel is a truly unique International Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Writer. She is openly and proudly transgender and an expert in sales and marketing communications with an impressive track record, and being transgender has provided her with a unique understanding of the differences in the way men and women communicate in business. http://www.RikkiArundel.com

E-Business 101, in layman's terms

2008-08-01T21:33:00.000-06:00

An online business; that is the dream of many entrepreneurs. The old adage that “you have to spend money to make money” is still partially true in this day and age. But the days of spending thousands of dollars in order to start a business online are pretty much over, unless of course you get yourself swindled by some fast talking person. But how can you make it if you have no idea how to start your own business, much less an online business?

Here is the scoop. You will have some initials expenses, and if you are smart and lucky, you can keep them to a minimum.

First things first; what do you want to do with your business? Do you want to sell something tangible, intangible, your own products, someone else’s, do something in the entertainment industry (use your imagination on that one), or… you take your pick.

It does not matter what you want to do, you will need a website. Here is the warning: almost everyone who offers you a free website, is probably only offering you the website, not the “Domain name”, or the “hosting”, and for sure, not the advertising.

What does all that means in layman’s terms? The “Domain” is the name for your business. Here goes another warning: when you go to purchase your domain, make sure that you have the usual fee for the hosting (about $5.00-$25.00 per month) because when you enter your very original “name” and try to figure out if it is available, the search engine that you are using, or the company that is trying to sell you the hosting, will keep tabs of it, and if you do not snatch it right away, they will buy it, and then auction it back to you at a higher price. Also, “Hosting Companies” will give you the better rate if you pay for the entire year up front. I.E. you will pay about $20.00 per month, if you pay one month at a time; versus $5.95 per month, if you pay the entire year.

“Hosting” is the place where you are going to keep your files, and website. They have a server, or huge storage facility and can sell you a package that would allow to keep your site, provide you with emails for your business, and or give you the option to rent space for other entrepreneurs to hang their websites, that way you also make money from it. That of course is more expensive.

Web design, HTML, and whatchamacallits: You can buy a cheap WYSIWYG program (what you see is what you get) at your local software store, you can ask someone to do it for you and pay a few hundreds to thousands, or use the hosting company WYSIWYG software and hope you can figure it out. I suggest for you to go to blogspot.com, or officelive.com and create a free account, then, practice, practice, practice… figure out the colors, the layout, the advertising placement, etc. It will give you an opportunity to practice your decorator skills.

Once you figure it out with a few disposable blogs or websites, you are ready to get your feet wet. Do these next:

a. Buy your domain; the “Free domains” gimmick is to make you buy a hosting packet.
b. Buy your hosting packet. See if they throw an auto responder with it. Trust me, you will need it.

c. Get the auto responder if you did not get it with the hosting.
d. Create your website.

Now I am going to break your heart. Just because you have a great website, does not mean that you will have people coming to look at it. No visitors, no purchase, no advertising revenue. The only business that is really a sure thing is an “adult website business”. Other than that, you will need to do some serious “Search Engine Optimization” in order to get visitors.

“Search Engine what? Here it is in English: if search engines like Google, Dogpile, Ask Jeeves, etc. cannot find your website, nobody will see it. If your website is not within the first few results in the main search engines, people will not take the time to find it. So, you can do it yourself, or again, pay someone to do it.
Once you have your domain, your website, your hosting, your auto responder, and your site fully optimized, you need to ask yourself, how am I going to get pay?

E-Commerce, Electronic Shopping Cart, PayPal, SafePay, etc are topics for a future article, in the meantime, do not fall for every Tom, Dick, or Harry that promises to make you a millionaire. Only invest what you can afford to lose, and make yourself smart. I am not trying to be condescending; I am trying to tell you to start studying. Continue to read this blog, go to Technorati.com, check out their 100 top blogs, read some of those and learn, learn, learn.

Any doubts, feel free to ask.

Marketing on a Budget

2008-07-28T18:06:00.000-06:00

A successful marketing plan doesn't have to include an athletic superstar, prime-time placement, state-of-the-art computer graphics or a massive budget. Being resourceful and smart can be just as effective.

Business promotion doesn't have to cost a fortune. Often, it's the personal touch that seals the deal. Here are ideas gathered from marketing experts to help you make the most of a slim marketing budget:

Use Press Release Power

You might not realize it, but reporters sometimes need you as much as you need them. The key to getting their attention is coming up with a newsworthy item that is concisely written.

* Peg your release to real events, such as fundraising drives or a new service your business offers. Don't be witty to amuse yourself the idea must have a concrete purpose.

* If you can't figure out why your company might be newsworthy, ask your friends what they find interesting about your company.

* You can also utilize your built-in research tool your customers. If you have an offbeat idea, bounce it off them or have them fill out a short questionnaire. Ask them why they use your business.

Think Differently

Concoct an event to draw media coverage. For instance, a Japanese restaurant could create the world's largest sushi roll and advertise its record-breaking "sushi queue."

Put A Face On It

Placing your photograph on your business card creates a personal relationship, even if they don't know you. Not only will people remember your name, they'll remember your face.

Print The Praise

If someone says, "You do a great job," say, "Thanks, very much, that means an awful lot to me. I would appreciate it if you would write a testimonial letter." Then make the testimonial part of your promotional package.

Borrow A Message

When you see an article on a subject that might interest your clients, send them a photocopy with a note that says, "I thought you might be interested in this." You're making a personal connection with a client and associating yourself with the authority quoted in the article in the process.

Think Outside The Box

You don't have to outspend your competition, you just have to outthink them. Some examples: Buy a billboard ad every other month for a year. Chances are, the billboard won't be replaced on the off months, so you'll get more exposure at no extra cost.

This concept also relates to how you run your business: Always try to figure out how to give your customers something they can't find elsewhere, such as a children's play area at a restaurant.

Try The Old Faithfuls

Don't dismiss time-honored solutions that increase your company's community profile, such as sponsoring a charity event or outfitting a local little league team. You'll get your name out there, and that's what counts.

Freebie Force Review

2008-07-26T16:48:00.000-06:00

Well, It had to happen, curiosity sometimes is a bad thing, but in this case it is a good one.

It is safe to assume that we all are always trying to get a good return on our investment. We would not be good business people if we did not; and with the high cost of groceries, gas, and everything that we use on a daily basis, it is harder than ever to find a good investment.

Enter Freebie Force. Freebie Force is an old fashion MLM Company in which you recruit people, your people recruit people, their people continues to do the same, and as long as most of them remain active, you get paid.

What is the product? Somehow; the company finds a lot of free stuff, which is why it is called Freebie Force, from software, to college classes, to detergents, you name it. So, you log to their website, and check out their offers, I spent 45 minutes, doing it and got about $400.00 worth of items that I can use. Guess what? I send for those items.

So I invested about $10.00, and in return, will receive about $400.00 worth of goods that I would otherwise buy. Not bad.

When you sign in, they will advertise the opportunity to make money filling out surveys, if this for you, go right ahead, otherwise, keep on going to the goodies.

As with all MLM systems, you get what you put in. So, if you want to make money, make sure to advertise the program to your friends.

Ops, I almost forgot, here is the link: http://joseacolon.makemoneywithfreebies.com.

Do make sure that you watch the short video.

Joe

10 Marketing Tips

2008-07-23T20:03:00.000-06:00

1. Print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. People read postcards when the message is brief. A small ad on a postcard can drive a high volume of traffic to your web site and generate a flood of sales leads for a very small cost.

2. No single marketing effort works all the time for every business, so rotate several marketing tactics and vary your approach. Your customers tune out after awhile if you toot only one note. Not only that, YOU get bored. Marketing can be fun, so take advantage of the thousands of opportunities available for communicating your value to customers. But don't be arbitrary about your selection of a variety of marketing ploys. Plan carefully. Get feedback from customers and adapt your efforts accordingly.

3. Use buddy marketing or social media marketing to promote your business. For example, if you send out brochures, you could include a leaflet and/or business card of another business, which had agreed to do the same for you. This gives you the chance to reach a whole new pool of potential customers.

4. Answer Your Phone Differently. Try announcing a special offer when you answer the phone. For example you could say, "Good morning, this is Ann Marie with Check It Out; ask me about my special marketing offer." The caller is compelled to ask about the offer. Sure, many companies have recorded messages that play when you're tied up in a queue, but who do you know that has a live message? I certainly haven't heard of anyone. Make sure your offer is aggressive and increase your caller's urgency by including a not-so-distant expiration date.

5. Stick It! Use stickers, stamps and handwritten notes on all of your direct mail efforts and day-to-day business mail. Remember, when you put a sticker or handwritten message on the outside of an envelope, it has the impact of a miniature billboard. People read it first; however, the message should be short and concise so it can be read in less than 10 seconds.

6. Send A Second Offer To Your Customers Immediately After They've Purchased Your customer just purchased a sweater from your clothing shop. Send a handwritten note to your customer thanking them for their business and informing them that upon their return with "this note" they may take advantage of a private offer, such as 20% off their next purchase. To create urgency, remember to include an expiration date.

7. Newsletters. Did you know it costs six times more to make a sale to a new customer than to an existing one? You can use newsletters to focus your marketing on past customers. Keep costs down by sacrificing frequency and high production values. If printed newsletters are too expensive, consider an e-mail newsletter sent to people who subscribe at your Web site.

8. Seminars/ open house. Hosting an event is a great way to gain face time with key customers and prospects as well as get your company name circulating. With the right programming, you'll be rewarded with a nice turnout and media coverage. If it's a seminar, limit the attendance and charge a fee. A fee gives the impression of value. Free often connotes, whether intended or not, that attendees will have to endure a sales pitch.

9. Bartering. This is an excellent tool to promote your business and get others to use your product and services. You can trade your product for advertising space or for another company's product or service. This is especially helpful when two companies on limited budgets can exchange their services.

10. Mail Outs. Enclose your brochure, ad, flyer etc. in all your outgoing mail. It doesn't cost any additional postage and you'll be surprised at who could use what you're offering.

There are no impossibles

2008-07-22T22:46:00.000-06:00

There is nothing impossible

There is nothing impossible in this world for someone with determination, an open mind, and the will to succeed.

There was once a very rich man who wanted to give his fortune to his three daughters, so he went to see his lawyers and ask how could he be sure that his daughters would be well taken care of.

Once there, he realizes that the laws of our great Nation (not to mention most of our politicians, our media, and lawyers themselves) are downright insane. Email me if you want a more in depth explanation of this statement. I love our Nation, but our politicians make me wonder daily.

The complexity of our legal system, tax laws, and probate, are just ridiculous. But the bottom line is that when the Maker calls you in, you better have your affairs in order.

Your beneficiaries will get be receive:

1. An introduction to an insane, and tedious legal process to get their inheritance.

2. The privilege to give an enormous amount of money to an attorney who is on his or her way to be a multi millionaire, because of our insane legal system, and the gullibility of his or her clients.

3. The unsavory task of paying a huge amount of taxes to the government, which amounts to double taxation (you hopefully paid your taxes on time) since they got you when you made your money, and now they are taking some more of your hard earned money from those whom you tried to help.

This is RIDICULOUS….

So, the old man, I don’t need to tell you, is not happy at all.

The old man asked his over priced lawyers if all of that bunch of nonsensical laws and procedures were all explained in their legal library behind their desk. The lawyers said yes, and the old man proceeded to ask them if they would allow him to spend a bit of time everyday on their library. Cursing under their breath, they said yes, they did not want to loose such a good client.

The old man, burry himself in books for the best part of a week, after which he told his lawyers that they need not concern themselves with the task of arranging his affairs any longer. Seeing that MONEY was escaping their grabby hands, tried like crazy to dissuade him to no avail.

The old man decided that he was going to throw a grand party to celebrate his retirement. Music, alcohol, food, his lawyers, all the sycophants that usually follow a rich person around wanting their money, his daughters, their husbands, everything and everybody was there.

He ask the musicians to take a break, and grabbed the microphone. He proceeded to thank everybody for being there, and God for all the magnificent opportunities and blessings bestowed upon him: His wife, his daughters, his business, his friends, and his fortune…

He only lamented that his daughters had chosen scumbag, crooks, unethical, and dishonest pieces of #$%^ individuals to marry.

Everybody was surprised since they thought that he had approved and respected the men his daughters married.

The party lost its festive atmosphere, and everyone went home. A few days later, no one was surprised that these three men were suing the old man.

The trial was long, and the three men got it all, they of course shared it with their wives, children, and even forgave the old man, whom they gave a very generous allowance to live the rest of his life.

His daughters, husbands, and children received all of his money, and he did not have to pay taxes, or the lawyers to distribute his wealth.

There was no mortality taxes, income taxes, state taxes, or any other taxes involved, since money earned from a damages law suit is usually, tax exempted.

Here is the bottom line, it is not the circumstances that are preventing you from being rich, it is yourself.

Once you realize that you have all the tools needed to succeed, and you believe in yourself, you can achieve any goal, and become the person that you want to be.

It is determination, an open mind, and the will to succeed what will make you or break you.

WHAT WILL IT BE? Will you be a star?

It is up to you.

On the words of Larry the Cable Guy: Git er done….

Lets talk SEO

2008-07-22T22:42:00.000-06:00

Thousands of servers ...billions of web pages.... the possibility of individually sifting through the WWW is null. The search engine gods cull the information you need from the Internet...from tracking down an elusive expert for communication to presenting the most unconventional views on the planet. Name it and click it. Beyond all the hype created about the web heavens they rule, let's attempt to keep the argument balanced. From Google to Voice of the Shuttle (for humanities research) these ubiquitous gods that enrich the net, can be unfair ...and do wear pitfalls. And considering the rate at which the Internet continues to grow, the problems of these gods are only exacerbated further.

Primarily, what you need to digest is the fact that search engines fall short of Mandrake's magic mechanism! They simply don't create URLs out of thin air but instead send their spiders crawling across those sites that have rendered prayers (and expensive offerings!) to them for consideration. Even when sites like Google claim to have a massive 3 billion web pages in its database, a large portion of the web nation is invisible to these spiders. To think they are simply ignorant of the Invisible Web. This invisible web holds that content, normal search engines can't index because the information on many web sites is in databases that are only searchable within that site. Sites like www.imdb.com - The Internet Movie Database , www.incywincy.com - IncyWincy, the invisible web search engine and www.completeplanet.com - The Complete Planet that cover this area are perhaps the only way you can access content from that portion of the Internet, invisible to the search gods. Here, you don't perform a direct content search but search for the resources that may access the content. (Meaning - be sure to set aside considerable time for digging.)

None of the search engines indexes everything on the Web (I mean none). Tried research literature on popular search engines? AltaVista to Yahoo, will list thousands of sources on education, human resource development, etc. etc. but mostly from magazines, newspapers, and various organizations' own Web pages, rather than from research journals and dissertations- the main sources of research literature. That's because most of the journals and dissertations are not yet available publicly on the Web. Thought they'll get you all that's hosted on the web? Think again.

The Web is huge and growing exponentially. Simple searches, using a single word or phrase, will often yield thousands of "hits", most of which will be irrelevant. A layman going in for a piece of info to the internet has to deal with a more severe issue - too much information! And if you don't learn how to control the information overload from these websites, returned by a search result, roll out the red carpet for some frustration. A very common problem results from sites that have a lot of pages with similar content. For e.g., if a discussion thread (in a forum) goes on for a hundred posts there will be a hundred pages all with similar titles, each containing a wee bit of information. Now instead of just one link, all hundred of those darn pages will crop up your search result, crowding out other relevant site. Regardless of all the sophistication technology has brought in, many well thought-out search phrases produce list after list of irrelevant web pages. The typical search still requires sifting through dirt to find the gold. If you are not specific enough, you may get too many irrelevant hits.

As said, these search engines do not actually search the web directly but their centralized server instead. And unless this database is updated continually to index modified, moved, deleted or renamed documents, you will land yourself amidst broken links and stale copies of web pages. So if they inadequately handle dynamic web pages whose content changes frequently, chances are for the information they reference to quickly go out-of-date. After they wage their never ending war with over-zealous promoters (spamdexers rather), where do they have time to keep their databases current and their search algorithms tuned? No surprise if a perfectly worthwhile site may go unlisted!

Similarly, many of the Web search engines are undergoing rapid development and are not well documented. You will have only an approximate idea of how they are working, and unknown shortcomings may cause them to miss desired information. Not to mention, amongst the first class information, the web also houses false, misleading, deceptive and dressed up information actually produced by charlatans. The Web itself is unstable and tomorrow they may not find you the site they found you today. Well if you could predict them, they would not be god!...would they?! The syntax (word order and punctuation) for various types of complex searches varies some from search engine to search engine, and small errors in the syntax can seriously compromise the search. For instance, try the same phrase search on different search engines and you'll know what I mean. Novices... read this line - using search engines does involve a learning curve. Many beginning Internet users, because of these disadvantages, become discouraged and frustrated. Like a journalist put it, "Not showing favoritism to its business clients is certainly a rare virtue in these times." Search engines have increasingly turned to two significant revenue streams. Paid placement: In addition to the main editorial-driven search results, the search engines display a second - and sometimes third - listing that's usually commercial in nature. The more you pay, the higher you'll appear in the search results. Paid inclusion: An advertiser or content partner pays the search engine to crawl its site and include the results in the main editorial listing. So?...more likely to be in the hit list but then again - no guarantees. Of course those refusing to favor certain devotees are industry leaders like that publishes paid listings, but clearly marks them as 'Sponsored Links.'

The possibility of these 'for-profit' search gods (which haven't yet made much profit) for taking fees to skew their searches, can't be ruled out. But as a searcher, the hit list you are provided with by the engine should obviously rank in the order of relevancy and interest. Search command languages can often be complex and confusing and the ranking algorithm is unique to each god based on the number of occurrences of the search phrase in a page, if it appears in the page title, or in a heading, or the URL itself, or the meta tag etc. or on a weighted average of a number of these relevance scores. E.g. Google (www.google.com) uses its patented PageRank TM and ranks the importance of search results by examining the links that lead to a specific site. The more links that lead to a site, the higher the site is ranked. Pop on popularity!
Alta Vista, HotBot, Lycos, Infoseek and MSN Search use keyword indexes ? fast access to millions of documents. The lack of an index structure and poor accuracy of the size of the WWW, will not make searching any easier. Large number of sites indexed. Keyword searching can be difficult to get right.In reality, however, the prevalence of a certain keyword is not always in proportion to the relevance of a page. Take this example. A search on sari - the national costume of India ?in a popular search engine, returned among it's top sites, the following links:?www.scri.sari.ac.uk/- of the Scottish Crop research Institute ?www.ubudsari.com/ -a health resort in Indonesia?www.sari-energy.org/ - The South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Cooperation and DevelopmentPretty useful sites for someone very much interested in knowing how to drape or the tradition of the sari?! (Well, no prayer goes unanswered...whether you like the answer or not!) By using keywords to determine how each page will be ranked in search results and not simply counting the number of instances of a word on a page, search engines are attempting to make the rankings better by assigning more weight to things like titles, subheadings, and so on.Now, unless you have a clear idea of what you're looking for, it may be difficult or impossible to use a keyword search, especially if the vocabulary of the subject is unfamiliar. Similarly, the concept based search of Excite (instead of individual words, the words that you enter into a search are grouped and attempted to determine the meaning) is a difficult task and yields inconsistent results.Besides who reviews or evaluates these sites for quality or authority? They are simply compiled by a computer program. These active search engines rely on computerized retrieval mechanisms called "spiders", "crawlers", or "robots", to visit Web sites, on a regular basis and retrieve relevant keywords to index and store in a searchable database. And from this huge database yields often unmanageable and comprehensive results....results whose relevance is determined by their computers. The irrelevant sites (high percentage of noise, as it's called), questionable ranking mechanisms and poor quality control may be the result of less human involvement to weed out junk. Thought human intervention would solve all probes....read on.

From the very first search engine ? Yahoo to about.com, Snap.com, Magellan, NetGuide, Go Network, LookSmart, NBCi and Starting Point, all subject directories index and review documents under categories ? making them more manageable. Unlike active search engines, these passive or human-selected search engines like don't roam the web directly and are human controlled, relying on individual submissions. Perhaps the easiest to use in town, but the indexing structure these search engines cover only a small portion of the actual number of WWW sites and thus is certainly not your bet if you intend specific, narrow or complex topics. Subject designations may be arbitrary, confusing or wrong. A search looks for matches only in the descriptions submitted. Never contains full text of the web they link to - you can only search what you see titles, descriptions, subject categories, etc. Human-labor intensive process limits database currency, size, rate of growth and timeliness. You may have to branch through the categories repeatedly before arriving at the right page. They may be several months behind the times because of the need for human organization. Try looking for some obscure topic....chances for the people that maintain the directory to have excluded those pages. Obviously, machines can blindly count keywords but they can't make common-sense judgement as humans can. But then why does human-edited directories respond with all this junk?!
And here's about those meta search engines. A comprehensive search on the entire WWW using The Big Hub, Dogpile, Highway61, Internet Sleuth or Savvysearch , covering as many documents as possible may sound as good an idea as a one stop shopping.Meta search engines do not create their own databases. They rely on existing active and passive search engine indexes to retrieve search results. And the very fact that they access multiple keyword indexes reduces their response time. It sure does save your time by searching several search engines at once but at the expense of redundant, unwanted and overwhelming results....much more ? important misses. The default search mode differs from search site to search site, so the same search is not always appropriate in different search engine software. The quality and size of the databases vary widely.

Weighted Search Engines like Ask Jeeves and RagingSearch allows the user to type queries in plain English without advanced searching knowledge, again at the expense of inaccurate and undetailed searching. Review or Ranking Sources like Argus Clearinghouse (www.clearinghouse.net),eBlast (eblast.com) and Librarian's Index to the Internet (lii.org). They evaluate website quality from sources they find or accept submissions from but cover a minimal number of sites.

As a webmaster, your site registration with the biggest billboards in Times Square can get you closer to bingo! for the searcher. Those who didn't even know you existed before are in your living room in New York time!Your URL registration is a no-brainer, considering the generation of flocking traffic to your site. Certainly a quick and inexpensive method, yet is only a component of the overall marketing strategy that in itself offers no guarantees, no instant results and demands continued effort for the webmaster. Commerce rules the web. Like how a notable Internet caveman put it, "Web publishers also find dealing with search engines to be a frustrating pursuit. Everybody wants their pages to be easy for the world to find, but getting your site listed can be tough. Search sites may take a long time to list your site, may never list it at all, and may drop it after a few months for no reason. If you resubmit often, as it is very tempting to do, you may even be branded a spamdexer and barred from a search site. And as for trying to get a good ranking, forget it! You have to keep up with all the arcane and ever-changing rules of a dozen different search engines, and adjust the keywords on your pages just so...all the while fighting against the very plausible theory that in fact none of this stuff matters, and the search sites assign rankings at random or by whim.

"To make the best use of Web search engines--to find what you need and avoid an avalanche of irrelevant hits-- pick search engines that are well suited to your needs. And lest you'd want to cry "Ye immortal gods! where in the world are we?", spend a few hours becoming moderately proficient with each. Each works somewhat differently, most importantly in respect to how you broaden or narrow a search.

Finding the appropriate search engine for your particular information need, can be frustrating. To effectively use these search engines, it is important to understand what they are, how they work, and how they differ. For e.g. while using a meta search engine, remember that each engine has its own methods of displaying and ranking results. Remember, search strategies affect the results. If the user is unaware of basic search strategies, results may be spotty.
Quoting Charlie Morris (the former editor of The Web developer's journal) - "Search engines and directories survive, and indeed flourish, because they're all we've got. If you want to use the wealth of information that is the Web, you've got to be able to find what you want, and search engines and directories are the only way to do that. Getting good search results is a matter of chance. Depending on what you're searching for, you may get a meaty list of good resources, or you may get page after page of irrelevant drivel. By laboriously refining your search, and using several different search engines and directories (and especially by using appropriate specialty directories), you can usually find what you need in the end."

Search engines are very useful, no doubt. Right from getting a quick view of a topic to finding expert contact info...verily certain issues lie in their lap. Now the very reason we bother about these search engines so much is because they're all we've got! Though there sure is a lot of room for improvement, the hour's need is to not get caught in the middle of the road. By simply understanding what, how and where to seek, you'd spare yourself the fate of chanting that old Jewish proverb "If God lived on earth, people would break his windows."

Happy searching!