Nobody Fails !

Nobody Fails !: Crossing the Digital Divide With Your Smart Phone

2010-09-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Nobody Fails !: Crossing the Digital Divide With Your Smart Phone: "One of the many ways you can use your smart phone to begin to cross the digital divide is by using it as a camera to create a v-log - or vid..."

Crossing the Digital Divide With Your Smart Phone

2010-09-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

One of the many ways you can use your smart phone to begin to cross the digital divide is by using it as a camera to create a v-log - or video-blog. This can be a smart way to go for many reasons, including the fact that voice narration also be used to incorporate key words just as well as the written form, and once you pick up the ability to shoot and edit, it's almost as easy as writing a quick blog. Not to mention just as cheap.

While the hosts of my erstwhile blogging efforts here might not like what I have to say about You Tube, and they may well not, the fact is that I steer well clear of the service for many reasons, including the fact that you lose your rights as soon as you post anything on Google's video servers. And while You Tube may in fact be the most popular video sharing service out there, it certainly isn't the only one. There are many. Today I will be discussing another option, Vimeo, a decidedly non commercial service, that aims to stay that way. I have been experimenting with the service for about a week now as I play with other blogs on other platforms that require video uploads to be hosted in certain formats or to be uploaded from other servers. Some people may consider this to be a drawback, but the point of having options is to use the many flowers in the garden you have available to you and keep the rights you have, not give them all up for the sake of expediency or laziness. I suppose that giving everything up to Google in the name of ignorance or laziness is one way to go, but I have never sat on my behind for long. Even this blog isn't going to stay on this service for any longer than it has to as I build out another one on a server to be revealed to my avid readers as soon as it is ready for prime time.

Isn't freedom of choice wonderful? But that is why knowledge is a very important thing.

However, let's get back to video servers. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am now producing a documentary I shot entirely on my android phone - which I inherited when my previous smart phone - a much superior product - a Helio - was bought out by Sprint earlier this year. So I ended up with this one. I'm still playing with it, and to be honest while I whinge about it and I don't like being constantly forced into constantly avoiding Google products and services, there are many aspects to the service and the phone which are both serviceable and very good for a low end, prosumer product that are certainly adequate for this kind of usage. So I decided, as a twenty year veteran documentary maker, to give a whirl and shoot a quick documentary. To date my budget is $0, which makes it a candidate for a non-commercial (so far) experimental product. I don't know if I will make any money on the documentary I'm making, again, a non-commercial project (to date). And I'm editing it (so far) entirely on my computer's Micosoft editing platform, although I will probably end up editing the final cut on an MPEG4 editing software.

If I just lost half of the audience somewhere, you will just have to subscribe to my blog to catch up and figure out what I'm talking about if it all sounds like Double Dutch. These are all technical editing terms that you will have to figure out as we go along. But you should begin to learn them as you go, as they are really essential tools of the trade, along with the knowledge that there are 30 frames of video per second.

In terms of deciding what kind of android phone to purchase, if you are in the market for one, I decided to get the slide out QWERTY keyboard, so I missed the opportunity to shoot in HD. It was a business decision because I use my phone as a mobile internet connection as well - and typing on the touchscreen is a royal pain in the @#$. As much as I am a filmmaker, I am also a blogger and businessperson. These are the trade offs you have to make, although I kind of wish you didn't have to make them. Nevertheless, as phones go, it is a design that is still superior to anything out of Apple, unfortunately. As much as I still remain loyal, in theory, to the Mac as a creative, they still must make up lost ground on the business end.

From the perspective of someone who learned how to edit on digital editing software called AVID over twenty years ago when I suffered the slings and arrows of the professionals who called me crazy for using a computer to edit film and video, even the PC editing software offered these days by Bill Gates isn't all that bad. I have offered a few links below to the segments created so far so you can take a look. Keep in mind that some of the hiccups are because of slow servers. Nevertheless this is a remarkably amazing outcome for a budget of $0, a production crew of 1, no sound or lighting crew and a camera that doubled as my phone. Not to mention an editing studio that is my mobile laptop computer. I know that for those of you reading this who aren't production professionals, the contrast isn't all that amazing, but for those of us with any perspective (read gray hairs) time was when you couldn't even touch a digital editing system for less than a hundred grand. Now a pretty decent one comes bundled for free with your office software.

And what's great about Vimeo, just like any other digital network, is that you can create your own channels, networks and promotional buzz on multiple levels. They even have festivals you can submit your work to. Remember, until you've actually sold your work, or have been paid to create it, you are not "commercial." It's important to keep that distinction clear, because it gives you a lot more freedom to mix and match as you put all the pieces together in the digital mix that is blogs, digital servers other resources you need to make a living online.

One very important caveat to remember. If you have a commercial in front of your video blog, YOU MAY NOT USE VIMEO. There are other services available. What those are and how to use them will be coming soon.

Happy v-logging!

Cheers

Marguerite

For the direct links to my featured rough-cut segments mentioned above - Edge of Apocalypse, see below:
Part I: Last Days in New York
Part II: The Recession in New York
Part III: Gardens of Eden

Does Your Blog Break Federal Law?

2010-08-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

Although apparently little noticed, if not noted in the blogging universe, is a new federal law that most if not all of the blogs I have seen that advertise goods and services or promote affiliate products (in other words any monetized blog) run afoul of. Starting with Google Ad Sense.

Yes, you know who you are. And so does Uncle Sam. All he has to do is look on your website for language that should be there and usually isn't.

And that can be a very big "oops" that can run you thousands, if not more, if your highly (or even mediumly) successful blog gets caught in a Federal online "gotcha" sting.

And before you think that Uncle Sam isn't going on the hunt for all the resources he can find, just remember these two facts. First is that funny thing called a huge and ballooning deficit. Not to mention all those state workers that are being furloughed, one of the hidden screw ups by the states that the Feds forgot to factor into the "recovery" that is causing the double dip recession right now.

Do I need to dot the i in "idiotic oversight" or does the need for a quick revision of your blog now seem the expedient thing to do on the double?

For those who never heard about it, don't have the disclosure on their site, or decided that they knew better and didn't share their munificence with you because they probably thought that Uncle Sam was snoozing, (and thus didn't need to pass the news on) here's the skinny. Per the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) as of October 2009, all blogs promoting or selling products or services must disclose that they have a "relationship" with the companies they are being either paid to promote or receive an affiliate commission when they generate a sale, or both.

The law in question, a Federal puppy, so you don't want to run afoul of the Feds, particularly if you have a highly trafficked site and make all those Internet Gazillions per month (as we are constantly reminded is possible if not commonplace in the ranks of the Internet Marketing Maven Elite), is 16 C.F.R. Part 55, outlined in press release here.

How do you comply with it? Do as I do. Scroll down to the bottom of my website for suggested language to use in your blog too.

While you think the Feds may be making mountains out of molehills, I wouldn't want to be the mole that got caught out of my molehill on THIS one, particularly given all the boasting that goes on (and we won't disclose where that happens) about the amount of money successful blogs can make.

And if you are wondering why you never heard about this before, there are lots of little tricks, tips and trade secrets that the "gurus" don't share that will be forthcoming here as we expand our expertise, knowledge base and backlog of blog entries.

It has occurred to me more than once as I gain expertise from an excellent resource that is advertised on this site (you see I always disclose my relationships with companies) - Blogging Income that there are quite a few things that seem to have escaped the notice of the master gurus who strut their stuff online.

Not to mention the claims of various companies.

So, look for more instances of me bursting those bubbles in the near future. As I see it, that's how I create value for you.

And in the meantime, make sure you add a tag to your blog if you do any promoting or selling online via your website (of any kind but in particular a blog) similar to the way I have created the disclosure in the footer below.

Happy promoting,

Cheers

Marguerite

Nobody Fails: How You Too Can Make Hundreds (If Not Thousands) O...

2010-08-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

Nobody Fails: How You Too Can Make Hundreds (If Not Thousands) O...: "Can you see yourself working from home, making upwards of $200 to $300 a day? Why not thousands? It's not impossible if you know how and..."

How You Too Can Make Hundreds (If Not Thousands) Of Dollars a Day As A Blogger

2010-08-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Can you see yourself working from home, making upwards of $200 to $300 a day?

Why not thousands?

It's not impossible if you know how and follow the basic steps required to succeed.

According to Yahoo Education Service, blogging is one of the best and most lucrative ways to make an income online.

The idea of blogging appeals to anyone who has dreamt of becoming a professional writer. It is also a required tool for all affiliate marketers. Despite the form's instant appeal, not to mention necessity, writing a blog and being successful at it however is not an automatic proposition. You have to know what you are doing, pick the right products and subjects to write about and how to promote your blog to the right audience.

These are all the reasons behind why so many bloggers never make money online not to mention the very high rate of failure of affiliate marketers (something like 90%).

The fact that blogs are used for so many different things only adds to the problem if not the confusion, particularly for the newbie. To begin to sort these out and figure out which one is best for you, here are the most common uses for blogs and the ways you can make money from them.

Paid Content
You can always try to sell your work via the more traditional venues - formerly all print magazines and news outlets that are blocking off their online content and charging a subscription for it. This is the most direct and traditional way to earning an income online. The benefit is that you get paid for your work quickly and immediately. The downsides are that you have no residual income potential, not to mention forgo a much larger potential audience.

Advertising
There are a couple of ways you can crack this nut. You can try to submit your work via an established media source that is experimenting with distributing content as long as it is tied to advertising (such as the U.K.'s Guardian Subscription News Service. Another very popular way to generate ads on your site and make money from them is to sign up as an Ad Sense Publisher on Google (you get paid for promoting other people's ads on your site utilizing popular keywords.)

Affiliate Marketing
Many affiliate marketers use blogs to promote their products. This is probably the most lucrative of all monetizing efforts if you find the right products to promote and promote them properly. Clickbank is by far the most widely used source of promotional products for resell but there are many others.

Promoting your blog is another topic. There are so many ways to do this that we are not capable of even beginning to list the ways, although we will and have already mentioned some of them on this blog. However, using social media sites and tools like Twitter and Facebook, article and forum posting, as well as safelists and traffic and ad exchanges are all good bets.

Despite the relative ease of setting up a blog however, it is often easy to get lost in the details. And that is why getting help at the beginning of the process is highly recommended. That is easier said than done however.

We recommend signing up for a training course or a work at home service that offers everything you need in one place. Despite the ubiquity of blogging, however, these resources are not all that easy to find.

The best one by far is this one, started by a former housewife who has now found significant success as a blogger. Consumer Rated not only gave the site a five star review, but wrote that "it is as simple as following her directions and you can be making a few hundred dollars a day. We have been doing this for almost three months and we are making a steady $200 to $300 dollars a day."

No matter how you decide to get started or keep going, generating an income through blogging is perhaps the cheapest and most lucrative way to begin your online income generating activities, if not creating a steady, recession busting income.

Happy Blogging.

Cheers,

Marguerite

,

Nobody Fails: The Best Things In Life Are Free. Freebies, Givea...

2010-07-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

Nobody Fails: The Best Things In Life Are Free. Freebies, Givea...: "This is the first of a series of blogs on absolutely passive income where you actually benefit by literally doing no more than signing up fo..."

The Best Things In Life Are Free. Freebies, Giveaways and Dead Easy MLM Opportunities

2010-07-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a series of blogs on absolutely passive income where you actually benefit by literally doing no more than signing up for these opportunities, setting up a few accounts, and letting the money roll in. While this is the claim of almost every online opportunity, I believe I have identified a few that are actually real and pay out. You may not retire tomorrow but hopefully this might help you pay some bills if not the rent in the short term. In one case there is a lot more potential than that. Intrigued? Read on.

Disclosures and Caveats
As a caveat, and full disclosure, I have signed up for all of the opportunities I talk about herein but I haven’t gotten paid yet except in one situation. However, I anticipate that changing in the very near future (literally within weeks at one company I mention), and in several cases I have found additional qualifying information online, including videos and articles, not to mention I have gotten recommendations from other online marketers on a very good site called SWOM (a social media site for network marketers, and another way for you to earn money online that I highly recommend, see below) and in one case I have talked to the company’s owner.

These verifying steps are the kinds of things you need to take to step through the maze of protecting yourself from getting scammed online (if not being outright robbed then wasting your time). That said, I also need to qualify that while I recommend these opportunities based on what I have seen and heard to date, you should know exactly what my experience has been and where I get my information so you can make your own informed choices.

Small Change
These first opportunities literally appear to be real giveaways, although with caveats attached. It’s not a lot of money, but in an age where everyone is counting pennies, every little bit helps, right?
1. Income for Free. Click here. Sign up for this site and earn $80 per month for all that hard work (about ten minutes if you are dawdling). Plus interest. You must leave the money in your account for a year (see site directions on how to transfer funds into the "active account" which you must do to get paid). So far, I have seen regular deposits. Must also sign up for Liberty Reserve Account (click here to go to the site). Recommended online and by other MLM members on SWOM.
2. Forex For Free. Click here. A model based on the same principles as the site above. This is a Forex trading site where you must accumulate at least $500 (about a six month wait time), again accumulated in $20 weekly payments which you must also transfer into a special onsite account, but that is the extent of your "work." And you also get paid interest and sign up for Liberty Reserve.
3. Forex Bot. Click here. This is a trading site where you get a bonus of $50 just to sign up but the site designers created this an incentive to trade in Forex rather than cash out (not that there are any rules against it). If you don't trade you have to wait for the transfer to your Liberty Reserve account. So far I have been waiting for two weeks but I have no indication that this is a scam and it was referred to me by an online marketer who swore they had gotten paid.
4. Bullion Vault. Click here. This is a gold trading site where they give you a gram of gold to entice you to start trading (valued at about $60). After verifying yourself, which includes scanning in bank documentation, the site will allow you to cash this or any other activity out. You don't need to verify yourself before trading however, so you could theoretically gamble, I mean trade, your gram before cashing out too. Verified by online reports and other marketers who have done well here. Again you must set up a Liberty Reserve account.

All of these opportunities are also set up as affiliate programs and will reward you with extra bonuses for referring others. Check each site for details.

Adding Bang to the Buck
The following tips should also help you earn money and are dead easy to incorporate into any marketing effort where the site or opportunity requires the use of either Alert Pay or Liberty Reserve. They should be implemented even in your promotional efforts as a way to build your own income, help your downline do the same (after they have signed up under you) not to mention help defray the costs of any AFM/MLM membership fee if your main opportunity requires that.
1. Liberty Reserve. Click here to join. The site also gives you an affiliate link where you can get paid additional money for referring people to sign up.
2. Liberty Reserve Add On. Click here to sign up for a site that pays you extra money, if you click on paying emails, to read advertisements. All funds deposited in your Liberty Reserve account. Gives new meaning to the word penny wise, if you sign up and religiously click on emails. And pound foolish if you ignore this opportunity.
3. Alert Pay. Click here to join or open a new account. Perhaps the strongest competitor to PayPal will pay you a commission for referring other people to sign up and open Personal Pro accounts. Available after the tenth new account you refer, but it is certainly worth it as the affiliate commission is pretty high ($10 for every new sign up).

Other Utilitarian Tools That Pay You Back
These are a few affiliate marketing opportunities that literally help you grow your business and pay you back if you use and promote them. This is a perfect way to build both your primary business and help others in your downline to do the same, after they have joined up under you while doing things like building your downline and shortening URLs.
1. SWOM. Click here. While mentioned above, it's worth mentioning again. SWOM is a great site you can join for free and learn about other online marketing opportunities, if not build your own downlines. Once you join the site as a paid member, you get a monthly affiliate check for doing things you would do anyway, including of course, getting paid for every member you refer who becomes a paid (Gold) member on the site.
2. Geostring. Click here. This is a great way to reward your down line and keeping them loyal while helping them get paid too (every person who signs up gets paid $10 just for doing so) as well as referring new members. Free to join and you never have to pay a fee to get paid.
3. Peoplestring. Click here. This is a new social media site that self describes itself as a competitor to Facebook. It is a very fertile ground for making new friends and adding to your downline, whatever your opportunity is. In addition to making money from referrals, general schmoozing and starting discussion groups, you can also earn (small) amounts of cash for searches on site, playing games and even doing some shopping.
4. Big Extra Cash Link Cloaker. Click here. This link cloaker pays you cash to both use it and refer your friends to use it. Extra goodies include a back office tool to follow all your referrals, link cloaking and earning activity from all cloaked links. Highly recommended.

The Times They Are A'Changin'
I have seen one other AFM out there like this, although I wasn't as convinced about the model, much less the company as I have been impressed with this opportunity (and I will devote future blog inches if not an entire blog entry to this company, probably in the next blog).

Builders of Success (click here) is a new model of MLM and affiliate marketing. The site uses a "pay it forward" structure, where you can either choose to pay to join or be in a position to literally have someone else pay to get you started. The site's founder has set up a system where he has identified investors who are willing to pay the initial fee for you if you agree to pay them back when the downline cycles (they get 100% ROI, for their trouble). As members cycle, and you get paid, you are consistently paid enough by all of the sister programs they support and join, to get into the highest tier of compensation.

You don't have to build a downline (they do that for you). You could tell your family and friends, but you do not have to since the matrix is a single forced line where everyone cycles automatically. You don't even have an affiliate link since you will get paid no matter what you do, if you merely agree to join, pay your initial dues forward (i.e. have someone else do the paying until you cycle, so nothing comes out of your pocket) and stick around. The hardest thing I have seen on the site (and this isn't saying much) is setting up your Alert Pay account to accept Visa and Mastercard charges and transfers.

In essence, this is a sort of super group, that literally is joining other AFM and MLM opportunities (only ones that pay, make sense and have been vetted by the senior management of Builders of Success).

From my early interaction with the group and even the founder and CEO, who makes himself available to all members and their questions, I would say that this is a really passive income opportunity that you should absolutely try out.

Stay tuned for subsequent blogs where I interview the founder and discuss the unique structure of the company.

In the meantime, I would encourage you to sign up now, and stay tuned for other tips, tricks and inside info in the fascinating world of MLM.

Until next time, happy earning.

Cheers.

Marguerite

P.S. Here is the list of online passive earning opportunities mentioned earlier in the article.
Income for Free. Click here
Forex For Free. Click here
Forex Bot. Click here
Bullion Vault. Click here
Liberty Reserve. Click here
Liberty Reserve Add On. Click here
Alert Pay. Click here
SWOM. Click here
Geostring. Click here
Peoplestring. Click here
Big Extra Cash Link Cloaker. Click here
Builders of Success. Click here

Using Twitter: Tricks, Tips and Monetizing Everything!

2010-07-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

What is Twitter?
For those of you who have been hiding under a rock in the social media and advertising space, Twitter is a social media site, which can be very handily tied into a variety of other networks and devices (like your mobile phone, more on that in a second) and is technically known as a "microblogging" tool because it forces you to use a preformatted communications interface of no more than 140 characters.

While some may moan that this is just another sign of the decline of intelligent communication on the planet, learning HOW to use Twitter, particularly for those who are engaged in any kind of marketing of a home business online, is an absolute must. The problem is that MOST people do not know the real significance of Twitter, much less how to use it, the services other sites now offer as invaluable add ons, and even the importance of branding your Twitter account to integrate with your offerings, blog(s), etc. to help YOU create a single unified, brand online.

While Twitter got started as a social media tool, for the online marketer, it is essentially "just" (although an extremely important) not to mention highly effective interface to get people to come to your offerings.

Learning how to use it will not only create a highly viral community for you (explained throughout this article) to market your offerings, but can also help create additional easy income streams, such as monetizing your promotional blog, promoting other offers easily, and even monetizing your actual Twitter account which means that your promotional tool literally becomes a source of additional, easy win money. As does your Twitter following.

How cool is that?

For those of you who think that Twitter is a flash in the pan, think again. Just the fact that it ties into mobile phones and is such a viral community should be enough to make you immediately stop whatever else you are doing and pay attention now. That sole market - the online mobile phone space - used for advertising, is projected to be worth somewhere north of $40 BILLION in the next five years. Yes, that's right. $40 BILLION JUST DOMESTICALLY IN THE UNITED STATES. So whatever else you are doing or not doing, you know you want to be a part of it.

Twitter Is SO VIRAL You Might Want to Get Innoculated
Twitter is by far the most viral of all the social networks. WHY? Well, part of it stems from Twitter etiquette, which essentially mandates that if you are being followed by someone, you should turn around and follow them back, if not send personal emails to all of those people who sign up to follow you. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I suggest you go IMMEDIATELY to Twitter.com and sign up for an account, and play around with it. Perhaps I'll do a "how-to" on Twitter one day, but suffice it to say, for brevity's sake, that the interface is extremely easy to use, and if YOU DON'T KNOW what Twitter is, just plan on spending a couple of hours today to get familiar with it. YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO IGNORE IT. It is THAT important and effective.

How you reach your core audience on Twitter via say, an autoresponder, is a subject for another day, as well as the discussion of what an autoresponder is (although again, in a quick aside, inclusion of those tools in the SFS and TWRPS opportunities I belong to and promote is one of the reasons why I promote them so much, and believe in the program). But we will discuss other ways to automate your Twitter activities in this article through sites that are specifically designed for Twitter...I'll come back to the other stuff another day.

And if you don't understand YET why viral marketing is the kind you want as an affiliate marketer, let me just emphatically state again that you do. It is the kind of marketing that spreads, literally, like viruses, from one person to another, and if you get turned off by the idea of sneezing and hacking your way to an online income, just know it has nothing to do with germs, if you don't already know what that means. Essentially it is just online lingo for saying that something is passed on quickly by a very targeted audience. WHICH YOU WANT, if you were still sleeping. Or sneezing for that matter.

Branding Your Twitter Account
The first thing you want to do, if you haven't already, is BRAND your Twitter account. What do I mean by that? Well, make sure that your Twitter account, if at all possible, looks like a matched knit set (I'm joking) with the opportunity or opportunities you offer. What that means in a real sense is that you might want to consider creating a new user name (if you already have one personal account and not many followers yet) to tie into your business. The only problem is, as you will find when you start to do this, is that particularly in the "work at home" affiliate marketing space, a lot of people got out bed hours before you did, and most of those names are taken, unless you want some indistinguishable and hard to remember mash of letters to be your Twitter user name so you can "sort of" have "Work at Home," for example, featured in your Twitter handle. I wouldn't necessarily recommend something like that for a multitude of reasons, the above is just one. The other is that you might want to brand YOURSELF as a person rather than a specific activity or business, so that in and of itself is not necessarily crucial.

However, branding say, your Twitter account with the same color backgrounds as your primary or even sole opportunity that you promote is an easy win, and I would recommend it highly. You can either do this through the Twitter interface, where they have a variety of free backgrounds, or you can do this through another service where you can get both free and paid backgrounds (a blog on HOW to use Twitter might be forthcoming if people do not know how to do these things).

Before I start naming names, however, let me just show you what I mean.

The Stress Free Salary interface that I promote has a splash or squeeze page that looks like this:

Notice that the ADVERTISING that I also use on the top of this page is also branded, specifically that it has green lettering and is so unobtrusive that it looks like it fits there. That is what you want to create for your Twitter page, so it looks, in a very easy to understand term, GREEN. That is part of branding. So my Twitter page looks like this (at least right now...I may change it):

Notice how there is a lot of green on the page? Well that is actually a prebuilt background offered by Twitter. They have some nice ones. But if you want to get a little more daring, I suggest the following sites for additional free and paid backgrounds for the more adventurous and those who want to spend moullah on making their Twitter interfaces even more adventurous. For a few other places to look check out the following:

1. Mytweetspace.com. Click here.
2. Tweetstyle.com. Click here.

Another Cool Tool
Another cool additional extra that you can use in Twitter is a service offered by these two sites - the ability to add emoticons (or images) to your Twitter feed (Twitter currently does not offer that). These emoticons, examples in a sec, can also be used in things like other IM services (including Skype) Word and Excel to literally speed up and communicate whole words or ideas with a single image. The sites you should look at and provide this service for free are:
1. Twitter Keys. Click here.
2. Twitter Emoticons. Click here.

That way you can put things like smiley faces into your posts, but also other cool symbols to create sentences like: I'll ☎ U L8R. Ol' Bill Shakespeare would have loved Twitter, no?

Marketing Tools You Absolutely Can't Live Without
The really hefty Twitter marketing tools described herein are all available in some form, for free, although some have premium options available. You have to decide which option you really need, but whether you use the free versions or the paid ones, where they are available, they all pay for themselves (if you go the paid route) literally within days. I guarantee you, once you start using them you will never go back to the old days and wonder how you have survived this long without them.

1. Tweetbeep.com. Click here to go to the site. This service is self described as being like Google alerts for Twitter. Once you sign up, the site will alert you, via email, every time your Twitter handle or the products you promote are mentioned by somebody else. It's a good way to track your online celebrity, not to mention, are your ears burning yet? Seriously, you will be able to identify how viral your messages or YOU are, in key niche communities and who is talking about you. See why this is an important tool? If you don't, think mailing list.
2. Tweetadder.com. Click here for the URL. This is such a ridiculously powerful site, both free and paid versions available, that you literally will not know how to live without it once you start using it. Among other things, it allows you to dramatically expand your potential Twitter audience in minutes. Even better, it automates the process for you. And pays you money to promote it on top of that.

Twitter Directories
Twitter directories are powerful tools that let you find out who your "peeps" and those you follow are. There are three sites that offer listing services and they all do slightly different things, which is why you will probably end up using all of them at some point.
1. Twitdir. Click here to go to the site. Good for finding out additional information about individual Tweeters you might want to target.
2. Twitaholic. Click here to go to the site. Tracks the most popular Twitterers. Good for figuring out who to target.
3. Twellow. Click here. Advertised as the Twitter Yellow Pages. Good site, where you can get information about who you are following, who is following you, and you can also find out who who on your list is NOT a member of Twellow, which is also a very useful piece of information if you are sending out regular "how tos" and tips to your Twitter feed listing. People will appreciate the information and resource.

Twitter Management Sites
There are two sites which will come in handy at some point, even though there is some overlap between both of them and Tweetadder (see above). However they all offer slightly different services which you will have to play with and see what or how they all fit into your marketing scheme.
1. Socialoomph. Click here. This is actually a site you can use to manage all your social marketing efforts across many different services, including Twitter. But here you can schedule Tweets, track keywords, and in general automate many daily maintenance tasks which you already know take lots of time if you do them manually, particularly for the large following I already know you have, because you've been using Tweetadder.
2. Twitterfeed. Click here. This is primarily good for broadcasting and scheduling the blog that they assume you have, on Twitter via RSS feed.

Get Paid to Tweet and Promote
The following sites are absolute must haves, both as a promotional blogger, and also because you can create a double whammy effect here - get paid to promote and build your opportunity, plus generate even more passive income. Each site is slightly different, but trust me, they are addictive. And potentially very lucrative, literally creating a passive income for you if you promote and use the very tools you need anyway.

NOW THAT, as we keep on saying is the kind of passive income that we love.

It also goes without saying that if you are paying for advertising, these are also good sites to consider an ad buy on. Some of them will allow you to pay for that privilege with your earnings, so that is an added bonus.
1. Be a Magpie. Click here. Magpie literally ties advertisers to your blog content, just like Google does, with key words, although you can either do this manually or have them do it automatically for you. You get $10 just for signing up here and the payout minimum is $50.
2. Twitadd. Click here. Links into Twellow and Facebook. You are notified by email of the appropriate available ad opportunities to promote via Twitter or on your blog if you have one. Minimum payout of $30.
3. Be Tweeted. Click here. Get paid to promote pre-written tweets (i.e. send them out to your community). This is a very good site to boost your Twitter postings, although again, you want to be careful that everything you promote fits into your profile and helps your users, otherwise people will just think you are a "spammer."
4. Revtwt. Click here. Again, very similar idea to the above, but you are sent advertising opportunities by the site via email once you sign up.

Conclusion
So now you have a very comprehensive list of things to keep you busy for at least a couple of hours and NO excuse for not immediately implementing Twitter into your marketing and income generating efforts.

Happy tweeting folks.

Until the next time, parting is such "tweet" sorrow.

Cheers

Marguerite.

P.S. Here is a concise list of all the opportunities mentioned above.
Stress Free Salary/TWRPS. Click here.
Mytweetspace.com. Click here.

Tweetstyle.com. Click here.

My Tweet Space. Click here.
Tweet Style. Click here.
Twitter Keys. Click here.

Twitter Emoticons. Click here.
Tweetbeep.com. Click here.
Tweetadder.com. Click here.
Twitdir. Click here
Twitaholic. Click here.
Socialoomph. Click here.
Twitterfeed. Click here.
Be a Magpie. Click here.
Twitadd. Click here.
Be Tweeted. Click here.
Revtwt. Click here.

I Spy With My PPC Web Spy - How to Dissect and Utilize Key Words in Advertising

2010-07-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

Tools You Can Use
As a follow on to the last posting, I thought I would start what I plan on doing a lot of in this blog, and will be a very important part of this blog series, and that is to bring several very good (and free if you want to use the basic services) online tools that will help you in your outreach and affiliate marketing efforts. This is also a sort of Part II to the previous blog in that it continues with a theme of how you can utilize key words to make ALL of your advertising and outreach efforts most effective. For that reason there will be certain themes I will continue using, the first of which is the continuation of the "work at home" search.

Working From Home and Affiliate Marketing
As I mentioned in my last blog post, particularly with the rise of a massive new paradigm in how we work, combined with a stubborn recession that even the White House is now acknowledging needs help (they still don't know how to solve the problem, other than meeting with Warren Buffet, as Obama did last week), the promotion of online business opportunities via affiliate marketing, ONLY IF THEY ARE LEGITIMATE I hasten to add, is a growth business and will be for some time. While it is a new way of working for most, the ability to work from home (and thus save on a range of costs not to mention go green, spend more time with your family and increase your standard of living), combined with a dearth of traditional jobs, is starting to go mainstream.

MLM Marketers - the Job and HR Provision Division to Beat the Recession?!
Thus as a provider of services in this space, you are sitting on a very lucrative commodity. And can serve a valuable resource to customers who need your product desperately. This is why as an affiliate marketer, particularly in the kind of products I will be promoting here, YOUR BEST WAY to differentiate yourself from the competition and serve your customers, not to mention build a strong business, is to have an attitude of strong customer service and teamwork. Remember. literally, without customers, YOU WILL FAIL. And obviously we don't want to see that. You also have a vested interest in helping THEM succeed too. That is one of the beauties of MLM and affiliate marketing. It FORCES you to develop good customer service skills, and team building skills. Now do you understand why I am so gung ho about the products I sell, particularly Stress Free Salary and TWRPS? If you don't, click here or find the information at the end of this article.

But the short answer is that these precepts are BUILT IN FROM THE GROUND UP with both of these services.

The question remains, how do you reach your key demographic, make them trust you, and sell them your product? And that is something that, once you learn the ropes, you can use to your best advantage, no matter what affiliate plan you join. Again, full disclosure, I am working with a very good company called Stress Free Salaries and TWRPS (see the affiliate links on the bottom of this page) because I believe in the company, the compensation structure and my team. All very important.

So while I am recommending this company, know that I chose it for those reasons and why. You may choose to promote another one, there are plenty out there and we will even discuss a few going forward. It is my feeling that particularly for beginners and medium skilled online marketers and even skilled pros with track records of other marketing campaigns under their belts, not to mention AFM's and MLM's, that this is by far the BEST and easiest program I have found, not to mention the most lucrative. And while there are a few others I may even join and/or write about in the future, particularly to compare them or add them as an adjunct to SFS and TWRPS (and you will see why these are potentially strategic matches for your own portfolio) this combination is by far the best and most comprehensive team program I have seen. You don't have to sell anything other than a digital product, you don't have to drop ship anything, and you don't have anything tangible to have to move, markup, or deal with. All you have to understand is the structure and payout of the system. Which is very important considering you WILL, unless you have done this before, have a lot of other things to learn. You certainly don't want to take away from that by having to figure out how your program works too.

That said, no program is ever completely perfect and all of them will require that not only do you know what you are doing, but master other skills. And one of them is learning how to dissect key words, as you will be USING THIS SKILL in ALL THE MARKETING AND ADVERTISING you do and place, no matter where you place it. Whether you are creating a text ad, a banner ad, a solo, or a combination of all plus Adwords, distributed via any one of the means available to you, YOU WILL NEED BOTH THIS SKILL and the services I am about to tell you about to help you.

Dissecting What Works
Reverse engineering is one of the best ways to find out how ANYTHING works. And just like we dissected Google's Adwords in the previous blog, I am about to dissect ADVERTISING ON GOOGLE to show you how advertisers use key words, how this is linked to searching and search results, so you can use this across your entire advertising campaign ON EVERY MEDIUM. Again, as I stressed in the last blog, if people are doing this on Google, then chances are they are doing it everywhere.

The Tools You Need
The best tool I have found to date to do this simply is a little bit of free software magic by a company called Web Spy (click here or see the link below for a HIGHLY recommended free signup so you can do this too).

I am going to show you what it can do in this blog, rather how to install it (because it is literally point, click and press download to install and use), once installed it will show up on your browser on the lower bottom right (see below for the example). It is a very powerful and vital tool.

And I have also started to use a link cloaker, something you will also begin to use in all of your affiliate marketing efforts to protect your affiliate link, the link you are given in every affiliate program that contains unique information to you (usually your user name) which insures that commissions go to you and are properly tracked. Click here for one of the best ones I have found that ALSO PAYS YOU MONEY TO USE IT. So that is a little free passive income for you, as you are using a resource that will help you. Double whammy. We like those a lot.

While you don't have to use a link cloaker, it is recommended in most cases, to help you protect your affiliate commissions from people who would strip yours out (it happens). As an aside, I have to add that one of the things that also makes SFS such a strong program is that the creators actually created affiliate links that are impossible if not very hard to strip, so you actually don't really need this tool if you sign up with this opportunity. Nevertheless, I am going to start using them just to be consistent and to show you how to use a very important tool for affiliate programs that DON'T DO THIS. See my recommended URL cloaker link below too.

I See With My Little Web Eye....
But let's turn our attention back to Web Spy. Here is a basic search page from Google. Notice that I have already typed in and returned my search results for home based businesses.

Also notice the following. Since I have already installed Web Spy, you will notice new boxes are showing up in all paid advertising on the page now. First let's look at where you should look on the screen so you understand what I am talking about. Alot of people still don't understand that one of Google's most profitable income streams is FROM ADVERTISING and where it appears in search results. See below.

Every place you see the word "Sponsored Links" know that those are PAID ADVERTISEMENTS using Google Adwords. But also realize that they are tied directly into the search results that you just typed in at the top in the search bar. On this page there are two sponsored links in the main body of the search results (see the first two items to be returned) and of course all of the items that show up in the column to the right of the main text. Notice also WHICH WORDS are highlighted in the ads themselves. WORK and HOME. Which corresponds to "workhome" which we typed in our search. These are the folks who have paid the most to use these words. How do I know that? That's where the magic of Web Spy really comes in handy, and allows you to see not only what Google is doing, but how to start shaping your own campaigns EVERYWHERE.

Remember our cardinal rule from last time? If people are doing it on Google, they are doing it EVERYWHERE.

So again, I bring your attention to these little boogers (as my great grandmother used to say). It's a highly technical term of course, meaning in this place, bells and whistles, or the magic behind the curtain of Web Spy.

Notice that THEY also know what keywords are? If you are still in the dark, realize that the words, in all those boxes below each advertisement, are suddenly revealed to you onscreen because they now have a box beneath every one of them with the text "View Keywords." This is the magic you want.

Now, click on any one of those boxes on the magnifying glass. This is what will come back:

NOW you can begin to analyze A LOT of information. What key words were used in the ads you see, how they are related to the search you just did, and even what the going rate for each is should you decide that you actually want to pay for your own ad, not to mention how valuable (specifically how popular) each of these words and combinations are. Remember, on Google, the more expensive a phrase is, the more popular it is, and the higher in rank, or more expensive each click is, shows you whether the advertiser bid on the words and drove the price up.

This will help you understand how all of this fits together, and should I hope finally allow you to see and implement such strategies across the universe of your online campaign. You will use this information to help shape all of your future work, since now you will have very detailed information on how people are searching, what they are looking for, and how the most highly ranked and desirable spots are being selected in advertising campaigns and searches. Spend some time analyzing what you have brought back. And then put it to work for you.

Happy surfing...

Until next time,

Cheers,

Marguerite

P.S. Here is the list of valued links:
Stress Free Salary MLM Income Opportunity: Click here.
Web Spy: Click here.
Link Cloaker: Click here.

The Zeitgeist of the Internet - Or Collective Unconsiousness Revealed

2010-07-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

One of the first questions and conundrums facing almost everyone who has decided to make the leap, and there are alot of folks out there who are considering starting an online home business right now (I will tell you how I know that in a sec), specific rules of the road apply, no matter what you are doing, what business you are promoting, or even if it is just to "monetize your blog."

That said, you CAN'T HAVE a successful business of any type if you don't have a blog, and understand how the internet itself works, so that seems like a very powerful and fruitful place to start. The basics you will learn in this article and in others on this blog, apply to EVERY home business online, no matter if you are selling yourself, or dog food, if you are 16 or 60.

But before we get into the "how to," it is important to step back and understand some very basic things about the new sea you are swimming in. Just as you probably learned, for those of you who know how to swim, some of the very basic properties of water before you dipped your toe in.

I remember the person who taught me how to swim who first tackled my fear of drowning, by letting me understand that there was no way I could drown (certainly not in a swimming pool at least!!) by understanding how to float. Once I understood that basic, I also realized that if I got into trouble, all I had to do was "assume the position" and I would float to the top and never sink to the bottom.

The internet is sort of like that too. It's easy to become overwhelmed, as I discussed in a previous post, particularly if you are new to this environment. Do you advertise, and how do you do it? How do you reach your targeted audience? How on earth do I set up a blog in the first place? And what do I sell? Not to mention how do I freakin' learn about all of this stuff? Is there NO END?

Don't worry, all of these questions are legitimate. And there is no such thing as a stupid question, although some of you may feel that the worst vice is ADVICE.

On the Internet that aphorism doesn't ring true. As far as I am concerned (and we will discuss the whole "how to" concept later) there is no such thing as too much advice, particularly for those just starting out. And you should avidly look, if you are thinking about joining an online program, or even just starting a blog, for all the FREE advice you can find.

One of the standard features of a good service or company to join (in the case of say MLM or affiliate marketing) is that they have a lot of advice written about the company, the services they offer, and even free stuff, like, you guessed it, A BLOG or some videos posted online where you can easily find them.

FOR FREE!

One of the worst scams are those companies who merely sell rehashed e-books and online tutorials. Trust me, there is nothing in them that you can't find online for FREE, if you know where to look. Most people don't which is why I have in part, started this blog. But the information is there if you keep at it. After all, you found this blog, right?

Well, good for you. I hope it is useful.

As you start to understand that success online DEPENDS on your ability to market and sell, you will begin to see patterns and re-occurring themes in the skills you will need and the methods you need to employ. And you will need to incorporate many of them simultaneously, which you will learn to do, even if it seems slow at first.

But before you do that (although most people don't do this), I encourage you to take one more step back and think about the water again....or the Internet itself. Your swimming pool as it were. Or as this column is entitled, the "collective unconsciousness" of the medium.

It's interesting. I was reading a review yesterday of the supposed threat that Google now feels from Facebook because supposedly Facebook is easier to market on, and communal, while Google is supposedly a sole experience.

Don't believe it, (although apparently Google feels very intimidated.)

The fact is that the SAME principles apply whether you are marketing on Google or Facebook, or Twitter, or any search engine or social site. The fact of the matter remains that despite the fancy bells and whistles, or the claims about who is "best," there are certain basic principles behind THE INTERNET, or the water, to use our original analogy, that apply to EVERY opportunity. Because the underlying facet of the web itself is to CONNECT PEOPLE. That is your basic tenet to learn how to float. Once you understand THAT, you will never drown (although you may feel overwhelmed still on days....it happens....because the Internet is an ocean, not a pond or a swimming pool.)

But if you learn how to swim in different smaller swimming pools before you integrate everything, you will see the SAME messages and the SAME techniques repeated over and over. That is why a lot of people termed the Internet an experiment in "collective unconsciousness" a term coined by one of the greatest masters of story telling and psychology - Joseph Campbell. And advertising and marketing, when it is done right, uses a lot of these tools to craft the message and disseminate it. Core tools behind creating a successful marketing campaign FOR ANYTHING.

And trust me, those elements will come into play very quickly.

Here is why.

Let's step back. The Internet CONNECTS US ALL, through various wormholes through cyberspace. If you want to think about Facebook for example, or YouTube, or any of the social sites, or even Google itself (or any search engine) all they do is categorize information and make it easier for you to find it. You are just using different platforms and methods. They are all the "wormholes" or easy shortcuts through cyberspace, to connect you to your users and potential customers, and ultimately deliver information.

Sound easy? It is. But implementing it successfully is often the challenge, because people feel so overwhelmed or think that they don't have to understand, to use our original metaphor, how to float, before you start swimming in the deep end.

So let's start with some really basic ways to literally float. While I am about to use Google as a very easy example, you can use these same techniques EVERYWHERE! Why? Well while Google is not a perfect service, you may or may not already know this, and some people feel very strongly about NOT using Google, for any number of reasons, for example how their search algorithms translate search results (they are very different from say Yahoo, when you type in the same search information, it is invariably ranked differently, another reason why you should ALWAYS be cross search engine in your marketing efforts) just like a lot of people don't like Bill Gates and refuse to buy Microsoft products. But there are some things that Google does extremely well, and can be used to literally understand the "Zeitgeist" or "feeling of the moment" of literally millions of users. And that is something very important. Because if the millions, or tens or millions or even billions of people who use Google, one of the largest search engines on the planet, are all doing the same or similar things, you can bet that they aren't an anomoly. And that everyone is doing the same kind of thing, no matter what search engine they are on, and how they consume the information you are going to be sending their way.

That means that the information you can glean from parsing Google is applicable ANYWHERE, from starting an Adword campaign on this search engine, to creating your own squeeze pages on a traffic exchange, or marketing via Twitter (don't worry if I just lost you, we will come back to all of that fun stuff in subsequent blogs).

Remember, when you start to dissect ANY of these mediums, the concepts are the same. It is just that SHOWING you how and what I'm talking about in this instance, is very easy to do via Google whether or not you end up using them in any number of ways.

Remember, if you can use a snapshot of human behavior and trends on GOOGLE, chances are that this is something that is a trend, a part of the collective "unconsciousness" common to ALL Internet users.

And nowhere is this more obvious than the use of "key words" to start to seed your outreach efforts.

You will use "key words" in every advertisement, blog posting, Twitter feed, Facebook campaign, etc. that you will do! Why? Well, I will show you. As they say, pictures speak a thousand words.

Let's start by going to what Google terms "Adwords" or words that you can use to create advertisements that are linked to search terms that people tend to use on Google. But again, don't let the branding fool you. These are just old vanilla "key words." And remember, I can't stress this enough, if people are doing it on Google, they are doing it EVERYWHERE. If you decide to incorporate these words into a paid online Google search, then you can certainly use them to create your ads elsewhere. Personally, I would wait before spending ANY money online, because not only are there many other ways to advertise for free (and one of the best things about the Stress Free Salary and TWRPS programs I promote for a living is that they package a lot of these opportunities ACROSS THE INTERNET for you, so you DON'T HAVE TO either find the best ones, or PAY FOR THEM. However, the principles that I will show you STILL APPLY. And so do the key words.

So...to see what I mean, let's do a simple search on Google's key word generator.

To start, type the following in a new browser window, so you can follow along here, line by line:
adwords.google.com/o/targeting

You will then come to a screen that looks like this:

I personally, because of what I'm promoting, go to the word or phrase box and type in my blanket key words. I do this because the categories that Google put together (and I'll show you what those look like in a sec) don't have the right selection. See the example below:

You can certainly use these categories if for example you are in the market to sell consumer electronics, but since I am selling something that ISN'T listed, I will just go ahead and type in what I already know are "hot words"....specifically "work from home" (see the example above.) How do I know this? Well, I've been around the block a little bit, and I am now passing this onto you. It is however, one of the reasons why I decided to go into the MLM business, and the Stress Free Salary Opportunity, linked with TWRPS (find the information on how to sign up for your free trial at the end of this article) because I knew certain things.

For example, as discussed in the last blog, I know because I read the news, that the U.S. is currently in a terrible recession. You probably do too, which is why you are looking for a new line of work. It's kind of hard to miss it. And I also knew from just experience that online home based job opportunities that are real are also a very hot trend. Which of course is confirmed when you do a search on such terms. Because once you hit the return key with the words above (and I would do it right now so you see what I'm talking about in your separate browser window) is that you suddenly see that YES, promoting real home online or internet business opportunities is probably a good business to be in right now because there ARE SO MANY PEOPLE LOOKING FOR THEM. Particularly ones that aren't SCAMS.

If you are really lazy, I have done the work for you here....this is what that search returned:

Now, what does THIS tell you? And if you are wondering if this is sort of like a detective novel or perhaps feeling the need to get out your Sherlock Holmes deerstalker again, EXCELLENT! Because marketing online is all about leveraging information. In fact, my late uncle, a management guru....if not THE management guru of all time - he is known after all as The Father of Management, Peter Drucker....not only coined the phrase "knowledge worker" and "information economy" but he was also very keen on IT and the possibilities that we are now seeing come to fruition, now several years after his death. That is what you are if you decide to take this plunge. An information worker. And in that kind of economy, the most valuable thing, as Peter wrote, was INFORMATION. And using it effectively.

So what do you DO with this new information? Well a couple of things. If you are like me, you will realize that PROMOTING a good MLM opportunity as a legitimate home business is probably a good niche to be in. Furthermore, you want to find a top online home business opportunity, because you obviously want to sell something that you believe in, is legit and WORKS.

What this also tells you however, is HOW PEOPLE THINK and how they search. And that is valuable information.

Why? Well, this is how you begin to craft your outreach and this information can be used in everything from key words on your blog and labels (see below at the end of this article if you don't believe me) to crafting the messages you will use in your online campaigns, no matter if you use Twitter to put them out, a solo ad using an auto responder, or just an email campaign (and don't worry, if I just lost you again, there will be future blogs on the subject, so don't worry). Because THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR, and THIS IS ALSO a window into HOW THEY SEARCH.

To understand this, merely look at the numbers above. A campaign using the words "Home Jobs" or "Data Entry" is far more popular than for example a campaign utilizing the key words (or as Google calls them Adwords, but don't let the branded jargon fool you, they are just the same) "work at home assembling."

Easy, right? Well, next step.

Let's look at that search again. What can you deduce, Sherlock, from what you see below?

Well the first thing, obviously is that "work from home" is a very good phrase to use in ALL YOUR ADVERTISING and outreach efforts if you decide to go this route, as I already told you I knew...but here is the PROOF. Many more people are using this phrase than say "legal work from home," "new work at home," or any of the other examples (although again, remember, who your target audience is, and while it doesn't show up here very well, "jobs for stay at home moms" is also a very good demographic and selection of key words too. You can even do a subsequent search on that term and see what I mean. But let's move on to the next step.

What does THIS screen tell you?

Two things. The first is that people are tired of getting scammed. See the fact that there are two searches coming back at you with "legitimate" and "work at home" in them.

What is also very interesting however, is that you are starting to see, and learning how to exploit HOW PEOPLE THINK AND SEARCH. Because not only do you know what their interests are now, but you also know, just from the example above, that there are an awful lot of people who use bad grammar to do their searching (see the returned item number two). Which is again something you can exploit. Because you wouldn't have known this otherwise, it is a potential "niche" and you can use "is there any legitimate work from home jobs" in your next campaign...hitting a very popular search criteria...save the English lessons for later. And if you don't believe me that this is fertile ground, let's look at SPELLING MISTAKES....

Notice the second entry? You can pick up some people who transpose the "r" and the "o" in the word FROM in their searches. It may not be glam, but you suddenly have identified a NICHE that is pretty significant in that over 250 people seem to get it WRONG consistently when they type a search. And I'll bet that a lot of marketers haven't gone after them. But if you have a blog or an advertisement that CAPITALIZES ON THIS, then those people are ALL YOURS. And while 250 people globally might not be as impressive as say "google work from home" (the next entry above it) you can be assured that most marketers are going for the one above, so you will have more competition in that niche than the one you have just discovered. And I don't know about you, but 250 virgin leads, who aren't bombarded with advertising, are a whole lot better than duking it out for market share and page rank against 14,000 odd leads. Right?

Congratulations Sherlock. You get a gold star.

Next step. Try this one on for size....What does THIS SEARCH segment tell you?

Well, clearly, again, people are yes, looking for home based business opportunities, but this is a window into how people SEARCH. More people are looking for such opportunities who type in "work home" than say are looking for the "best home based business." Both of which should also help you hone your search and help you decide what kinds of words and combinations to use when marketing. Or even writing a blog. Or doing a video (we'll come back to that topic later).

But what this should already tell you is the following:

1. You have a lot of information already to start to put together a marketing effort in the home business space.
2. You know how people search and....
3. How and what kind of mistakes they make.
4. You also have identified a sub niche (moms who work at home) to further identify and market to.
5. And you know how to capitalize on people's mistakes for your own benefit...a sort of "hidden in plain sight" niche, that you have discovered via the people who use bad grammar and can't spell.

So again, you have gotten some very valuable information that you can immediately put to work. Notice I am using ALL OF THESE WORDS in my blog, so it will also be indexed, as will labels and even spoken words in video.

And even if I don't buy an "Adword" my blog will instantly now get better ranking, and come up when people DO ANY OF THESE SEARCHES. On ALL engines, and in all the social sites where I of course have already linked my blog in my profile.

Cool, right?

Make sense?

Now do you see why this is such a good exercise?

You see how people are searching, what they are looking for, and that a lot of people have VERY BAD GRAMMAR not to mention screw up and create typos when they search (just kidding). But you have identified some very powerful tools that you can exploit. Not to mention how people think, and what they are thinking about. Which should help you identify the kinds of products you might want to start thinking about promoting. If so many people are looking for work online, then you need to find a good product that will do just that.

In my case, I have found one that I encourage you to check out (see the link at the end of this article and in fact the previous blog post, where I describe it).

So out of this exercise, you should walk away with some valuable tools. I hope it's been informative. And remember..you can use this ACROSS ANY MEDIUM YOU ARE WORKING ON, in any search engine and in any marketing or social media campaign.

This is just a small snapshot of how a lot of people think and act online. That is why the internet is sometimes called "the collective unconsciousness" of mankind. Get it?

Great!

And see you next time. Hope you feel like floating now...

Cheers

Marguerite

P.S. And for a great and legitimate work at home opportunity, for people of all ages, no matter how they spell, check out this link or type it in your browser window:
http://marnoldnyc.stressfreesalary.com/y1.php

The Best Thing About Stress Free Living and the TWRPS Partnership

2010-07-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

Death of the American Dream
At a time when most Americans are nervously looking around for a job, trying to hold onto the one they have or figuring out a new way to make money to plug the holes in The Great American Shrinking Paycheck or even substitute for a job in place of no work available (traditional job seekers face stiff competition of almost five applicants for every open position, no matter what it pays), times are not good.

And this summer has raised the very real fears of every working American to a fever pitch in a season full of disasters. From the specter of a double dip recession beginning to rise to the frothy surf of outright speculation, like fetid oil in the Gulf, the creation of a new and hapless sub sector of the recession if not Depression Economy of the 99'ers (people who have exhausted all of their UI claims and are referred to as the shadowy "long term unemployed," and talked about with the sympathy one reserves for terminal cancer patients) to the Halls of Congress where endless bickering about how to bail out the economy drone on by people far too removed from those they represent, and the fecklessness of the Obama White House to actually DO anything about this crisis, to even the spill in the Gulf itself, which along with being the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, has also robbed people of long term, skilled blue and white collar employment.

Ironically, it is the the environmental calamity in the Gulf that has become almost a symbol, writ large in the natural world, of a landlubber whale of a Recession that affects those with and without sea legs far beyond the shores and coastline economies, from sea to shining (or sadly oil glossed) sea, to every corner of America the Beautiful. Our current economic crisis hits everyone, white collar, pink collar, blue collar and private or public sector alike. It affects everything, wiping out hope in its path, and gumming up the future like tar covered phantoms on a beach of a lost pristine ecosystem.

The Old Media Is Asleep on the Job
Even perhaps the one workplace that seems to hold its nose above the rest of those who toil for a living (reporters actually do work, supported by hordes of unseen workers who make the media you watch) the newsroom - where said denizens themselves know that it is only a couple of steps, in the best of times, from the newsroom to the unemployment line for them too - these jitters are everywhere. Leading to the hyping of something new, different and innovative, even without the proper checks by the fourth estate.

It probably isn't reassuring to know that Internet scams are belatedly covered and even abetted by the news media, many of whom unwittingly do stories on internet scam sites (a future blog will focus on that).

And it is in this environment, at a time when even Hollywood is getting in on the game, and movies are being made about online opportunities and millionaires - if not billionaires who profited to the point of creating a new gold rush from their online activities (see the upcoming film, Social Network about the launch of Facebook - where was the film about Google, if you don't think this is a new twist in Hollywood's interest - the social site phenomenon which was founded by a Harvard sophomore just seven years ago) more and more Americans are looking for ways out of an almost certain decline in the traditional job. It is for those who seek the internet to augment or replace their paychecks and preserve a standard of living, if not a promise of a better future that seems to grow dimmer by the minute that this column will most appeal to.

Have Broadband, Will Work for Nothing
A lot of Americans previously not interested in the Internet craze, are finally turning to the Internet for economic salvation. Like a child with a new toy, it's easy to get sucked into the fantasy of easy wealth. Understand from the outset that the net is now full of both hucksters and endless hypes for lucrative get rich schemes that seem to offer the financial solutions to more and more financially strapped and desperate people. Even as there are real opportunities and more will arrive every day.

Caveat Emptor
When you first stumble on a home based opportunity, and decide "now is the plunge," or "sure, I could use hundreds or even tens of thousands of dollars a month" as many of these sites claim is just around the corner, or "if THEY could do it, I can too," a mindset which is almost required to succeed, because nothing is quite as easy or quick as those who would have you fork over dollars to embark on a new venture promise and would have you believe (and look out for sites where illustrations of online dollars earned fall from the sky magically, and too many people believe will actually happen, or happen in a flash) unfortunately, one of the first things that happens is people get scammed.

Even with the passage and implementation two weeks ago of the Cyber Crimes Act, the protections online are very few for those who turn to cyberspace looking for a "real job," much as those who first went online to date ten years ago found that cyberspace was not quite what it was cracked up to be for the matrimonially inclined. Just like the guy who shows up at a first meeting looking 15 years older than the picture he sent you and swore was taken "recently," online employment has many pitfalls, starting with over-hyped promises and under delivery of services.

It doesn't help that most of the online payment services are not very helpful either, compounding insult to injury that you can't get your membership fees back if you get scammed (see a future column on which ones to look out for).

A Brave New World
It also doesn't help that the average consumer/job seeker is increasingly desperate (our unemployment solution is the worst anyone can remember, if not painting a picture of how the social net in this country has never been adequate, and is failing.) Without Tier 5, and most certainly an extension of the first four tiers of a federal bailout for the people, there will be mass homelessness, suffering and a fall, en masse, unlike America has ever seen and certainly not since the Great Depression, from even the storied if nebulous "middle class" by this Christmas - of over 8 million people. People who have always worked and considered themselves above the "poor," will slide into poverty, and face a system unable to meet their needs.

People are not stupid as much as the political elite who seem to be unaware of the pending fate of literally millions of Americans who have never thought about poverty before, much less imagined they would be facing it.

And this is a perfect environment for con artists, speculation of all kinds, and ultimately when one is desperate, promises of the so-called "internet lifestyle" of overnight riches, big houses, fancy cars (which almost all of the sites show on their front pages and hype in breathless verbiage, or in video, the newest phenom to hit the internet world on a grand scale, literally within the last 18 months as G3 and G4 networks spiral out across the country), it is hard to remain objective.

Selecting The Right Opportunity
Very few opportunities are ever totally free. Even the legitimate ones that sell additional information, tools and other necessities needed to set up a real and profitable home business. And to be honest, most people who come to this Brave New World honestly do need such help and tools, so understand that you will inevitably have to pay something, even for a legit opportunity. You will need a lot of these tools in one place, particularly if the internet is a new environment. And remember all the cliches, including "Rome wasn't built in a day," and certainly not without all the tools of construction that still look remarkably similar thousands of years later.

There is, despite the "fall off a log" promise that most of these sites make, a learning curve that requires the acquisition of new skills and use of new equipment.

Like anything else, learning to make money online, takes time. Perhaps the one thing that anxious people with bills to be paid, don't have.

What to look for
So what should one look for, and what are the things one needs to develop a home business online that actually makes money and is legit?

The first thing to expect is a steep learning curve, no matter what kind of business one decides to take the plunge into. No matter what, you need to understand the basics of a new world for most that includes communications skills, marcom basics, a comprehension of SEO, ad words, integrated marketing (what the hell is that, I hear readers already wondering, even today) a good understanding of making media (including video production), and familiarity with things like the social media sites, not to mention social "bookmarking" sites. And YES you will HAVE TO WRITE. Having a blog is a critical necessity. Knowing about what to write, is another hurdle.

That is easily several months work for the completely uninitiated. When one throws in the fun aspects of "what is an auto-responder, a safe list, and could I possibly be accused of spamming?" (sending unrequested emails out promoting one's business), the list of things to learn almost seems unending.

Getting Started
It is almost an inevitable right of passage that you will get scammed. At least once. (Look for a future column on what to do to head off that predicament, or what to do after one's precious dollars have ended up in the hands of an unscrupulous online fraudster).

In general, although people almost never start out this way, look for a service that ADVERTISES online business opportunities.

The best way to do this is an ad site for online home businesses themselves, like for example one of the very sites you will use to promote an erstwhile business. There are a lot of them and a future column will focus on what those are and some of the most recommended in the trade.

Even if you have to pay a small fee (or in some cases a not so small fee) to start your online venture , something you should pretty much come to expect even for a legitimate opportunity, make sure that the final place you land is in a place where you get full online and offline support (yes that is really possible), and in fact that is one of the first things you should look for. A "sponsor" (someone who joined before you did, and is often the person on whose site you signed up for the service) who is willing to pay for your first months' membership is one of the good signs.

That is how I decided on my own current opportunity. Which was cheap to join and will be recouped by all, (and was indeed designed that way) with the sign up of your first two recruits, who you will be selling the opportunity to, for the grand price of $29.95 per month. You get a lot of bang for the buck.

In the current months, I will be discussing the various aspects of running a home based business, and talking about my experiences in the one I have chosen.

Most options that come pre-packaged (which I recommend for newbies and even those with some experience) are either MLM (multi level marketing affiliate programs where you are selling the service itself) or promoting other products.

We are all Affiliate Marketers Now
You will hear this phrase a lot, and if you have ever used say, Google's ad words, for example, or promoted a Clickbank product, you will have heard the phrase before. If not, don't worry. All it means is that you are promoting an online product, service or membership organization for a living. It is one of the easiest ways to get started in an online business, and again, it is really important that the product or service you set out to promote is something you like, along with the team or usually "upline" (people who joined right before you, and probably recruited you) are people you have something in common with - just like a "real" offline job. There isn't really much difference at this level, which is something you need to understand.

Along with the very important corollary: Nobody succeeds in this business, particularly at first, working entirely for themselves.

I found that in the new program I will be talking about in greater depth in future blog entries, at a very interesting and unique opportunity I finally discovered, after yes, I too was scammed several times, is very different and stands head and shoulders above anything else I've found. For that reason, I will be using that as my "living laboratory," and as the benchmark and example against which I will discuss the benefits and pitfalls of this new way to make a living.

Stress Free Salary and TWRPS
While I will explain the difference between the two again in a future column, for brevity's sake here I will quickly give an overview. One is actually a membership site that will give you all the tools you need (and again that is a discussion for a future post) to promote the business and get your feet wet. SFS sits on top of it, as a very organized, step-by-step way to not only juice up the potential profits, but provides even more tools and guidance, including lots of free and/or cheap advertising (a critical component in any online business.)

From the beginning, I liked my sponsor. Our group is growing. On top of that, we have weekly conference calls (another must) and things are being passed down to me by a remarkably competition free "up line" who realizes that he will do well if he helps ME do well.

That is the kind of thing you look for. Perhaps it should be the first thing. Hard as it is to find.

In future blogs, I will be discussing many aspects of having and growing an online business.

But in the meantime, check this one out for yourself.

The motto is "Nobody Fails," which is a great way of starting a business and getting people in the door to look around. And here people really seem to be committed to that. It's so appealing, as you can see, I decided to swipe it for the name of this column.

So until next time, look around on this site. Even join up for the free trial. You can't lose. It's a good place to start, even if you decide not to stick around. But I guarantee you, in the time I have been looking for a new place to hang my digital hat, it is the fairest compensated site, the most interesting in terms of the support I've gotten, and by far the most comprehensive in the tools and assistance I have already received to date.

For all those reasons, I recommend Stress Free Salary and the TWRPS system.

Check it out by clicking on the link below. And in future postings, we will walk through the service, compare it to other sites, and begin the education you need to succeed in almost every online business, whether or not you decide that THIS one is right for you.

Also look in future posts for freebies, recommendations about promotion, and other complimentary sites.

As the title of this blog suggests, and I have now taken from the service I am promoting (full disclosure), the aim of this blog is to make sure that Nobody Fails.

In a summer of failure of almost everything Americans know about the way they live, if not reassessment of their future, and what they took for granted, it's good to know that there is a place where this is actually a tangible thing. And that there are people who have this as their motto.

Take a look at this opportunity, sign up for it, if it appeals to you, and in the meantime, I will be back for a next posting soon.

All the best,

Marguerite.

P.S. Check out the opportunity by clicking the link below: http://marnoldnyc.stressfreesalary.com/y1.php