Go ahead, let your inner geek come out for just a few minutes as you glance through the myriad items that will help define your geekiness, or give you some great ideas for a gift for the geek in your life. 

I’ve already put some of these items on my list this year, hopefully the wifey-poo is reading this too…

Check out the New Caprica Cylon Action Figure.  The perfect gift for your neighborhood Battlestar Galactica fan.  Totally cool. Totally frackin’ cool.

Or maybe you’d like to get your favorite geek one of the great ThinkGeek T-Shirts. Tons of popular choices that will make any geek happy.  You really can’t go wrong with anything here.

Regardless of what you find, now is the time to order your holiday gifts from ThinkGeek.  Head on over now and save $5 off a $25 order or $10 off a $50 order.  Just use the code “brains” at checkout.

Your geek will thank you on Christmas morning.

Sony, one of my favorite companies to hate, is going to cut 8,000 jobs from the electronics division and cut capital investment by 30% in the next fiscal year.  With the current economic conditions worldwide, it’s no surprise that we’re starting to see these types of cutbacks in a tech company like Sony.

Yes, we’re still buying our lovely consumer electronics, but we’re not buying them like we used to.  We’re spending less money and looking for better deals on the products we love.  So the companies that can keep pace with us are going to fare better through these tough economic times.

And we certainly want a company that at least pretends to listen to our needs and wants instead of distrusting us completely.  Remember the whole Sony rootkit debacle a few years ago?  I do, and it still leaves a foul taste in my mouth.

We’ll see how Sony fares with their cost-cutting efforts.  I’m sure things will work out fine, but I’d love to see prices go down across the board on their products, finally eliminating the “Sony tax” that they’ve imposed on their products for the last 20 years.

One guy who uses this to his advantage is Rob Benwell. In 2006 he dished the dirt on the tips and tricks to making a fortune using blogging. But as time passes the old systems become obsolete and new techniques are required. This is where his brand new, fresh off the press Blogging to the Bank 3.0 system comes into play.

For those who know who Rob Benwell is like me, you’ve probably made a killing using blogs.

For those who don’t, he’s the story:

Back in 2005 he was struggling to make any profit online, had dropped out of college and was getting deep into debt. He was trying all the techniques the gurus tell you and wasn’t getting anywhere fast. All of that went in the bin and he started using his own techniques and started making more and more money using simple blogs. In early 2006 he shared this with the world and had a great ebook called blogging to the bank. Tons of people got rich from using these techniques (including me). He then spoke at Online Marketing Legend Yanik Silver’s underground Seminar where he revealed even more of his underground strategies. Then July 2007 he released Blogging to the Bank 2.0 which showed users his new methods to creating online wealth using blogs. In total both versions have been read by over 50,000 people across the world.

But as I said earlier, the techniques used in these ebooks are now showing there age. Some of them are not even working in the slightest! This is where blogging to the bank 3.0 comes into play.

It’s full of great new techniques that work online right now! Everything’s explained in plain English with all the fluff cut out. I got hold of an advanced copy of the book for a much higher price than what it actually sells for and it has been worth every single cent! I got it in the afternoon and by the evening I was creating new profitable blogs. Within a couple of hours of them being active I had made a nice little profit.

Blogging To The Bank 3.0 teaches you Robs new step by step blueprint to creating highly profitable long term niche blogs using the newest optimization techniques. There’s even a section on advanced Search Engine Optimization. Most people think SEO is difficult but Rob explains this nice and simply so even the blogging newbie will understand it.

Blogging To The Bank 3.0 is a breath of fresh air and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to make easy money online.

Click below for more information about this system

Blogging To The Bank 3.0

Although I question as to whether or not this will actually happen, it does bring up some good questions that tech companies are going to have to deal with in the near future.

Will computer manufacturers want or need to make operating systems that are customized for their hardware and specific apps? We’ve seen this for years with Apple as they pretty much completely control the software that can be used on the Mac (excluding any open source projects).

Whether you agree with this policy or not, you have to acknowledge that Apple has been very successful with this model. And so have the developers that create software for the Mac. Yes, there are a few necessary cross-platform programs such as Office, but for the vast majority of Mac software, it’s made only for the Mac.

Are we going to see this trend picked up by PC manufacturer’s as well? While I agree that there should be some more viable options out there for people (Sorry all you hardcore Linux guys. Until someone decides to write some comprehensive manuals or continuing education classes to teach people how to run Linux, you’re not viable.), I don’t know if every manufacturer having their own system is the right answer.

Maybe we should be looking to more internet-based apps to solve this issue.

No matter the case this will be interesting to see what happens with HP and this issue.

Thanks to Paul Colligan and Michael Geoghegan for their encouragement in heading in this new direction…

That day has finally arrived, at least for me.

I’m right in the middle of downloading the new app right now, direct onto my iPhone, so first impressions will come a little bit later today. Hopefully, this will make things a lot easier to update more often and put up those short little posts as I go throughout the day.

I’m pretty pumped about this myself, but how about you? Are you an iPhone owner that operates a Wordpress-powered blog? Will you make use of this new app?

Read more about the app here at Weblog Tools, or download it direct right here and then sync up with iTunes.

Here’s a new weekly feature for all of my readers, especially those of you that are on the lookout for some good deals on a new computer for yourself or someone else.

We’ve partnered with HP to bring you some exclusive deals that you can take advantage of as a PikeMall Tech reader, plus I’ll give you my opinions on the computers that are being featured.

Firstly, here’s the big deal of the week through July 24 (or until supplies run out!). Save $500 off the purchase of a customized HP Pavilion Notebook PC configured at $1399 or greater! Use code NB4513. Don’t forget to use that coupon code, otherwise you’re not going to get your deal.  Remember, this coupon is good for ANY customized HP notebook, so you’ve got the pick of any size and style that you like.  Lots of good pickings to choose from.

Next up,Save up to $249 instantly on the HP Pavilion dv6700t Customizable Notebook! Here’s some of the lowdown on the dv6700t series of notebooks from HP.  The dv6700t features options including Intel Core 2 Duo processors so you know you’re getting the most computing power for your money.  Options also include a Blu-Ray disc player and up to 4GB of RAM to help you chug through your applications, including the power hog that is Windows Vista.  15.4″ screens are standard on the dv6700t series, yielding you a weight of about 5.6 lbs.  Not as easy on the frequent traveler as a smaller notebook, but still very portable and packed with power.

These are just two of the great deals that you have access to as a reader of PikeMall Tech.  If you’d like to get more deals delivered right to your inbox, just head on over and subscribe to PikeMall Tech.  You’ll get updates delivered right to your inbox, and don’t worry.  I hate spam just as much as you do and I’ll never give your email address away.

At least… that’s how it’s supposed to be, right?

The truth is that mini sites really ARE easy to set up. They really DON’T require much time, energy, and money to set up. So why is it that so few people actually make money with their mini sites?

The answer is that they never learned how to actually turn their mini site into a profitable moneymaker that runs completely on autopilot. The good news is…

*************************************************
YOU’RE ABOUT TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT!
*************************************************

Here’s what this is all about: My colleague Michael Rasmussen has just released a brand new video course that will walk you through the process of creating a killer mini site from the ground up, and then he’ll also teach you how to actually start making money with it right away and into the future.

If you’ve been looking for help with monetizing your mini sites, then this is exactly what you need. The best part? The videos are FREE! I’ll tell you more
about that later. First, let’s talk about the videos themselves.

If you’re in a hurry, you can just check the
videos out right now for free. Here’s the URL:

http://www.pikemalltech.com/minisiteprofits

*************************************************
OVERALL QUALITY
*************************************************

It’s important to note that these are online videos that you access from your web browser. Michael uses Camtasia Studio to create these videos, which is the
premier software program for creating screen capture tutorials such as these.

The first thing I noticed when I hit the play button on the first video was the incredible production quality. These are NOT your ordinary screen capture
videos. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone make videos that are this high quality before.

He uses beautifully created graphics to pass his wisdom along to you, and the sound quality is the highest you will ever hear in an Internet marketing
product. They sound like they were recorded in a professional studio.

Michael explained to me that he was sick and tired of seeing all the low quality videos out there, and so he set out to create something different in order to raise the bar in our industry. I think that, when you see Mini Site Profits Exposed for yourself, you’ll agree that he has succeeded.

Now let’s move onto…

*************************************************
THE ACTUAL VIDEOS
*************************************************

Here’s a brief summary of each video. Obviously it’s impossible to list every single thing here, but I want you to get a feel for what each one
covered, and how well it covered it.

If you’re in a hurry, you can just check the
videos out right now for free. Here’s the URL:

http://www.pikemalltech.com/minisiteprofits

VIDEO 1 - INTRODUCTION

This videos introduces you to the entire course, as well as the teacher himself. You’ll learn what you can expect from the course, and why it’s structured the way it is.

Michael realizes that you may not have heard of him, and so he spends some time establishing his credibility with you by sharing some of his biggest
successes. It doesn’t come across as bragging at all. Michael explains that, in order for you to get value from the teachings, you need to have faith that the teacher actually knows what he’s talking about. By the end of this video, you will have no doubt.

By the way, this is a good lesson for all of us product developers. If you want people to accept you as an authority on any subject, you first need to
establish your credibility with the reader. That way he’s willing to relax, and trust that what you’re telling him is sound advice.

VIDEO 2 - THE BASICS

This video will introduce you to the basics of mini site marketing. This will set the foundation that all future learning will rest upon, so it’s important to pay close attention to this one.

You’ll learn:

* What mini-sites are, and what makes them different
from regular content sites.

* Which businesses they work well for… and which ones
they don’t.

* The right mindset to have when it comes to creating
mini sites as part of your online business strategy.

* And the different tools you need to get started.

This was a great video, and did an excellent job of
kicking things off, and building the foundation for
the rest of the course.

VIDEO 3 - SQUEEZE PAGES

This is probably one of the most useful videos of the entire course. Every Internet marketer needs to build an email list, but how do you do it? What is the best way to capture the most opt-ins?

The answer is ’squeeze pages’. This video will teach
you:

* Why using a squeeze page is far superior to other
opt-in methods.

* The single most important thing you must include at
the top of your squeeze page to skyrocket your opt-in
rate.

* The secret structure of a squeeze page, and why most
marketers get it wrong (which costs them a LOT of
money).

* The most important to include in your opt-in process
that will make sure that people actually receive your
email.

After watching this video, you’ll know everything you need to know to start building a massive opt-in list right away. This will probably be the first video that you ‘take action’ on. You’ll be so excited about the
possibilities, that I guarantee you’ll go and create your own squeeze page right away.

VIDEO 4 - MINI SITE COPYWRITING - PART
ONE

Nothing happens until the sales copy is written. Graphics alone will never sell a product, but sales copy alone WILL. This video begins to demystify the
mysterious process of writing words that make people whip out their credit cards and buy.

Specifically, you’ll learn:

* Why you need to learn copywriting, even if you “hate
to write”

* What a compelling offer looks like, and how to tell
the difference.

* How to write an eyeball-grabbing headline that
practically forces your readers to go through your
entire page.

* A simple trick you can use in your opening to make
your reader want to learn more.

There is no skill that is more important to your success than the ability to write killer sales copy. Make sure you pay extra attention to this video, as
well as…

VIDEO 5 - MINI SITE COPYWRITING - PART
TWO

This video dives right into the individual components of a killer sales letter. You’ll learn how to create the “secret structure” of a mini site sales letter that makes big money. Specifically, you’ll learn:

* How to create captivating body copy that draws your
reader into the sales letter.

* Bullets that force your reader to keep reading the
whole page, and makes them insanely curious and want
to buy your product

* How to take the risk off people’s shoulders, so
they’ll feel safe buying from you.

* How to craft your ‘call to action’, and get people
to whip out their credit cards and buy immediately.

* The secrets of writing a killer P.S. that helps seal
the deal, and flip your prospect into a buyer
instantly.

This video covered a surprising amount of detail, especially considering that this course is not specifically about copywriting. Michael Rasmussen is
definitely someone who overdelivers in his educational products.

VIDEO 6 - HOW TO AUTOMATE THE
DELIVERY OF YOUR INFOPRODUCT

Unless you want to be chained to your computer, you must learn how to put your mini sites on autopilot. The only thing you should be doing is driving traffic, and letting the site itself do all the work, including
the work of instantly delivering the product to the
customer.

This video will walk you through the process of automating your product delivery, so you can just relax, and collect the money. The best part is… once you have this automated system set up, you never have
to touch it again.

VIDEO 7 - HOW TO “GROW” YOUR SALE

This video is guaranteed to be an eye opener for almost everyone who watches it, even the experienced marketers. Michael dives into some of the most
effective ‘upselling’ techniques that I’ve ever seen.

Nowhere else on the Internet have I seen such a thorough tutorial on how to increase the ’size’ of your orders. You’ll learn:

* The psychology of ‘upselling’, and how to use it
make your customer spend even more money with you.
The best part? He’ll think it was his idea!

* The absolute best time to upsell your customer. This
one will surprise you when you realize how much money
you’ve been leaving on the table by skipping this
step.

* 5 simple techniques to increase your profit by up to
100%.

If you’ve already got a mini site that’s up and running, this video will make a big difference for you right away. Use any of these ‘plug and profit’
strategies to increase your income literally overnight!

VIDEO 8 - CREATING AN AFFILIATE SALES
FORCE

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed that all successful marketers have in common, it’s that they have a great affiliate program. They create a program that allows other people to make good money by promoting their
products, and they get to just sit back and relax, while everyone else is doing the hard work of promoting FOR them.

If you’ve ever dreamed of having an army of motivated sales people working hard to make you money, then you’re going to love this video. Michael will teach you:

* What an affiliate program is, and how to set one up
very quickly.

* Exactly what tools you need to give your affiliates
(most people miss the mark here, so pay extra
attention to this part).

* Why merely having an affiliate program is NOT enough
to convince people to sign up, and what you can do
instead to have people eagerly trying to become one of
your affiliates.

* How to motivate affiliates to sell for you.

VIDEO 9 - MINI SITE MISTAKES TO AVOID

Let’s face it… it’s not enough to explain what you should do. You also need to know what mistakes you should avoid. Michael has already made these costly
mistakes, but you don’t have to. You’ll learn:

- Why people do judge a book by its cover… and how to
capitalize on that for your mini-site

- The single biggest reason people don’t buy from a
mini site, and how you can apply this ‘instant fix’.

- The single biggest thing that will kill your
mini-site (it’s not what you think, and making this
mistake is a surefire way to drain money from your
bank account FAST!)

- Two list building mistakes that’ll cripple your
long-term profits.

VIDEO 10 - SECRETS OF CREATING A
PRODUCT FUNNEL

This video will walk you through the process of designing a product line that will make you a TON of money. There’s a lot more to it than you’d think,
which is why this important concept (which was taken from direct marketing) gets it’s own video.

After watching this video, you’ll understand why you can’t just have a single front end product, and you’ll know exactly what to do in order to get your customer to keep buying more and more expensive products from
you… completely on autopilot!

This video is a MUST for any serious marketer who wants to make a lot of money from their online business.

VIDEO 11 - OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR
WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

The title of this video says it all. You’ll learn all of Michael’s secrets for getting top notch freelancers to help you create your mini site empire
in record time.

Let’s face it, you can’t be an expert at everything that mini sites require. For example, it’s really tough to be a top notch graphic designer, while also
mastering HTML, and then becoming a killer copywriter, on top of also creating the product itself.

And the list goes on and on. If you want to be efficient, and begin making money as fast as possible, outsourcing is the secret to making it
happen. This video will show you exactly what to do, as well as some common (and very expensive) pitfalls to avoid.

VIDEO 12 - OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR
WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

Let’s face it… it doesn’t matter how great your mini site is if you don’t get any traffic coming to it. Getting traffic can be one of the most confusing
and mysterious parts of making money online IF you don’t get the proper education.

Thankfully, Michael really dives in, and gives you a lightning fast education in this area. Specifically, you’ll learn:

* How to use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising to get
targeted traffic fast.

* 3 ways to get targeted traffic without spending a
dime.

* 2 ways to leverage the experience and contacts of
other people to explode your traffic.

* 3 traffic strategies to avoid like the plague!

By the time you’re done with this video, you’ll know what to do right away to begin driving targeted visitors to your mini site.

Wow, you get all those videos for free? Click
here to check out the Mini Site Profits Exposed
course for yourself:

http://www.pikemalltech.com/minisiteprofits

*************************************************
DELUXE VIDEOS
*************************************************

Mini Site Profits Exposed comes with 12 videos, and has more content than most 300 dollar home study courses. And did I mention that it’s free?

If you decide that you want to continue your education, and get the biggest possible advantage, you can also upgrade to the deluxe course for a small fee.
The deluxe course contains four full-length videos that each cover one advanced topic in great detail.

Here’s a breakdown of each video:

*************************************************
VIDEO 13 - DESIGNING A KILLER BACK END
THAT RUNS COMPLETELY ON AUTOPILOT
*************************************************

This deluxe video could easily be a whole course in itself. It walks you though the entire process of setting up a back end that is completely automated using an autoresponder system.

You’ll learn how to set up your autoresponder to automatically remove a person from your prospect list after he buys, and then insert him into your customer
list. This is where your new autoresponder sequence will start promoting your back end products automatically.

Bottom line… if you want to make the big bucks like all the Internet marketing gurus, you need to create a back end that works hard for you while you’re out creating new mini sites and developing new products.
This video will show you how.

*************************************************
VIDEO 14 - LIST BUILDING SECRETS
*************************************************

In this deluxe video, Michael will walk you through some of his best tactics for growing a massive list from your mini site. He’ll not only teach you what to add to your mini site, but he’ll also show you what you must REMOVE from your mini site in order to get the most possible subscribers.

Building a list is about SO much more than just offering a free newsletter. In fact, Michael shows you five different things you can offer your readers to
get them to instantly give you their name and email.

You’ll also learn the best places to actually put the opt-in email form on your mini site. You’ll also learn about pop ups and tell-a-friend scripts, as well as a bunch of other incredible tactics for growing your
list.

I have a hunch that you’ll find yourself referring to this video over and over again.

*************************************************
VIDEO 15 - MARKETING ACTIVITIES THAT
MAKE YOU MONEY
*************************************************

When you think about all the ’stuff’ you can do to drive traffic to your site, it’s hard to know what you should focus on first. This video will walk you
through the four most important marketing activities you can do to drive traffic to your mini site.

Once you master these four, you’ll never have to wonder what you should do when you start a new mini site. You’ll have an easy-to-follow road map for
driving tons of targeted prospects to your site, so you can begin making money ASAP!

*************************************************
VIDEO 16 - MAKE MAXIMUM PROFITS FROM YOUR MINI SITE
*************************************************

In this final deluxe video, Michael will reveal his best kept secrets for squeezing maximum profit out of any mini site. These are techniques that you have NOT seen before, so you’ll want to pay extra close
attention to this one.

Think about it… if you’re going to put the time in, and set up a mini site the proper way (like Michael shows you in these videos), then it only makes sense that you’d want to make the most amount of money possible from it.

In this video, you’ll learn:

- How changing one sentence on your mini site could
double your profits easily.

- How to instantly increase the dollar amount of your
average order (which puts more money into your
pocket).

- The one thing you must add to your ‘download page’
that will instantly increase your income (with no
extra work, once this thing is put into place).

- How to turn your actual product into a money making
machine!

*************************************************
CONCLUSION
*************************************************

Whew! That was a lot of information, and I hope it helped you decide to check out Michael Rasmussen’s Mini Site Profits Exposed video course. Remember the
course is absolutely free, so you have nothing to lose.

Michael believes that it’s important for him to prove himself to you before he ever asks you to buy anything from him. He wants to show you that he will deliver you the absolute best education available anywhere, and he’ll gladly do it for free… just to win you over!

So go ahead and check out Mini Site Profits Exposed right now, and see what all the fuss is about. I highly recommend that you upgrade to the deluxe
course as well. Here’s the URL:

http://www.pikemalltech.com/minisiteprofits

Warmly,

Mike Paul

Have there been times that another marketer has sold you on a product and you were convinced your
list would buy it in record numbers? Perhaps you had even started to imagine winning the prize
that the affiliate was offering to top sellers.

You eagerly sent the e-mail to your list and hoped that the PayPal server wouldn’t crash as
orders flooded in.

Instead, your list’s response left you whistling and waiting and checking your e-mail every five
minutes. The sales didn’t materialize like you thought they would.

You kept tweaking the website and investing more time and research and PPC money into driving new
traffic to your site but the sales still didn’t materialize.

Also, remember those times when you went to Clickbank and carefully studied the statistics of
products that look so promising but end up falling flat? I know that’s happened to me more
than I care to admit.

In the past all you could do was test, test, test and test some more before knowing if an affiliate
product would sell. It requires thousands of visitors to your site before you can accurately
gauge the performance of a product.

Imagine if you could determine the conversion rates of an affiliate product BEFORE you sell it?

Actually, you need not imagine at all, because now it’s a reality.

********************************************************

Conversion Prophet predicts the conversion rate
BEFORE a sale is even made!

********************************************************

Conversion Prophet uses a special pre-tracking algorithm. It can predict how well your keywords
will perform and what your conversion rate will be after only 100 visitors to your site.

This means all you have to do is send one e-mail to your list or write a few articles or do a
simple $20 Adwords campaign. You’ll know the results right away without any whistling and
waiting.

Stop investing countless hours into tweaking websites and researching keywords that will
ultimately never bring in enough money to your bank account.

Let Conversion Prophet do the testing and find the winners for you at a lightning-fast rate.

http://www.pikemalltech.com/conversionprophet

Conversion Prophet is so easy to use. You can say goodbye to spreadsheets and tedious number
crunching.

If your affiliate product is a winner, Conversion Prophet will help you as you split test to see
which headline is the most effective, etc. That means you can ditch the weaker headlines more
quickly and have a top notch website working for you within hours, rather than weeks.

So what are you waiting for?

http://www.pikemalltech.com/conversionprophet

Conversion Prophet is priced so that even a newbie internet marketer can afford it. Of course
you can try it risk-free for eight weeks. There are no strings attached…only results.

To Your Success!

P.S. You don’t have to just take my word for it.
Read what other marketers are saying about this
incredible product:

“My campaigns are lean and mean these days and
the time it takes me to make them like this is
barely a couple of days. Stop giving money to the
pay per click networks and start increasing your
ROI with this product.” ? Jean Morgan, United
Kingdom

“What used to be a test on almost 500 clicks is
now reduced to 25 clicks… I am able to see
trends that quickly, and my cost on adwords is
drastically reduced, by eliminating the keywords
that were wasting money.” ? Viramani Swaminathan,
India

http://www.pikemalltech.com/conversionprophet

photo credit: dannyman

As I started the day today, I saw an interesting topic about why most people most people fail in online business.  After looking at these 6 short reasons, I realized that some of them struck a deep chord with me and why my own online efforts haven’t been more successful than what they are.

So, I thought I’d provide my own commentary on these 6 points and how they have come into play in my own business, and what I’m doing to overcome these obstacles and drive towards success. (Thanks to Michelle Waters for the original list, first posted in the Self Starters Forum!)

1. Lack of Action - OK, I’ve just as guilty of this as anyone and I’m pretty sure this is one of the most prominent reasons why people fail online.  You get wrapped in up reading and buying every new product that comes out, looking for the fastest way to achieve your goals.  You read about how to write your own ebook, create a video series, make money with blogging, make money with Adsense, and on down the list.  But that’s all you do.  You read.  You fill up your hard drive with report after report and never do anything with them.  I liken it to the person that gets a degree in chemical engineering and then goes to work for a toy store.  What a waste!

Let me give you a piece of advice:  Reading about doing something will never make you a dime.  You have to dedicate to yourself to take massive action and start making things happen, rather than reading about what other people are doing.  Let it be an inspiration and gain some knowledge, but don’t forget you have to put that knowledge to work!

2. Impatience - Yes, I am the world’s most impatient person.  I want everything to be done now, now, now.  I don’t have time to wait, I need to see immediate results.  It’s just too bad that nothing ever really happens that way.  And don’t get fooled when you see all of these massive product launches that generate thousands upon thousands of dollars in sales in the first few days.  What you don’t see is the hours and weeks of prep time that had to go into these products to make them successful.  Do you really think that you will earn six- or seven-figures on something that you just came up with 30 minutes ago and put up a web page about?  It’ll never happen.  Sorry to burst your bubble (and mine!) but it just doesn’t work that way.  Be patient and work your butt off and then begin to see the results.

3. Life - Yep.  We’re all humans and we all have lives.  Sometimes life just happens.  Sometimes we plan for life to happen (like my upcoming marriage to my best friend and the most beautiful, caring woman in the world who was put here to be my perfect partner and absolutely, 100% completes everything about every aspect of my life) and sometimes life just happens (like the tragic death of my fiancee’s cousin and the loss of both of my grandfathers in the last year and a half.)

Some of you have kids, some of you have full-time day jobs.  Some of you are not in the best of circumstances.  Some of you are up to your eyeballs in debt and can’t see a way out.  Some of you are struggling to make ends meet and don’t know how you’re going to pay your rent next month.  Some of you are just plain fed up.

You can make it.  You can rise up from where you are now to where you want to be.  But there will always be life and sometimes it just plain sucks.  But then, there are the good times.  The times that are in the home videos and pictures.  Live for those times and make your own memories.  Keep pressing on and overcome, there’s something spectacular waiting for you just on the other side of whatever situation you’re in.

4. Lack of Planning - You’re heard it before:  Ready, Fire, Aim!  This is not the way you want to go.  Everything you do in your online business has to have a plan.  From making sure that your site is set up correctly, to making sure that your payment processor is up and ready to go when all those orders start to come in, you’ve got to plan.

Planning ahead will save you a ton of headache later.  I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but you will thank me for telling you to plan when you become rich and famous and we all start buying your ebooks on how to be successful online.

5. Negative Attitude - OK, I’m not going to spend much time on this one.  Whether you believe it or not, your attitude absolutely affects your outcome of everything you do.  If you think you’re going to fail, guess what?  You will.  Get an attitude adjustment and start believing that you’re going to be successful.  ‘Nuff said.

6. Getting Bogged Down in the Details - This one kind of ties in with #1.  As someone with an entreprenuerial mindset, we all tend to be perfectionists.  It’s just something that comes with it.  We want every little thing to be just perfect.  And that stops a lot of progress for many of us.

One thing I’ve had to learn over the past couple of years is that sometimes good enough is good enough.  Things dont’ always have to be perfect.  As a matter of fact, they probably never will be perfect.  So if you’re working towards perfection, you’re never going to get there.  You’re getting stopped because of your own refusal to get things moving.

Forget perfection.  Get that web page up.  Write that report.  Give out your business card.  Start networking.  Then, the results will come.

OK, so that’s the list.  Are you letting some of these things prevent you from becoming a success?  I know that I have in the past, but not any more.  I’m taking my own massive action to create my own success and you should to.  We are masters of our own destiny and the only thing standing in our way is ourselves.  Get yourself out of the way and get started being the next big success story.

I’d love to hear your comments or how you’re overcoming your own struggles.  And please share your success stories!

Until next time,

Mike Paul

No? Why not?

You can get tons of resources that you’d normally spend a boatload of money on for nothing.

Just head on over to The IM Giveaway and pick up your goodies!

No catch, nothing to pay. Really, it’s just a big “Thank You!” to all of you great people out there.

Remember, there’s only a few days left, so head on over now…

The IM Giveaway

photo credit: BAIA

One of the best possible means to attract probable clients to your site is by joint ventures. It is one of the fastest ways to hook up with your target market and also the most lucrative. Just what, exactly, is a joint venture?

A joint venture is an alliance between two involved parties. This alliance forges strategies in marketing that would make both parties benefit in the long run. With this, you can also utilize existing business relationships with your partner company, and vice versa. This cements more business deals (and more money) for both parties.

Being in a joint venture means that you have to take care of your partners assets as much as he takes care of yours. You promote the products or services that are being offered by the other party, and they do the same to you. This type of set up is ideal when there is a specific market that you want to target. Existing companies that are already doing business with your target market are the best companies that you could create a joint venture with. And the good thing with doing all this? You get to do business not only with your allies but also your competitors!

Aside from higher profits, you can greatly benefit from joint ventures as your base of customers grows in number. It is normal for joint ventures to have hundreds of new subscribers the moment they settle with the deal. Another good thing about this is you get the same credibility that the other party has established. Since the other party is endorsing your site, it is probable that their clients would bestow you with the same trust that they give your partner.

The best way to decide on which company to trust your site with, it’s wise to look around. Which companies offer the same product or service as you do? It doesn’t have to be entirely similar (for example, a site that offers computer software can set up a joint venture with a company that sells computer hardware in retail). With this set up, both parties end up happy.

Being in a joint venture also allows you to co-develop whatever you’re offering. You might be really good in marketing but your partner might be better in the creation of business ideas that would keep both of you alive longer, in the business sense of the word.

In all aspects of life, it has been proven that no man is an island. This is also true with marketing your website. As long as you have someone to fall back on, everything will be alright.

The IM Giveaway

Simply sign up and get the scoop.

-tons of ebooks -tons of scripts -tons of everything you’ve
ever wanted

Where did all these goodies come from?

I teamed up with Reed Floren who has called in some favors
from a whole bunch of top online marketers and convinced
them all to give you TONS of Products at no cost to you.

It is our way of saying “thank you”!

These products are worth thousands and thousands of dollars
and have already made the owners thousands and thousands of
dollars.

One you’re inside, you can pick up my report “7 Steps to Niche Domination with Podcasting” as one of your free gifts.  I know you’ll enjoy it!

I just can’t hide the excitement. This is probably the most
exciting news I’ve ever shared with you.

Go get it now!
The IM Giveaway

Warmly,

Mike Paul

photo credit: mathoov

“How do You Make Money Online?”  That question gets asked quite a bit.  If you don’t think so, just do a Google search for the phrase “make money online” and start going through the list of over 15 million web pages having to deal with the subject.

Believe me, you’ll get lost somewhere around page 4.  I know, I’ve looked myself.

Still, the Internet presents a great opportunity to anyone willing to put in a little hard work.

Oh, yeah.  Don’t think that there is some magic program that “instantly delivers cash to your doorstep without lifting a finger!”

Sorry, folks, that just don’t happen.

But, you can make money online, and you don’t just have to do one thing to make it work.

There’s at least 20 ways.  20 ways that you can make $100 a day, working on the Internet.

Check out this fantastic ebook right now:  20 Ways to Make $100 a Day Online

Oh, did I mention that the customer-only affiliate program pays 100% commission?

photo credit: MikeBlogs

“The Money is in the List”

I’m sure you’ve heard that before.  If you haven’t, either you haven’t been in the Internet Marketing world for very long, or you’ve had your head stuck in the sand.

Either way, let me tell you this statement is completely, 100% TRUE.

Now, for many of us, the word “list” can mean a ton of different things, especially in today’s Web 2.0 world.

Part of my list is comprised of RSS subscibers. (Psst!  Subscribe to this feed right now before you forget!)

Part of my list is now comprised of my growing list of Twitter followers. (Psst again!  Follow me on Twitter before you forget that too!)

Part of my list is comprised of podcast listeners. (OK, no Psst! this time.  Here’s the feed for the best computer podcast.)

But, if you want to see real response out of a list, you pretty much have to rely on those people that have chosen to sign up on your email list.

Email is still the most direct way to talk to your customers and prospects.  Email require a bit more action on their part to see what information you’re sending them.

But, to be able to send anything, you’ve got to have people subscribed to your list.  And getting subscribers is not always the easiest thing to do.

So, here comes some help.  My friend Reed Floren is hosting TheIMGiveaway which begins on Friday, May 16th.  We’ll be sending a ton of traffic to this site which will offer some great ebooks, software, and other products for free to anyone that signs up.

Here’s your chance to get more subscribers on your list:

Head on over to the IMGiveaway site and get your free product listed.  You’ve still got some time as the site doesn’t launch until Friday morning.

Get your product up and then, starting Friday, start promoting the giveaway.

The IMGiveaway runs for a week, through Friday, May 23rd.  That should give you plenty of time to promote and get a flood of new subscribers to your list.

You’re welcome.  I know you’ll make good use of this information, so best of luck!

Mike Paul

In most circles, this would constitute some serious plagiarism charges and would make most people really mad.

But not me, and it shouldn’t really bother you, as long as you’re taking the right steps to combat the content scraping menace.

Why, o fearless reader, do I not fret when someone reuses my content on their own blogs, surrounding said content with Adsense ads and affiliate links?

Because I’ve got my own links in my feed.

Suddenly, it’s no longer an issue of content scraping. Now, I have someone else providing links back to my blog, or a product, or one of my own affiliate links.

Do you think I really care that they are reusing my content without my permission?

Nope. Nada. Zilch.

They’re promoting whatever I’m promoting and I’m not having to lift a finger to do it. It’s just like having a great bio box in an article that you submit to any of the major article directories. If people want to use the article, they have to include the bio box.

If people want to scrape my RSS feeds, then they’re going to have to take all the links to the best computer podcast and my Internet Marketing and Podcasting blog, which you just happen to be reading right now.

So go ahead, all you content scrapers and swindlers. Reuse my content. Give me some more links back to my stuff. I don’t care.

We’ll both get some benefit out of the deal. I’ll just be the one that sleeps better at night.

But if no one sees all of your great content, does it really matter?

If you have no traffic to your website, is your content really that great?

Yes, your content is that great, but the Internet is not a “build it and they will come” type of environment. If it were, we all would have gotten very rich a long time ago and I probably wouldn’t have to sit down and write out this article for you.

But, since we have to drive traffic to our sites and since “drive” is one of those terrible, horrible words we affectionately refer to as “verbs” (you know, the ones that generally indicate that you have to do something), we’ve got to get off our rear ends and do something to get more traffic.

Otherwise, you can take that great content and stick it in a barrel, no one will ever know it exists.

5 Ways to Get Traffic to your Website

At this point, there’s only about 365 million ways that you can get traffic to your site, but I’m only going to cover five with you right now. All of these methods have a proven track record and are completely free. Well, they don’t cost any money, just some of your time and hard work.

(Yes, you still have to work to make money online, contrary to what the last five messages in your inbox just told you.)

1. Optimize Your Website for Search Engines. I’m no SEO expert and please don’t take this short little blurb as the definitve guide to SEO. There’s many more people far better able to tell you the ins and outs of SEO, but let’s just get some of the basics down. You want your site optimized for the search engines because search engine traffic is always and forever FREE. Give your web pages or blog posts descriptive titles that contain the keywords you want to target. If you want people to find your page when they search for “New York City defense attorney”, make sure those words are in your page title. Include those keywords throughout your article, but don’t make it sound silly. And make sure that when someone links to your site that they use your keywords in their link to your site. That one tip will help you get better search engine results and more free traffic.

To get more in-depth knowledge on search engine optimization, stop what you’re doing right now and go pick up a copy of Aaron Wall’s SEO Book. Aaron is a great copywriter and knows his stuff about SEO. The best part is, you get updates for life when you buy the book as SEO techniques change all the time. Go now and get your copy, then come back here and finish reading. I promise I’ll still be here when you come back.

2. Exchange links with other websites. Now, before you get all goofy, don’t go and get yourself wrapped up in one of those “link farms” that charge you a fee to link back to your site. Not good and you’ll get penalized for it. Find some other websites that are similar to yours or are related and ask for a link exchange. Just make sure you follow through on your end and put a link back to their site.
You also need to work on getting backlinks to your site from other sites.  The more sites you have linking to you, the better your search engine rankings will be.  Again, stay away from the “link farms” and get some help from Michelle MacPhearson and her 30 Minute Backlinks video tutorials.

3. Look for Joint Ventures. Joint ventures can be very powerful if done in the right way. Give your partners some really good reasons why they should promote your site. By providing them with the right promotional tools such as e-mails, signatures, articles, etc., he/she would no doubt accept your request. To ensure that your website gets better results, look for website owners that have the capability of sending a lot of traffic to you.

4. Join online groups, forums, etc. that could help you with promoting your website. For example, you may post your sites URL in your signature file for the users to see. So you can be a known member by the discussion groups you join, simply participate in discussions that interest you and contribute your knowledge and expertise to the rest of the members.

5. Get a free blog. Blogging is another free method that generates traffic to your website. Post some high-quality information regularly and don’t forget to ping all your posts as it can help in driving traffic to your website. You can sign up for a free blog at Wordpress.com or Blogger.com.

Now, this list is not exhaustive by any means. But it’s something to get you started. Whether you’re wanting to drive traffic to your personal site or your business site, these tips will get you on the right track. But they will don nothing for you if you don’t take action! Get started today and start seeing more traffic come to your website, see more clicks, and see more money coming to you!

The great thing is, you can do the same thing.  Anyone can create a search page on Mahalo.

I’m definitely going to make use of this more often.