The other day I was searching for a report that I knew I’d purchased some months ago but had never got around to reading.

Ever had that experience?

I’ve got this folder on my hard drive called “Reports” and then sub-folders for such topics as, Traffic, Listbuilding, SEO and so on.

It’s a bit organised; probably my civil service training…

So I found the report I wanted but was rather taken aback by the number of reports that I had collected.

But, more importantly, the number that I hadn’t got round to reading.

I know I’ve skimmed through many but hadn’t taken the time to read them thoroughly and certainly not implement whatever strategies were on offer.

Does this ring any bells with you?

I’m not unlike many people I guess, and we all have hundreds of reports just waiting for when we have “that spare half an hour” to read just one.

And we never get around to it do we?

I then decided to take a look at the list of videos that I’ve either downloaded or those which I can access online.

And the surprising thing was that I’ve viewed, if not all, certainly the vast majority of them.

And I know that I do go back to some again and again to either refresh my memory (it’s getting old!) on a particular technical aspect or a marketing strategy I want to implement.

I can find the information much quicker in a video than in a written report.

I suppose I learn best using the visual/nonverbal style and benefit from visual aids such as film, video, maps and charts.

Have you noticed how much training and educational stuff is now offered in video format?

I agree, it doesn’t appeal to everyone.

For example, there are those who learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format (visual/verbal learning style).

But in the broad Internet marketing niche, think about how many products you’ve purchased that are now in video format.

So if you are creating products, maybe you should consider creating them in that same format.

And it’s not as difficult as you might think.

It’s definitely a growing trend and one that I don’t think will disappear.

If you don’t want to miss out on this trend and would like to know more about Video Marketing, go and get my 6-part video course, Cool Video Marketing.

It’s completely free and I can guarantee that you can have some fun with this gift.

Start your video training by going to CoolVideoMarketing.

Oh, the report that I found? It comes with PLR. It could become a new video product!

Are you sick and tired of all the spam you’re receiving?

It may very well be that you have some email contact information on your website and this is being read by the robots.

Here’s a short video in which I share a little tip to eliminate that possibility.

Hope you found it useful.

It’s been quite some time since I posted something here and there is a very simple explanation.

I died!

Okay, obviously I haven’t because I’m still here.

As Mark Twain said, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated“.

So let me offer you an explanation.

The last time I put up a post I mentioned the fact that we were moving house, in my case for the 21st time.

By the way, thanks to those of you who commented congratulating me on my 21st – however, it wasn’t my birthday. You really should read each post before leaving a comment! (Useful tip there for some people.)

We are now settled and enjoying the village life away from the hustle and bustle of Barcelona.

At around the same time of the move and for reasons that I’m not going into now (as I’m rather tired of doctors, hospitals and everything medical) I was told that I would not be able to work for a period of time. Complete rest was required.

As a lot of my business runs automatically, I wasn’t too concerned. However, I did have commitments to some clients to whom I was providing a customer support service. These people had to be informed so they could make alternative arrangements.

With very little time I had available, I called upon someone I considered a good friend. I dictated an email outlining what was happening and that I would be incommunicado for some time, and asked him to send it on my behalf to my clients. I then gave myself up to the medical profession.

The middle of last month I slowly started to address myself to my business. I was pleased to note that my list of subscribers had continued to grow although I do apologise to them all for not being in touch recently.

And then I came across a response from one of my previous clients that completley knocked the wind out of me.

He was responding to an email, supposedly coming from my wife, in which it stated I had died!

The original mail had come from one of my email accounts which gave it some authenticity.

However, the style of writing rather perplexed me.

As some of you know, my wife is French. As well as reading, writing and speaking perfect French, she also reads, writes and speaks English and Spanish very well.

This particular email didn’t support that fact.

I’m not going to share the full content, but here’s a couple of sentences:

“I see you write John but he not answer.”

“I not able help you I not understand.”

“I sorry tell you John he die Friday.”

As you can see, apart from the blatant, downright, ugly lie, the syntax is all wrong.

I know, how can I go on about syntax when I’m supposedly dead. Well, I’ve had time to get over it….

But one of the saddest things about this event is that I don’t know why my supposed friend did this. For I have no doubt that it was him writing this mail to my clients and not the one I had dictated to him.

Suffice to say I haven’t seen him since.

I have obviously contacted my previous clients informing them of my continued existence. I’m certain they have been surprised to hear from me.

It’s a strange world we live in and people can be the strangest of creatures.

So, I’ve picked myself up, taken time to assess the state of my business and will be moving on.

I’m not sure if I will be leaving this post up forever but it was the quickest way to offer an explanation of my absence to many people.

Look out for some interesting business stuff very soon.

Live life to the full. It’s good to be alive!

In just over three weeks there is a cause for celebration – it will be my 21st….time I will have moved house/flat/apartment.

For a moment there, you were looking at my picture above and shaking your head. I wouldn’t have believed it either.

I have to admit that my first three addresses were that of my parents but at the tender age of 17 I was shown the door of independence. Actually I was pushed out at about 1 o’clock one December morning, but that’s a story for another time.

So, why so many moves?

Low threshold boredom maybe.

Whatever the reason, I’m always reminded of the fact that moving house is supposed to be one of the major stressful activities we experience.

I can say, hand on heart that I’ve never found this to be case.

One move involved me carrying half a dozen plastic bags to a shared flat. This was the total sum of my belongings. Hardly stressful, more a case of “why didn’t I take a trolley to do the weekly shop” type of moment.

Consider this for a potentially stressful period.

The last time we moved was five years ago (seems a lifetime ago in moving terms). My wife was pregnant and I had just finished a six month treatment of chemotherapy. I started to load the van at 8.30 in the morning and by 2.30 in the afternoon our helpful band of moving assistants were sitting down to pizza and beer in our new apartment. Job done!

Was it stressful?

No.

I believe it was all down to planning and preparation (combined with experience as a touring theatre stage manager).

At the moment, although I’m surrounded by boxes already packed with many more still to be done, I’m feeling confident about this move. There are other planned events which I have to work around.

We’re meeting up with friends next weekend who are over from the UK. The following weekend we then take my daughter to France so that she can spend two weeks with her grandparents. Samia and I then fly back to Barcelona for a couple of days for the final push before the big day.

Having done the work beforehand, and practised it many times, come the day it is so much easier.

Of course, my business still needs to be attended to but as most of it runs on auto-pilot, it’s easy to manage.

Which leads me nicely in a roundabout sort of way, to the latest product from Keith Purkiss and John Thornhill, Push Button Giveaways 2.0.

Keith has created a product that makes the whole process of using giveaway events to build your list of subscribers so much faster and efficient. Do the job once and then on the day, click a few buttons and you’re ready to go.

John, who surprisingly had never particpated in a giveaway event, tested the process with some good results. He reckoned it could have been better had he offered a different product. Either way, I’ve seen his results and they’re not too bad.

There’s a lot more to Push Button Giveaways 2.0, which I believe is going to make using giveaway events a quicker and more enjoyable process.

I found the time, in between packing boxes, to put together a bonus for you when you purchase Push Button Giveaways 2.0 through my affiliate link. You can get more information at Push Button Giveaways 2.0 Bonus.

If you like systems that make your business run smoothly, this is for you.

And now back to that 21st celebration – where did I put the gaffa tape?

You’ve created an amazing product. You’ve got the most attractive squeeze page that you are convinced will have a high conversion rate. But the one thing you are missing is traffic. And without visitors to your site, the chances of building your list is virtually zero.
So here are 4 ways to help you attract visitors to the best squeeze page ever:

1. Forum Marketing
Forums are a great potential source of traffic. Your signature should include a link back to your website, which of course could be your squeeze page, so that every time you make a post you are getting your links seen. This also has the added benefit of creating backlinks, important for SEO purposes.

If you are in the internet marketing or ‘make money online niche’, consider setting up a free Warrior Special Offer (WSO) at WarriorForum.com. List your free product and link back to your squeeze page.

2. Traffic From Your Blog
Having a blog is a great way of having a presence online. You can use it in many ways to help in your list building strategies. Have a banner advertising your squeeze page.  Include text links to your squeeze page in relevant posts. Have an opt-in box prominently displayed on your homepage.

3. Adswaps and Solo Mailings
You can drive huge amounts of traffic to your squeeze page by using either or both of these methods. Both strategies utilize other marketer’s mailing lists.

You can pay another marketer to mail their list promoting your free product. Generally people tend to be more responsive to a squeeze page advertising a free product. This strategy is known as a solo ad or solo mailing.

Alternatively, instead of paying someone to send a mail to their list, you both agree to send out a mail to your respective list of subscribers in which you promote your partner’s free product. You will have guessed that this is an adswap.

4. Article Marketing
There is much debate as to the effectiveness of article marketing. However, as a free method of driving traffic on a long term basis, it’s one that shouldn’t be ignored.

Your article should provide quality content that readers will find interesting. At the end of your article, in the resource box, simply have a link back to your squeeze page. Obviously the article’s subject matter should be related to your free gift.

The EZ List Building Blueprint explores more in-depth these four and other traffic generating strategies. Visit http://www.ezlistbuildingblueprint.com/ for more details.

Is it possible to create a ‘good’ squeeze page? First you would need to define what a ‘good’ squeeze page actually is…

One factor to take into consideration is the page’s conversion rate. That’s to say, what percentage of people who land on your squeeze page actually sign up to join your list. The conversion rate you achieve depends on lots of different things such as where you are getting your traffic from, which market you are operating in, the quality of your copy and the appeal of the actual product you are offering to your target audience.

But of course, one marketer’s disappointing conversion rate good make another marketer ecstatic.

The only way to find out what works for YOU is to track and test. Experiment with different changes and find which ones boost your conversion rate.

Here are some things to think about:

1. Graphics or no graphics?
Do you go with fancy, professional quality graphics to enhance the look of your product and squeeze page, or would you get a higher conversion rate by going for a simpler look with text-only?

2. The layout
You can experiment with different layouts, for example having your opt-in box below your main text, to the right, above it, etc. Many people say that having your opt-in box ‘above the fold’ of the page helps increase conversion rates.

3. Remove distractions
A squeeze page is usually a single page with no links to any other pages or websites. The only thing a visitor can do is opt-in to your list, go to another website or close their internet browser. By eliminating distractions and having a strong call-to-action you should improve your conversion rate.

4. Consider using a template
There are many squeeze page templates which can be downloaded from the internet and many of them are free. By taking a pre-made squeeze page it gives you something to work from. Later on you can adapt, test and tweak the page.

5. Include a privacy policy
Many people are wary of handing you their name and email address, so even a simple line on your squeeze page saying something like “I take your privacy very seriously and I will never pass on your name and email address to anyone else” can increase the effectiveness of your offer.

You can get two squeeze page templates together with a thank you/download template when you purchase the EZ List Building Blueprint – your blueprint for building an enormous list of hungry buyers.

Is there really anything more to be said about creating a squeeze page? Don’t we know how to do this from the very first hour we get involved with Internet Marketing?

You’d think the answers would be “No” and “Yes”, respectively.

You’re much more likely to be nearer the truth of the matter if you reverse the order of those responses.

The thing is, when most people look to the idea of getting involved with Internet Marketing, they have no idea of what to do. All they can see are the dollar signs.

They will have come across a squeeze page without realising it, when they are putting their email address in the opt-in box. But they probably won’t link that experience to the idea of building their own subscriber list.

A squeeze page is simply a tool to help build that list of subscribers, and yet many successful marketers admit their own failure to implement this simple task when they first started online.

And yes, it is a simple task – when you know how to do it.

There are hundreds of “how to” books on creating a squeeze page but I’ve recently come across one in which the writer uses his offline background to great affect when sharing his own knowledge and experience in this important area.

Nic Penrake is a senior copywriter, author, writer of feature films and a TV series. So I guess you could say he’s good with words.

He’s now making a name for himself as an Internet Marketer and he’s put his skills to great use in “Power Up Your Squeeze Page“, a 43 page report packed with stuff you can put into action immediately.

He admits it doesn’t cover every single aspect of list building. However, there is more than enough to not only get you started but to take you past first base to where your business and income will definitely grow.

Nic’s techie experience is limited, but that is to our advantage. This is because his explanations of creating a squeeze page, the intricacies of the all important opt-in box, the setting up of a sales funnel, has a clarity that I have rarely come across anywhere else. And this is also due to his writing skills which are not to be underestimated.

He has that appealing style of being knowledgeable and experienced and at the same time very approachable in his writing.

And how many IM reports have you come across which have phrases such as, “some fairy dust“, “place of light and sweetness” and “the mouth of the fly trap“. And yet when reading, it makes perfect sense. I found it so delightfully refreshing – it becomes contagious!

There is one particular strategy in the Advanced Techniques section, that I’ve seen used many times but I honestly didn’t know how to implement. But Nic provides the code that you can copy and paste and you will find your opt-in rate will improve dramatically.

And finally, although this has nothing to do with the content, a small point to note.

How many of us have used unattributed graphics in our reports and eBooks? You will find on page 2, Nic credits the graphic artist used for his report’s cover and I find that an indication of his integrity and honesty as a marketer.

Take full advantage of the special offer Nic Penrake is extending to get your copy of “Power Up Your Squeeze Page” and forget all the other “how to” reports. Go to www.Power-Up-Your-Squeeze-Page.com.

Yesterday I was over at the Warrior Forum where I was looking for something specific. The thing was that I didn’t know what it was until I saw it.

I know, that sounds insane but bear with me.

Whenever I visit the Warrior Forum there is always a temptation to spend more time there than I had planned. Yesterday was no exception because as I was browsing in the special offers forum, which is where I wanted to be, I was struck by something that I hadn’t paid much attention to in the past.

The special offer forum is for making Warrior members a Special Offer. A Special Offer means making Warriors a deal like no others get. Usually that comes in the form of a much lower price.

On each and every one of these offers, other members are inclined to leave comments such as,

“Awesome product. Anything from (name of warrior offering product) should not be missed.”

“At this price it’s a no brainer. (name of warrior offering product) must have lost their mind!”

“Looks like an amazing offer!”

and so on.

There’s nothing unusual about people leaving positive comments, especially if they have purchased the product.

But here is what stuck me (eventually I get there!) – I was seeing the same names time after time, leaving very similar comments for products of a widely different nature.

So I asked myself these two questions:

1. Could these people be leaving feedback for the simple reason of increasing the number of their posts (cynic that I am!)?
2. Or could it be that they are diversifying their business to have different streams of income?

I won’t make any comment about number 1!  Assuming the answer to my second question is the reason for them purchasing and subsequently leaving comments, I had another thought (maybe it’s the medication!).

As many of these products are aimed at people with little or no experience in Internet Marketing, are they spreading themselves too thinly at the start of their Internet career by attempting to implement such different strategies? If this is the case, then I suspect they won’t be having a great deal of success.

I can understand the temptation, when first starting out, to grab onto as much information as possible. The problem they will encounter is (drum roll please) information overload and the subsequent inability to put anything into action.

When you have created a successful business following one particular plan, and when that business can run on as near auto-pilot as is possible to achieve, then you can start looking at diversifying.

For example, there is one successful marketer (successful being relative – he doesn’t look to make millions but he knows what he’s doing) who in recent months has shifted his focus in his business. But that is because other aspects of his business are running very smoothly.

There’s another successful marketer who started his business selling books on eBay. Although he continues in that area, he has since developed a very successful business creating information products, coaching products and mentoring programs.

But before you can do this you must take one step at a time and have a clear plan as to where you are going.

At the beginning of March 2011, John Thornhill (yes, for it is he) released his latest mentoring program, One Month Mentor. It provides his students with just such a plan. If you want to read more about this program, you can find a review at OneMonthMentorReview.com

(With so many mentoring programs on the market, I decided to test this one out. The review is ongoing as I follow John’s program.)

Before you start jumping from one program to another, one shiny object to another shiny object, set yourself one clear plan and implement it. Once you see it is successful, repeat it and then repeat it. And before you know it, you will have given up on making other people rich by buying their products that you never implement and you will have your very own successful online business.

Oh yes, did I find what I was looking for at the Warrior Forum? Definitely, and there’ll be more about that soon!

Good luck!

With a mailing list of over 100,000 people and with earnings of over $5 Million dollars, Michael Cheney knows exactly what it takes to become successful online. He wasn’t always at the top though. He has been at the very bottom as well, all alone and struggling to make ends meet just to pay the bills. At one time, he even lost control of his life and spent his time drinking and doing drugs.

But that is all in the past now. Michael didn’t like what was happening to his life and decided to do something about it. He quit the drink and drugs and focused on creating a better life for himself. Today, Michael is a multimillionaire with a lovely wife, a huge mortgage free home and he even takes 6 vacations a year.

So what better person to learn to make money online from than someone who has seen it all before. Someone who has been flat broke… struggled to make a buck… made hundreds of mistakes online BUT learned from those mistakes and overcame them to become a millionaire.

And if you are struggling to make money online too, you are in luck because Michael has released a new program called “My Millionaire Mentor 2011″ where he shares with you techniques that he has personally used to make his millions with Internet Marketing and shows you how you can make truckloads of cash too!

Ok so you may be thinking… ya whatever! I’ve heard that one before. What makes “My Millionaire Mentor 2011″ different from all the other programs out there? What will it do for me?

Well, let me tell you. Here’s what you will get with My Millionaire Mentor that makes it stand out from the rest:

- Michael shares with you his proven money making “Cash Catchers”

These are the exact same techniques that he used to make himself MILLIONS of dollars online!

- Personal mentoring videos that will keep you focused and on track.

Your chances of succeeding online will improve drastically with these videos. You will discover techniques that will help you overcome procrastination, keep you focused, keep you motivated and how to manage your time better.

- Expert support for any questions you may have.

Michael is giving you direct access to his crack team of Internet Marketing experts to get answers to any questions about the program you may have.

As I’m sure you are well aware, the Internet Marketing field is filled with people pushing their products on you saying that theirs is all you need. Then you buy it and its nothing that you expected. Well, this is not like that.

My Millionaire Mentor is filled with techniques that Michael personally used to make his millions, so its proven to work. Then add all the other awesome tips to keep you motivated and taking action and this program is a no brainer. It’s one that you must check out now! Spaces are limited so you need to take action now before it’s too late!

Have you ever come across some Internet Marketers who state categorically that they hate private label rights products? That they would never use PLR in their products and that PLR isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Well, that’s an okay attitude if you are good at writing everything you need to write to help you in your success online.

But I have to disagree about the quality of PLR. There are some PLR products, I agree, that you wish you hadn’t purchased. You can find yourself writing the whole thing from scratch. However, there are many websites that offer good, high quality PLR at affordable prices.

It is highly recommended of course, that you do take some time to make some changes so that your readers can “recognize” you in the final product. Make it unique and not a duplicate of some other product in the marketplace.

At some PLR sites, you can become a member and pay a fee to receive new PLR on a monthly basis. The advantage is that membership is often limited, therefore restricting access to the PLR. If you add the fact that many people never do anything with the products that are available you can find yourself in a winning position. Provided you DO something with the product.

The downside is, you may not be interested in a particular month’s new product and you feel you’ve wasted your cash. But maybe you need to think, if the site owner has considered it worthwhile to create that product, that there is a demand for this information. Getting in to that niche could be profitable.

There are other PLR sites where you can browse through their list of products and buy only what you want when you want. If you are on a limited budget this may be ideal for you.

Some sites may only offer articles, others only blog posts; some may only cater for one particular niche.

At PLR-MarketPlace you can find plr articles, plr blog posts, plr short reports and plr auto-responder emails for a variety of niches. If you are looking for something specific that isn’t on offer, you can always put in a request.

How do I know all of this?

Because yours truly is now offering this service!

There’ll be new products added as weeks go by, so visit PLR-MarketPlace and check out the product. Sign up to receive regular updates, and get a free gift in to the bargain.

Make PLR-MarketPlace your one-stop shop.