The votes are in!

by Leave a Comment

As you may know, I have declared 2012 the “year of giving dangerously”. That’s just my happy way to say that in 2012 I intend to give more than ever before. More articles, more videos, more value to members and subscribers. And now, free Quick Courses to help you with your online marketing.

These Quick Courses will cover what you need to know to get going with a particular topic quickly, and help you take easy actionable steps to actually accomplish your goals.

I will combine these courses with my already popular ASK Charlie function of this blog (it’s where you can ask me any question you like) to create a powerful, personal free way for you to get the information you need.

So you get to learn at your  own pace in the Quick Course and then ask any questions you might have after you complete the course. A win-win. And it’s all free to you.

Will this be as much information as are in my membership sites? Of course not. I can’t afford to give everything away. But there will be plenty of good stuff, and the opportunity to ask questions and leave comments as well.

The results of the recent poll are in! If you voted then please know that your votes determined both the type of information I’m creating for you as well as the order in which I will create it.

You can see the breakdown of the votes above.

So it’s time to get to work and create the first course. In the meantime, you can read some helpful articles about driving traffic (and see some videos too) by clicking the image below, the new logo for my Driving Traffic Quick Course!

Thank you for reading and many thanks to those who took time to vote.

P.S. The other courses will be coming along as well. I will be taking additional polls along the way so if you missed the chance to vote this time be sure to watch for emails about casting your vote for the next free Quick Course.

 

No Money For Advertising? Here Are Five Solutions

by 107 Comments

Today money is tighter than ever. Many are suffering from long-term unemployment. Others have spent what they could afford on sites that promised the moon only to deliver disappointment.

So it’s time to talk about what one can do if funds are very limited.

Hey, we’ve all been there!

I’m not going to tell you that I was living in my car and eating at the soup kitchen. I wasn’t. But around the year 2000, we were having very difficult times. I remember driving through an ATM once and discovering that I had $15 to my name. Not a happy memory. I had a wife and two kids to provide for at the time. Talk about pressure!

I had to work online because I could not work anywhere else or take a job. I was unemployable and in very poor health.

I say all of that only to say I understand a limited budget. Now let me share five specific methods that helped me in hopes they help you too.  [Read more...]

Don’t Let The Turkeys Get You Down

by 208 Comments

Have you ever heard the story of the baby eagle that fell from it’s nest only to land in a family of turkeys?

He grew up thinking he was a turkey.

He ate with the turkeys. He slept with the turkeys. He even acted like a turkey.

But he knew in his heart that he wasn’t a turkey. And one day he looked up to see an eagle soaring majestically in the afternoon sky.

At that moment he knew that he was an eagle.

When it comes to websites that want to sell you something, there are turkeys and there are eagles. [Read more...]

Happy Groundhog Day

by 31 Comments

Studies show that it costs from four to TEN TIMES MORE to create a new client than it does to keep an existing client.  Yet one look at most marketing plans quickly reveals that companies spend most of their time, money and effort to make new customers!

The key to long term profits is in the repeat, or “backend”sales we make to existing clients. No money need be spent to find, capture and convince these people because they already like and trust us!

And when people like and trust you the odds of them buying on your recommendation are much higher than if they don’t know you.

Simple really. We buy from those we trust.

But how do we cause clients to buy from us again and again without falling into the “new launch of the week” syndrome where we are always pitching for them to buy? How can we use the Internet to build relationship and deepen trust?

[Read more...]

10 Headline Blueprints That Work Like Crazy

by 80 Comments

If you are interested in driving traffic to your website, or are into list building or affiliate marketing, then you probably know the importance of a great headline.

It’s often been said that the ability to write great headlines is the most important skill in all of copywriting. That might be true.

After all, unless you have a great headline your selling message won’t get read.

This applies to solo ads, classified ads, sales letters, blog posts, social media marketing … basically anytime you communicate with the public.

In the email marketing and solo advertising business we often talk about the “hierarchy” of a great email ad. That’s just a fancy way to say that any email ad, especially a solo ad, must have three key elements in order to be effective. And by effective, I mean profitable.

1. A subject line (or headline) that causes the email to get opened
2. An offer the reader wants
3. A call to action that gets the reader to click now

If your ad has those three things you will likely do very well indeed. If you get one of them wrong you risk losing profits.

But here’s the problem for most people … how do you write a highly effective headline or email subject line? [Read more...]

Automate Your Online Business in 5 Easy Steps

by 23 Comments

A good friend of mine used to say this …”You’ve heard that the goal is to work smarter, not harder, right?  Well I say the goal is to work LESS!”

Jeff was an accomplished man and very wise. He saw the Internet for what it really is …  a tool that offers the ability to set up a business that runs on autopilot.

And Jeff achieved his dream, seeing his online business earn over $250,000 almost completely on autopilot. Every time I spoke with him he would remind me how lucky we both were to have discovered how to do business online. “Not everyone finds it, no matter how hard they try” he would say. “They get distracted and forget to do the little things, the simple things, that really work.”

And he was right.

In the years since my meetings with Jeff I’ve worked hard to automate my business so that I could focus on what I wanted to do, not what I had to do. It’s been an interesting journey and I’d like to share five truths I’ve learned from the process.

[Read more...]

The Truth About Traffic

by 91 Comments

Rather read than watch videos?

 

The full transcript is below the video & available for download.

 

 

Click the words “Truth about traffic transcript” on the next line to read or download – Right click to Save. Left click to read online.

Truth about traffic transcript

Transcript of video

[Read more...]

The #1 Marketing Mistake

by 33 Comments

 

What Does Successful Marketing Look Like?

by 47 Comments

One of the problems with working on the Internet is that most of us do it in isolation.

Instead of the usual give-and-take of office conversation, we have email, a decidedly one-sided way to communicate. Or forums, where the opinions can be quite loud but not necessarily based on actual experience.

Instead of the usual boss judging our progress and letting us know how we are performing (often in no uncertain terms) we are on our own – accountable only to ourselves. Which is good and bad at the same time.

No boss looking over your shoulder is a good thing. Having no one to ask questions of when you need help is not. I think this is one reason why my consulting offer at the Directory of Ezines has been so popular.

While working on your own in an Internet business can be incredibly rewarding, it can be lonely and frustrating as well.

One of the big frustrations is NOT knowing what success looks like. [Read more...]

Will 2012 Boom or Bust?

by 102 Comments

 

As we enter a new year we are almost all thinking the same thing; will we see the economy turn around in 2012 or will we suffer through yet another year of turmoil?

More to the point, we are all asking this question — will 2012 be a boom year or a bust for me?

People are hurting today, and being hurt. You might be one of them.

Today, perhaps more than ever before, people need to make money online. And yet, ironically, there are more liars and thieves online today than ever before. Not so ironic really when you consider that con men and charlatans have always preyed on those most in need.

The question today is this – is there something you can do to make 2012 a boom year and not a bust year for you and your family? I believe there is, and have devoted both time and resources to changing my own business plan to help you get that done. [Read more...]