Internet Marketing Fortune Cookie #13

The Importance Of Backlinks and NoFollow

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

This week's Internet Business Fortune Cookie caused me to write about a SEO question that I get a lot. When I cracked open the cookie this week, I knew right away what it meant.

Hear the cookie speak:

"Your Friends Speak Kindly Of You"

Obviously, the cookie was refering to the importance of off-page SEO and backlinks.

I have talked about SEO before.  In this article, I'll talk mostly about Google, and I'll comment on what people believe to be true.  No one actually knows exactly what Google is doing in their search algorithms except Google.  If you have a contrary opinion, I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Getting On Google's First Page

When you do a search in Google for a keyword phrase, results are returned to you in order. Google tries to put the "best" results on the first page so that you get the most useful result from their engine. The better the results are, the more people use Google. So it is very important to Google to give users great search results.

To decide which pages to put on the first page of the results, Google considers at least two things what text is on the page and how "important" the page is for your phrase. The first thing is usually called "on-page SEO", and the second thing is usually called "off-page SEO." This last part (off-page SEO or "authority") is determined in part by how many incoming links (links from other pages) a particular page has and what the quality of those links are.

Back Links Make The Difference

Let's say there are 2 pages in the internet that are very similar about "sheep dog training" and you search for "sheep dog training". Which page will you see? All things being equal (similar on-page SEO), you will see the "sheep dog training" page that has more quality pages linking to it ranked above the one with fewer incoming links.

Google figures that if someone took the time to link to a page, it must have good stuff in it. If lots of people linked to that page, it must be really good (better than a page that no one is linking to).

See, the quality of the incoming links is determined (in part) by the authority of the page linking to it. So, if the dog training page has incoming links from CNN and Yahoo News, those links will carry more weight than a link from Bob's brand new blog.

Share The SEO Love

This means that once a page has some "authority" (like the CNN home page in the example above), it can pass that authority to other pages. It is thought that the authority you pass from a page is "split" between the pages that you pass to. So, if you have a page that links out to 5 other pages, you sort of send 1/5 of the authority of that page to each of the pages that you link to.

But, what if you don't want to do that?  What if you only want to send authority to 2 of the pages (maybe they are pages that you own) and send no authority to the other three?

You can do that by putting the rel = "nofollow" attribute in the link text.

This nofollow attribute "theoretically" makes the link pass no (or less) authority.  I say theoretically, because there are lots of good examples and studies that prove the nofollow links actually do impact your rankings in some cases.

So, I hope that helps clear things up on backlinks.  I'd love to hear your questions in the comments below.

As the cookie says, Your Friends Speak Kindly Of You.

Have a great day.
Mark

P.S.  For more on backlinks and SEO, be sure to check out The Ultimate Link Building Report.

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

Internet Marketing Fortune Cookie #12

Staying Out Of eBay Jail

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

This week's Internet Business Fortune Cookie made me stop and look at something that has been bugging me in the back of my mind for a long time.  When I cracked open the cookie this week, I knew right away what it meant.

Hear the cookie speak:

"Be Willing To Admit That You May Be Wrong"

So what did I think I might be wrong about?

Terms And Conditions For eBay Niche Stores

As you know, I have several eBay niche stores powered by the incredibly cool phpBay software.  That software allows you to create an eBay store in any WordPress blog or other PHP-based site almost effortlessly, and it has killer SEO features not found in other tools.  In fact, I just released a video a couple of weeks ago on how I use keyword tools like Micro Niche Finder to build eBay niche stores in minutes.

But something has been bothering me.  When I did that video, I used the trademark term BMW in the URL.   Now, this may not be a great idea for several reasons, but one reason bothered me particularly.

I have been told (and believed) that the eBay terms of service (TOS) does not allow you to use a trademark name in URL before the third slash.  So, if you want to set up a BMW site using eBay tools, BMW cannot appear before the third slash.

OK: http: //www.mycarshop.com/bmw

Not OK: http://www.myBMWcarshop.com

I believed this was true -- but I don't any longer.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and I do not offer legal advice. What follows should not be considered legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should consult an attorney. You have been warned.

My Research on the eBay TOS

I researched this "third slash" thing. I think I had it wrong.  I think it is OK from eBay's point of view to have trademarks in the URL of eBay niche stores.

Here is the TOS from eBay on PepperJam's site:

You will not adopt or use any company name, trademark, trade name. brand, shop sign, domain name, or URL (specifically, any term before the third "/" of your URL) that incorporates as a part thereof any of eBay Inc.'s, or its corporate affiliates', (a) trademarks, tradenames, company names, brands, shop signs, domain names or URLs (including the translations and transliterations), or any variations thereof; or (b) any term that consists of a generic or descriptive word, followed by the term BAY. Further, you will not display your company name, branding or trademark in an uneven, staggered, multi-color format that, in ePN's sole discretion, invokes the distinctiveness of the famous multi-color eBay logo.

I believe that this says (paraphrasing) that You will not have a store name or URL that uses any reference to eBay or it's affiliates.

I do not believe this says that You cannot use brand names in the URL. Now, using the term BMW may aggravate someone in Germany, but eBay does not care.

Let's break it down:

You will not adopt or use any company name, trademark, trade name. brand, shop sign, domain name, or URL (specifically, any term before the third "/" of your URL)

Above means you cannot use anything in your store name or URL

...that incorporates as a part thereof any of eBay Inc.'s, or its corporate affiliates', (a) trademarks, tradenames, company names, brands, shop signs, domain names or URLs (including the translations and transliterations), or any variations thereof; or (b) any term that consists of a generic or descriptive word, followed by the term BAY.

Above means that uses any eBay trademark names (or those of eBay corporate affiliates)

Further, you will not display your company name, branding or trademark in an uneven, staggered, multi-color format that, in ePN's sole discretion, invokes the distinctiveness of the famous multi-color eBay logo.

Above means you cannot rip off or parody the eBay logo.

Now one open question is what are "corporate affiliates"? I think they mean other eBay companies like PayPal, but I am still researching that.

I spoke with an anonymous "legal professional" with experience in Internet Marketing. He did not offer me legal advice, and he is not offering you legal advice (neither am I). He recommends that you and I both consult our attorneys. He also said the following:

I interpret this to say that you may not use any ebay trademark in the space between the second and third slash of your URL.

I do not read it to say anything about what comes after the third slash.

I do not read it to say anything about the use of a NON-affiliated company's info between the second and third slash.

Determining what companies are "affiliates" is the art.

Again, BMW may care, but I do not think eBay does.

Remember, I am not a lawyer and I do not offer legal advice. The above should not be considered legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should consult an attorney. You have been warned twice (maybe three times).

As the cookie says, Be Willing To Admit That You May Be Wrong.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

Internet Marketing Fortune Cookie #11

The Truth About Internet Marketing

It's Wednesday (well, in China anyway), and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

This week has been crazy busy (Christmas is tomorrow in case you missed the memo).  With three kids and lots of extended family, I have been happily toiling away at holiday tasks.

So, in a shocking twist of events, I have had no Chinese food for more than a week.  Lucky for you, I have a stash of old fortune cookie fortunes in a wooden box on my desk.   Seriously, I save them.  I pulled this one out at random.  Hear the cookie speak:

"Honesty Is The Best Policy."

Clearly the cookie speaks about the brand new internet marketing blog by Michelle Adams (www.michelle-adams.com).   I ran across Michelle's blog today when I was checking out the action at CoachingWithJosh.com (I am a moderator there).

Michelle is a "student" there.  I say "student" in quotes because she has over 500 posts and helps a lot more people there than I do in my role as an absentee moderator.

Welcome To Michelle-Adams.com - Pay Attention

Anyway, Michelle-Adams.com is a brand-spanking new internet marketing blog with a grand total of 2 posts.  The shrink-wrap is not even off of the WordPress box yet, and the site still has that "new-blog smell" just like a shiny new BMW.

Before you scoff and wonder why I am talking about a newbie blog with 2 posts, note that Michelle is paying attention -- her autoresponder is already up, and she has a killer USP (unique selling proposition) that made me opt-in.  Here is what she has to say:

How I Saved $2,000 Overnight

If you want to find out how being treated like dirt saved me $2,000 then just pop in your email below and I’ll send you the report. Included in this report is a no BS way of making money online that has no fluff, almost no cost except time and a domain name and is a proven method. You can’t lose. Enjoy!

That is one of the more creative opt-ins I have ever seen (and I have seen many).  In fact, I was starting to think I had seen all of them.

Raw Truth In A PDF

When you opt in to her list, you get access to a PDF report.   I am not going to spoil it for you.  Let's just say she puts herself out there and tells it like it is.  It's fresh, and raw and valuable.  Everyone just starting in Internet Marketing should read this report.  I thought it was great.

Best thing, I could not find one affiliate link in the whole report.  She does point to an excellent free resource in her report (one that I strongly endorse on the blog in other places).

Obey The Cookie - Be Honest In Your Marketing.

Go check out Michelle's report.  You'll be glad you did.

As the cookie says, Honesty is the best policy.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

This week I skipped the entree and had hot-and-sour soup and steamed dumplings (both appetizers).  It was kind of nice.  Less Filling.  Tastes Great.  I like those little dumplings.  Steamed are yummy, but like most things, dumplings are even better when you fry them.

This week, the cookie speaks about the wisdom of friendly internet marketing gurus:  "Investigate new possibilities with friends.  Now is the time."

Clearly the cookie speaks about the need to get to know an internet marketing guru and learn from them.  It's where we all start, and lord knows we all could use someone to mentor us with business.  Plenty of my own mistakes could have been avoided with a little help.  If you are looking to niche your business into a particular specialty, find a guru to guide you along.

Real Versus Pretend Gurus

What is a guru anyway?  When I first heard that word many years ago, it sounded like a holy man living high up in the mountains.  Actually there is no reason you cannot become a guru one day.  A guru is just an expert in a field who is willing to share their secrets to success with others looking to prosper in that business.

Real Guru examples are Garry Conn and Josh Spaulding.

A Pretend Guru example is Jeffrey Lant.

When it comes to niches, a guru has found a way to hone their skills and their product offerings to appeal to the widest market possible.  Everywhere you go, you’ll see their name mentioned in publications and testimonials.  Often times, they will have an online presence as well as one in the real world.

Fake It 'Till You Make It

Many claim to be experts but all are not.  Look for particular characteristics.  How well do they know the niche?  Check their websites and feedback in forums about this person.  If their revenue is coming from marketing to that niche, it is worth a look.

How did they begin their business?  It could be that they began just like you.  They wanted something better.  Their “guru” status is a testament to persistence and not taking “No” for an answer.

Ask them questions.  Gurus are meant to be accessible.  They have blogs and websites, do podcasts and interviews, and partner with other viable business ventures to make more money.  But they always have time to give advice to others who are struggling to get where they are.

Finding a guru may take some time.  It all depends on your niche.  What you hope to find is someone who has found a new way to market a product or service that is a success.  Test their advice and methods.  If it works, continue to follow their lead.  A guru is also someone who is open to new ideas.  They are not the only one with great ideas, they just happened to discover most of them first.

A guru can be your teacher in the niche business world.  One day, you may even partner with them in a business venture.

As the cookie says, Investigate new possibilities with friends.  Now is the time.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

If you Google for "Chinese Food Restaurant" in my town (without the quotes), Pei Wei Asian diner is at the top of the list. So, I ate there this week. Pei Wei makes what I call "Americanized" Chinese food. Actually, they have Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese and other Asian influences present in their menu. It's not really authentic, but the quality is good.

I had their Lemon Pepper Chicken -- extra spicy -- and brown rice. It was pretty good. The fortune was good too.

"Life Always Gets Harder Near The Summit"

I have been trying (although not all that hard yet) to get a first position ranking in Google for "article directory list" (without the quotes) for my article directory list page. (Feel free to help me by linking to that page with the text "article directory list").

This is not a "perfect SEO situation" because I am targeting multiple phrases with that page.  However, it was easy to get to the 11th spot (first listing on page 2), and I am currently somewhere in the middle of page one as of this writing.

So, what will it take to get to position one on page one?  Check out this analysis from Market Samurai for my keyword phrase (you can click on the image to get a better view):

As you can see, Market Samurai is showing the top ten pages for the target keyword, and where they are showing SEO strengths.  Red is hard to attack (page is doing a good job) and green is easy to attack.  You can see that my page in the fourth position (varies from day to day) has one red item -- DA (masonworld.com has been around for a while).  I have 305 backlinks to my page and 7490 to my domain, and that is pretty good -- yellow.  You can see that the competition that is ranking above me has many more domain backlinks and good domain age.

What is a little frustrating is that my page tags are pretty well optimized (yellow) for the keywords that I am targeting, but a couple of sites above me are not optimized at all for "article directory list".

The bottom line is, sometimes it is hard to get to the top position for a keyword in Google, and sometimes it is even harder to understand why.

As the cookie says, Life Always Gets Harder Near The Summit.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's Wednesday (well, actually it is Friday, but who is counting?), and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

Since I am running behind (evidenced by the tardiness of this post), I'll keep it short.

I was at a Chinese fast food chain this week. I know -- not up to my usual standards. Truth is, I'll eat anything that does not eat me first.

I had their lo mein noodles and some mysterious chicken. Honestly, It was not all that great.

On the plus side, there was no MSG and the fortune was fantastic.

"You Will Be Travelling And Coming Into A Fortune"

This was obviously a reminder to use the Global Translator plugin for WordPress to increase search engine traffic. This is a tip that I got from Andrew Hansen of Firepow fame.  The Global Translator plugin is cool because it brings search traffic to your blog.

Global Translator automatically translates your blog in the following 34 different languages: Italian, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese, English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Greek, Dutch, Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Danish, Finnish, Hindi, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Catalan, Filipino, Hebrew, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese'.

When these pages get indexed, it can result in some traffic for you. Check out these search terms from November at MasonWorld.com:

o poder da internet
afslankproducten met geld-terug-garantie
mikronischen
gratis ting internett
neultabstoula
a procura do feminino ebook

I hope none of the above phrases are offensive. I have no idea what most of them mean, but traffic is coming to my blog from them.

Here is a cool example of this article translated.

Anyway -- listen to the cookie. You'll be glad you did.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I am actually at my parents home in Houston, TX at this very moment. I have a lot to be thankful for -- so much so that it is hard to make a list. I was thinking about that today and I suddenly realized that I have never had any turkey-based Chinese Food. Why is that?

A quick trip to Google to search for "turkey Chinese food" reveals information about Chinese food in the country of Turkey, but little information about Chinese food containing turkey. Naturally, my next thought was to dominate the "turkey Chinese food" niche, but I don't see any AdSense ads on that page. Guess I'll hold off on that site for the time being.

This week The Cookie has come out on the side of the value of Joint Ventures in Internet Marketing.

Hear The Cookie:

"Take a trip with a friend."

Of course, the fortune cookie is obviously referring to the fact that some of the most successful Internet businesses these days rely on joint ventures. Joint Ventures (or JVs as they are called) are business arrangements where two or more parties get together to deliver a product and share the profits.

Why Do Joint Ventures?

The best reason to do a joint venture is to leverage unique talents of individuals. Let's say you know how to write killer code, but you are not sure what to write. Another guy has a great idea but neither one of you has any marketing savvy. The two of you team up and find a marketing guru with a list of 100,000 hungry buyers. That's a joint venture. You share the profits according to some prearranged split.

The awesome thing about JVs is that you can often achieve something much greater than the sum of the contributions by leveraging each others talents. That can mean more profit all of the participants.

Three Tips For A Successful Joint Venture

Here are three things to keep in mind when doing a JV.

• Communicate clearly.  Everything from financial arrangements to schedule and quality expectations.  Misunderstands and arguments are a leading cause of JV failure and disappointment.
• Know the law.  I am not a lawyer, and I do not play one on TV.  However, I do know that you need to be very careful to understand the difference between a Joint Venture, a partnership and other business arrangements.  If you do it wrong, you could be held liable for goofy stuff that your JV partners do without your permission.  Consult your attorney.
• Be honest and fair.   Treat your JV partners the way you want to be treated.  Expect a long-term business relationship, and behave accordingly.  Care what they think, and listen to what they have to say.

Bottom line as always is listen to the cookie.  A JV can be a great way to jump-start your business.

Have a great day.
Mark

Be sure and check out our previous Internet Business Fortune Cookies.

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie. Monday I went to a "real" Chinese restaurant in a primarily Asian section of greater Dallas. I've been eating in that particular restaurant for more than 10 years. The place is really neat - there are traditionally prepared roasted ducks hanging in the front window.   The place has a "Chinatown Market" feel to it.

When I first started eating there in the mid-nineties the there were no English menus. I would go there with a Mandarin-speaking friend and he would do the talking.  This sometimes resulted in weird stuff like "chicken feet" being brought to the table, but in general the food was fantastic. The only thing that has changed since that time is that there is an English menu available now, but the daily specials are still written on the board in Chinese characters, and I still can't read them.

The Cookie Speaks The Truth

As you know, everything you need to know about running an internet business can be learned from fortune cookies. This week The Cookie has come out on the side of building your business around a loyal community of followers.

Hear The Cookie:

"An hour with one friend is worth more than ten with strangers."

Of course, the fortune cookie is obviously referring to the fact the most successful Internet businesses these days are built around a loyal community of followers.

A Life-Long Business or A Quick Buck?

Are you trying to build a sustainable life-long business, or are you just out to make a quick buck?  No offense, but if you are just trying to make a quick buck, you are reading the wrong blog.  If you are trying to build a life-long business, get to know your customers and invest in them.  The cookie is telling you that you need to give freely to your customers so that they value the trust and expertise that you are offering them.   As the cookie knows, one customer who knows and trusts you is worth ten (or a hundred) that don't.

Get out there.  Interact with your community of followers.  Give them value.  When it comes time to ask for the sale (and you will ask for the sale), you'll be glad you invested in them.

So, listen to the cookie. Build your business by creating a community. For more on this concept, check out the guys at Internet Business Mastery today (I have written about the Internet Business Mastery guys before).  To learn from them, you don't need to spend a dime.  Their podcast is awesome.  You can start with their tremendous free materials on their podcast website and learn a lot about how to think about building a life-long Internet business.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means. It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie. Last night I had Jalapeno Chicken and fried rice. Basically, I call this "Texas Chinese Food." It was really spicy hot, and that explains this week's cookie that talks about a hot new blog from Garry Conn.

The Cookie Speaks The Truth

As you know, everything you need to know about running an internet business can be learned from fortune cookies. This week The Cookie has obviously been surfing the Internet.

Hear The Cookie:
"Big things come in small packages."

Of course, the fortune cookie is obviously referring to the fact that I got a small little email from Niche Blog and AdSense Guru Garry Conn last weekend announcing his Next Big Thing -- a new blog!

Garry has launched BloggingQuestions.com, a blog where you can go to get your questions about blogging answered by the blogging community.  Here's how it works (in Garrys' words):

How the blog works is very simple:

People can follow or subscribe to the blog and read newly asked questions or even archived ones. Because these questions have been asked by readers such as yourself, it is very likely that you will have a personal interest in the questions being asked and the answers that go with them.

The part that makes BloggingQuestions.com "one of a kind" and totally unique is the fact your questions are welcomed! There is no such thing as a stupid question on BloggingQuestions.com. You are invited to ask your own questions! Simply create a free account and post your question LIVE on the blog. From there people who read the blog (including myself) can provide you with answers by using the comment form.

Besides being the coolest domain name that I have seen in a long time, this promises to be a great resource for bloggers.  Truly, a big thing in a small package.

The Cookie Speaks About Value -- Follow The Cookie

One of the things that I like about Garry is that he really tries to help people.  Sometimes, he does this to a fault, and people take advantage of him (you know who you are).

When I was just starting out working on MasonWorld.com, Garry took tons of his own time to help me.  This new BloggingQuestions.com blog is another great example of Garry's willingness to lend a hand.  Pay attention -- Garry builds trust and gives people something in exchange for their participation in his business.

As a side note -- I think Garry has a cousin or someone like that who works at GoDaddy.  That is the only way I can explain how he gets these killer domain names.

So, listen to the cookie.   Watch out for the small packages.  There may be something big in there.  Check out BloggingQuestions.com today.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

Phew.  Yesterday's launch of First eBook Now was crazy.

Now, it's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie. Last night I celebrated the launch of my latest eBook with Hot and Sour Soup from a new place. I had never eaten there before. The soup was good, and it struck me that sometimes you have to try something new to find something good.

The Cookie Speaks The Truth

As you know, everything you need to know about running an internet business can be learned from fortune cookies. Luckily the Cookie knows that this week we are talking about the importance of mailing lists to your online business, and was kind enough to serve up an appropriate lesson. This week's cookie actually hits right at the heart of getting started online:

"Reach for your dreams. Start with the Spring Rolls"

Of course, the fortune cookie is obviously referring to the fact that many people who are trying to make money online fail because they are overwhelmed by their own goals -- completely paralyzed by the seemingly enormous nature of the task before them.

Many people have lofty goals like replacing their entire income or "escaping the 9 to 5 routine" of their day job or making $15,000 per month on line. Those are both great goals, and it is important to have the big picture. But at some point you have to get started.

It reminds me of the answer to an old question: "How do you eat an elephant?"

Of course, the answer is "One bite at a time."

The Cookie Speaks About Lists -- Follow The Cookie

Let's say that you have decided that you need to make $5000 per month on the internet, and you plan to do that with a email list. How big does the list need to be?

Well, let's say that you have been careful to cultivate trust with your list, and that every time you send out an email to them, an amazing 10% of your readers click the link to go see what it is that you are talking about. And, let's say that the members of your list really trust you, and that an equally amazing 10% actually buy. This seems possible since you only promote products that you actually believe in to your list. That means for every message that you send out, 1% (1 of every hundred) of the people you send to will buy.

Now, let's say you are really smart and you follow Spaulding's New Age eMail Marketing strategy. This means that you value your list and you only email an offer to them about once a month. The rest of the time, you are emailing your list helpful information.

Since you need to make $5000 per month with only one offer, you need to make $5000 every time you send out an email. Sounds scary, doesn't it?

Remember, 1 of every 100 people you mail to will buy. Let's say you are promoting $100 products, and that the commission is 50%. That means that for every 100 people you mail to, you make $50. Since you need to make $5000, you need to mail to 10,000 people. You need a list of 10,000 people.

Question: How in the world are you going to do that?
Answer: One subscriber at a time (Start with the Spring Rolls).

The Cookie Knows Best

Build trust and give people something in exchange for their email. There are 365 days in a year. That means that you only need 30 subscribers a day to hit 10,000 in a year. This is exactly the kind of thing that can be accomplished with viral eBooks using Leger's $7 Secrets formula. Actually, it can be done much faster than that if you can ad some real value and do something viral (but that is for another post).

So, listen to the cookie. Don't focus on the 10,000 subscribers -- you will freak out and give up. Focus on the the next several dozen subscribers instead. Set some goals for this week, or for this month. And focus on keeping the subscribers that you have. Keep adding value. The subscribers will come.

Take some action like writing a report that people will value. Use some cool technology like $7 Secrets to get people to help you build your list. You can do it -- just Start with the Spring Rolls.

Planning on taking some action as a result of this post? Let me know what it is by dropping a comment. Publicly declaring your intention to make progress is a great way to hold yourself accountable.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

List, List List.  All I ever hear about are email lists.  Are you sick of hearing about email lists?  Oh, I hope not, because as they say, the money is in the list.

A Week Of Posts About Lists

As I mentioned to you a few days ago, my buddy Josh Spaulding recently released a new eBook about how he manages his email list.  It is excellent, and I recommend it highly.  It's so good, in fact, that it has motivated me to take some serious action.

Starting today, I am posting a series about building lists -- here is what you can expect:

• Today (Thursday) -- This post about the importance of lists
• Tomorrow (Friday) -- A post about how you can use free stuff to build your list
• Saturday -- A post about Jonathan Leger's $7 secrets formula (for building lists)
• Monday -- A post about how you can use quality Master Resale Rights products to build your list
• Tuesday -- A post announcing my new eBook about writing eBooks ($7 secrets style)
• Wednesday -- See what the fortune cookie says about lists

The Purpose Of A Mailing List

If you spend much time around internet marketers, you’ll hear them talk about “the list”.  That term refers to their mailing list, which is made up of people who have requested to receive information from them, usually in the form of email newsletters.

For many internet marketers, the bulk of their income comes from marketing to the people on their mailing list.  A person’s list can truly be their key to success.  I know of several examples of "normal" people making a living on line using their list.

As Josh points out in New Age Email Marketing, some people mistakenly believe that the bigger list they have, the more successful they will be.  This is not necessarily the case.  There are a lot of ways to “get” subscribers, such as contests, list swaps, and even through list purchasing.  It is possible to achieve a high number of subscribers through these methods... but that doesn’t always guarantee success.

Instead of focusing on the number of people on the list, focus on the quality of the list and how interested the people are to receive the information.  A list of 1,000 very interested people will bring in much more money than a list of 10,000 uninterested people.

More important than that is trust.  Are you offering something of value (usually free information) to your list, or are you just asking them for money all the time?  Do they look forward to getting email from you, or do they hit the delete key without reading your mail?

While you think about those questions, here are some tips to help you build a great list:

Easy sign-up process

If signing up for your newsletter is a complicated process, many people will simply click away.  It’s also important to make sure the sign-up box is easy to see.  You'll notice that my opt-in box is at the top of my sidebar.  The graphics are professional, and I am asking for a minimum of information.  Some people place it at the bottom of their sites and if the visitor doesn’t scroll all the way down, they’ll miss it.  Many studies suggest that placing your newsletter sign-up box on the top right portion of your website will yield the best results.

Here is an example of easy -- an opt-in box right in the middle of a post:

Promote your list to your target market

Knowing your target market is another big key in creating a great list.  The more targeted the people on your list are, the more likely they are to purchase your products or services. That is one of the reasons that blogs are so great for list building.  People are visiting your blog because they are interested in the information there.  In that case, your target market consists of the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.  This is important.  Obviously, if you sell natural baby care products, you probably wouldn’t want to promote your list by purchasing an ad on harleydavidson.com.

Offer a freebie

Many people offer their subscribers a freebie in exchange for joining their mailing list.  I'll talk more about this on Friday, but that is exactly why I offer the Friday Freebie on MasonWorld.com.  This freebie could be in the form of an ebook, a special report, an audio recording of a teleclass or some other information product.  When doing this, it’s always best to stay close to a topic your target market would be interested in.  Going back to the example of someone selling natural baby products, a great freebie would be a small guide filled with natural baby food recipes.

Stay At It

Building a great list, full of targeted readers, will take some time to develop. Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t happen overnight.  Over time, the list will grow and it can develop into one of your best business assets.

Did you like this post?  Why not sign up to my list?  That's the point after all.  You'll receive lots of helpful content and notification about new blog posts.  You'll get the occasional special offer.  You will never get SPAM.

Sign up today.

It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie. Last night I had Kung Pao Chicken, extra spicy. It was yummy.

The Cookie Speaks The Truth

As you know, everything you need to know about running an internet business can be learned from fortune cookies. This week's cookie actually hits right at the heart of the fear that we all have when starting a business on the Internet -- "Past Experience: He who never makes mistakes never did anything that's worthy."

Of course, that fortune cookie is obviously referring to the fact that many people who are trying to make money online fail because they fail to act. As the guys over at the Internet Business Mastery Academy say, people "don't go to bat." This reluctance to take action can be due to many things -- but chief among the barriers is fear of failure.

When you first get started at anything, you are going to have some failure mixed in with your success. What you want to do is fail as quickly as possible. Take massive action, fail, correct your course, and fail again. Rinse and repeat until you are successful. There is a word for this tenacious behavior -- learning.

Most of the time, the difference between actually making money online and dreaming about making money online has to do with taking action. Internet Business is not a spectator sport. If you want to win, you have to put yourself in the game.

Follow The Cookie

So, the message for you today is, take action. Skip that episode of "Private Practice" tonight and do something that will advance your business. Write a new blog post (or start a blog); start work on a new product for your niche (or identify a new niche). Just do something that will materially advance you toward your goal. Make some mistakes and learn from them. You'll be glad you did.

Planning on taking some action as a result of this post? Let me know what it is by dropping a comment. Publicly declaring your intention to make progress is a great way to hold yourself accountable.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit: Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

It's time for another weekly Internet Business Fortune Cookie.  Last night I had General Tso's chicken.  It's funny, because a Chinese guy at a restaurant told me once all about General Zuo Zongtang, who was a Qing dynasty General.  He explained how the dish was prepared for the General by his wife and served for him and his staff.  Sources I can find on the internet suggest that the dish was actually invented in New York City in the 1970s. Go figure. I like the Qing dynasty version of the story, but I am thinking the NYC version is probably right.

The Cookie Speaks The Truth

As you know, everything you need to know about running an internet business can be learned from fortune cookies. This week's cookie actually hits right at the heart of Google rankings -- "The thing that you lost will be found this month."

Of course, that fortune cookie is obviously referring to the fact that one of my newer eBay sites using phpbay was "sand boxed" this month. I was ranking on the first page for my terms and making some nice sales. Suddenly, the site is nowhere to be found.

So, I am adding the site into Firepow to see if I can add some content and back links to it to get it back in play.  Firepow has a new very cool "blog import" feature that I am testing. There are still some bugs, but it is working well for a couple of my niche blogs. I plan to use the Firepow "BNet" to get some back links and some of the other Firepow promotional tools. It will be interesting to see if that helps the site or makes things worse. It's really hard to tell, because you never know what Google is doing in the first place.

Stay The Course

I've had this Google Dance happen before. The sites impacted by a sudden loss in ranking usually come back stronger than when they left -- which is what the fortune cookie is trying to tell me.

This is another really good reason to have 60 sites making $100/month and not 3 sites making $2000/month. If you are at the mercy of Google for your traffic, you are hosed if they slap your site or otherwise impact your rankings.

So, the message for you today is, don't freak out if your site moves in the rankings (especially if it is still indexed). Generally speaking, it will come back. Keep working on the site while it is in the sandbox and watch it come back even stronger in many cases.  Use good fundamentals (keyword targeting, on page SEO, white hat linking techniques, etc) and you should be fine.

Have a great day.
Mark

Photo credit:  Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase

My wife and I like Chinese food, and there is a pretty good Chinese food place that delivers to our neighborhood.  So, just about every Wendesday night we order Chinese.  It's sort of a tradition with us, and I really look forward to it each week.  Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.

Lately, I have noticed that all of the fortune cookies have messages inside that relate to my internet business activities.  So, I thought I would start sharing those with you.  Who knows, this may even become a regular feature.  So, without further delay, here is my first "Internet Marketing Fortune Cookie":

"Your Efforts Are Budding -- Results Will Appear Soon"

This is a message that a lot of us in Internet Marketing need to hear.  So many people get into Internet Marketing because they need to make money fast and easy.  While that certainly does happen, this is not the typical case.

The fact is that Internet Marketing is a lot of hard work.  Sure, it may eventually be possible to work 4 hours per week and make $17 Million a year, but that will not happen until after a lot of the hard work and learning is done.  There are exceptions, but this is the rule -- you have to work hard (and smart) to succeed.

However, if you work hard and treat your Internet Marketing efforts like a business, you can and will succeed (especially if you have the right coaching available).

The number one reason people fail in Internet Business is that they quit too soon. Why do they quit?  Often times it is because they are looking for "something for nothing."  Other times, they just get discouraged or listen to bad advice.  Don't be that person.  Keep making progress.  Do something today that will help your business.

Your efforts will generate results soon.

Do you agree?  Or are you frustrated about your internet business or have another point of view?  I want to hear about it in the comments below.

Best regards,
Mark

Photo credit:  Uploaded on July 17, 2006 by headcase