Brick wall ahead – non techie about to come crashing through!

I’ve gained so much technical knowledge these last 6 months or so now that I think I get a wee bit carried away with myself and sometimes I think I’m a lot better than I really am.  I try and be too adventurous and it always comes back to bite me on the proverbial.

What I’ve been trying to do for the last xx hours is something that probably sounds really simple to some people and it is to do with setting up accounts.  It was in place, or so I thought until I went to move some accounts around and realised I hadn’t quite got it right with one of them in the first place.  In the end I got so frustrated with trying to backtrack etc, I just closed the account and opened a new one.

Do you ever find yourself doing that, taking the long way round things when a really simple solution is staring you straight in the face?  Pragmatism is a large part of my personality and most pragmatists don’t take time to read instructions, they just plough straight in.  Well that is me over and over, and I never learn.  It doesn’t always result in errors but when it does, I would give anything to be the opposite type of personality and be a reflector.  Someone who doesn’t make decisions quickly but takes lots and lots of time to evaluate, to weigh up all the pros and cons and then takes things one baby step at a time.

So, that’s where I’m at right now.

On the positive side, I attended a fantastic webinar with our marketing group tonight and learned of really exciting things happening.  I’m always amazed at how we never sit still, there’s always some other high money making venture waiting to be thrust into our laps.

Tonight was extra exciting though – not only is there some really HOT STUFF coming our way but we are putting on a timebound promotion where people can try before they buy with all our marketing and coaching club.  All this for just $1 - I just can’t see how it is possible but if that’s what the boss says, that’s what we can offer.  I just wish I had this opportunity to access the best training materials and make lots of money for just $1 – I would have been laughing all the way to the bank.

So, here it is - grab it while you can because it won’t be there forever and could be taken down at any time.

Change is Good……You Go First, by Mac Anderson and Tom Feltenstein

“Change What Needs Changing, Not What’s Easy”

This is an excerpt from a book entitled ‘Change is Good, You Go First’ by the authors highlighted in the title.   I particularly liked the message I took after reading it and thought others may enjoy it also.

A few years ago, British Rail had a real fall-off in business. Looking for marketing answers, they went searching for a new ad agency – one that could deliver an ad campaign that would bring their customers back.

When the British Rail executives went to the offices of a prominent London ad agency to discuss their needs, they were met by a very rude receptionist, who insisted that they wait.

Finally, an unkempt person led them to a conference room – a dirty, scruffy room cluttered with plates of stale food. The executives were again, left to wait. A few agency people drifted in and out of the room, basically ignoring the executives who grew impatient by the minute. When the execs tried to ask what was going on, the agency people brushed them off and went about their work.

Eventually, the execs had enough. As they angrily started to get up, completely disgusted with the way they’d been treated, one of the agency people finally showed up.

“Gentlemen,” he said, “your treatment here at our Agency is not typical of how we treat our clients – in fact, we’ve gone out of our way to stage this meeting for you. We’ve behaved this way to point out to you what it’s like to be a customer of British Rail. Your real problem at British Rail isn’t your advertising, it’s your people. We suggest you let us address your employee attitude problem before we attempt to change your advertising.”

The British Rail executives were shocked – but the agency got the account! The agency had the remarkable conviction to point out the problem because it knew exactly what needed to change.

As Yogi Berra once said…

“Before we build a better mousetrap,
We need to find out if there are any mice out there.”

I found many similarities in what I read with what I and every other internet marketer is trying to achieve.  How do you treat your customers?  Are they valuable to you and your imminent success?  Of course they are because withouth them we have no business.

What I have always strived to do in any business I am in is first and foremost to find out what it is my customers are wanting and then I supply it.  If I personally can’t supply it, I will research and find someone who can so I will always look for a solution.

It can be very easy to become complacent, you make a few sales and that is the done deal – I don’t think it is at all, it is only the beginning of your journey with that person.  Continue to under promise and over deliver and you will have a customer for life!

Working at home in my own business, I know that my overall success or failure is solely down to me and how I treat people.  By continuing to value each and every person I come into contact with, I quickly built up a reputation as someone of trust, integrity and honesty and I really could not and would not work any other way.

If you too share similar values to me and want to change your life, then why not get in touch.  Simply enter your details at the top of this page, get a FREE eBook in the process and I’ll see you on the other side.

reBlog from Sheila@viking-direct: Writing A Perfect Forum Signature

I found this fascinating quote today:

If your forum signature says something like “click here to visit my blog” you cannot expect to see many click throughs, but if you add value and say something like “click here now for hundreds of proven marketing tips and strategies” you will get a of traffic to your site because people are looking for good information.If your site is about marketing tips, you have added your best keywords in the forum signature which will help you get better rankings in the search engines over time.Sheila@viking-direct, Writing A Perfect Forum Signature, Jan 2010

You should read the whole article.

Luxury Family Holidays & Late Deal Vacations

If you have looked at my other page here within this blog site entitled ‘Primo Vacation Club’ then you will be aware of what a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ for luxurious family holidays this is.  Can I ask if you have not had a chance to read over this page, perhaps you would like to now then come back and read the rest of this post?  I just think it will give you the complete overview as I only want to highlight a couple of things in this post.

My husband and I owned RCI Timeshare points for over 13 years and for every year of that ownership we paid around £2,000 ($3,500) in fees just to stay at this very accommodation that the Primo Vacation Club offers.  Many of the resorts featured we have stayed at and al,l without exception, come extremely highly recommended by us.  Needless to say, when I came across this opportunity for a mere fraction of what I was paying annually, the Timeshare points were ceded immediately and this is now how we access our luxury holidays and late deal vacations.

For the purpose of this blog post I am going to highlight some, yes just some of this week’s fantastic deals that we like to call ‘Hot Weeks’.  I love to talk about these, but they are only one very small part as to what the Primo Vacation Club is actually all about.

Every week, in addition to the Hot Weeks, we also like to highlight what we call ‘Featured Resorts’ and this week’s featured resorts are right here:

If you are looking to get away, looking for a last minute deal on a luxury family vacation, then the deals on both the Hot Weeks and the Featured Resorts are just incredible.

In general, you can find a deal that’s 30/40/50/60% off just going through the regular search facility within the Vacation Club or by calling the desk.  They more likely than not will have exactly what you are looking for and nothing is too much trouble for them to find the deal that is right for you at the price you want to pay.

Hot Weeks as at 31st December 2009

COMPARISON ON REGULAR PRICES

I did a quick search on just one of the resorts highlighted above and that is Cypress Pointe Grandvillas Resort in Florida (3rd from bottom above).  We have stayed there before and it is one of the most beautiful and luxurious villas we have every stayed in.  We have also stayed in both of the Hilton Grand Vacation resorts in Orlanda and Cypress Pointe is on a par with those.

Here are the results of my research with a criteria of ‘low cost luxury holiday in Cypress Pointe’ and is for similar dates as highlighted in this week’s Hot Weeks’.

And the cost…………………………………….. remember it’s for approximately the same period 22-29 January 2010!!

The cost here for a 2Bd which features in this week’s Hot Picks at a total cost of $322 for the week.  I found it at $161 per NIGHT giving a weekly total of $1126.11.  Just by being a member of Primo Vacation Club you immediately pocket a saving of $804.11 – there’s your theme park tickets taken care of and probably also the cost of your car hire for the week.

Just imagine being able to take your family to luxurious accommodation in the most beautiful resorts in the world for mere pennies in the dollar?  You can go on vacation with the assurance that when you arrive you will be greeted with the ultimate in luxury living.

Each and every one of our vacation resorts are the ultimate in 5 star luxury where you will be treated like royalty from the moment you arrive until you leave.

If you enjoy spending your vacation in luxury where your every whim is pandered to, why not find out more about this Private Vacation Club.  As I said earlier, Hot Weeks is a very small part of everything there is waiting for you and you will be absolutely blown away by the low cost of joining.

Oh, and I almost forgot the best part – you can sell this highly sought after Vacation Club on and each time you do, you pocket $500……….  Now how much spending money can you possibly get through in a week?

FIND OUT MORE

PS:  Can I just apologise for the quality of the pictures, I tried every which way to capture information that I thought most relevant and in trying to capture too much, I lessened the quality of the shot so if you find yourself needing the magnifying glass, rest assured so did I – lol!

How strong are your foundations?

I read this today and took so much from it that I wanted to share it with others through the medium of my blog posts.  I hope by doing so, it has a similar impact with you.

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire.

He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes.

But over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house.

Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building.

Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back.

You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall.

Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.”

Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow.  Therefore, Build wisely!

Out with the Old and in with the New – Reflection of an Internet Marketer

As we get towards the end of 2009, I thought I’d take a bit of time to reflect on where I’m at personally in comparison to this time last year.

At the end of last year and having worked on an extremely demanding and mentally draining task in my corporate role, I was in work and thinking “I need another huge challenge similar to that, I need to be working pro-actively, making decisions, devising strategic plans and working alongside my fantastic team to deliver outstanding results.

It didn’t happen and much as I tried to be pro-active and forward thinking, proposing several suggestions based on sound business sense and customer service, others who needed to endorse the proposed changes were much more risk averse than I was.

Working in career guidance we teach a model called the alignment model and this basically outlines that your needs and wants have to be in alignment with the organisation you work for.  If you are out of alignment then you need to either find that motivator, that driver outside of work to feel fulfilled, or you need to look for another job.

I didn’t want to look for another job because I really love and believe in what I do, I work alongside a fantastic team who are well motivate, embrace change and constantly come up with new and exciting ideas that we discuss then implement.

So what did I do?  Well I found the challenge I was seeking by joining a Home Business opportunity with the full intention of making it a success and eventually working from home full-time.

I have to say however, I had absolutely no idea about internet marketing or how to make money online.  I knew how to surf the net and send email but that really was about the extent of it.  Now I have so much learning under my belt, I amaze myself sometimes by things I do know but thought I didn’t if that makes sense.

5 months down the road and I’m still working in my management role and running my business part-time.  That however is my choice.  Financially I could leave now but something inside of me is saying “don’t do it just yet”.

You see, I still have lots I want to do in my job, changes I want to see implemented, some of which I have personally proposed and many of these will happen in 2010.  I also don’t feel I’m ready to leave the team and sit at home on my own.  Although I love to work on my own at times, I also enjoy going to work in the morning, having a laugh with the others and seeing great results every day.

If you’re reading this blog post and you are working in a position that often leaves you unfulfilled, why not consider doing what I did and finding that challenge in something else.  You definitely won’t regret it, that’s for sure and may find like I did, that this is something I should have done years ago.

If you want to get started, just fill in your details at the top of this post and I’ll help you get started on your road to financial freedom (if that’s what you want) or get you to a point where YOU can sack YOUR BOSS!  How good would that feel?

As I sign off now with only 3 days left of this old year, I have to say it’s been fantastic, rewarding, challenging at times but just like any other year I have had, I wouldn’t have changed anything.  Everything I do and have done has been for a reason and it’s all been worthwhile.

Every day’s a school day and a day you haven’t learned something new, is a day wasted!

How to generate FREE site traffic using Yahoo Answers

If you were aware that Yahoo Answers has a user base of more than 21 million unique users in the US alone and over 90 million worldwide, would you not be intrigued to find out what it is all about?  If you also knew that it is one of the most effective and simplest methods of increasing your website traffic for free, would you not want to be a part of it?

One of the easiest ways to drive free traffic to your site is through Yahoo Answers and for some reason; it is one of the most overlooked methods in the strategies of many Internet Marketers.

Step 1

You will need to sign up at http://answers.yahoo.com although if you already have a current Yahoo messenger account, you will be able to create an account using that ID.  The author has no monetary link to this site; the link is added to increase value within this article.

Step 2

Complete your Profile.  Once logged in you can create or edit your profile and take the time to fill out as much information as you would like others to see then save this information.  Yahoo Answer members can contact you via messenger if you have this option enabled or through email.  You  have the choice however, of not allowing any private contact other than your responses to the questions you answer.

You will want to brand yourself so it is suggested that you upload a photograph and it’s an effective way to make your profile more memorable as this picture will appear alongside your answers.

Step 3

Take time to look over the site, looking at the types of questions asked.  On the left hand side of the main page you will see a list of categories and it is within these that questions are posted according to their subject matter.  To help increase the free traffic to your site, you will only choose those categories that relate to your niche industry.  Some of the categories listed (in alphabetical order) are:

Arts & Humanities, Beauty & Style, Business & Finance, Cars & Transportation, Computers & Internet, Consumer Electronics, Dining Out, Education & Reference

How to Promote Your Product

Before you start answering questions you should have a good idea as to what you plan on promoting.  You should never go into Yahoo Answers with the sole aim of promoting your product.  Instead focus on adding value, people have posted questions on there because they are looking for solutions.  If your product happens to be a possible solution for them, that is when you post your link.  Your link goes in the Source box at the end of your answer and not within the main body of your response.

This is how you get free traffic to your site; it is a simple but effective way to promote your websites and direct people to find out more about the topic of their question.

Step 4

It is important that you answer questions as thoroughly as you can and at all costs avoid spamming your websites within answers when there is no relevance for this.  If you need to do some research to help someone out, then this is what you should do.  It is all about adding value, building a credible presence and aiming for your answer to be voted a ‘Top Answer’.  This is how Yahoo Answers works; the person who posted the question will choose what they consider to be the Top Answer and the responder then earns a further 10 points.  It is worthwhile spending some time in the early stages to look over some resolved questions (those that have top answers voted) and see the different ways that people answer the questions to earn this prestigious position.

Step 5

No Spamming.  If you do this, you run the chance of not receiving any votes and your answer may be removed completely.  You want to build up a credible presence by giving lots of content in your answers and whilst aiming to promote your site, focus first and foremost on giving good content.

WATCH THIS – How to Get FREE Traffic using Yahoo Answers video that will give you a walkthrough on what Yahoo Answers is all about.

If you would like to learn more about this and other FREE traffic sites, sign up on the right of the page here, grab the FREE eBook and this will be followed by a series of 26 Internet Marketing videos (valued at $197) but yours for FREE.  These videos were designed and delivered by one of the TOP Gurus within Internet Marketing and he takes you by the hand to making great money online.

The #1 Secret as to why 97% of people fail to make money online

Making money online is the ultimate goal of every internet marketer whether you are marketing affiliate products or running a business opportunity.  What is it then that makes 3% of people hugely successful whilst others can only look on in envy?

Why do so many people fail?

In summary, the answer is that ‘97% of people marketing online have no real idea of what they should be doing’.  If you are one of the 3% of people that are really making money online, then this article will resonate with you.  If on the other hand, you are with the majority, then what you will read here should, if you want to change the statistics, really make you think and operate differently.

The main reason I did so well in such a short space of time was that I focussed on getting the basics right, the fundamentals and completely took my eye off what is most people’s focus, making lots of money in as short a time as possible.

How do I do it the right way?

To make money online, you need to follow systems that work and replicate them.  Innovation is also great and welcomed but if you continue to build castles in the air with very little or no foundations, the sustainability of your business is at risk.

The success of any online marketing business is building a list and makes all the difference between failure and continued success online.

Any successful online business works in basically the same way – a website is created and focussed on the niche industry you are marketing.  You then GIVE SOMETHING AWAY FOR FREE in order to build your list.  This is THE most important step that many people (97%) miss out on because they are too focussed on trying to make immediate sales and it just does not work, well not long-term anyhow.

Once you have that list, you need to nurture a relationship with them.  You need to always under promise and over deliver each and every time you are in contact with them.  You need to provide information of value to them and if, after a period of time, this value is in the form of your products, then you market them to your list. 

By nurturing a relationship with your list, you get to know them; you get a feel for what they are looking for – remember the basic rule of economics, demand and supply.  If they need something to move their business forward and you happen to have that product, then at this point you sell it to them whilst outlining the value it will bring to them.

Once you understand the power of building a list first and building a relationship with that list BEFORE you do any selling to them (treat people as people, not walking ATMs) then you will succeed in your online business and make lots of money online.

Would you like to learn these strategies and follow some very simple but really effective strategies?  Sign up on this page here to receive your first FREE gift from me and there are many more to follow, I give you that guarantee!

5 money making niches for 2010 and how you can get the edge

5 money making niches for 2010 and how you can get the edge

Doing extensive research into what is happening in the world of online marketing has led to 5 main areas that are displaying rapid growth and these are:

1. Education
2. Health & Wellness
3. Booze
4. Local, local, local
5. Pets

People ask the question “is there any niches that are too saturated” and that is a very good question.   If you do your research thoroughly and you find that questions relating to a particular niche are continuing to crop up often in various forums or search engines, then you have your answer right there.

The next question you may ask is “should I go wide or deep into the niche”?  Going deep would be something like taking a niche market and targeting it towards a particular group of society, for example ‘Health & Nutrition for older people’ and that would be called going deep in one market.

Going wide would mean doing a little bit in Booze, a little bit in Pets, a little bit in Education and so on.

3 main benefits of Niche Marketing

• Much less competition – you can own and dominate a particular niche subject
• Subject expert – owning a niche means you become that person that everyone goes to for their solutions.  More people will seek you out rather than your competitors
• Faster results – it doesn’t take long to rank well for niche related keywords

If you specialise in one particular area, it doesn’t take long at all to rank really well with the search engines.

Finding a niche and how you can get the edge

Go into discussion forums and find out what the top questions are – note how many  replies there are to each question, note how many times each question has been viewed.  Focus also on the answers that other people are providing to the questions.

One idea from there is that you do extensive research and create an eBook that in turn answers all the questions that people are asking.  I must emphasise at this point that you should never plagiarise anyone else’s efforts.  The content of the book must be in your own words and based on your research findings.

The first step is being able to build a product that people are willing to pay for and that answers their question.

How can I find forums to do research on?

If you go to big-board.com you will find there a directory of message boards that tell you how many posts each forum has and how many members, the more posts, the more active, the more people there are, the more answers you can get to questions relating to your particular niche.

Big-board does not necessarily list all the forums that are out there so what you could also do is go to Google and search for ‘your keyword forum’, for example ‘Honda car forum’ and put this in quotes.  This will provide a ton more message forums within your niche.

You don’t want to get involved with a forum that has only a few posts and even less members as this will get you nowhere.

Another great source of niches is called ‘Top Site’ and one in particular is called Squidoo.   Given that there are thousands of people on Squidoo daily, being ranked in the Top 100 is a big deal.

Another great source of information is hubpages.com and every day they have what is known as Featured Hub.   Hubs are just very simple web pages that people have made that explain how to do something or something they recommend, things like that.  Like Squidoo, you can search hub pages by category.

There’s nothing about hub pages that appears to rate one more highly than the others, the top one changes every day so if you see one that is of interest, make a note because it will soon be gone.

If all the above has given you food for thought, why not sign up here and start BUILDING A WEBSITE.  You will receive a FREE copy of ‘Create Your Own Website by 3.45 this afternoon’.

Serious about starting your own Home Business or still Window Shopping?

I have come across many people asking me questions about the Home Business Opportunity I am currently in.  The first question I always get asked is “what is it you actually sell” and this quickly turns to a look that is desperate to ask “well how much money do you make at it”?

So in my head I divide the people asking me questions into 2 groups and don’t get me wrong there is nothing negative about either group but it’s just that one section is more ready to act on their instincts.

I will call the groups ‘prospects’ and ‘searchers’.  The prospects adopt a more realistic and holistic approach whilst the searchers are on a journey seeking out as many different opportunities as they can in the hope that the next email they receive is the one that will make them a millionaire overnight!

So how do you tell the difference I hear you ask?  It is quite simple really and the categorising of each group is based on a) types of questions asked and b) how many other businesses they try and compare.

Let’s go ahead here and I’ll come up with some of the personality traits that I have come across:

1. Prospects understand the principles of costs being associated with a business opportunity and totally get that aside from the initial costs, there will be some small additional and eventually some marketing costs.  Searchers will complain about the time it is taking their business to bring them in a substantial income or how much they have to pay to get it up and running where it is making a living for them.  They will also raise comment about having to put in a lot of work in the early days and immediately expect to just work 3-4 hours each day, from the get go and the money comes rolling in.
2. Prospects are willing to learn and are like sponges in the early days, thirstily soaking up all the knowledge they can get.  Searchers will normally have their own way and consider it a better way of doing things.
3. Prospects understand the fundamental concept of internet marketing and will use the internet to grow their business whilst on the other hand Searchers will talk about all the people they know who are going to join them and help them grow their business.
4. Prospects will rapidly implement the training given whilst Searchers are always looking for ways to innovate rather than duplicate.  This can be a good thing though sometimes as well.  The world of internet marketing is continually evolving and we have to remain ahead of the game.
5. Prospects tend to follow their gut instincts and will quickly see the opportunity is right for them and will join.  Searchers will seek out the opinion of others first, valuing their opinions above their own.
6. Prospects will want to know exactly what they have to do to make money and build their team.  Searchers will be more interested in what the top earners are making and how quickly they can do the same.

The qualities I’ve found to be prevalent in both groups are:

Prospects – commitment, vision, ambition, strong work ethic, trainable, learn from mistakes

Searchers – dreamlike, unrealistic expectation and vision, work ethic if it reaps financial gain, mistakes are seen as confirmation that it doesn’t work.

If you fall into the Prospect category, you are the kind of person I want to work with in this first class opportunity.    You know where you want to go and I will do my hardest to ensure you get there.

If you are a Searcher and have been doing this for some time now, I really hope you find what you are looking for although something tells me you may spend a long, long time searching but I wish you all the best in your venture.