Free Teleseminar Series Starts September 26th
Awhile ago I was interviewed by Heather Vale for the Clickbank Affiliate Confessions series. Heather is undoubtedly the best interviewer I’ve ever come across. She has a way of ‘extracting’ all kinds of unexpected and original information from the people she interviews.
Heather’s next series, “Internet Marketing Unwrapped“, is therefore bound to be absolutely jam-packed with great info from all 13 Internet marketers scheduled to be interviewed.
Scheduled Guests include:
- Sep 26 David Garfinkel - Copywriting
- Oct 03 Tim Knox - Multiple Streams of Income
- Oct 10 Yanik Silver - Product Creation and Public Domain
- Oct 17 Rosalind Gardner - Affiliate Marketing
- Oct 24 Josh Anderson - Audio and Video Product Creation
- Oct 31 Jay Conrad Levinson - Guerilla Marketing
- Nov 07 Paul Colligan - Profitable Podcasting
- Nov 14 Todd Gross & Derrick VanDyke - Video Squeeze
- Nov 21 Jimmy D Brown - List Building and Traffic
- Nov 28 Willie Crawford - Niche Marketing Profits
- Dec 05 Lou D’Alo - Teleseminar Fortunes
- Dec 12 Joshua Shafran - N-POD Net Profits On Demand
- Dec 19 Jason James - Membership Site Riches
The calls are free and MP3 recordings will be uploaded after the main events for those who don’t want to spend an hour a week on the phone.
Sign up now for “Internet Marketing Unwrapped” and get the really good goods. 
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New California Cell Phone Law Misses the Mark
How would you feel if the air traffic controller responsible for your flight was having a heated argument with his wife on the phone at the same time he was supposed to be safely separating your flight from others? You might start looking for that parachute, right?
You don’t have to worry. Those scenes from ‘Pushing Tin’ were fictional.
Air traffic controllers have more sense than that. They also have rules that prohibit such distractions, despite the fact that air traffic controllers are some of the world’s most exceptional multi-taskers. (Note: Only 2% of the population has sufficient ability to ’see’ and process a rapidly-changing multiple-dimension ‘picture’ to qualify for the job.)
OK, now imagine yourself in a car moving at 60 to 70 miles an hour which is merely feet away from a number of other vehicles travelling at different rates of speed. Then add one distracted driver - who isn’t qualified to talk and chew gum at the same time, let alone control a speeding mass of metal - and what do you get?
Children without parents.
Unlike ATC, which has separation standards and therefore gives time for aircraft to manoeuver; driving accidents take but a split second to happen. Furthermore, aircraft have TCAS (Traffic Collision and Avoidance Systems) in place to warn pilots when they are too close to other aircraft. The software tells them which way they should go to avoid the collision AND, pilots have the option to go up and down in addition to left, right, speeding up and slowing down.
Cars don’t have collision avoidance systems and they move only in the horizontal plane.
OK, so you can tell which side I take on the issue of cell phone use while driving. I was therefore relieved last week to hear that Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill requiring California drivers to use an ear piece or speaker when using their cell phones, beginning July 1, 2008. A first offense will be punishable by a $20 fine, while subsequent violations will carry $50 fines. Calls made to emergency-service providers are exempt.
I don’t think he went nearly far enough.
While driving the 101 from San Francisco to Carmel, California last week, it was only too apparent which drivers weren’t paying attention to the road. The cell-phone users were bobbing and weaving all over their own lanes, as well as mine.
According to California Highway Patrol statistics dating to 2001, cell-phone use is the top cause of accidents triggered by distracted drivers.
No kidding.
Worse, cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year, according to the publisher of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries attributable to cell phone use while driving and they think that estimate might be low!!!
If it wasn’t for those drivers who DO pay attention and take evasive action to avoid collisions with those who think they own the whole freakin’ road, the carnage would have forced legislation with real teeth years ago.
Speaking of years ago… hands-free technology has been around for at least the last 28 years, which was when I first recall seeing a car phone equipped with a hands-free kit.
Anyway, because I care… if you feel that you absolutely must use a cell phone while driving, I implore you to take action now, and get a hands-free car kit. They’re cheap like borsht and available everywhere, so there’s no excuse to wait until 2008.
Check out the cell phone accessories at the Cell Phone Shop or Wireless Emporium where you’ll get up to between 75 and 80% off plus free shipping.
Otherwise, hang up and drive safe! Do it for those you love.
Cheers,
Ros
Popularity: 2% [?]
eComXpo Returns October 24-26 2006
The eComXpo online virtual trade show with over 7,100 exhibitors, speakers and attendees is returning October 24-26 2006 and admission is free! As always there will be a wide variety of interesting topics and seminars that you can attend from the comfort of your own home. For example, Anik Singal, Jeremy Palmer, Colin McDougall and I are getting together to tell you what we know about content marketing from all sides of the affiliate spectrum.
We’ll deliver the real goods too - not 80% self-promotion/20% useless drivvel which I saw during one speaker’s presentation last April. AARGH. That said, I better get back to work on my presentation.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Click Flipping Anyone?
Part Two of Scott Boulch’s “Death of Adsense” report series is now available online. The second report is called “Life After AdSense, Climbing the Internet Marketing Food Chain“, and like the first, it is a no-pitch free report.
As I mentioned in my first “Death of Adsense” blog post, I don’t necessarily agree with Scott’s “Death of Adsense” proclamation or with his bleak assessment of list building as a money-making venture. I do agree however that Adsense revenues are not as good as they were because smart advertisers are no longer placing their ads on Google’s content network (Adsense). Heck, as a Google advertiser, I wouldn’t even consider wasting my money that way!
And I’ve been harping for a LONG time that total reliance on Adsense is NOT the way to go.
But I do like the ‘twist’ Scott takes in the second report (53 pages). He talks about ‘Click Flipping’, a method that he is using to replace the $50,000 a month he lost when his Adsense revenues went down the toilet. In a nutshell, he tells you how to promote CPA offers - which DO pay considerably better than Adsense - using PPC. He also includes an inspiring case study of an 32 year old woman with little internet marketing experience and not a lot of spare cash.
All in all, Scott’s “Death of Adsense” and “Life After AdSense, Climbing the Internet Marketing Food Chain“, together are a fine example of an ingenious list-building campaign, and both reports are very well-written with good detail and substantiation.
I highly recommend that you give both parts of “Death of Adsense” a good look.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Affiliate Summit Education Sessions on MP3
Did you miss the last Affiliate Summit? If so, don’t despair. The audio from Affiliate Summit 2006 East education sessions are available for download at a cost of $25 each. You can listen to them on your computer or MP3 player.
Presentations available as audio include:
- Benefits and Liabilities of Coupon Affiliates
- Seeds to Stalks: Cultivating your Affiliate Program
- Blogging Best Practices: Maximizing Your Success
- How PPC is Used by Affiliates
A number of other presentations are available in PowerPoint slide format. Please note however that there is no audio attached to these slide presentations… and PowerPoint loses a lot in translation when there is no speaker explaining the bullet point contents of the slide.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Affiliate Summit 2007 West Fees to Increase Soon!
The early-bird deadline for Affiliate Summit 2007 East regististration is September 30th, 2006. The rates of $949 for a full conference pass and $199 for exhibit hall only are increasing to $1,449 and $299 respectively. If you plan to attend Affiliate Summit 2007 East - the best affiliate industry conference - sign up today and save some coin!
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Super Affiliates: Tips for the Best of the Best
Hello from Carmel, CA., where I’m spending a few days on the tail-end of my Casino Affiliate Convention trip. As I live in the near-desert, it’s a lovely change of pace to breathe fog and listen to the ocean.
Although some exhibitors and speakers (including Mr. Rabie of Betcorp with whom I was supposed to split the 90-minute stage time) pulled out of the conference after news that Peter Dicks, U.K.-based Sportingbet PLC Chairman had been arrested at J.F.K. airport on September 7th - CAC2006 was very well-attended.
“The Super Affiliate Session: Tips for the Best of the Best” presentation was jam-packed with affiliates and a couple of affiliate managers.
Now you may wonder why an affiliate who promotes dating services almost exclusively and drops a whopping fifty cents in slot machines per trip to Vegas would speak to affiliates in the gaming sector.
Worse, during the introduction, I had to admit that I hadn’t yet been able to find a coin slot in which to drop a couple of quarters!
But the truth is that my lack of gambling knowledge wasn’t a drawback at all. It actually made researching those tips for the ‘best of the best’ much easier.
I simply put myself in their customers’ shoes by pretending to be a newbie interested in learning how to play poker online.
After finding their sites, I then decided whether or not I would feel comfortable opening my wallet based on their poker instructions, casino recommendations and other information.
Have you ever surveyed your own site(s), or better yet - your competitors sites - from that perspective?
Put yourself in a newbie’s shoes and pretend that you are about to make your very first online purchase. Now go and look at some affiliate sites in your niche. Look for the best of the best and answer the following questions.
What site elements encourage you to trust the webmaster of one site over another? What convinces you that purchasing online is safe? Would you remember their site to return to it later? Are you given incentive to get more information on the topic? Would you remember the webmaster’s name? Is there something that makes you believe that the products promoted by one affiliate are superior to similar products promoted by affiliates on other sites?
Make note of the techniques that strike you as the best of the best. Incorporate those elements that work to build visitor trust and your reputation as a trustworthy purveyor of quality goods into your own affiliate site.
Then watch your conversion rates and commissions soar!
Note: Quick tip for affiliate managers. Let your staff techies attend the SEO sessions while you go to the affiliate training presentations. Then share what you learn with your own affiliates!
Cheers,
Ros
P.S. Check out the picture above very closely and notice how much I learned from my research for the Casino Affiliate Convention!
Popularity: 1% [?]
The Death of Adsense?
Did Adsense really die on August 1st, 2006?
Well, according to a fr*ee 18-page ‘no pitch’ report written by Scott Boulch, called the ‘Death of Adsense‘ , it did. Scott refers to himself as a “former Adsense junkie” who now makes 50K a month after quitting Adsense.
He shows the extent he went to built an Adsense empire, what happened and what he’s promoting now… along with screenshots of the checks.
Although I don’t completely concur with Scott’s ‘Adsense is dead‘ rant, I do agree that no one should ever rely solely on Adsense, so I think Scott’s report is a worthwhile read from that perspective alone. He includes some thoughts on doing business that are quite valuable.
Scott’s report is being offered as a f+ree download for a short time. To get the report, scroll down to the bottom of the page and enter your name, email addy and a password. You’ll then be sent a confirmation link to get the report.
P.S. Pay particular attention to Scott’s list-building strategy which is excellent!
Popularity: 2% [?]
Generate Referals for Chitika eMiniMalls Right From the MPU
Do you use Chitika eMiniMalls? If so, the new interactive units have a tab that allow you to earn from your referals to their network. Chitika pays 10% of your referrals’ revenue for 12 months. BTW, Chitika is just one of MANY alternatives to Google Adsense.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Almost Fooled by PayPal Scam
I almost got fooled by another one of those PayPal “phishing” scams awhile back. Below is a screen capture of the email that I received. Notice how the “Who” indicates that it’s from “PayPal Customer Support” and the “Subject” line is “Security Notice No:15768″.
The scammers even included the warning:
PROTECT YOUR PASSWORD
NEVER give your password to anyone and ONLY log in at PayPal’s website. If anyone asks for your password, please follow the Security Tips instructions on the PayPal website.
Hmmm… nice scammers! Fortunately, the Eudora email software saved my bacon… again! When I cursored over the link in the email this pop-up appeared:
The actual host http://www.qd-race.com/images/.www.paypal.com/index.html?cmd=_login-run is different from the host https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr/?cmd=_login-run
If your email software doesn’t do that, then it’s time to check the full headers within the email itself.
The headers within that particular email contained “From: Paypal Customer Support
However, the real story was further below:
X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - ns2.73dpi.com
X-SA-Exim-Mail-From: international-express@ns2.73dpi.com
Don’t get fooled!
Cheers ~ Ros
Popularity: 4% [?]
