Happy Easter Everyone!
Just a quick note to wish all the NPT readers a very Happy Easter.
Here’s hoping that the Easter bunny was good to you and that you are able to spend the day with family and friends.
Relax and Enjoy.
Cheers,
Ros
Surgery Update
Ros’ surgery went well and she is on the mend.
Video Newsletter: March 11th, 2008
This week’s newsletter is a video blog post - shot from the top of Giant’s Head Mountain in Summerland, B.C. The video includes a big THANK YOU to everyone for your good wishes and tips for my upcoming surgery as well as information on posts that I’ve lined up over the next week during my ‘outage’. Please forgive the sound difficulties - the wind was blowin’ dead bears atop that mountain! 
Read more
A Busy Blogging Week
Hmm… there’s nothing quite like being scheduled for surgery to remove a mass of unknown origin to propel one into action. In other words, I blogged a LOT this week.
After reviewing notes and listening Affiliate Summit recordings via the web, I blogged about how Jason Calacanis offended affiliates during his keynote speech. I personally thought his point was excellent - when you got past the arrogance.
I reported on Chitika’s new Related Product Unit (RPU) and that Yahoo Search Marketing changed it’s minimum bid policy on Sponsored Search keywords.
At that point, I noticed that Brian Gardner was having an contest for affiliates who promote his Revolution Wordpress themes — which then got me thinking about working on RosalindGardner.com where I ended up installing a new Premium Wordpress Themes (which I blogged about at NPT).
I stopped just long enough to read success stories about sites that sell fitness, tea & gas station equipment and then started blogging again.
I blogged about how much I enjoyed using my Flip Video Ultra Camcorder and embedded some new videos along with my 3-month old godson’s first YouTube video taken at Sun Peaks Resort where we cross country skied last week.
I took a little poke at some U.S. based online merchants who really need to start thinking beyond their borders, and at the discourteous jerk in seat 12F. Of course, I won’t have to worry about rude passengers as my March and April conference plans and appearances have been cancelled.
From now until I go under the knife, I’ll be drafting a series of helpful posts to be regularly delivered during the first part of my recovery.
But I really hope that that there will be an Internet connection in the room so that I can just keep on bloggin’…
Website Advertising Enquiry Spam
Over the last couple of weeks the email address posted on my domain records has been completely inundated with emails sporting subject lines such as “Website Advertising Enquiry” as shown in the screenshot below.
These emails typically show up with one of the following subject lines:
- Website Inquiry
- Website Advertising Inquiry
- Marketing Inquiry
- Website Partnership
Although it may be tempting to respond to someone who is offering to pay to advertise on your site… do not take the bait and DO NOT REPLY.
They’re spammers and it’s a phishing scam just to get your email address.
NPT Digest: Freaked, Focused and Cheesed
Yes, this week I’m freaked, focused and cheesed.
First, I’m freaked out about the fact that my old diabetic cat, Vic, is going in for surgery on Friday. Nothing brings Ros to her knees like thinking something might happen to one of her pets.
So rather than freak, better that I put my focus elsewhere …
Most readers’ comments on the “Poll: What is Your Biggest Internet Marketing Challenge?” indicate that lack of focus is their biggest stumbling block.
So, while thinking about that this week, I posted 2 articles by Brian Tracy (super motivator mentor whom I’ve been following since I was about 18), Taking Action and Preparing for the Future that could give those of you (me too) some incentive to focus on the task at hand.
At the bottom of both articles is a link to a FREE CD offer. You can choose from more than 24 titles including Unlock Your Potential, Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, Goals and Simplify Your Life. Good deal.
And what am I cheesed about?
Well, it looks like Derek Gehl has beaten me to the punch. My next book was supposed to be about creating your own infoproduct, but on January 24th Derek is launching an all-in-one information publishing “business in a box“ that walks people step by step through the whole business-building process and gives them ALL the tools they need to create and market their own info product.
If building your own infoproduct in 2008 is one of your goals — then you’ll definitely want to be on their ‘First Movers’ list. IMC’s products are always comprehensive and excellent value for money.
On the blog and in the articles section, this week I also posted:
- Can I Use Auctions to Sell as An Affiliate?
- How to Make Money as an eBay Affiliate
- Akismet: Catching 1500 Spam Comments per Day
- Niche Marketing: The Case Against Mall Sites
You’ll also notice that all the blog categories are now listed at the bottom of each page… all 48 of them!
Last but NOT least, if getting traffic from social marketing is your primary focus in 2008, then sign up for the SMARTS coaching program before they shut their doors in a couple of days.
OK, now I’m going to focus on playing with the cat.
Cheers,
Ros
Happy 2008 and Happy Anniversary!
Well, here it is, 2008 already.
Although I’m always amazed at how quickly the time flies from one year to the next, I’m particularly amazed that this January 1st, I’m celebrating the 10th anniversary of doing business online.
Yes, it was 10 years ago today, during a very early morning chat room session, that I decided to start my dating service review site, Sage-Hearts.com, which was supposed to make the Internet a better, more enjoyable place for singles looking for partners online.
I registered the domain name on January 7th, 1998 and received my first affiliate commission check for $10.99 early in February 1998. Talk about excited… I could barely contain my glee when that check arrived in the mail.
Alot of checks have since arrived and although I may no longer jump for joy when they come in, the game of making money online is still as much fun as it ever was — especially when I’m in the process of spending the proceeds while travelling and then making even more when I’m travel blogging. Who woulda thunk it, eh?
My greatest enjoyment however, has always come from helping others… whether it be in their pursuit of a partner, online business building, or other interests that we share. No check will ever compare with receiving an email or card that says ‘Thank You! You changed my life!’. That’s the truly fun and rewarding part of this business… big checks are just a very nice byproduct.
So, which business anniversary will you be celebrating in 2008?
Are you having fun doing business online and which aspects do you specifically enjoy? Do you like the day-to-day processes of the business itself, getting the checks in the mail or is it what you do with those checks that gives you the most pleasure?
Please share your experience to inspire others who may just be starting out or haven’t yet discovered the joys of Internet and Affiliate marketing.
Happy New Year!
Credit Card Scam Warning
I received this via email from an NPT reader and include it here as a warning about a credit card scam that seems to be getting more and more prevalent. I can confirm that these do exist, as a friend of mine was on the wrong end of such a call about 6 months ago.
Fortunately, she didn’t give out her information and did call the police.
This has been confirmed as legitimate so please take note this details are directly from the person this happened to at KCC.
This one is pretty slick since they provide Y O U with all the information, except the one piece they want. Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you’ll be better prepared to protect yourself.
NPT Digest: My All-Time Favorite Software and more…
I hope all of my U.S.-based friends enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and that everyone had a great weekend. Since the last NPT digest, I posted 7 entries to the NPT blog, a couple of new articles and 1 video.
There’s some affiliate program news, including SO Glad I Checked the Junk Mail…, Amazon Affiliate Program: Holiday Promotions and Ingenio Acquired by AT&T.
If you’ve ever been concerned about giving your email address out to some unknown entity, GeurillaMail is a service that gives you disposable addies that last for 15 minutes.
Wordtracker is continuing its discount promotion through to the end of November Promotion.
If you’ve been waiting for video production software, and don’t already have Camtasia Studio loaded, you should definitely jump on Camtasia’s offer to Download Camtasia Studio 3 for Free. I paid $319 for that software back in March of 2005 and now you can have it for nothing. Sweet!
Too, be sure to take a look at the video about my all-time favorite software. It’s a wonderful little productivity tool that saves me bags of time and costs peanuts.
Last, but not least… you can still “Rename the Office Bear: Win a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate“. There is no limit to the number of suggestions that you can make… just make them one comment at a time, please.
Til next time — Promote and Prosper!
Rosalind Gardner, affiliate marketing, affiliate programs, software, Camtasia
NPT Digest: Unexpected traffic, windstorm, Adtech and more…
As if a visit to New York wasn’t exciting enough, things got even more exciting when we got back home from our trip.
But we now that the power has been restored and more importantly, the Internet connection — I was able to catch up on my blogging.
Phew!
I blogged about a slightly bizarre experience at Pearson International airport while enroute to New York, the AdTech conference, our walks about town, and what we discovered on the homefront after the recent windstorm in Penticton — you may have seen my street on the Weather Channel.
While uploading some pictures for the travel blog to Flickr, I discovered an unexpected way to get traffic from that service.
I also posted about two inspirational stories and a site makeover at Beef, Bedding and Beyond.
Lastly, I invite everyone to Rename the Office Bear (seen in my home office video tour) for a chance to w1n a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate.
Til next time — Promote and Prosper!
