… so the song goes.

Money’s a funny thing – it seems that everyone wants it but at the same time they have a low opinion of the rich.  It’s not uncommon to hear “…those filthy money grubbing bastards!” and lately with all the shenanigans on Wall Street it’s open season on the rich.

Now I am not rushing to the defense of the rich, but really, isn’t it time we stopped all this rich bashing?  I think it’s a good thing that there are rich people and truth be told yes, I’d love to join their ranks, I mean, let’s be honest, why else do we buy lottery tickets and even line up to plonk down our precious after tax earnings in exchange for a little scrap of paper that, odds against odds, will be the winning number and thus  open the magic door to the vault of wealth to us?  The larger the pot, the more people buy.

I like money.  There I said it!

Somehow in our society it is considered somewhat gauche to own up to liking money.  Money is evil, money is crass, money is bad, money does not bring happiness, money corrupts … the list is endless.  It’s usually people who don’t have money who say these things, but I find that it really isn’t entirely their fault; as much as I can figure it out they were brought up that way.

I wasn’t.  I was not born in North America nor did I grow up here.  True, in my family we did not discuss money but inherently we knew it was a desirable instrument to have.  When dad would come home from his business trips, he would sit at the table counting the money he got paid by his customers.  I loved watching him count it.  He would place a pack in one hand and then much like a croupier sorting his deck of cards, he counted  and placed different amounts into different bundles.  One bundle was for mom to run the household.  I always knew from the size of that bundle whether the business trip was a successful one or not.  The size of “mom’s” packet often determined how we ate and whether the shoes had to wait for another month or not.  If it was a good trip I would get a money note to spend.   So to me, money was always good.

Later, when I went to work in the corporate world, my pay packet was always delivered to me at my desk by a clerk from accounting and it was always in cash.   I did my own counting when I got home.  I loved it.   It was only when I came to Canada that payment was by check.  To his day, I prefer to have cash in my wallet and use it for my day to day purchases, leaving the credit card for big ticket items.

But the rich?  Oh yes.

The people we love to hate and secretly wish to be.

Why?

I did a little bit of snooping and Googling.  I think it’s a very good thing that there are rich people, you see, if it weren’t for them you can bet your bottom dollar that the rest of us  would be paying higher taxes.  I have always suspected this but now there is empirical data to support my suspicions.

The top 1 percent of income earners paid 40 percent of all federal income taxes in 2007, while the bottom 50 percent paid only 3 percent. More than one-third of U.S. earners paid no federal income tax at all.

Source:  Internal Revenue Service

Another interesting statistic is that the top 10% earners paid 71% of all income taxes.  Now the 10% includes the merely high income earners at $100K and above .  Depending on where you live that can merely be a good income or put you into the upper middle class category, but still it is above the  U.S. household median of $60K.

As with everything in life, there are some who are better, better at sports, better at math, better at sciences, better, better and more better – and there are some that are better at making money.   I read that if all the wealth in the world were equally dispersed amongst the 6 billion on earth, each man, woman and child would have $1.6 billion in his back pocket.  That was a while back.  The total wealth of the world in terms of money has increased since then.  What was interesting about that read was the observation by the author that within 6 years or less, the money would return to the same concentration levels as before the division.

The main reason being is that not only are some people better at making money, they are also better managers of money.  Think about lottery winners.  While there appears to be no real hard data as to the exact figures, most lottery winners return to their previous financial status whether that be comfortable middle class or below broke.  The most common soft figure is 70% return to their previous status sometimes within as short a time as one year.  Lottery is a regressive tax. You generally have to understand money in order to accumulate it. The same goes for the redistribution of world wealth.

I also think that stewardship of money is given to those who do more with it.  The rich get a bum rap.   They support charities, fund cultural events, help educate the less fortunate, set up foundations and serve as valuable mentors.  Before the cynical jump on the soapbox and say that the disadvantaged would not need the largesse of the rich if  they had the $1.6 B in their back pocket – I point again to the lotto winners.  Others will point to the tax benefits that such donations give to the rich – yeah?  What’s the point?  I don’t think that governments would put the money to the same good use but then I again cite the statistic that 1% pay 40% of  all federal income taxes collected.   Seems to me like they’re paying well enough.

I think the next best thing to being a rich person is having rich people in our society.

Lots on my mind this morning. How do I choose which of the many thoughts swirling in my head should be written about? Should it be about money? Should it be about the environment? Should it be about parting? All separate but somehow like a vine they intertwine. I know. I’ll take a stab and see if I can make sense of that which my brain seems to be dwelling on this overcast Sunday morning.

Parting. Whilst sitting in a grouping listening to one after another of my colleagues speak I was suddenly acutely aware that I no longer enjoyed being here. I felt a sense of discomfort not with what was being said but with my feelings. Betrayal came to mind. How could this be? This is the group that I started. The dissonant and discordant energy was exactly what I wanted, no make that thrived on: contentious, mind disturbing, thought provoking, irreverent – political correctness be damned. It was all there. How could I now no longer want to be part of something I created?

This niggling thought followed me around all day yesterday and here it is again this morning. I am reminded of how people who break out of their bearings are often criticized for being “too good for their britches” – an observation often lobbed by the status quo at a usually successful friend who no longer spends time with them. I can understand that.

Not that the situation I speak of has anything to do with any newly acquired riches. Rather it has to do with a dull but insistent knocking in my cranium, each dull thud sending a message “…these are not your people.”

Indeed the rhetoric is palling. It assaults my values and frankly I am tired of the same old same old Robin Hood mentality that the rich are corrupt and should be taxed (even more)that seems to dominate these meetings. There is more. At one time there was a balance present and the bantering back and forth was fun, sharpening not only the tongue but one’s own appreciation of and respect for how others think.

With time the members changed. Being the lone wolf is not only no fun but it sinks you into a funk. I am not there to change anyone’s mind – that was never the intention. There are still some who present opposing views with some forethought and intelligence. I do not have to agree to enjoy a mind expanding experience.

No. That is not the reason my brain is going thud, thud. Lately, on my drive home from these gatherings I cannot help but question the knee jerk reactions that are being presented … and you know, even if they were knee jerk with substance, it might be ok. But its mostly rhetoric that is riding high on hype and for that I have little tolerance.

There is a side of me that says that I should soldier on and another that keeps telling me to surround myself with like minded people. These are not them.  Have you ever found yourself in such a situation?  Is it outgrowing your friends, associates, colleagues – your position?   Has your thinking changed?  Your circumstances?

I’ll sleep on it but I think that I am at a fork in the road and right now it is the road that takes me on a different path that beckons.  It is sad.  This was my baby – somehow, I don’t think I will be missed.  Oh, the money and environment?  I’ll save that for another Sunday … the sun is just beginning to peep, time to go out and have some fun!

Blogging blues!   We all get them.

You know, you’ve been blogging for a while happy as lark, topic after topic tripping off the keyboard like there was no tomorrow.  Traffic is growing and even some comments are being left by your appreciative  readers when BAM!  Just like that when you should be feeling like you’re sitting on top of the world, the blogging blues take hold.

Suddenly:

-          You have nothing more to say

-          A commenter challenged your content and therefore (you think) your authority is being questioned.

-          Traffic has stalled

-          Alexa no longer loves you

-          You are not making any money

-          Doubt sets in – is this the right niche?

-          The topics on other blogs are always more enticing

-          You begin to flirt with the idea of a hmmmm… an online affair of a different kind

-          Your blog no longer appears attractive to you

-          Posting becomes a chore

-          Google has banished you to the sandbox

If you have ever experienced any of the above – or, all of them at once – you’re in good company.  There isn’t a top blogger around who at some point or another didn’t come up against the same challenges.   It’s as if you turn a corner and the road ahead is nothing but one speed bump after another.

You feel as if all your hard work is for naught, that the universe is set against you and you sink into a real funk – you get the blues and you get them bad.

If there is anything I can say to you at this point  it is that you do not give in – don’t succumb .  Simply add the experience as one of the rites of passage in your blog income career.  There are ways to deal with each of these speed bumps.   Check in tomorrow and the day after and then again … all of the above will be tackled one by one until once again you feel like you are standing on top of the world – a champion blogger!

With Frank Kern at Mass Control

Have you seen Frank Kern’s State of the Internet Address?   It is on video that is several months old now – in fact Frank put it up in December of last year.  One of the members of an online mastermind group I belong to brought it to our attention.

I just watched it this morning.  Excellent.

Frank is one cool dude and really knows his internet marketing stuff – he’s been in it since 1999 and has become an acknowledged master at the art of the game.  Not bad for a kid who was once told by a professor that his chances of success in life were none and none.

In his State of the Internet Address Frank talks about his vision of where the internet is going, his predictions and how we as internet marketers are in the perfect place at the perfect time to ride the perfect wave of money that is coming our way.

Currently only 10% of brick and mortar businesses have an online presence, mostly in the form of a brochure rather than an ecommerce/marketing site.   Frank predicts that within the next decade 100% of bricks and mortar businesses will have an online presence and that an ever growing number of these business owners will be looking at having more than a “brochure” presence, but rather as a means of attracting and retaining customers.

As online shopping grows and customers become increasingly comfortable with pulling out their plastic or using alternate forms of payment such as PayPal, there will be areas of commerce where online shopping will eclipse that of traditional bricks and mortar.

We as internet marketers are standing in front of a tsunami!  Those of us that take advantage of this phenomena will be riding the wave, those of us who dither around looking to perfect our art will be swamped.

I love the way that Frank simplifies everything.  Commerce?

B has money
B hands money to A
A hands B a product of greater value  than the funds he received.

Note the word “greater” …  that’s what Frank calls outcooling your competition.

More on that same note:

-          Give away things that make people happy (solve  problem)

-          Sell people things that make them happier

-          Repeat

Frank also talks about forming your own mastermind group.  You can’t be a lone wolf in the internet and hope to succeed.   The gurus all work together.   They support each other.  They were there for each other when they first started and grew together.  They have formed a mastermind.  They are competitors but they work in harmony with each other and that in part is what makes them successful.

He ends with an old saying:

“Always leave it better than you found it”  … that we should

-          be kind to our customers

-          serve our customers

-          produce and deliver the absolute best product(s)

I have just given you some of the highlights.  The video is about 40 minutes long and is worth every minute of it.

Earn Money with Affiliate Marketing

Tonight was call-in number 4 for Gather Success’ Blogger Reality Show.  Our challenge for the last week as centered around affiliate marketing, we were to promote, market, and ideally make a sale of Atomic Blogging 3.0 system.    At least one challenger had a sale.

I did not even attempt this challenge.  Last week was crazy busy with non-IM type of stuff.  So of course I did not get any points awarded.

Speaking of points,  Alvin made some good ones on how to choose your affiliates.  For the purpose of the call he used Clickbank as a good example of an affiliate directory.  Here is a step by step process on how to find a good affiliate:

1. If you don’t already have an account set up go to Clickbank.com and set one up.  It’s easy and its quick

2. To select a product click on Marketplace.  It seems that many of the challengers are in the make online income niche, which is very competitive and even though Alvin makes good money in that niche, his suggestion is that it is much easier to make money promoting affiliates that are not in the  blogging for money business.  The competition is significantly less

3. Clickbank is really good at giving statistical information on the affiliate program.  One of the statistics that Alvin likes to look at is the gravity.  Gravity tells you how popular a product is so the higher the number, the more popular or demand there is for it.  There are several factors that contribute to the popularity of an affiliate program:- collateral support such as banners, sales page and ongoing marketing  including but not restricted to emails.

   -  conversion
   -  commission

4. After selecting a program, check out the sales page and any other promotional material the affiliate publisher is offering.

5. Where do all the screenshots come from?

6. Transaction records

7. Be sure the product has testimonials

8. Get your link, button or banner and test it.

9. Try the buy button to see whether it works or not

10. Check the bottom of the page to make sure that the affiliate link is the same as your Clickbank ID.  If its not then don’t promote this product.  Go through the process with another.

From the submissions it seems that many of us have our own challenge with affiliate marketing.  How many times have you been told to promote a big ticket item because the amount of time and effort spent is  the same as for a small ticket item but the financial rewards are much greater even if you sell far less.

That might work if you already have your affiliate marketing chops down pat.  You really need to build your affiliate marketing muscles before going for the big game.  Alvin’s suggestion is to challenge yourself with small weekly goals, something like “… I am going to earn US$200 this week selling product XYZ  at $20 each…” and then set your whole campaign up for the week.  See what results you get at the end of the week.  Make small adjustments to the campaign for week 2.

Track everything.  You may hit your $200 mark the first week, maybe not.  The thing is now you have a goal and a method and as you continue to improve your marketing skills, the sales will begin to come in.  This takes practice.  As you get better you can start marketing higher priced products.

Affiliate marketing when mastered  is an easy  way to earn an online income.

silver coin

The most fun I had this week was winning at our monthly Cashflow.  We play for a silver coin, its worth anywhere from US$15/20, depending on what silver is trading at the time.    Here is the photo of me with my loot.

Well yes, I did spend time working on my internet – finishing up a sales letter and populating the autoresponder  with corresponding scheduled emails for a new affiliate, polishing up a site that is slated for the auction block and  preparing articles.  Blog hopping has been scaled back a bit and probably will stay that way for the balance of the month.  Here is a quick review of the posts that appeared here in the week that was:

Gather Success Challenge II
This is the promo post on Gather Success Charity Challenge.  Getting the “donate” button up and working proved to be a bit of a challenge in itself (now I could do it in my sleep)

Gather Success Challenge  It’s All In the Details –
As a participant in the Gather Success Charity Challenge I was surprised when I was not awarded any points for having raised US$55 for the challenge.  I sort of figured out why and write about the importance of details.

Keyword Stuffing Confuses Search Engines
Why keyword stuffing is not the best way to get the search engines to drive traffic to your sites and the best way to get their spider bots to notice you.

Sunday Morn Musings: Road Warriors
Originally published at Four O’Clock Thursdays, this morning’s musings are on road warriors with examples of real life people who have carved an iconic image into my memory.  But do road warriors have to be on a road?

What’s up for this week?

More of the same.    I am spending more time on money generating internet marketing activities which are not part of Blog Income Life – the blog … but when I think of it perhaps it should encompass all my internet marketing.  I take my cue from other bloggers  who blog on blogging for money, they seem to focus their results to the one blog.

Terry Fox

Welcome to Sunday Morn Musings.  This is my weekly free fall – writing about whatever it is that occupies the mind on a Sunday Morn.  The idea of a “no topic” posting is the stepchild to a blog I used to write:  Four O’Clock Thursdays which is still up there if you want to check it out – more likely, I will repurpose and republish some of those posts here over time.  On Sunday Morn Musings the topic may be about blogging but just as likely it may not.

Today’s post was first published on Four O’Clock Thursdays on February 06 ‘09

Earlier this week I was driving down one of the many country roads in the area that I live. I smiled.  Ahead of me was a runner.  Now this is not an ordinary runner.  I have driven down this road many, many times over the years and the first time I noticed this man running on the road was perhaps five, maybe six years ago.  He has become a fixture on the road.  I see him often.

The man is young, but his gait and something about him makes me think that he had a date with fate and the run was a mere therapeutic exercise.  What is strange, to me at least, is that he still runs at the same pace, with the same small mincing type of steps, as he did when I first saw him all those years ago.  His lean and muscular legs could surely cover more ground with each step, I am certain that he could even pick up the pace.  In my mind’s eye view I see him running a marathon – he’s a road warrior, after all! Seeing him this week got me wondering, is it his mind that has him trapped on this familiar treadmill or is it my mind that is trapped into thinking that he can do better?

Today at four o’clock I thought about this man, a road warrior of sorts – funny, I’ve never given him a name – and other images of road warriors I’ve come across flooded my mind.  One of the most notable ones goes back to when I was still commuting to a day job.  I would drive in on the freeway and enter the city over the Oak Street Bridge.

Typically it would be about 8.00 a.m. Every day without fail, was this young man, suited for work, earplugs in his ears attached to I gather a Walkman (in those days the ipod was a mere twinkle in Job’s eye, if that). He was Asian and, I surmised, on his way to work.  I imagined that he worked for one of the hotels that were clustered on either side of the freeway just where the bridge ended and the freeway begins – certainly there were no other types of businesses that would require one to dress in a suit.

He was a joy to watch.  Listening to the music from his Walkman, he would be singing along with whatever it was that was playing, but he did more, his walk was more like a dance of a sort.  His arms flailed and he punched into the air.  Everyone driving gawked at him, but he didn’t care, and soon no one else did either, they just smiled. He became a fixture and I looked forward to seeing him.  Somehow the sight of someone so energized gave me a lift and I too looked forward to the day.  I wonder where this road warrior is these days.  Perhaps managing a 5 star hotel or speaking in front of thousands as a motivational speaker?

Then there is the iconic image of a young man, hopping along on one good leg and on one that is a prosthesis.  The ultimate road warrior. I speak of course of young Terry Fox who embarked on a cross Canada run to raise awareness of cancer.  He never made it.  The disease he was fighting took him before he could complete the run.  Today there are Terry Fox Runs for Cancer all over Canada and each year millions of dollars are raised for cancer research.  Ironically, with the advancements that medical scientists have made in this disease, had Terry lived today, he would have completed that run.

I wonder how many other road warriors there are out there? Is there someone you see on the road?  Often?  Is there something that sets them apart from others on the road?   Have you wondered what they might be running for?  Do you see road warriors running a different road?  To personal fulfillment?  To end each day ahead of where you began it that morning?    Is that road warrior you?

Just a quick update on Red Cross Charity Challenge … posting now as this needs to be submitted but I still have 6 hours left to raise more

…  reproduction is  not the best …. total collected as of 5.43 pm Pacific May 11 (with 6 hours to go) = US$55.00

To Moms Everywhere …

Beauty. Love. Gratitude