Sunday Morn Musings: Parting of Ways

The Thinker by RodinSlept in late this morning. Perhaps it’s just my body telling me that it needed some catch up, although I recently read that lost sleep like time is lost forever and that you cannot “catch up” on sleep and yet, if you go to bed early and sleep in late, what could be it but catch up?

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!

Have You Got the Blogging Blues?

Tof of World

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!

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Gather Success Challenge V – Promotion Challenge

Flower Cluster

Massive Action Flower Cluster

This week’s Gather Success challenge is to drive traffic to the post about this challenge  on Gather Success.  The task is to promote any which way: blog, email, Facebook, Twitter etc. this url:

http://bit.ly/bDDm4N (so please feel welcome click and visit :-)


The purpose is to get good at online promotion by using all the tools we have on hand for a single purpose, i.e., take massive action.   I think of massive action as a cluster, like the photo of the flowers to the left – it is the cluster of the flowers that forms the beauty of a shrub in bloom.  I  think that we all use these marketing tools but not necessarily as a cluster.  We are vaguely aware of the power of massive action but for some reason seldom use it to our advantage.   Alvin is one smart cookie.   Yes it is his site we are promoting (gold star for big smarts) and here are  the rules:


1. Traffic hits to blog post is determined by unique visits
2. You may use Twitter, Blogs, Facebook or Email List for promotion
3. You will need to digg the blog post once!
4. RT the blog post once!
5. Reddit the blog post once!
6. Delicious the blog post once!
7. All promotion should point the blog post with your bit.ly tracking link to track @


Notice the addition of points three through six.  I have Delicious and Reddit programmed on to  this site ( and many other social marketing sites), but actually going to the sites and doing the digging gives me a personal introduction to Digg.  As I was thinking about this, I have been keenly aware that although I know of Delicious and many other social bookmarking sites, I really don`t know what each one is set up to do, in other words, what its specialty is.


As I click away on the keyboard, this is good news and not so good news.  The not so good news is that I am late to the game – not the whole challenge, just this week’s.  The results are due in on Tuesday (and today is Monday)!  Nevertheless, better late than never.  It is the exercise I want to get into my system.  Action  develops memory smarts  like reps develop muscle strength.


The good news is that I am in the number 5 position for the challenge … albeit a distant number 5.


The main benefit of participating in this challenge however is the heavy lifting of actually doing the marketing.  It’s just like when I started this blog, I knew a lot about blogging and internet marketing but found that when I put shoulder to the grindstone, theory and action did not always run on parallel bars.  It really is blood, sweat and sometimes even tears, to get the wheel to grind.


Participating in the Gather Success Blogger Challenge I have picked up the following:


-           Going back to basics is empowering:   At the very least it reaffirms that which you already know, at best you pick up new gems that you may have missed first time around or were never aware of in the first place.

-          Escalated speed of progress.  Familiar territory covered quickly and with ease, unfamiliar ground quickly understood and enacted.

-          Identifying areas of weakness.    In my case I know that my social media smarts are in need of some serious smartening up.  Having gone through the exercise I now visit Twitter and Facebook with some regularity.  I don’t always post, just hang out and try to understand by osmosis.  I have to admit that I am beginning to understand Facebook better than Twitter, but am confident that the latter will eventually become just another marketing tool I use with ease.

-          Procrastination rules – aaarrrgghhh!!!  This is my big elephant in the room.  It shows up way too often in all that I do.  I mean, here I am, putting up this post the day before the results are due instead of the day the challenge began!

This makes me think of my previous habit of being chronically late for just about everything.  I decided to change that.  I did.  I did that by simply changing the goal from being on time to being early by 10 to 15 minutes.  That bought me time for unexpected delays.  I am still not perfect but am on time better than 90% of the time.

I will now work on my procrastination.  Instead of saying that I will complete the project on time I will change that to  I begin my projects in a timely fashion so as to complete them before they are due.

-         It’s fun to play … participating in challenges gets the adrenaline going and sharpens your smarts.


I hope that some of what I have experienced to date will be useful to you.  In the meantime you could help me play by visiting:

http://bit.ly/bDDm4N .

You can also view all of the videos of the call-ins that Alvin hosts every Tuesday and pick up the same gems that I do.

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Sunday Morn Musings: The Ordinary Man

"The Little Engine That Could"

The Little Engine That Could

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.


My last post here was on Frank Kern’s State of the internet address.  Today  I republish an article which first appeared on my Four O’Clock Thursdays.  That was a year ago.   The words were about the man.  The article about life.  I hope you enjoy the read:


Dateline:  May 07 2009


…The trip to San Diego was fabulous.  I had dinner with a friend I have not seen since my days in Japan and it was just so cool to do catch up…we were just like kids!  So much fun.


The reason I went to San Diego however, was to attend an internet marketing seminar.  If I have never mentioned it here, that is what I do: internet marketing.  As with any profession it is important to keep up, learn new things and meet colleagues and peers in your line of work. To that end the weekend did not disappoint.


I loved the venue which was at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego.  The whole area is uber chi chi. At the seminar of 500 or maybe 600, I met a lot of people from all parts of the world.  We had time to chat, and scope out business opportunities and joint venture options and just make new friends.  Life is good.


What completely blew me away at this seminar however, was the opening address by the host.  Frank Kern is a surf dude, extraordinarily successful in internet marketing and showed a side of human depth that he does not often display – at least not publicly.  I had the privilege to briefly chat with him and you know how you get a certain feeling about someone?  The feeling I got was that this young man is a very kind human being.


In his opening address Frank spoke of the Average Man and how the average man is no longer average. Summarized in my own words, which do little justice to the original:


Back when the average man went out to work, to get a job done, to feed, clothe and house his family, being an average man meant something.  The average man took responsibility  for his well being and did not sit around listening to excuses as to why he was no further along in his life than he was.  He put in an honest day’s work and looked forward to putting in another with the hope in his heart to do better and to give more tomorrow.  Being average was something to be proud of.


Yes there was always more to aspire to.  The average man in those days did not buy into excuses peddled by feel good professionals.  He did not think there was anything wrong with him and if occasionally the world was not rosy, well that was life and in time things improved.


Today a new industry has blossomed – the feel good industry, the instant fix for whatever is wrong with you.   The media is awash with psychiatrists, psychologists, and self anointed professionals who tell the average man that indeed  there is much that is wrong with him but not to worry, it is not his fault and if he but listen to them they will fix that which is wrong with him.  He is sat down to an aptitude test which tells him what he can be when he grows up:  a doctor, lawyer, garbage collector.  Don’t worry, nothing wrong with garbage collector – it is not your fault if this is all that you are suited for, it is not your fault if:


-  You can’t read – In the US 27% are functionally illiterate

-  You are able to read just enough to get by – 25% – 30% in the US fall into this category.


That makes more than 50% of Americans who can barely read. But that’s not their fault.  They are probably dyslexic, have ADD or ADHD or their parents did not love them enough.


Today the average man

- spends 20% of his time at work making non-work related phone calls

- 38% of those calls are job hunting (now that makes for an excellent employee)


But that’s ok … it’s not the average man’s fault.  The job is not meaningful, the boss demands too much and pays too little.  Why would the average man not steal some time from the man who pays him for a job he hates to look for another job?


And get this … the average American household watches on average 8.35 hours of TV every day.  Needed escapist therapy to handle the boredom and tedium of a life that seems to be going nowhere.


Systemically the feel good industry of “Hey you’re OK, I’m OK – its not your fault that yada, yada, yada”  … systemically the average man has succumbed to a litany of lies that say


“it is not your fault…”

“..you are entitled to”

“…it is your right…”


and so the  standards of the average man have been dumbed  down.   Today the average man is no longer proud of who he is and is not willing to do anything about it.  The average man is no longer average, is bereft of the values of his forebears.


This is not who we want to be, to aspire to.  Today’s average man is not who we want to hang out with.


“If you want to do the things that other people can’t do, simply do the few things that other people won’t do”


Frank was diagnosed as being dyslexic, and to compound that “problem” he was pronounced to be ADD which, when the experts became even more knowledgeable, was upgraded to ADHD!  Meds were the answer.  For a while life was absent of chaos and internal turmoil, it flowed smoothly if somewhat artificially.  The rose  colored glasses he was given to wear, were, hey, OK!


Got him into college. Performed abysmally.  Sure enough the aptitude test confirmed that he was not suited for higher learning, indeed collecting garbage was more like the kind of life he should be aspiring to.


Fortunately there was enough of a contrarian still lurking in Frank’s body.  He took off the rose colored glasses.  Collecting garbage did not appeal to him.  He refused to accept what others had decided for him and made his own decision:  to take responsibility for himself.


Today Frank is not only wildly successful, but a bright and articulate man and all because he refused to be an average man nor to accept the pablum that was being fed to him.

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Frank Kern’s State of the Internet Address

With Frank Kern at Mass Control

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.



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The Week That Was: May 17 – 23

gather success
Gather Success

Today is a holiday here in Canada – Victoria Day.  Funny thing.  Every day of the weekend they have been predicting rain.  Every day of the weekend, the morning overcast turned to sunny.  Today appears to be a repeat!

What are some of the outstanding moments in my blog life this past week?

Well for one thing, the blog life has had to make way for a non- blog life and that may be the case for the next few months but it is all good.   To maximize my efforts and put some efficiencies into play I have made the following decisions regarding my Blog Income Life:

  • Focus on the “income” in Blog Income Life.  To that point I will be looking at my aggregate internet marketing income as my Blog Income Life.   I am giving myself the balance of Q2 and all of Q3 to ramp this up.  My first report will be published in October. 
  •  

  •  As the focus shifts to income, I have decided to concentrate on affiliate marketing.  Affiliate marketing has paid me in dribs and drabs, but nothing sustainable and no plan in place for sustained results.  I am currently looking at all the programs that I am affiliated with a view to begin to marketing  them – beginning with one.  Reviews on these programs will be posted here.  In the meantime, any advertising banners on Blog Income are those of products that I personally have bought and am pleased with … I know, none here right now, but there are quite a number and I’ll put them up soon.

 

There is plenty more on the horizon which I will share with you as time, plans and results unfold.  I am excited.

Now for the week that was – summary of new posts since May 16:

Gather  Success Challenge III – Affiliate Marketing :
As a contestant of Alvin Phang’s Gather Success Blogger Reality Show I “attend” the weekly call-in and take notes to both apply to my own efforts and to post here so that you can take away a gem or two that  may be helpful  too.  Lots of gems on this call.  Read them here.

sidenote:  this is the call-in that made the penny drop for me re affiliate marketing and earning a sustainable online income.

Gather Success Challenge IV – Retweet Challenge
My bête noir!  For some reason I have been dragging my feet when it comes to social media, particularly when it comes to Twitter.  Alvin  makes it clear:  we need to become more familiar with Mr. Twitter!   This week I have been reluctantly visiting Twitter and making a few tweets here and there (not enough I am sure to garner me in the top three, but ok, it’s dipping my toes.  This post is all about me being a shameless hussy and “chirping” for RTs … that would be “retweets!”  (I think).  

Sunday Morn Musings: Learning to Dance in the Rain
A very short post – I give deference to the video, which is (I think) profound.  I couldn’t say it better.  Enjoy the video!

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Sunday Morn Musings: Learning to Dance in the Rain

Learning to Dance in the Rain … I came across this video, it made the shivers run up my spine.  The title gives more than  enough to the imagination  to write a post on learning to dance in the rain, but the more I watched the video, the more I realized that the best post would simply be to put up the video here.

Gather Success Challenge IV – Retweet Challenge

Gather Success Retweet Challenge

Chirping for Retweets!

This week’s challenge at Gather Success is all about the ReTweet … the objective is to get familiar with Mr. Twitter, now that is a challenge and a half for me!  That is not good.  I’m not in the habit of getting familiar with any misters that I don’t know very well … and Mr. Twitter?  Why, we’re practically strangers!

Yes, I have a Twitter account.  Yes, I took a workshop with Matt Astifan on how to be a good Twit – no wait, that would be Tweeter.

No.  I have not been putting what I learned to practice.  I haven’t even got the tweeting thing down pat let alone the REtweet.


This challenge is forcing my hand.
 

There are points at stake and the winner even gets cash!  A whole $100 smackeroos.   All I have to do is get the following retweeted

RT @MrGatherSuccess by @goldenkoi Join In The Tweet Contest & Win $100 In Prizes! More Details @  http://bit.ly/9zLn3M


I have noticed that there are some in the contest who have real savvy social media smarts but hey, who knows, maybe,  just maybe  if not the loot I can at least figure in the top three?  That will give me 50 points (in 3rd spot).


In addition to actually tweeting I can promote it through any online media – including blogs and email.  So if you’re on my mailing list, you’ll be hearing from me again :oops:


The difficulty level of this challenge is 6 out of 10!  It`s getting steeper all the time!


If you are a frequent visitor here, please feel free to retweet; yeah, I know.  No - whoring is too harsh, the word would be “chirping” thank you, please! 

How to do this:  Login to your Twitter account.  Copy and paste the two lines below, and tweet it.

RT @MrGatherSuccess by @YourTweetID Join In The Tweet Contest & Win $100 In Prizes! More Details @ http://bit.ly/9zLn3M

If you are a first time visitor – hey jump in the game!


And speaking of jumping in the game.  Each week`s challenge is a standalone module so if you want to you can still register and kick ass.   No seriously.  And then you can log on to the weekly webinar with Alvin – I have picked up so many tips.  Some I have posted here, but there really is soooooo much more … and it’s fun!
 

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Gather Success Challenge III – Affiliate Marketing

affiliate marketing money

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.

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The Week That Was: May 10-16

Week was filled to the rafters – blogging, yes, and other things that have nothing to do with Blog Income nor  the internet kept me busier than a bee.   All good.

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.