Since I made the decision to email (and blog) daily, I have undoubtedly made a deeper connection with my subscribers.

Responding to their questions and comments deepens the connection still.

I responded to Dave here…

I responded to Richard here and here…

And I responded to Dee here…

If a subscriber needs me, I’ll do my best to help them in one of my mailings…

Or at the very least, give them an answer when replying to a blog comment.

But, I know I could do a lot more.

I was reading “Huge Profits With a Tiny List” by Connie Ragen Green this morning and in it, she revealed she offers a free call each month.

Her call is like an “open surgery” where subscribers ask her anything they need to know.

I previously hosted a Q & A session on my Facebook Page but want to do this more regularly.

But, I’ll only do this if there is a demand for it…

So, would a free, live, “open surgery” type call each month be of benefit to you?

If so, please leave your comments below.

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During school and most of my university years, I played a computer game called Championship Manager.

In it, you took the role of manager in your choice of soccer team and had full control over what happened throughout an unlimited number of seasons.

I’d spend hours scouring the transfer market – buying, selling and loaning players.

I’d tweak each player’s morning and afternoon training regimes for optimal match fitness.

And, I’d spend a ridiculous amount of time pouring over statistics to work out the best tactics and formations to bring the best out of my players.

The hours I spent on this game added up to months…

But seemed to pass without so much as a glance at the clock.

According to world renowned psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, while playing the game I experienced flow, whereby I was totally focused and completely un-self-conscious.

What I find interesting is Csikszentmihalyi’s argument that if jobs were constructed more like games, flow would be reached more often at work.

It’s why I feel so at home as an Internet Marketer.

In it’s broadest sense, Internet Marketing has all the elements of a game:

Rules that provide boundaries (legal and ethical)…

Practice to build skills (marketing techniques, copywriting etc.)…

And scoring systems that offer immediate feedback on performance (the money made from each marketing campaign).

I can easily spend 10 or 12 hours straight “in the zone”, working on a new project without clock watching.

And I can’t wait to get started each morning so I can experience that “high” Internet Marketing gives me.

In this industry, the flow is unlikely to end because the Internet is forever changing and unpredictable…

Which can’t be said for your average 9 to 5.

Since I quit my day job to work for myself in 2006, I haven’t fired up Championship Manager once.

These days, I get all the kicks I need from my business.

Another busy week lays ahead with a kick-ass webinar to deliver this weekend and a new product scheduled to launch at the end of the month…

It’s time to get my game face on.

P.S. One way to experience a flow that never ends is by working on projects that succeed and make money online.

Every success will drive you onto your next.

With Niche Reaper, you get 200,000 niches and 2.6 million keywords already fully researched for you…

With brand new niches and keywords analysed in real time, in front of your very eyes!

Memberships are closing this week so if you want “in”, you need to act now!

CLICK HERE FOR NICHE REAPER

(image attributed to Ben Sutherland)

No, I haven’t turned to guidance from the “other side” on how to make money online.

To be blunt, I don’t buy into any of that stuff.

But, what I do reckon on, is coming up with headlines that “hypnotise” you into reading further.

Believe it or not, today’s blog post title was an actual headline from a local newspaper.

You see, the local press is desperate for “news” to fit in around the numerous pages of advertising…

So desperate, they will report on anything and pass it off as newsworthy.

For my money, local sub editors are some of the most talented in the business…

Because they always need to be at their most creative to come up with compelling headlines to sell this time wasting nonsense.

As a result, the local press is an absolute goldmine in terms of marketing material inspiration.

Here are a few more genuine headlines:

• Dog Injures Nose
• Church Window Nearly Smashed
• “Smug” Swans Attack Dalmatian
• Ungrateful Cow Snubs Rescuers
• Car Hits Hedge
• Towel Catches Fire
• No One Injured In Accident
• Whitstable Mum In Custard Shortage (FYI: Whitstable is a town in England)
• Pensioner’s Breakfast Catches Fire
• Raiders Leave Incontinence Pads On Lorry

What did I tell you?

Gold.

Feel free to swipe these and use them in your own marketing campaigns.

But keep a keen eye on your own local newspapers too…

A slow news day could be worth a fortune to you.

P.S. You no longer need psychic ability to choose what niches to get involved in.

With Niche Reaper, you get 200,000 niches and 2.6 million keywords already fully researched for you…

Telling you exactly where the “weak spots” are in Google’s first page so you can rank your own websites with ease!

Plus, new niches and keywords appear in the members area in real time as they get the Niche Reaper treatment!

Hurry! Only a few spots left before the doors slam shut!

CLICK HERE FOR NICHE REAPER

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Why is it that some marketers put their subscribers up on a pedestal?

Doing anything and everything to avoid “offending” them?

After spending time, money and effort getting that subscriber onto their list…

They’re too afraid to send an email for fear of them unsubscribing.

I say, if a subscriber wants to leave…

Let them.

It’s not just me saying this, but Stephan Schiffman, author of The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Sales People.

Having trained over half a million sales professionals across 9,000 different organisations, I’d say he knows a thing or two about handling prospects.

As marketers, it’s our job to take the lead…

To guide each subscriber through the perilous path that is Internet Marketing, recommend products and get paid.

I’ve got a lot to talk about each week and I want you to post your reactions on my blog…

So, I email out daily.

Well, Monday to Friday at least.

Even full-throttle Internet Marketers need a little downtime.

But, if you don’t want my straight talking, yet entertaining take on the industry hitting your inbox every day…

Then unsubscribe.

Of course, you will be missed, but I ain’t holding anybody here against their will.

Alternatively, as Schiffman puts it, we could have a “long, ‘good’ relationship” whereby email contact is sporadic and fluffy…

Where I never get around to the reason why I invited you to join my list in the first place.

All this leads to is an odd, results-free limbo where neither of us knows what to do next…

I’m not helping you and you’re getting nothing out of being a subscriber to my list.

“Marketers” who run their non-businesses like this are not marketers at all.

But, while these cissies are peeing their pants at the thought of pushing the “send” button…

It means my emails are getting read.

P.S. If you want to be a successful Internet Marketer you need to become a leader…

How does dominating over 200,000 niches and 2.6 million keywords sound?

My favourite niche research tool, Niche Reaper has reopened its doors to new members for a few days only.

Discover lucrative, untapped niches immediately…

Even find out which competing websites on Google’s first page are “weak links” so you can replace them and pocket the cash for yourself!

Hurry! Get your ticket to easy niche domination before the doors slam shut:

CLICK HERE FOR NICHE REAPER

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A few days back I asked what you were focusing on in October.

Dee said she was going to create a free product to start building her list then work on a paid product.

Of course, this is the way most marketer’s “teach” you how to do things.

But I am going to challenge this today and suggest you should forget creating a freebie as your first priority and work on something that will put money in your bank account instead.

The reason for this?

Freebie seekers suck.

While you are slogging your guts out trying to give them “value” for free they give you very little in return…

In my experience, freebie seekers who turn into paying customers are in the tiny minority.

Connie Ragen Green, author of Huge Profits With A Tiny List agrees and suggests not spending too much time preparing a free giveaway.

If you do, the chances are your freebie will be “too good” and your prospects will not purchase your paid offerings.

Instead, why not create a solid product and sell it as a low priced, high value Warrior Special Offer (WSO)?

It’s still lead generation… but you are attracting a better quality of lead.

Even selling your product for a few dollars apiece will add proven buyers onto your list.

When they buy once, a good percentage will go on to purchase your One Time Offer (OTO)…

And then buy your higher priced products and services.

What’s happening is you are fast-tracking quality leads through your sales funnel…

Because you are not dealing with the deadbeats at all!

Leave them to waste somebody else’s time!

I’ve made more money from a tiny list of under 1,000 buyers than I ever did from thousands of “leads” collected via playing the freebie game.

Just like every other Internet Marketer with bills to pay and a family to support…

That is what is most important to me.

P.S. If you need more help creating products, Justin Popovic is your “go to” guy.

He’s created over 60 products in less than a year (yes, more than one per week!)

And, with his help you’ll be adding buyers to your list faster than the freebie seekers can unsubscribe when you ask them to blow the dust off their credit card!

CLICK HERE FOR PRODUCT CREATION TRAINING

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Today I want to talk a little more about the 80/20 rule which was discussed in yesterday’s post.

The reason for this is Brian Tracy, author of productivity bible Eat That Frog, outlined a simple rule to follow which I felt warranted a post to itself.

The rule is:

Resist the temptation to clear up small things first.

When I first started working off a daily “to do” list, I’d have about 15-20 items daily without fail.

Most of these would be low-value tasks and I’d get a lot of pleasure from “working hard” to complete them…

And see a lot of red ink on the page as each of them were crossed off my list.

The problem with this is that low value tasks just keep you busy without taking your business forward.

So, I’d work flat out all week and by Friday I’d still feel like I hadn’t got anything done.

Fast forward to today and my daily “to do” list may have four or five items on it…

Apart from when a new product is nearing launch and each step is listed to be completed in sequence.

You see, I’ve cut out all the low-value tasks that used to stink-up my day.

Gone have the blog commenting sessions…

The link building…

The article marketing and the social bookmarking,

Heck, I don’t even bother trying to “build my list” any more because I am concentrating on paid product creation to attract buyers rather than time-wasting freebie seekers.

Just like a fatty who has cut out cake and chocolate…

I’ve gone on a daily task diet.

I’m still “busy” each day but not frantic before collapsing in a pool of sweat after trying to juggle and complete multiple tasks.

Better still, my deodorant bill has reduced significantly too.

P.S. One topic that has caused me to sweat more than most (and keep my office window open to allow fresh air to flow in) is Facebook.

Spending three days tweaking and resubmitting adverts for them to eventually get accepted is not my idea of “living the IM dream”.

To save yourself a ton of time and frustration so you can work on your important tasks with a clear head (and dry shirt), I recommend Facebook Blackbook.

Rather than trying to figure it out yourself, learn from one of the industry’s top insiders who manages multi-million dollar advertising accounts for leading brands:

CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK BLACKBOOK

(image attributed to Brianfit)

This may sound like a stupid question…

And will probably be met by cries of “Yes, of course I am”.

But, are you?

Really?

You see, there is a HUGE difference between giving your customers what they NEED…

And what they want.

Arguably, a large majority of “aspiring Internet Marketers” entering the industry need to be given a boot up the ass and sent on their way to the local job centre…

Because it’s painfully obvious they are not cut out to survive in such a cut-throat online environment.

But, if you always took that attitude, you’d never make any money online yourself.

What your customers want is to be told making money online is easy.

Or if you’re in the weight loss industry, that transforming your body from Beth Ditto to Heidi Klum doesn’t mean you have to cut out cake and chocolate.

Or if you’re in the dating game, that “Screech” (from Saved by the Bell fame) can be “in like Flynn”.

It’s the reason why who you and I may call “scammers” are making out like the bandits they are…

And why the honest, truthful marketers out there are scratching their heads wondering why their detailed, page-heavy info products that teach from start to finish are not selling.

The reason? School ain’t cool.

Your customers don’t want to hear…

That making money online involves hours, weeks, months (and dare I say it, YEARS) of learning marketing, working on your sales techniques and building relationships…

That the most blatantly obvious way of shedding the pounds is to STOP EATING SO MUCH CRAP, FATTY!

And our nerdy friend is never going to get laid unless he stops acting like some sort of social recluse and actually TALKS to girls.

All honest, all factual… but NOT what your customer wants to hear.

I am not saying you have to be downright unethical and lie to them to secure their order…

But give them a little sizzle as well as the steak.

P.S. I have an example of sizzle and steak for you to chew over.

Problem: You want to rank higher in the search engines and need quality, authority backlinks to do so.

Sizzle: Paul Clifford’s new Link Finder Pro software finds a minimum of 100 high PR blogs and directories (including edu, gov and auto approve sites) every time you enter your chosen keyword.

Steak: You have to spend a few minutes to create the links on these returned websites yourself.

If you are hungry for higher search engine rankings, Link Finder Pro will match your appetite:

CLICK HERE FOR LINK FINDER PRO

(image attributed to RecoveringLazyHolic.com)

Last weekend I watched the movie Burke and Hare, a black comedy based on the true story of two 19th century grave robbers.

It starred British actors Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, whose characters fell into the lucrative business of providing cadavers (dead bodies) for an Edinburgh medical school.

The tale began innocently enough, when they took the body of their dead lodger to Dr. Robert Knox who would dissect it for the benefit of his students…

But after receiving a large amount of money for their trouble and then asked to deliver two bodies per week, the pair became more “creative” (and bloodthirsty) in how they went about their new-found business.

In the end, Burke was hanged for his crimes.

To me, this sounds a lot like Internet Marketing in today’s day and age.

Stay with me here…

As marketers our greatest enemy is the clock because we have so much we need to get done in a short space of time…

Planning and market research…

Product creation…

Email marketing…

Not to mention all of those other repetitive and time consuming tasks such as link building, social bookmarking and all the rest.

It’s no wonder we often feel overwhelmed.

Like Burke and Hare who needed a fast solution to deliver on their weekly quota of two bodies…

We as marketers also need something that is going to help us hit our targets in the limited time we have.

However, we don’t have to commit murder to achieve it.

Peter Garety has just released his Outsourcing Mechanics course, a collection of 70 (yes, 70!) training videos you can hand over to your outsource staff and set them to work!

CLICK HERE FOR OUTSOURCING MECHANICS

Your outsource team can get on with all the important, yet time intensive tasks like:

Keyword research…

Building WordPress blogs…

Back linking…

And more stuff you shouldn’t be bloodying your hands with.

While these tasks are being taken care of by somebody else, you can concentrate on actual marketing and bring in more money for your business

CLICK HERE FOR OUTSOURCING MECHANICS

P.S. If you are trying to do everything yourself in your business you are going to burn yourself out fast and not make anywhere near the money you could if you just let somebody else handle the bulk of your non-marketing tasks.

Peter Garety’s Outsourcing Mechanics will free up your time like you never thought possible and you will see the benefits to your business instantly.

You’ll also have more time for fun stuff, like watching movies and drinking beer.

CLICK HERE FOR OUTSOURCING MECHANICS

(image attributed to Wouter Verhelst)

A few days ago I wrote a post about popular Welsh slang…

But, it seems we’re not the only ones giving the English language a good kicking.

Yesterday, I read an article in the newspaper about crazy corporate jargon bosses use to make themselves sound important…

(Or more likely, to keep their subordinates suitably confused so they just nod their heads at meetings and don’t ask too many questions).

Things like:

• “Zero Sum Game”
  A situation whereby the gains and losses add up to zero. The winner can gain no more and no less than the loser loses. If you’re just starting out in Internet Marketing it can feel like this.

• “Marzipan Layer”
  The sticky layer just below boardroom level which few women manage to rise. Most “successful” Internet Marketers are stuck here too because try as they might, they’ll never be “A list”.

• “Squaring the Circle”
  An impossible task. Most newbies feel like they are trying to do this by piecing together all the little bits of information they have about making money online.

• “Pushing the Envelope”
  A flight envelope is a plane’s best possible performance window. Engineers who pushed the envelope were trying to make it even better. This phrase now applies to any effort that makes the unachievable achievable. What you should be doing as an Internet Marketer…

• “Salami Technique”
  Computer fraud whereby small sums of money are transferred from numerous customer accounts into one account held in a false name. If enough small amounts are embezzled from enough people, nobody will notice. Sounds like a few recent product launches if you ask me…

I don’t know about you but I am glad I left the corporate world behind five years ago…

There’s no way I could deal with that amount of B.S. on a daily basis!

Anyway, quit trying to square the circle…

And push the envelope instead!

This free training from Brad Gosse and Justin Popovic shows you how:

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE TRAINING

P.S. Brad and Justin have pulled back the curtain on their own online businesses and reveal what you should do if you are also to become a successful Internet Marketer.

Better still, this training is 100% free!

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE TRAINING

(image attributed to Joe Shlabotnik)

I read another chapter of Huge Profits With a Tiny List last night, the book written by former teacher turned super affiliate Connie Ragen Green.

In it, she talked about video marketing and while the content was very basic, one tip stuck out and I wanted to share it with you today.

She recommends repurposing your content as a Powerpoint presentation (personally, I use the free OpenOffice version) and turning it into video.

I can attest this works.

In my “First of the Month” video for September, I revealed how I sold $10,948 worth of info products in August.

My most successful product made $7,695 on the front end…

But an additional One Time Offer (OTO) generated a further $1,836 in revenue.

Take a wild stab in the dark what the OTO was based on?

Repurposed video content.

All I did was take the content from my written training guide…

And created some “over the shoulder” video tutorials.

Those marketers who prefer video training got what they wanted for an additional nine dollar investment…

And I added an extra 24 percent to my bottom line with very little effort.

You can do this too.

P.S. If you are serious about cranking your video marketing up a notch, I recommend Easy Video Player.

I use it on this blog and on my other websites where video training is available.

I’ve even posted a video review where you can watch me using it!

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