The Motherload of Web Marketing Resources

If you don't already visit the Warrior Forum, you should start...now. Most of the best minds in internet marketing are members and there is a constant flow of information and ideas.

In once recent thread, a generous Warrior posted a massive list of resources that you can use to learn and earn. The list is even broken down in categories such as Research Tools, Product Creation, Tools and Software, etc...

I highly encourage you to check out the links in the thread below.

http://www.warriorforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=111799

Ranked # 6 in Google!

So a few days ago I posted a message that I was looking for an plush doll of a cartoon character named Oswald for my daughter. I was frustrated at not being able to find one (still am!) and I fent the need to vent a little.

Well this morning I Googled the keyword phrase "oswald plush" and was surprised to see this very blog ranked at number 6! I don't expect it to last very long since this blog is more about marketing than stuffed animals, but it was a pretty cool demonstration of how people can find your website or blog through keywords you never would have predicted.

Of course, Oswald plush is not a highly competitve term. According to Wordtracker, that search phrase is only used 4 times per day (and I think a few of them might be me!). But in checking my stats, I found that several people did find this blog by searching for an Oswald plush doll.

And that's part of the Long Tail of Keywords. People don't just find your site using the keywords you optimize your pages for. If you look at your stats over a period of time you'll find all sorts of keywords that never occured to you or that you never targeted. This opens an opportunity for you to spot a trend in the search terms and take advantage of it.

Achieving Greatness

I was browsing around the web and stumbled upon an excellent article on Yahoo Finance. The article is titled "What It Takes To Be Great" and it discusses the idea that greatness is the result of hard work and deliberate practice rather than a natural born gift.

One example author Geoffrey Colvin uses is Tiger Woods. Woods is the greatest golfer of all time, and most people believe he was lucky enough to be born with a natural talent for golfing that ensured his success.

But Colvin points out that Woods' father introduced him to golf at 18 months of age, and instilled in him a strong work ethic and a determination to improve, qualities that remain with him today. And it is these qualities that have made Woods the great player he is, not a god-given talent for swinging a golf club.

This lesson can be applied to all aspects of life including sports and business, and it fits internet marketing like a glove.

How many would be marketers think they can just throw a crappy website up with a bunch of affiliate links on it and wait for the money to come flooding in?

Sadly, it doesn't work like that. Internet marketing is a business and it takes drive, determination, and motivation to succeed. If you work hard (and smartly) there is a lot of money to be made. But don't expect to get rich without breaking a sweat.

As the author of the article points out, If great performance were easy, it wouldn't be rare.

You can read the full article at the link below:

What It Takes To Be Great

The PPC vs CPA Debate

Just a quick note today to weigh in on a topic that has been pretty hot lately. The debate over PPC vs CPA is hardly new, but it seemed to take on a life of its own after the recent release of "Life After Adsense".

( Sidebar - If you haven't already read Life After Adsense, you can get the free report at http://www.lifeafteradsense.com )

For those of you who are not familiar with the abbreviations PPC and CPA:

PPC is short for Pay Per Click. When running a PPC campaign, the merchant pays for each clickthrough generated to his site. Think Google AdWords.

CPA stands for Cost Per Action or Cost Per Acquisition. In a CPA campaign the merchant pays for leads, not visitors. A visitor must perform some type of action, such as signing up for a newsletter or a free sample, before they are confirmed as leads.

As an affiliate, it's usually easier to make a few bucks with PPC. All you have to do to get paid is get someone to click on one of the PPC ads on your page. With CPA ads, they have to take a few extra steps before you'll get paid. Conversion rates will likely be lower, but the payout can be way, way higher. For this reason, I generally prefer CPA offers.

But I also use PPC ads such as Google Adsense on some of my sites. It's foolish to leave money on the table by ignoring PPC altogether.

A Small Experiment

I recently signed up for a CPA network called Direct Leads, I wanted to run a small test to see how I liked it. All I did was post a short message on one of my niche-themed sites with a link to a merchant that offers free samples of consumer products.

The merchant pays one dollar for each lead generated. In order to get the confirmed lead, I needed someone to click on my affiliate link, sign up to receive the free product sample, and agree to receive info on at least one more service.

In just a couple of days, I had generated $88 in commissions. While that may not seem like a lot, keep in mind that this was just a small-scale experiment. The blog I posted to does not get a ton of traffic yet and the commission was only $1 per lead. There are other products that pay much higher (as high as $150 per lead).

Just imagine what a high-traffic blog or website that gets lots of highly targeted visitors could do with a program that offered commissions of $18, $30, or even $150 per lead!

I encourage you to check out Direct Leads now and start bringing in those massive commissions. Just click the link below for more info.

DirectLeads - Make Money!

The Mets Fall

Not in a great mood today as the NY Mets were eliminated from the playoffs last night. I'm a big baseball fan and the Mets haven't won a championship since 1986. They had a great year and last night's game was a classic, but they fell just short of the World Series.

Oh well, there's always next year. At least we made it further than the Yankees did, which means Yankee fans will be quiet for once.

A Big Disappointment...

A little off-topic today, but I feel the need to vent.

Christmas is coming (I know there's plenty of time but I hate malls and I like to get shopping out of the way). My 2 year old daughter absolutely loves a cartoon on Noggin called Oswald. If you've never heard of Oswald, it's a cartoon about a kind, blue octopus and his friends. I thought wouldn't it be great if I could get her a stuffed Oswald doll to play with...

So I searched everywhere I could think for an Oswald plush. They have them on eBay, but they're way overpriced and some of them are used.

I managed to find just one site that sold an Oswald plush and said they had them in stock. So I placed my order, received my confirmation email, and waited for it to be shipped. And I waited. And waited. Twice I emailed their customer service asking for a status. Twice I got no response.

Finally, I found their telephone number and called only to hear "I'm sorry, the number you dialed is no longer in service."

I got so mad. Why did their site allow me to enter my credit card info if they are no longer there? (I'm assuming they're no longer in business).

My credit card wasn't charged and I'm not out of money, but I am out a big, blue octopus named Oswald.

It's hardly the end of the world, but it would have made my little girl happy. I just don't see why they would leave all of their links and the shopping cart running if they're no longer there. It's bad business.

Oh well....the search for Oswald continues.... :)

Creative Ads from Around the World

Just a quick note today to share a fascinating page I found.

I'm a big fan of advertising and copywriting, so I'm always on the lookout for examples of creative ads.

Here's a page that demonstrates some of the more creative ads from around the world. Personally, I like the Folgers coffee ad best.

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/10/15/creative-advertisements-around-the-world/

Why You Can't Find TMX Elmo in Stores

Update - 11/15...

I've been keeping an eye on TMX Elmo auctions and it looks like the prices have leveled off and even dropped a bit. May be a good time to bid on a TMX Elmo on eBay. You might get lucky.


Original Posting...

Halloween hasn't even passed yet, but the TMX Elmo has already been set up as the "must have" toy of this holiday shopping season. If you have young children, you've probably already been worn down by your little ones begging for this 'ultimate' toy. If not, you can expect it to happen soon as the holidays draw closer.

But if you've been to toy stores looking for TMX Elmo, you've probably left empty-handed and disappointed. The shelves are bare, and you can't even order them online (unless you are willing to pay the extortionists on eBay many times the retail price).

It doesn't seem to make sense does it? If toy stores know that TMX Elmo is going to sell like crazy, wouldn't they want to keep the shelves stocked so they could sell as many as possible?

Nope.

The truth is they don't want too many people buying Elmo, at least not yet.

Let me explain...

Robert Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, used an example quite similar to the TMX Elmo to explain his principle of Commitment and Consistency. In his classic book on persuasion and marketing, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Cialdini explains how toy stores trick you into spending more each holiday season.

(It's not a new technique by the way. Think about past holiday frenzies over PlayStation 2 game consoles, Cabbage Patch Kids, and the original Tickle-Me Elmo.)

I can't discuss every nuance of Cialdini's principles here, but I'll give you a summary to make my point. (If you want to read more, I highly recommend Cialdini's book. It's a fascinating read and you can get it on Amazon for about ten bucks.)

1. Toy sales have traditionally sagged in January and February. Parents who just spent a small fortune on Christmas presents are not in the mood to spend more right after the holidays. Looking to avoid this post-holiday drop in sales, toy stores discovered the following persuasion technique that works perfectly time and again.

2. Toy stores advertise 'the toy that every kid must have' knowing that kids will beg and badger their parents until they agree to buy one as a Christmas present.

3. The stores then deliberately understock the item. They stock just enough to create a mini-frenzy and to build anticipation and whet appetites.

4. Now they have you in the store and the toy you came for is out of stock. You ask when they'll get more but you're told that demand is too high and they don't know if they'll have more in time for Christmas.

But you certainly can't let your kids down. After all, you made them a promise (the Commitment) and you will feel compelled to follow through with that promise (Consistency) to avoid disappointing your kids.

5. Since you can't get TMX Elmo, you do the next best thing. You buy a bunch of other stuff for your kids instead.

Did you catch that? This is where the toy stores get you. Let me repeat it..."You buy a bunch of other stuff for your kids instead."

Do you see the subtle beauty of the store's influence? By deliberately understocking the shelves, they forced you into buying other items (that you probably wouldn't have bought otherwise). They do this because they know...

6. After the holidays, when your kids are disappointed that they didn't get the new TMX Elmo, the shelves are suddenly full of them. New commercials start running to build up demand again.

Based on Cialdini's principle, you made a Commitment to your child, and in order to maintain Consistency you feel compelled to follow through on that promise. So off you march to the store to buy the TMX Elmo. Better late than never.

Your kids are happy because they got the toy they wanted. And the store is happy because they persuaded you to not just buy the TMX Elmo, but a bunch of other toys as well.

You have to hand it to the toy stores and their marketing teams. It's a brilliant method of persuasion because of its power and because it is so subtle that few people would ever figure it out.

List of the Top AdSense Earners

I saw this on another blog last week and meant to post it then, but go distracted.

It's a list of the Top 8 Google Adsense earners and their sites. The list is unofficial
and I suspect there are plenty of others out there earning 6 figures who do not wish
to be identified.

Nevertheless, it's fun to see how much potential there is in the marketing world.

List of the Top AdSense Earners.

Get an easy $50 commission...

I wanted to tell you about a unique promotion being held by a fellow marketer named Blaz Banic.

Blaz is in the process of writing an ebook about making money online. He doesn't give much detail as to what the ebook will cover, but he's looking for some feedback. On his blog, he's posted a couple of questions that I assume he will answer in his ebook.

He's giving away a free copy of his ebook to anyone that replies to his questions and he's giving a $50 prize to whoever has the best comments.

There's a catch though. In order to collect the prize, you have to be a Clickbank affiliate. Rather than pay you in cash, Blaz promises to purchase a product from Clickbank using your affiliate ID so you can collect a $50 commission.

I suspect Blaz is planning to purchase a product and he knows it will pay a $50 commission, so he is using that as an opportunity to create a bonus out of thin air. He'll get the product he wants and you'll get the $50 commission. It's a nice arrangement and everybody wins.

I have no idea how good Blaz's ebook will be, but hopefully it will include other creative ideas such as this one. Plus, it can't hurt to throw in your hat for a free $50 commission.

Check out Blaz's blog: http://insidemarketing.blogspot.com

Make Your Site Sell by Ken Evoy is now free!

Great news! Dr. Ken Evoy has decided to make his
best-selling ebook Make Your Site Sell available for free!

Originally written back in 1999, and updated in 2002,
MYSS is the ebook that helped thousands of everyday
folks launch successful and profitable websites.

It may be a few years old, but the secrets inside are still
as relevant today as ever.

I highly recommend you download your free copy today...

Make Your Site Sell for Free

My Big Mistake!

No matter what kind of product or service you are trying to sell, you must always remember to think of your customers. Just because you think something is a good idea doesn't mean that everyone else will too.

It's not what you think, it's what your customers think. This is a lesson that we all must learn.

I thought I had learned this long ago, but maybe not.

A few weeks ago, I launched a new website that offered a huge package of
Niche related PLR article packages. The package contained 120 articles (15 articles on 8 different topics) and some bonuses.

I thought that by packaging all of the articles together I could offer a great value at an reasonable price.

Whew! Was I wrong!

I did sell some packages, but not nearly as many as I planned. But why?

Well I got some feedback from both my customers and from those who didn't buy. And there was a common theme, that can be summed up as:

"Well Mike, you do offer a great value and the articles are good quality. But I don't need all of the different topics covered. I just want one or two."

As I read message after message, it hit me like a brick in the head. I was giving my customers what I wanted, not what THEY wanted!

So I decided to listen to my customers and I spent the better part of today reworking my home page and updating my links. Now, you can purchase each PLR article pack individually for just one low price (and you'll still get all the bonuses).

Let this be a lesson. Always look for feedback from your customers. Research what it is THEY want and deliver...or even better, OVERDELIVER.

And no matter how much success you have, don't think you're infallible. Even experienced marketers can miscalculate. The secret is to identify where you went wrong and fix it!

Check out my new page and grab your PLR articles at Fresh-Niche-Content.com.