A new free ad research tool from Brad Callen

It's been a long, long time since you heard from me. Life has brought me back around to writing to you, and I want to let you know about a powerful non-pay tool that Brad Callen just sent me.

PPC*WEBSPY is a Firefox add-in that lets you see exactly what keywords people are using in their Google ads, and a whole lot more info about their ad.

This incredibly powerful tool is very lightweight; there is no cost associated with it. (Of course there's an "upsell" to a more powerful version when you download, but you can ignore that, if you like. The not-paid-for tool is amazingly powerful in and of itself.)

That's it. Go here to check it out.

And please come back here and tell me what you think of it!

Warmly,
Joel

A daring move

I just got an email note from Jimmy Brown. He is an Internet marketer of impeccable integrity and helpfulness. As far as I know, I am not an affiliate of his; there is nothing in it for me if you buy stuff from him. But his message was so helpful I felt I wanted to share it with you:

Hey Joel,

I've got a very influential article to share with you in this email that I truly believe will change your life (for the better) if you'll apply the seven simple (yet PRACTICAL) things I explain.

I encourage you to read (and apply) ALL seven of them.

Before we get to that, I do want to let you know that I just launched my personalalized, 4-week coaching program at http://www.ListAndTraffic.com/ecoaching

There are only 50 spots available and 10 of those have already been pre-sold to my inner circle members.

I've offered this e-coaching 3 times before and it has sold out on the same day I offered it each of those times.  If you want me to personally help create a customized plan for YOU, then I'd recommend that you drop by immediately to see if any spots are still available.

http://www.ListAndTraffic.com/ecoaching

And now, for the featured article...

Best regards, Jimmy D. Brown

07 Specific Things You -MUST- Do To Make It Big In '07 By Jimmy D. Brown http://www.SixFigureFormula.com

There must be some reason why certain people "make it big" while others continue to struggle along with no real gains.

There is.

Whether you want to make your first thousand or your first hundred thousand, here are 7 things you must do to have a tremendous year in 2007.

*NOTE: These are in "countdown" format from 7 to 1.

7. *RESIST* distractions.

I'm not a prophet, but I can predict with great certainty that you will be bombarded with more "offers" in 2007 than in any previous year. There will be product launch after product launch, the next big thing after the next big thing.  You WILL drown in information if you don't learn two simple words -

"No Thanks".

You simply CANNOT go from one offer to the next and ever gain any momentum or see any significant results.  I know, I know - these offers are enticing.  Here's the thing, though: if they don't help you accomplish something you're already trying to do, then they are just another distraction.  Resist them.

6. *REFOCUS* your efforts. 

What would happen if Michael Jordan had tried to play basketball, baseball, football, soccer and golf all at the same time? He'd have probably been "good" at all of them, but "great" at none of them.

He achieved greatness by singling out what he was best at and focusing the majority of his efforts in that area.

You'll find that this same principle applies to you and your business.  If you spread yourself thin trying to do too many things you'll most certainly do none of them well. However, if you pick ONE primary aspect of building an internet business and devote your full effort and resources towards that area, we should see you on the All- Star team this year!

Ex.  Don't try to do affiliate marketing, create your own products, eBay(R), private label resources, VRE, etc. all at the same time.  Find ONE stream of income and perfect it before moving on to something else.

5. *REACT* positively to setbacks. 

Yes, I'm gonna get rah-rah here for just a moment and play the part of your personal cheerleader.  :-)

Listen, there's not a one of us who've had any level of success online who hasn't had our share of setbacks, failures and flops. I know I have.  The problem isn't if you get knocked down, but rather when you fail to get back up.

You'll waste money this year on useless products.  You'll regret the way you used part of your time.  You'll face a great disappointment.  You'll fall flat.

Don't stay down.  Refuse to give in.  Stand up and get back to work on making this YOUR year.

Okay, enough of the pep talk.  :-)

4. *REWARD* yourself.

It always amazes me when I ask someone "what would you do if you made all the money you want this year" and I hear comments like...

- I'd go fishing. - I'd play tennis. - I'd relax at the lake. - I'd read more books.

And so forth.

The question I then ask is, "why can't you do that NOW?!"

Life is too short - way too short - to let it pass you by. Many of the things you enjoy doing can be done RIGHT NOW if you set aside time to do them.

What is the real measure of success - making money or enjoying your life? I'll let you decide.

3. *RESPOND* to appropriate offers.

Having warned you previously about the dangers of buying every new "offer of the week", let me emphatically state that there ARE times when you SHOULD respond with a "Yes" to certain offers.

And then time is -

"When the offer will HELP you do something you're already trying to do, especially when YOU seek out the offer."

For Example: If you're wanting to start your own affiliate program, then by all means by a course that teaches you how to do so...but DON'T buy a course that teaches you how to buy and sell "virtual real estate."

You need to purchase materials that will help you complete the task you're trying to finalize, and avoid things that take you away from the task you're trying to finalize.

See the difference?

2. *REMEMBER* to manage. 

The problem for most people is learning how to implement all of the components of internet marketing (You know the drill: list-building, affiliate links, web sites, traffic, etc.) into one day-by-day workable plan.

That's where it falls to pieces for most people. They've got all of these ideas and all of this information and all of these new enticing offers in their faces simultaneously. ..

And they don't know what to do next.

It's not about "marketing", it's about "management".

You need - above everything else - to figure out how to MANAGE your internet business and all of its components so you can systematically build your business one step at a time, one day at a time.

FOr more details on this, visit http://www.ListAndTraffic. com/ecoaching

1. *RECEIVE* personalized training.

Let me ask you a simple question: which of these would you prefer...

(a) A map (b) A tour guide

Listen, one of the reasons why building a successful internet business is so challenging is because there is an abundance of "maps", but very few "tour guides".

Ebooks, reports, audios, videos, articles - these are a dime a dozen.  But where is someone you can talk to, ask questions to, get advice from, get customized help for YOU and YOUR business?

That's a bit harder to find, isn't it?

Especially at a price you can reasonably afford.

Yet, getting someone to personally SHOW you how to do it is an important, if not required, piece of the puzzle.

I encourage you to find a mentor this year.  Maybe it will be me, maybe it will be someone else.  It really doesn't matter as long as you find someone who is willing to invest time into YOU PERSONALLY.  Not an entire group of people on a call, but rather interact with YOU one-on-one.

That's what will ultimately help you more than anything else you do in the next 12 months - to have someone who's already learned the ropes actually work with you personally to teach them to you.

(Note: I can only help 50 people if I'm going to PERSONALLY interact with YOU, so you'll want to reserve a spot quickly if you want in - http://www.ListAndTraffic. com/ecoaching/

CONCLUSION:

If you do these seven things that we've looked at here in this article, then there's no reason why you can't "make it big" in 2007.

The important thing is to remember that information is just information until you act on it.  What you've read are just words on a computer screen (or on paper if you printed this out) that have no real value until you put them into practice.

Best regards, Jimmy D. Brown

I'm back

Well, I'm back. My wife passed away in April, and I have had to walk through many things since. Now my life is taking on new direction, new hope, and purpose.

I've learned a lot about Internet marketing in the past months - and all the lessons are the obvious ones that you probably already know:

• The Internet is a medium, like print or radio.
• You can use the Internet inexpensively to reach many people with your sales offer.
• Unless you have a complete vision of a business - a genuine need or desire that people have; a service or product that meets that need or desire; a way to gain people's attention and trust; a mechanism for delivering your product or service and accepting payment - you have no chance of making any money in business.
• You must have a way to test things - offers, squeeze pages, letters, etc. And you must have a way to track how well things work.
• You must be consistent, attentive to detail, and unattached to any particular way of doing things, so that you can drop it when it is not working.

If you pay attention to these points, treat your customers as you would want to be treated, and stick with it, you can make a living marketing things on-line. If you are careful and creative, you can make a very good living doing this. From home.

The Money Farmer goes whole hog!

As a Jew, I try to avoid all things piggish. But I don't think a porcine figure of speech crosses the line...:-)

I came up with the "Money Farmer" image because there are many ways to make money on the Internet, and successful marketers pursue several of them at the same time. Kind of like having fields of grain, smaller areas with vegetables, a fruit orchard or two, and some stock.

As good farmers we need to find our markets; till, seed, fertilize, weed, and harvest; rotate the crops; and always be aware of the weather - as well as of technology that can amplify our efforts.

We'll milk this metaphor for all its worth, skim the cream off, and share it with you!

Dave's Cool Little - what?

I feel a bit like someone who heard the child yell, "The emperor has no clothes!"

A few weeks ago, I got a powerful sales letter from Tim Knox and Dave Purves, promoting "Dave's Cool Little Store." It's a site on their server into which you enter your eBay and ClickBank affiliate codes, and voila! You're in business!

Now, to my embarrassment, I have to admit that my very first thought was: "Why would anyone come to my store? What makes it special? How can I set it apart from all the other identical stores out there?" I should have followed that thought to its natural conclusion.

But having been caught up in Tim's excellent copy, and figuring that since he's made a lot more money on the Internet than I had, I paid the $97.

My store - http://www.joelscoolstore.com - was set up quickly.

And then? Nothing.

I sent out some mailings. Nothing.

I looked around for people on the Web who were having success with their "cool stores." Couldn't find any.

Then someone (David Vallieres, I think) suggested "tuning" the meta keywords to a niche topic, and directing traffic there on that basis. I clutched at that straw, and did that. Nothing.

I just looked at a calendar: I just missed Clickbank's 60-day refund deadline by 3 days.

So I want to get at least a decent blog post out of this...:-)

Go to http://www.joelscoolstore.com. DO NOT click on the banner at the top, to buy one of your own. Or wait - go ahead and click on it, because their sales copy is worth learning from. Just don't buy, unless you know something I don't.

There are lots of ways to make a quick buck on the Internet. I suspect this project made a bunch of bucks for Tim and Dave. But to build a long-term, stable business, you have to have content, which attracts traffic; you build relationships with your customers, so that when you have something to sell them, they believe you; that leads, ultimately, to monetization.

The lesson for me: Pay attention to my instincts. Do things that make sense. This didn't; and doesn't.

Affiliate marketing

There are lots of ways to make money on the Internet. None are trivial. None are free. All require some investment - money, work, time - and usually a combination of all three.

The good news is: So does every other money-making opportunity - and many Internet opportunities are cheaper and easier. Just not free - and not trivial.

I agree with many of the gurus: The simplest and lowest-cost way to get started is as an affiliate marketer.

What's that? You become an affiliate for someone who has a product to sell. Essentially, you are a commissioned salesperson.

People who have affiliate programs pay you 30% and up if someone you direct to them buys their product.

Good things about being an affiliate:

* You don't have to produce a product
* You don't have to deliver a product
* You don't have have a merchant account, or collect payments
* You can be an affiliate, usually at no cost, for a number of products
* If you are selective, you don't have to produce your own ad copy, banners, etc.

The challenges:

* You have to find people who might buy the product or service
* You have to get their attention ("pre-sell," as Ken Evoy calls it)
* This takes work.

Now, you can embark on this career with zero cash outlay. There's tons of free information out there - for example, go to http://www.joelsarticles.com and do a search for "affiliate." You'll get back many free articles.

But if you go that route, you will spend weeks - maybe months - floundering around, trying to figure out "which end is up."

If you are serious about checking out this possibility, I recommend James Martell's "Affiliate Marketers Handbook." (Go to http://joelsarticles.com/recommends/Martell to check it out.) It is much more than a book; it is a complete course, that tells you all you need to get started in affiliate marketing.

The price is not cheap; if you are completely broke, or looking for freebies, don't even go to the website (http://joelsarticles.com/recommends/Martell).

But if you compare the cost of this complete course, which spells out in detail the 8 steps you must take to succeed with affiliate programs on the net, to ANY OTHER course or business startup, you will find it is incredibly inexpensive.

Of course, James offers a 100%-money-back 60-day guarantee, and a ton of useful bonuses, so there is really no risk at all to check it out.

This is a start-from-nothing guide; you need not know anything at all about computers, marketing, or affiliates. James tells you everything, step by step.

Once again: This is not free. Don't bother going to http://joelsarticles.com/recommends/Martell unless you are serious about checking out becoming an affiliate marketer.

I'd appreciate your letting me know what you learn, if you decide to check this out. I believe it's a great opportunity and an excellent value. If I'm wrong, I'd like to know. Please write me at joel.orr@gmail.com.

Fatburger closed

I think it's a California chain, obviously named before fat-aversion became a major meme in the public consciousness. But when N'omi and I saw the sign, we knew we'd love it - "fat" and "burger," two of our favorite foods - what's not to like?

And we did. The store was spartan, the burgers made to order, and we quickly got to know the staff. We were frequent visitors.

But we noticed that the place was never full, and we were concerned that the store wasn't doing what was necessary to pull traffic.

Sure enough, less than a year after opening, they closed their doors.

Now, I can't do a full business-case analysis for you; I didn't interview the owners or the managers, and I don't know if there were corporate issues at play. But I can tell you this: We saw it coming.

And frankly, we are not great noticers of such stuff. But a very obvious need of a restaurant is a steady stream of customers. My guess is that they closed because they didn't have that.

That's true of your website, too. You need traffic! As Ken Evoy of SiteBuildIt points out in his simple formula, C-->T-->P-->M - in English, Content creates Traffic; Traffic gives you an audience for Preselling; Preselling leads to Monetization.

Most newcomers to Internet marketing try to build traffic without much thought for content. Then, when they have traffic, they sell, sell, sell.

That approach works - but it is generally expensive (you have to buy traffic in one way or another), and it is hard to sustain (you have not made your customers know you, like you, trust you; you've gone after sales, not customers.)

Personally, I think Ken's approach is more respectful. It doesn't rely on continuous hyperbole, on always manipulating people into buying.

When I say, "Ken's approach," I'm referring to the SiteBuildIt service - a comprehensive package that takes you from nothing to a full-fledged business, slowly but solidly. Visit this link to learn more about it. It costs $300/year - but you will not find a cheaper education in Internet marketing, nor a better one.

But whether or not you decide to try SiteBuildIt, the formula still makes perfect sense. And if you try to shortcut it, you will only get frustrated.

Love to hear your thoughts about this.