Over the past couple years, information marketers have come under greater scrutiny by the United States Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has taken several companies and individuals to task for deceptive Internet marketing practices. As the largest seller of information products online, Clickbank.com is now issuing clearer guidelines for the types of products and/or marketing practices that will be more closely scrutinized going forward. In other words, they are going to be working harder to... Continue Reading

I have surveyed online business owners a number of times over the years. I have discovered a common thread in the problems that the majority of them are experiencing. 1) They are frustrated with the amount of traffic they get to their websites. Can you identify? 2) They are concerned that their online presence is not generating enough leads and new customers. Does that describe you? 3) They are upset with themselves (or vendors) for... Continue Reading

Twitter can be a great branding tool. If you are not already using Twitter to get the word out about your business, you probably at least know that you should be. There are lots of benefits to using Twitter, and some things that you should definitely avoid. And in the end, everyone needs to decide for themselves what kind of role Twitter will play in their lives and businesses. It's perfectly fine for your Twitter... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Tim Golen) I'm going to tell you a true story. When I was first hired at Infomedia, I helped develop an online training program that turned into what today is known as The Profit Vault (http://www.theprofitvault.com). It was designed to be a 13-week course that contained all of our company's knowledge about how to set up a website and start earning revenue from it. I was in charge of developing the... Continue Reading

Whether or not your online business plans include you writing anything, there is a lot to be said for developing a consistent journaling habit. Many, many people (especially those who have to be creative on a daily basis) attest to the fact that doing a morning "brain dump" of all of your worries, ideas, plans, etc. by writing them down helps to clear you out to do your best work later in the day. This... Continue Reading

Whether you are just starting out in learning the web / mobile app development ropes, or are looking to hire someone to do your development for you, it can be useful to know what basic developer tools there are out there. For the purpose of this article, we define a developer as the following: Someone who writes code for launching a PTA offer, develops an app, or writes software. Developers know the different programming or... Continue Reading

The following email was sent to me by one of the creators of The Internet Marketing World Cup. I told them I would consider updating my previous blog entry based on what he shared with me. After further consideration, I thought I would just let IMWC's point-of-view speak for itself. With that said, here is the entire email sent to me. It is thoughtful and I admire the IMWC team for proactively contacting me and... Continue Reading

Who did you vote for to be President? Do you watch Lost? When was the last time you went to church? Who has the best french fries? What's with all the questions? Continue Reading

As online marketers, we put a lot of stock in social networking, and rightfully so. There really is no better way to get the word out about your business, its mission, and your brand and to build valuable relationships that will create opportunities and help your business grow. Or is there? Back in the day, before Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and even Friendster, all they could do was network the old-fashioned way: face-to-face and in person... Continue Reading

I received an email solicitation today to take part in an alleged competition that is due to take place starting in October. It's called (brace yourself...) "The Internet Marketing World Cup" (goooooooooalllll!) It is likely you will be hearing more about this in the future so I thought it would be interesting to dissect it and share some thoughts. Continue Reading

There are a lot of different ways to market a product, but they're all trying to do the same thing. From a free listing on Craigslist to a thirty-second slot during the Superbowl, all marketing is trying to build a relationship with its audience. Continue Reading

When Google launched Wave back in 2009, it was met with a mixture of head-scratching and hand-raising. Because it was invitation-only, there was huge demand from people who wanted to try it out. (Invitations were even said to have sold on eBay for $70 each). But people -- both those who had tried it out and those who wanted to -- wondered what it was for. Continue Reading

Mobile marketing is a new trend that is often misunderstood by business owners. Do you own a business and wonder how you could use mobile marketing to your advantage? Check out the following ideas. Continue Reading

There are certain aspects of web design that you should make absolutely sure you are getting right. Here is a short list of the most important ones: Continue Reading