I'm scared of change. There, I said it. It's not big news though. Everyone is scared of change. Change is a scary thing. It means giving up what you have now for something better that you can only hope you'll have in the future. It's risky. It's dangerous. It's disruptive. It's also thrilling, exciting... and inevitable. Continue Reading

There's a fun game people like to play that goes like this. Take any sentence or phrase and add the words "in bed" as a suffix to make it funnier. For example, "John ate a steak... in bed" or "Jill picked out the latest hat to wear... in bed" It's especially fun with fortune cookies, where the game has become part of our pop culture. For example, "You have very good skills and exceptional talents... Continue Reading

A few years ago, making money on the Internet was a breeze. All you had to do was open the dictionary, register each of the words you saw on the page as dotcoms and sell them to someone in California for the price of a South American country's national debt. It doesn't quite work that way any more. These days, domain name buyers want to see figures. They want to know how much traffic a... Continue Reading

I remember when I bought my first DVD player, many years ago. I instantly fell in love with the high quality audio and video that came from the DVD. And I also loved the "special feature" aspect that DVDs allowed... deleted scenes, out-takes, behind the scenes documentaries, etc. I've got a DVD collection featuring over 750 discs to date. Now I just need time to watch them! And speaking of DVDs, my friend Russell Brunson... Continue Reading

The information age really does move at the speed of light. Technology is advancing faster than we ever conceived possible. I've been online for 26 years now. In 1980, I bought my first computer, a TRS-80. This machine had 4K of RAM (not 4MB... 4K) and a cassette player that was used as a storage device. There wasn't even a floppy disc drive! I owned a 300 baud modem that I used to dial into... Continue Reading

Eric Holmlund has been telling me about HyperVRE. He's like, "Joel, this is perfect for your AdSense students... and it's free!" I said, "Reeeeally..." So I took a look at it. And I am impressed. Eric said that I could show you his video that demonstrates exactly how this free tool works. HyperVRE Continue Reading

Whenever I do teleseminars and publicly speak, I tell people that we are entering a new age of the Internet. Internet v1.0 was the beginning of the web. Money was tossed about like confetti as venture capitalist waved millions of Benjamins at anything with a dotcom for a suffix. Then the bubble burst. Enter Internet v2.0. Continue Reading

I love my blog. I love that I can share whatever thoughts and ideas come my way and that people actually enjoy reading it. And I guess it really doesn't matter who reads it. I just enjoy blogging. It's my little corner of the web. However, my site is about to get a face lift. I have deciding to test the waters of Internet consulting. After all, I've got ten years of Internet experience and... Continue Reading

There are so many ways to make money online, it can make your head swim. However, starting your own web site can be a difficult task. DotcomProfitCenter.com lists several reputable programs that can help you can started, along with online marketing news updated daily. Worth a look for anyone interested in starting or growing an online business. Continue Reading

I don't play with penny stocks much, but I've got my eye on a company with great potential. Point Group Holdings (Symbol PGHI) recently acquired VeeGeez.com, an online video game rental site. It's like NetFlix, only they rent video games instead of DVDs. If you'll remember, NetFlix went from $6 to almost $80 this past year. The DVD rental business is huge. So is the video game rental market. VeeGeez has some existing competition, but... Continue Reading

I have been running WorldVillage.com since 1995. In those years, I have seen all the ups and downs of the dotcom era. However, I am at a fork in the road, attempting to discern what direction I should go next. And so I ask you, my loyal readers. Take a look at WorldVillage.com. Think about our newsletter. If this web site was yours, what would YOU do with it? What would you want to see... Continue Reading

Making a list of the various web sites that I own... WorldVillage Deal of Day FreeBitz Family First Family Seek Family Software Spot PlasticBargains DotCom Profit Center The Mayor Speaks Safety Surf Virtual Whassup FunStarters Village IRC More on the way... Continue Reading

We're picking up in part 9 of this ongoing series. To start at the beginning, visit the dot.com story archives One of the first things I did was to submit the site to every search engine, newsgroup and message board I could find. A Yahoo search displays 36 entries to WorldVillage sites. Of course, we were happy with the original one that helped launch our traffic. I'll never forget the thrill of receiving the coveted... Continue Reading

Back to the story... just jumping in? Catch up here... You'll forgive me if the order of events is not completely accurate. Around this time, Ken and I met with an attorney who shall be named Hal. We sat down with Hal to pick his brain and discuss raising capital. Essentially, we shared our over-inflated plans to take over the world via our little web site. We had put together a business plan reflecting the... Continue Reading