How many times have you shopped at a store or eaten at a restaurant and been invited to take a customer service survey. Usually these survey opportunities are presented by the clerk or waiter who points out a web site at the bottom of your receipt. I have never paid attention to these in the past and often find them to be a nuisance. Sure, Target claims to give away $5000 gift cards. But who... Continue Reading

I recently wrote a few articles that created quite a bit of response from my readers. Where is the Integrity in Internet Marketing? challenged many of the all-too-common tactics used by unscrupulous marketers. I invited my readers to share their thoughts and experiences related to these issues, and the comments that followed were both insightful and instructional. Let's face it. When it comes to selling a product or service, marketing approaches are all over the... Continue Reading

If you're not regularly reading up on ways to make your online business grow, you should be. And while blogs and ebooks are extremely valuable, don't overlook reading the old-fashioned way: print books. While some in the Internet world might argue that books are out of date the minute they hit the shelves, there is still a lot to be said for exposing yourself to ideas that stood the test of editors and publishers and... Continue Reading

While I have been doing business online since 1995, I entered the Internet marketing arena in 2005. When I began selling an ebook detailing my strategies for making money with websites using Google AdSense, I found myself at the forefront of the marketplace. In the years that followed, I was sucked into a swirling vortex of product launches, live events and teleseminars. I met many other Internet marketers and developed relationships with some. Over the... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Tim Golen) The other day I was asked by a colleague why developers in general have a hard time setting firm deadlines. I thought it was a valid question. I am by no means an authority on this issue, but I can speak for myself and for others that I have witnessed and talked to. I think that there are several reasons why developers find it difficult to set a firm... Continue Reading

The holiday season can be pretty intense -- presents to buy, social events to go to, cookies to eat, and through it all you are still running your online business. But don't forget to take some time out to sit down and reflect on the year that's passed and the one coming up. Doing so can bring your business and your efforts into sharper focus and help you know what you want to shoot for... Continue Reading

Part of project planning is knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, as a wise man once said. No matter how exciting or cool you might think a project is, some of them just don't become as profitable as you would like. It's important to set some boundaries and budget limits at the outset, so that you don't keep pouring money and effort into something that isn't going to go anywhere. Here... Continue Reading

Are you a freelancer? Do you have a skill that is in demand that you could use to turn yourself into one? Lots of people when they look to start an online business focus on learning the ropes in terms of various streams of passive online income such as AdSense, affiliate products, ClickBank, and so on, and while there is nothing wrong with that, many of those people could be making more money in a... Continue Reading

Carpe Diem, goes the phrase. Literally translated "Seize the Day" from Latin, I first became familiar with the term from the film Dead Poets Society. While the film had a depressing twist, I am coming to understand more and more the need to take hold of the moments in our lives. It seems like just yesterday that my son was born. I remember changing that first poopie diaper as though the smell still lingers in... Continue Reading

I've finally seen the new Twitter. And I like it. Continue Reading

A few years ago I heard people in the Internet marketing circles talking about "The Secret." I was told it was an amazing film featuring successful people demonstrating a "law of the universe" that had been hidden from the majority of mere mortals. Starring in this film based on a book by Rhonda Byrne were such people as Joe Vitale, James Arthur Ray, Michael Beckwith, David Schirmer and Bill Harris, among otthers. I decided to... Continue Reading

If you run a popular blog, affiliate products can be a valuable and logical source of income for your online business. After all, if people trust you and like what you have to say about your industry or your niche, then they are also likely to want to know which products you endorse. Needless to say, it is important to approach the use of affiliate products in your business with the utmost integrity and honesty... Continue Reading

As I travel around our country, I can not help but notice the epidemic of homelessness. There are so many people on the streets of our cities. How many more are there that we DON'T see? We've all encountered homeless people in our cities or towns. My heart goes out to those who don't have a safe place to rest their heads. It's even more heartbreaking when those people are children. I recently had the... Continue Reading

Lots of people set out to make money online by selling a product whose audience they don't fully understand. They might make some logical conclusions based on a set of facts and decide that a given product has the potential to make a lot of money. But do they really put themselves in their customers' shoes? Not only do you need to know your niche inside and out, you also need to understand your competition... Continue Reading