"When you are through changing, you are through." - Bruce Barton Change is inevitable. Apart from death and taxes, change is the only thing in this life that we can count on. This past year has found me in the midst of much change. After a number of years as an author, speaker and entrepreneur, I have spent the last year quietly reassessing my life. Taking some time away from work, I've been tending to... Continue Reading

Over the past sixteen years one of my key focuses has been building content-rich websites. I've had some great success working this model, including the recent sale of one of my sites. I am now looking to acquire additional niche sites for my portfolio. This could include blogs, member sites, forums or product sites. A number of my readers have approached me with solicitations to purchase their sites over the years, so I thought I... Continue Reading

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

Despite what the doomsayers would have you believe, there is plenty of opportunity to conduct business online. However, there is a big difference between trying to make money online and running a business online. The make money online pitch has unfortunately become synonymous with "get rich quick." The mentality is that you simply create a product and make money selling it. That's NOT building a business. That's trying to make a few bucks. Maybe it... Continue Reading

My name is Garrett. I live in a fantasy world that is a cross between a Victorian society and the Middle Ages, with a dose of Steampunk technology tossed in for good measure. You don't see me because I operate out of the shadows. I stealthily make my way in and out of places and across the rooftops of the city, making off with treasure and whatever goods I can find. The only evidence you... 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

You are probably catching on to the fact that I am not promoting many products these days. That's because most products and services coming out are not worth promoting. When you see the proliferation of traffic products, social media products, list building products and all the other rehashed same-old, same-old coming out, I'm sure you'll agree that there aren't many original ideas out there right now. So when I DO have something to share with... Continue Reading

Failure. The word is laced with negative connotations. That's why I think failure gets a bum rap. Failing at something is not necessarily a bad thing. It just means you are trying. And it means you have found a way to not succeed. Thomas Edison went through thousands of experiments before his first lightbulb was illuminated. Ben Franklin is quoted as stating, "I didn't fail the test, I just found one hundred ways to do... Continue Reading

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

Last year my company released a revolutionary new platform for the iPhone. It was called GameDock, and it was the world's first multiplayer gaming platform for the iPhone and iPod Touch. While OpenFeint and Plus+ were creating leaderboards and achievement functionality, we had done what no other developer had done... created a matching system that would allow you to add friends and invite them to play our games in real time from anywhere in the... Continue Reading

If your online business includes a blog (and it should), and especially if that blog is envisioned as one of the main ways you will make money and pull in readers / customers, then we need to talk about keeping things fresh. Coming up with content on a regular basis is probably going to be challenging if you've never done it before, and it's probably going to be tempting to just fill up the space... Continue Reading

Recently I was sent a link promoting a new Wordpress theme designed just for affiliate marketers and people wanting to build niche sites. Being the creator of the Socrates Theme, I had to take a look. Sure enough. Here come the copycats. I continue to be amazed at the utter lack of creativity in people who pass themselves off as "experts." Not only is the headline and a bunch of the copy on this new... Continue Reading

It's not uncommon for marketers to use upsells and downsells in order to gain a new customer and make a sale. Downsells typically offer the same product or some derivative of that product at a discounted price. Upsells will usually come after a sale has been made, and offer extra goods or services for an additional fee. There's nothing wrong with upselling or downselling in theory. But I do believe there are cases where integrity... Continue Reading

Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge. Those are the the five rules of dodgeball according to Patches O'Houlihan. But if you've ever played a Prince of Persia game, you may find those same rules apply. I never cared much for the original Prince of Persia side-scrollers made famous on the Apple IIe computer. (Though I DO have a copy of the original in my collection!) A failed attempt to go 3D by RedOrb in 1999... Continue Reading