(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) Accepting payment online for your products and services sounds like a pretty simple endeavor, and at a low level it is. Understanding what is happening behind the scenes is an entirely different proposition. Understanding the nuts and bolts of payment processing will grant you the ability to provide better customer service, generate more accurate cash flow and projection data, help you to better understand technical issues involving payment processing... 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

What makes the difference between a person who succeeds and one who doesn't? What makes the difference between a person who accomplishes great things and another who never does anything? What makes the difference between a person who gets what they want and one that is left empty-handed? Certainly, life can throw all kinds of curveballs at us. We don't get to choose our parents. We don't get to choose where we are born. We... Continue Reading

Warning: What you are about to read is highly controversial. It is literally laced with controversy. Controversy is oozing out of its very pores. Unless you are prepared to be challenged to the core, you should probably stop reading now. Otherwise, I hope you are sitting down. Things are about to get interesting... Continue Reading

Depending on whom you talk to, the long form sales page can generate some of the most heated discussion among Internet marketers. Lots of people love to hate this element of the sales process and are not shy about saying so. Critics find them annoying, cheesy, ugly, and obnoxious. So what's the flip side? Why do people use them? There is just one pro to long form sales pages to counteract all the criticism, but... 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

I've been a public speaker for a number of years. Whether I am keynoting, conducting a workshop or doing a breakout session, I am passionate about my subject matter. Everyone has different purposes for speaking. I do it because I must. I am strangely compelled and driven to share my knowledge and enthusiasm with others. And when I speak, I have three goals in mind. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Kevin E. Houchin Esq.) Let me get right to the point. The reason our economy is in the tank today is that too many people are focused on creating money instead of creating real products and services. To correct this problem, we need to get back to the basics of creating products and services that people need or want, and let the money come as a result. That's the business of... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Chris Harper) If you have spent time on YouTube, then you've probably seen at least one user's YouTube channel. And if you've seen more than a few, then you may have noticed that the design and attractiveness of those channels varies widely from user to user. Some of them are highly attractive with custom imagery, while others make your eyes hurt to look at them. If you have a YouTube account... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) In the early days of the Internet, commercialism had not made its entrance and no one was thinking about tracking traffic, much less analyzing it. Nearly a decade later, we had progressed to tracking visitors in the form of "hits," which did not tell you effectively even how many individual people actually visited your site. Now after nearly another decade, we find ourselves in a virtual analytical paradise comprised... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Chris Harper) I realized that I needed to write about this piece of software when I recommended it to someone for the third time in recent memory. What struck me was that each thing that I recommended it for was different. One person needed to convert some files from a proprietary AVC-HD codec that her editing software couldn't read, another was looking to pull some material from a DVD, and the... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Chris Harper) Let's face it: it's not hard to find flaws in a lot of online videos. I'm not above reproach myself. I often look back on my work and question my tactics or execution. As online video producers, we generally don't have the same budget or tools at our disposal that feature-length filmmakers do. Having said that, there are some things that you just can't do if you want people... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Jared Newgent) 'Bots and Spiders?? Oh my... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Jared Newgent) In measuring traffic, there are numerous classifications for the type of traffic that is measured. Traffic can have many names for the same classification depending on where the info is gleaned from. To avoid confusion, instead of using terms interchangeably, I will be using the terms that Google has used in their documentation for AdWords, AdSense, and Analytics. One such classification is Unique Clicks. What is determined as a... Continue Reading