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

Email lists are arguably an online marketer's best friend. They provide direct lines of communication to people who have already given you a vote of confidence, either by opting in to receive your updates, purchasing a product from you, or both. So how do you get a great email list if you are just starting out? And if you have been in the online business for awhile, how do you build yours and grow it... Continue Reading

I recently enjoyed a meal with my daughter at Hu Hot Mongolian Grill in Fort Collins. It's our favorite place to enjoy build-your-own stir fry. Very tasty. As we were leaving the table, I heard my name called out. "Joel"... I turned around to a gentlemen looking at me. I didn't recognize him so I am scanning the recesses of my brain very rapidly to try to recall where I know him from. As it... 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

When was the last time you called your congressman to weigh in on an issue? When was the last time you participated in one of those surveys conducted by the national chain restaurants? You know the ones where they ask you to call in and reward you with a free appetizer or dessert. And when was the last time you left a comment on a blog? The truth is most of us never take the... Continue Reading

If you have spent any time at all in the Internet marketing space, you are bound to be invited to become an affiliate for someone's product or service. However, in all likelihood the invitation will come in the form of "Would you like to JV with me?" JV is short for joint venture. And that is NOT what you are being invited to do. It's my hope that a few marketers will read this and... Continue Reading

Every few years we're told that the music industry is finished as some new technology moves faster than the record labels. And every few years we're told that marketing through email is over as viruses and spam fill inboxes. 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

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) The acronym CPA stands for cost per acquisition, which is when an advertiser puts together an offer and makes that offer available on an affiliate network that in turn brokers it to its publishers. In this relationship, the advertiser pays the CPA network for every lead or sale delivered, the network takes a small cut and then pays the publisher that made the acquisition. Publisher - The individual or... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D.) Recently, I had a very candid conversation with an entrepreneur whom I've known for a long time but who has never shown much interest in elevating service at his business. During that conversation he said something like, "Joseph I know you believe service is an important value proposition and intuitively it makes sense, BUT I can't monetize the value of service." Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D.) Recently, I had a very candid conversation with an entrepreneur whom I've known for a long time but who has never shown much interest in elevating service at his business. During that conversation he said something like, "Joseph I know you believe service is an important value proposition and intuitively it makes sense, BUT I can't monetize the value of service." Continue Reading

At first glance you might thing #25 in my list of 25 Computer Games that Rocked My World is somehow related to World of Warcraft. It's not. In fact, when The Horde was released in 1994, there wasn't even a company called Blizzard to create the Warcraft universe. Yet this action-strategy game holds a place in a my heart despite Kirk Cameron appearing in the video cutscenes. Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Brian Means) Attending conferences is a great thing to do for your business. However, it's easy to get in the bad habit of over-commitment, attending too many conferences when you don't even have a solid game plan for attending one. Too many people do not have a clear end in mind when attending conferences. You need to create a strategy for your conference season. Continue Reading

The biggest mistake that people make when they start using Twitter is to look at the numbers. They see the figure under the followers link and they believe that the bigger the number, the more successful the twitterer. Continue Reading