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

First of all, I want to wish all my family, friends and associates in the United States a very Happy Thanksgiving. I'm sure it will be filled with lots of fun, bonding and good food. I may have to put a couple pounds back on today. Now, what's with this Green Friday thing? As you know, the Friday after Thanksgiving is typically known as Black Friday. It's the day that people camp out in line... 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

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

(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

How do you get people to want what you're selling? Sure you have a quality product or service, but most of the time people buy things for other, more intangible reasons. If a certain company is all class and professionalism, then people might buy because they want to appear classy and professional themselves. This, in a nutshell, is branding. It is cultivating consistency in the message you put out to the world about who you... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Fletcher Groeneman) It can be said that consumers are persuaded to purchase by their perception of the product and not by the actual product itself. What promotes the idea that every need can be satisfied with the goods or services from a given company? Effective and creative advertising is a skill that every corporation desires yet few succeed in mastering. What makes some ads so successful and others just pathetic? A... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Joel Ownby) Contactless payments are certainly the wave of the future. They're already a huge trend in Europe and Asia. Contactless payments are poised to revolutionize commerce in the United States. Many of the largest chains have already adopted cashless payment systems and many "touch and go" devices are now available from the largest merchants, credit card companies, and mobile telecommunication service providers. Wikipedia has the following to say about contactless... Continue Reading

Joel. It's not a common name. In fact, it is the 280th most common first name. The Old Testament contains a book of Joel. He is referenced as one of twelve Minor Prophets. The word "minor" has to do with the length of the book, not implying that Joel was a small guy or that his prophecies were in any way less significant. I mean, let's face it... a Word from God is a Word... Continue Reading

In this weekly update, you might find me trending a bit towards pop culture. There's just so much to talk about. The title of the entry sandwiches a very serious issue in between two entertaining, yet ultimately meaningless television programs for a reason. That's because the health care discussion (if you can call it that) that has taken place in the United States the past year has been largely void of substance. Instead, the current... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Sarah Beek) It's no secret that certain types of jobs (read: manufacturing or factory) in the United States are disappearing or have already disappeared, never to return. So what will our future economy be based on? Part of the answer just may be: something that doesn't exist yet. And some of the people who have the potential to start those new and future successful businesses are currently in a different country... Continue Reading

Do you have your cell phone handy? Stop what you are doing and go get it because I want to show you something very cool. I am going to give you a look into the future... the very NEAR future. In fact once you begin to understand the possibilities of what I am going to demonstrate, you are going to be excited! And it is going to keep you awake tonight. But it's going to... Continue Reading

There are now over 150,000 unique apps in the iTunes AppStore. The over fifty million iPhone and iPod Touch owners have downloaded several billion apps, and there is no sign of slowing. But have you ever seen an app that has a sweepstakes built in to it? With "The KaChing Button", you can enter to win daily cash prizes of up to $1000! Continue Reading

The Internet playing field is up for grabs with a few key players vying for positioning. Bing is gunning for Google. Twitter is gunning for Facebook. And Google is gunning for... well, everyone. Google has attempted to gain market share in the social media space in the past. Orkut never caught on in the United States, though I hear it does well in some countries. And Google Wave is interesting, but not easily accessible for... Continue Reading