Facebook can be very frustrating. Early on, I accepted every friend request that came my way. I was being social, right? Shortly after hitting my 5000 friend limit, my account was suspended. After creating a bit of a hullaballoo (don't get to use that word very often), my account was re-activated. Then came pages. Now I had a place to send people who wanted to follow me. The numbers quickly grew. But my Facebook stream... 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

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

I've been at Project Fit for about a month now. My goal has been to prove you don't need to go to extremes in order to lose weight and become healthier. There's nothing wrong with extreme exercising as it really can't do you harm. But there is a problem with extreme dieting. I don't want to be extreme in any way. After reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, I wanted to put his theories... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Ray Edwards) So you've got all these info-products you've bought but never used. Some of them you've never freaking OPENED. Here's a way to get back ALL the money you've invested... and feel immensely good about yourself. This is also a way to recoup your losses if you've gotten caught on the latest guru product treadmill (they're only losses if you fail to do something with them). Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Mark Widawer) With so many people getting into online marketing as a way to avoid having a J-O-B, they're wondering exactly what kind of online career they should get into. When they start thinking about ebooks, they often think that maybe it's too late to get into ebook marketing, or that there aren't any good topics left to write about, or that they're not smart enough or expert enough to write... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Sarah Jane Griesemer) Having an idea, product, video, or marketing plan go viral is something of a holy grail for online marketers. Sure, everyone wants it to happen to them, but how do you do it? What is the magic formula for a successful viral marketing campaign? The answer, unfortunately, is that there isn't one. You know a good viral campaign when you see one, and since by its very definition... Continue Reading

If you are a small to medium-sized business that can deliver a physical product at a reduced (or matched) cost locally, then you must consider implementing a serious local search campaign. I would urge you to take a serious look at any funds in your marketing plan allocated to radio, television, or any other form of non-direct response marketing and consider using at least some of those funds for a well-planned local search effort. Continue Reading

How did Facebook ever get to be so big? Honestly, the site is chock full 'o so much garbage that it has become the new MySpace. But beyond all the stupid vampire and zombie games, there is a solid social media site that can be useful for businesses. For over a year, I have peaked at my 5000 friend limit. However, people close their accounts or unfriend me from time to time. So I've always... Continue Reading

We've all had the experience of searching for something and landing on web pages where the content was obviously written with a focus on keywords and maybe length, and not much else. While that tactic obviously worked well enough to get you there, it certainly doesn't mean you will stay. So how do you make sure that your own web content is meaty enough to get people to keep reading, and hopefully coming back... Continue Reading

WARNING: This series of posts may be hazardous to your preconceived notions of how to make money online. Reading it may save you thousands of dollars in pipe dreams and cause you to focus on the single most important aspect of running an Internet business. If you suffer from A.D.S. (Acute Denial Syndrome) or insist on believing that buying another product or service is the magic bullet that will cure all your financial ills, these... Continue Reading

The first time I heard the term white paper, I have to admit I wasn't thinking it was a powerful marketing tool. Instead I was thinking of the boring, snooze-worthy reports I had to read in my college Geology course. Only after I had heard the term a few more times with increasing frequency did I finally bother finding out what the buzz was all about. Turns out, white papers aren't just bare bones... Continue Reading

Get your idea noticed by using this clean design principle. Advances in media have created the most ad-resistant breed of consumer to date. Recent studies have found that consumers are, on average, exposed to 3,000 commercial messages per day in one form or another, from the boring copy-laden radio commercials to the flashing skyscraper ads on my favorite websites, from the cluttered newspaper coupons to illegible billboards on the side of the bus and... Continue Reading

I've now been on Twitter since May 2007. When I wrote Twitter power, I had about 5000 followers. Fast forward to late 2009. I hit 83,000 followers, but that's nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands or millions of followers that some members have acquired. It's been an interesting ride, but a number of things have happened that have caused me to reevaluate my Twitter strategy. Continue Reading