So What Do You Do?

By Jay on June 30, 2009

Since I quit my job in March, people have been “hearing stuff” and basically they are shocked, puzzled, concerned and want to know what I do.

If only it was easy telling them without them being all doubtful but I could understand their fear of the unknown and their concerns basically means that they care to an extent (maybe its just the curiosity.)

“Oh, I hear you stop work.”
“Yeah, I done with dat.”
“So, what you doing?”

At this point, I hesitate about telling them what it is that I do.

“Well, I’m doing my own thing. Got my own business and stuff.”

Some leave it at that. Some press on for more info.

There’s only a handful of people that know what I really do and for good reason. Those are my real supporters.

In my early days of trying to make it, I didn’t tell anyone because people are dream killers. Too much skepticism and doubt. I didn’t want anyone trying to talk me out of doing something that I’ve since grown to love. Most people where I’m from don’t think there’s much opportunity in the country. They would think that what I’m doing could only work if you live in the States.

Young people like myself are encouraged to go to university…which I have no problem with. The problem I have with the university thing is that most young people really don’t know what they want to do. They take the scholarship and they go away for 4 years, get their degrees and come back to look for a job. Then they basically end up slaving away for their employers, “catching their asses”, and eventually trying to seek a better way.

Me? I got my mind made up about what I want to do. Going to university to get a degree in something that compliments what I’m doing isn’t out of the picture. At least I know now what I want which is better than if I had went 9 years ago when I’d just finished Community College.

So how do I explain what I do?

I Have My Own Online Business.

The responses to this go something like:

Do you make money?
Is it profitable?
Couldn’t you have done this as a side job?
Doing what?

Haha…side job. Thing is…the government work was the side job for about two years. I was growing tired of that and it showed in my punctuality mostly. So why would I have an online business as a side job? As for making money, I don’t think I would have given up a job that was paying a measly $1700/month if my internet business wasn’t profitable.

Online Marketing

I guess people are too confused by this answer to even bother asking. Or they’re silently thinking:

“Huh? What an idiot!?”

Don’t think that’s too far fetched of a response. One former coworker thought I made a stupid move by quitting my job.

I like the bank people though. They ask questions but I guess you know why? ;)

Posted in Success | Leave a response

Join Wealthy Affiliate for $1

By Jay on June 3, 2009

wa1dollar

Two years ago and 5 months, when I joined Wealthy Affiliate, I took a chance and gave Kyle and Carson $29.99. I had no idea what the site was going to be like, if they would teach a struggling affiliate marketer what I needed to know about making money online or even if it was a total scam.

I took the plunge because there was only one way to find out.

There were a lot of factors stacked against me. I had maxed out my credit card buying all the latest Clickbank ebooks thinking they could help, I was from a small island in the Caribbean where many people think making money online is only for Americans and my girlfriend thought I was wasting my time.

Two years later on March 2nd, I quit my day job all thanks to the teachings of Wealthy Affiliate. I had learned not just how to make money online but to build an online business right from picking a niche topic, doing market research and implementing both free and paid techniques.

The $29.99 I had closed my eyes and paid just to check out if Wealthy Affiliate was the real deal back in 2007 was the best investment I had ever made resulting in a 6 figure yearly income and freedom from ‘the man’.

Wealthy Affiliate for One Dollar?

This week, June 1st to June 8th (ending at midday), you can get even luckier than I did and join Wealthy Affiliate for only $1. That’s 4 quarts.

This offer is just amazing as it removes all the risk. You get to see the inside of Wealthy Affiliate for 7 days for only a dollar plus:

  • full access to all the tutorials,
  • downloads of some of the best marketing secrets of successful members,
  • one on one support from two of the internets best marketers – Kyle and Carson (the owners)
  • Niche Q system – hottest money making topics already researched with keywords, websites etc.
  • Access to the world famous Wealthy Affiliate forum where you can get help with any questions you have.
  • Site Rubix website builder and a free webhosting account.
  • access to one of the most lucrative and exclusive affiliate programs + extensive training material and support.
  • Research tools for finding keywords and hottest Clickbank products
  • Many more that are too much to mention.

When I had joined Wealthy Affiliate over 2 years ago there weren’t many of these features but the site is always growing and evolving. It almost isn’t fair that you should get access for only $1 but I aint complaining because I love telling people about the site that is responsible for me quiting my job.

I know Wealthy Affiliate can help as there are so many success stories on the forum as well as a lot of 6 and 7 figure marketers including some big names you may know. Currently, Wealthy Affiliate has helped over 25,000 people and counting, worldwide.

So far more than 1000 people have taken advantage of the Wealthy Affiliate for $1 trial offer and I hope you join as well. You can find me on the forums; with over 1500 forum posts, I’m quite easy to find. Just let me know and I’ll send you some bonuses to get you soaked in with Wealthy Affiliate.

Click here to check out Wealthy Affiliate for only $1.

Posted in Promotions | Tagged , | 4 Responses

604 Blog Post Ideas For When You’re Stuck

By Jay on May 31, 2009

"What to write?"

"What to write?"

Ever been stuck for ideas for your next blog post?

I’m sure we’ve all been there from time to time. I’ve done some searching for ideas and found some lists which you will find useful for generating ideas for your next blog post.

Combined there are 604 ideas which is almost 2 years worth of blog posts. I hope they keep you busy and you never get stuck again.

Here’s my list of 604 blog post ideas for when you’re stuck.

1. 50 Blog Post Ideas for Business Blogging

This post was written by Tad Chef and the ideas can be used on any blog in any industry if you’re doing it for the purpose of making money as opposed to personal blogging.

2. 100 Blog Topics I Hope You Write

Chris Brogan hopes you write about these 100 blog topics like “How I Use Facebook” & “Could I Quit My Day Job?”

3. 101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle

I found this to be one of the better posts with the best ideas on the list written by Phillip Liu.

4. 23 Great Ideas for Blog Posts

Can you find inspiration in Pat Doyle’s suggestions for these 23 great blog post ideas?

5. 37 Viral Post Ideas You Can Use Today

Wanna give your blog a viral boost? Skelliwag.org has some very creative suggestions which you must try if you want your blog out there.

6. 31 Blog Post Ideas for Small Businesses

Mark Hayward’s months supply of blog post ideas was done for small businesses but you can adopt and tailor these to your niche.

7. 111 instant Blog Post Ideas

The author of this list promises you that these are ‘instant’ post ideas. Just add a little water, shake a few times and serve chilled with ice.

8. 50 Blog Ideas To Help You Keep Your Blog Fresh

Wendy Wood for Marluck Marketing knows that the hardest thing to do in blogging is come up with fresh new content on a regular basis. So these 50 suggestions are her contribution to beat that beast.

9. 101 Blog Posting Ideas

Another big post with some unique ideas for you to try.

Thats it…604 blog post ideas to keep you busy with your blogging. I hope you like all the suggestions and you do use them to grow your blog.

Please share this post with your readers or your twitter followers because they might be looking for ideas as well.

Photo credit: Mike Licht

Posted in blogging | Tagged , | 3 Responses

Google’s Wonder Wheel – Cool New Research Tool

By Jay on May 16, 2009

Wonder Wheel is right.

Wonder Wheel is right.

I just noticed a cool new feature on Google. It’s called the Wonder Wheel and its part of Google’s most recent addition – search options.

For users, Google’s Wonder Wheel allows you to get related keyword options you can use to dig and refine your search. It’s ridiculously accurate – I tried searching for ‘kpfingaz’ and it tells me where I live (I always put my country when I register for social sites and forums) and that I’m somehow related to a Wealthy Affiliate, whatever that is ;) .

For marketers, it can come in very handy as a niche research keyword tool. You start with a broad search and get relevant search terms to your subject. And you can always retrace your steps and try other keyword options. Meanwhile, the search engine results are displayed on the page which is useful if you do any SEO or article marketing.

Make Money Online

Make Money Online

In the above example, I did a search for “make money online” and chose to explore “make money online scams”.

While this is my favorite feature of the new Google search options, there are also a lot of other useful features that may be more useful to a searcher than for a marketer. Of course, we cant ignore them because we have to put ourselves in the shoes of a searcher if we want to get our campaigns infront of them.

Here’s Google’s video about the new seach options.

Posted in Niche Research | Tagged , | 1 Response

Yahoo! Answers for Niche Research

By Jay on May 3, 2009

discoveryanswersYahoo! Answers is a fabulous resource for doing niche research. I’ve used Yahoo! Answers so many times to find profitable niches and audiences, do keyword research and even make direct sales.

Although its been abused to death, many marketers simply don’t know how to use Yahoo! Answers correctly or even use it to its fullest potential.

Yahoo! Answers isn’t just for posting links and getting a bit of traffic…its a goldmine if you know how to dig and pan for the gold.

Some of the reasons why Yahoo! Answers is so helpful in researching a niche are:

  • You’re encountering real people with real problems
  • Database of over 3 years to dig through
  • Spot wide range of ideas for promotions and cross promotions
  • Plenty of broad and narrowed down categories to search through

There are a number of ways you could go about researching a niche on Yahoo! Answers but I usually have a topic at hand when I go to Yahoo! Answers.

This is my favorite way to research a topic. You should always go to where the conversation is happening in your niche. A niche focused forum might work well but this works great too.

How To Research A Niche Topic on Yahoo! Answers

As an example, I’m going to use a popular women’s problem – cellulite.

cellulite

Yahoo! Answers for cellulite

The image above gives and overview of what you can do with your research.

  1. I search for the broad topic “cellulite” in the Yahoo! Answers search bar.  This returns me with questions that have the term “cellulite” in there.
  2. You will notice that there are over 6000 results for this term indicating that its a very busy topic. There’s pages and pages of questions to go through.
  3. Take note of questions that indicate a problem. When going through questions you will notice that some questions are asked over and over again. Look at the broad categories (eg. Women’s Health) that the questions exist in that you can always explore to find ideas for cross promotions.
  4. The good thing about doing research on Yahoo! Answers is that Yahoo also shows advertisers alongside the results. This is great because you can see what products advertisers are pushing. Make a note of these also as they might also come in handy for your promotions whether you want to affiliate with them directly or not.

Take a look at some of the questions I came across which indicated real problems that would make great content ideas if I were to tackle this campaign.

  • How to get rid of cellulite naturally.
  • How to reduce cellulite (emphasis on affordability)
  • Reduce cellulite in specific areas (thigh, arms, belly etc)
  • fastest way to lose cellulite
  • exercises to get rid of cellulite (popular question)
  • cellulite remedies that work
  • what foods to eat to get rid of cellulite (asking for diet program??)

Also when you’re researching a niche you also want to take note of niche specific lingo and words that you could use in your campaign. There’s no better way to connect with an audience than to use the words they use – it makes you look more like an expert at the topic.

Here are some words I extracted during my research for this niche.

  • cottage cheese (looks like)
  • dimples (caused by)
  • orange peel (looks like/effect)
  • stretch marks (not the same thing) <—- could use further research (niche idea)

In the discussions, persons may ask about specific products…if they work etc… as well as Yahoo! Answers show what advertisers are pushing. You should definitely take note of these products as well – this cuts your work down a bit where you would then go searching for affiliate programs. Its like everything is right there on Yahoo! Answers.

  • Arbonne Figure 8 vanish
  • Celluthin
  • Nivea lotion
  • Cellulean
  • Nivea Goodbye cellulite (could be same as above)
  • Avon cream
  • Accent (procedure that cost $3000)

That little research took me about 20 minutes to do and I found the topic using another Yahoo! Answers research method – digging down through the broad category of  Health.

Niche research is very easy when using Yahoo! Answers so the next time you’re stuck on what to promote, give this research method a try.

Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Niche Research | Tagged , | Leave a response

Flutter is the New Twitter?

By Jay on April 8, 2009

I was kinda liking twitter…that is until I found out about Flutter.

Nah. But for reals, though, what would you do if you only had 26 characters instead of 140?

Posted in Video | Tagged , , , | 2 Responses

I Was Plagiarized!

By Jay on April 5, 2009

copycatI like helping people. I think anyone who knows me well would attest to that.

About two days ago, I noticed a nasty drop in click thru rate on a profitable campaign that I had going on Google Adwords for about 3 weeks. Along with the drop in ctr there was also a drop in conversions.

Well, there had to be an explanation for this sudden change so yesterday I made it my business to investigate.

I used the Competition Spy Tool inside Wealthy Affiliate and searched one of my keywords.

The search returned three results including mines in the top spot. Surely enough, there was another ad that looked exactly like mines.

I’d found it. Someone had copied my ad word for word! So they were taking a share of my clicks using my ad copy. Ouch!

But the shocker was about to come.

My next move was to check out the landing page of my competitor.

When I clicked through to their landing page, I had to look in the address bar twice just to make sure. The landing page was an exact copy of the one I was using…same images, same layout..same content! The only thing different about it was that they had modified it to fit in a Site Rubix template. That’s when I realized that it was someone at Wealthy Affiliate.

Who Was It?

By now I was steaming mad.

This kinda thing had happened before but not to me. Some people are just so lazy that the only way they can get anything done is to use Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V on other people’s hard work.

A whois query on their site turned up nothing. Thank God for private registration, eh?

Then I found a leak on their site to an article on Squidoo. On their lens I found the link to another of their sites.

This time it was a site that I’d been to before and that sucked because it meant only one thing…

I was helping this guy!

I knew him. I had helped him for over a year through private messages and even had him on messenger.

He always asked for advice and I had come to trust him. Seemed like a hard worker too.

What I Did.

Now I won’t have minded as much if someone who I didn’t know had done their research, come across my campaign and copied it. But this was someone I knew and helped out.

My first instinct was to confront him on messenger.

I played it cool at first before dropping it on him that I’d found his site and he was doing something really slimy.

I threatened to expose him on the forums and thats when the apologies and the offers to delete their campaign came. I was mad and he knew it . He admitted to being slimy and even offered me the full earnings he’d made from his campaign.

I declined to take his money and even encouraged him to keep his campaign running if he liked.

However, I let him know that I was deleting him from my contacts…which I did…and that I’d stopped helping him.

I would never steal anyone’s hard work and I would defend my hard work however possible it was. Some people could just go so low. I hope I never have to deal with this again.

Have you ever been plagiarized? How did you deal with it? I’d love to hear.

Posted in Affiliate Marketing | Tagged , | 1 Response

April Fools Prank Idea

By Jay on March 28, 2009

Looking for a cool April Fool’s prank to pull on your family, friends or office coworkers?

I’m sure you can find loads of ideas searching the internet but this one is as cool as a popsicle.

Encourage your friends to browse the internet but first reset their homepage to:

Google…with Gravity.

Watch their reactions as they wonder WTF just happened!

Posted in OffTopic | Tagged , , | 2 Responses

I Got Your Product For Free With Help From Google

By Jay on March 15, 2009

Google Search

Google Search

Amazing what you can do with Google.

This weekend I’m going through the members area of a newly released Clickbank product which was heavily promoted this week and I didn’t even pay for it.

Now I’m not a fan of stealing other people’s hard work but I don’t like spending money on IM products that I don’t need either. I just figured I’d take a look so I could do an unbiased review from the point of view of someone who ‘bought’ the product.

Now this may be a blessing of sorts to me, but to the product owner, I’m sure they won’t be so pleased to know I downloaded their ebook and browsed through their members area looking at their videos and so on. Sowweeee!

If only it hadn’t been for their carelessness this would have never happened. With a little knowledge of how Google works they could have prevented all the pages on their site including the private members area from being indexed. Luckily, not everyone knows this so they’re still going to get sales.

So using a little operator that I use to know if my site or maybe an individual post has been indexed, I can find all the pages on a merchant site that has been indexed.

The operator – Site:www.somesite.com

This shows you all the pages on a site that is in Google’s index. You could use this to do a lot of research that would be productive to your business (not the mischief I’ve been up to.)

How They Could Have Prevented It

Now they could have prevented their members area from being crawled and indexed by the Googlebots by giving them proper instructions in the form of a robots.txt file.

They could have also password protected the directory or web pages used for the members area by using tools included in their cpanel or by using DLGuard which fixes a whole lot of problems they would otherwise have.

All in all, I don’t feel too guilty, knowing that if its in Google’s index and I know how to find it, then its pretty much their problem to do something about it before the whole world finds out.

Posted in How to | Tagged , | Leave a response

I Quit My Job Today

By Jay on March 2, 2009

iquitIf you were making significantly more money with internet marketing than you do at your sometimes stressful job, would you still continue working?

I wouldn’t either…and thats why I quit. When most people are losing their jobs in  the middle of a recession, I quit mines because I’m in control of my own income. That is such a good feeling. I’ll miss some of my coworkers but definitely not the job.

I quit my job so that I could celebrate the success of my online business and so that I could put more effort into building what is mines. I quit so that I can do what I love to do – affiliate and internet marketing.

I would have done so a long time ago but even with quitting your job, you have to have a plan. Savings, consistent income and a general business plan are some of the things you have to consider so that is where I started.

So at last, I’m free.

Posted in Success, announcements | Tagged , | 16 Responses

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