NOTE: If you haven’t watched it yet, please view this great video (it’s free) with tips to help your business: FlipMyBusiness.com

Also, I know the pop-up ads are annoying – just click on the ‘x’ to close them.  I’m working on trying to get these removed for you – they’re nothing to do with me, they’re displayed by Viddler.

Episode #32 – I’m back from England now, and off to Dubai to present a couple of speeches there. First time in that city, so should be interesting.  We’re going into the dessert to spend the night in a Bedouin camp, there’s skiing INSIDE, a look at the palm and world islands, and a lot more.

In this week’s episode, I talk about airlines AGAIN.  They deserve it.  I can’t believe the ridiculous policies they’re implementing, can you?  I show a new airline safety briefing video that I think you’ll find interesting…

There’s a great question that a lot of business owners will be able to relate to – how do you sell in a crowded marketplace if you’re surrounded by similar businesses?  I give a couple of practical suggestions of things you can do to stand out from the crowd.

The Nifty Click web resource is for you if you like keeping track of what’s new in Internet Marketing but you don’t want to be bombarded by emails about the same offer from 27 different people at the same time!

B&H Photo Video are the subject in our BIG marketing lesson.  They’re an innovative company based in New York City.  They sell everything related to computers and electronics, for hobbyists and professionals.  Although they’re a big company, you can still benefit from something they do that’s very simple – yet few businesses do it.

Websites mentioned in the show:

IMNewsWatch (keep up to date with Internet Marketing News)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Consultation for YOUR Business (with me, Andrew Lock)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for viewers of this show)

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

I’ve got too many different projects going on at the moment so I’m looking to see if anyone would be interested in taking one of them off my hands

More details in this thread on a4u or the same on acorndomains.

Sponsors

Get in touch if you would like to advertise in this space!

Episode #31 – I received some sad news this week – my grandmother passed away, so I headed off to England at short notice to support my family, but before I left I pulled all the stops out to get this episode out to you – I’ve never missed an episode and I didn’t want this week to change that.

I start off this episode with the most unconventional piece of investment advice you’ll hear from anyone, including Jim Kramer .  By the way, I just bought a Nintendo Wii, hence the t-shirt.  I don’t really work out every day (I’d like to though).

The viewer question relates to something that many business owners face – what to do in the slow seasons in a seasonal business. I think you’ll find my suggestions helpful if you’re in that situation. Don’t get bogged down with the specific niche under discussion, instead learn from the PRINCIPLES and apply them to YOUR business.

Sometimes NiftyClicks are software, as in the one for this episode. It’s called ‘Faster Audio’ and it’s a handy little utility you can use to speed up audio files so you can listen to them faster. Get this software if you like to learn via audio programs because it WILL enable you to take in a LOT more information, faster. Also, the retention is better because it forces your brain to focus more when the speed increases. View the link below this section.

You probably haven’t heard of Rock Resorts, but they provide a BIG marketing lesson for us that very few businesses take advantage of. EVERY business can use this idea, so take careful note.

Thanks again to Infusion for being our sponsor. If you haven’t done so already, grab the FREE report from Infusion: “The Edge of Success.” It contains 9 proven techniques for doubling your sales. They are simple strategies you can use immediately.

Websites mentioned in the show:

Membergate (best system for creating and managing an online membership site)

FlipMyBusiness.com (FREE 22 min video from Dan Kennedy, packed with tips to help your business)

Faster Audio (Software that helps you learn faster from your existing audio recordings)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Consultation for YOUR Business (with me, Andrew Lock)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for viewers of this show)

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

Today seems a bit dull compared to the events of yesterday. Late last week I found out about the Vodafone Liveguy campaign and so I kept an eye on the blog and followed @vodafoneliveguy on twitter. Basically Liveguy is spending a day in different cities with 3 netbooks plus a year of mobile broadband to give away if you find him.

The competition kicked off at 9am in Edinburgh yesterday and so during the morning I thought I would follow events and see how quickly he was found but in the end no-one apart from the social media whirlwind that is Mike Coulter managed to catch up with him.

With that in mind I thought it was time to hit the road so accompanied by my wife and one year old daughter we drove into town, abandoned the car and took off up the High Street in search of his last known position. I think we managed to get ahead of liveguy and ended up on the castle esplanade where all the staff & stewards were wearing liveguy style bright read coats just to confuse the issue.

By this point I was getting help from Kieron by SMS along with Twitter support from davelaw00 , weblivz, ewarwoowar and michellepen so thanks to you all for the advice!

We started to wander back down the High Street and suddenly spotted him standing on the corner so I ended up sprinting down the road to greet him with “You’re liveguy and I’m a Vodafone winner”. After a bit of hesitation liveguy confirmed I was a winner but only because the morning netbook had not been claimed by Mike so it was carried over.

The afternoon netbook had been claimed five mins earlier by Jay from Freak Marketing author of a really interesting facebook app called Get Them In so that’s worth a look too.

We had to hang around for another ten minutes or so to sign a model release form! We filled in the paper work and then headed home. The only slight down side was that we now have to wait for up to a month to actually get the netbook sent out It would have been more exciting to go home with it there and then but that’s just a minor issue.

All in all it was great to meet liveguy and leave a winner and it’s a great promotion and demonstration of the capabilities of the Vodafone Netbook. It was also good to meet Stylist Brighton from Shiny Media who was also on the trail of liveguy and here is her video from the day. I arrive near the end!

Check out the liveguy website and see if liveguy is visiting your home city as it could be well worth getting out there to look for him!

Sponsors

Get in touch if you would like to advertise in this space!

In this podcast, Latino Print Network’s Kirk Whisler interviews Joseph Torres, Governmental Relations Manager for Free Press. The interview took place during the 2009 Unity Conference in Chicago.

For more information on Free Press go to www.FreePress.net

In this episode of Internet Business Mastery, we present part two of The 7 Reasons Why People DON’T Succeed in Internet Business and How You Can Avoid Every Single One.  Plus, we show you a critical plugin to use on any WordPress-based site.

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to Internet Business Mastery Academy,  where you will get full access to ALL of our courses, tools, and resources for creating your own internet business and escaping the 9-to-5.

Each month we add at least one new internet business course, a Grill the Guru interview, and new video tutorials in the Million Dollar Rolodex.

Items mentioned in the episode:

• WP-Backup – Automatic backups for your WordPress-based site
• Winner of the lifestyle design video contest
• Distinctions for Life
• Glamour Apprentice

Join us on Twitter?

• Twitter

Transcripts

• Transcripts of IBM 52 | 7 Reasons Why People DON’T Succeed in Internet Business and How You Can Avoid Every Single One Pt 2

What do you think?

• What’s holding you back from reaching the next level in your Internet Business?
• How can you overcome these obstacles?
  

Download the MP3

In this episode of Internet Business Mastery, we present part two of The 7 Reasons Why People DON’T Succeed in Internet Business and How You Can Avoid Every Single One.  Plus, we show you a critical plugin to use on any WordPress-based site.

CLICK HERE to get immediate access to Internet Business Mastery Academy,  where you will get full access to ALL of our courses, tools, and resources for creating your own internet business and escaping the 9-to-5.

Each month we add at least one new internet business course, a Grill the Guru interview, and new video tutorials in the Million Dollar Rolodex.

Items mentioned in the episode:

• WP-Backup – Automatic backups for your WordPress-based site
• Winner of the lifestyle design video contest
• Distinctions for Life
• Glamour Apprentice

Join us on Twitter?

• Twitter

Transcripts

• Transcripts of IBM 52 | 7 Reasons Why People DON’T Succeed in Internet Business and How You Can Avoid Every Single One Pt 2

What do you think?

• What’s holding you back from reaching the next level in your Internet Business?
• How can you overcome these obstacles?
  

Download the MP3

Episode #30 -Energy drinks are BIG business and in this episode I’ll show you how the battle of the beverages is getting intense.  Red Bull, the market leader, is getting a run for their money by RockStar.

The viewer question is all about customer newsletters – specifically, is it better to send email or print newsletters – view my answer and let me know what do YOU think?

TripIt is a great NiftyClick for frequent travelers, it keeps track of all your plans (hotels, flights, car rental etc) in one convenient place.  Now I don’t have to worry about finding all the paperwork, I can access everything I need online.

The BIG marketing lesson is all about Oreck, the vacuum cleaner company – maybe you’ve seen their TV or print ads?  They do a great job with a little used marketing strategy that you can also benefit from – can you guess what it is?

By the way, if you haven’t done so already, grab the FREE report from Infusion: “The Edge of Success.” It contains 9 proven techniques for doubling your sales. They are simple strategies you can use immediately.

Also, if you liked this episode, take a look at this great video about: “How to get your point across to any personality type” – it’s FREE and you can view it here.

Websites mentioned in the show:

TripIt (manages all your travel plans)

NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)

Consultation for YOUR Business (with me, Andrew Lock)

Microwave Marketing Training System (special offer for viewers of this show)

Regards,

Having trouble viewing this video? Try the QuickTime version.

 
Photo by: D’arcy Norman

Whilst visiting some of the many blogs I do each day, and when I feel it is appropriate I leave a comment on the blog post.  I always like to leave a comment on a topic or area that I am interested and/or have an opinion on (and I do with many), as I think it helps me to understand what I’ve just read and also encourages me to check back, or read a few more posts on that particular blog.  It always confuses me as to why bloggers want you to register to comment on their blog, or that one of your comments has to be moderated before it is published on the blog – yes, I know it’s to stop spammers and with a blog that has grown to be large and with a lot of decent (and not so decent) readers (spammers) a blogger doesn’t want the site to be over run.  However, askimet spam filters and others I feel are moderately effective at combating this spam and I often update my filters to flag up the usual ‘words’ that a lot of spammers will include in their comment v***ra, or riding him like a ***** etc.

4 Benefits of Moderating

You can control your blog – if you moderate all of the comments that are added to your blog, then you can catch any comments that you believe are spam, or use abusive language in their writing.

You can keep up with the community – moderating comments allows you to read everyone who is adding to the conversation and community, and you can respond accordingly with your view as the blogger.

Comment spam can be reduced – If you’re checking and moderating every comment then you can check all links to the commenter and other sources.

You can filter out negative comments – If there’s something that someone said that you didn’t like, then you can catch it before the actual writing is published on your blog.

4 Negatives of Moderating

People may become frustrated and leave – for some people if they have to login or register to post a comment and that comment doesn’t appear for a while, they may feel that they’ve missed out on the conversation.

People think they’re being censored/wondering if your blog is honest – people do become suspicious if someone else has to ‘verify’ their comments before they’re published on the blog, something linking in with ‘big brother’.

You might just simply not have time – once your blog grows, would you have enough time to moderate each comment which is placed on the blog?  Or, you have a few blogs and you spend most of your time writing, would you be able to spend a few hours moderating comments?  Most bloggers couldn’t.

If you’re not quick on moderation, will conversation get lost – if you intend to moderate less than once a day could more people comment on a post one day and then other people post a comment that has already been suggested by another reader earlier, but wasn’t showing because it hadn’t been moderated?  Would this negatively affect your readers?

Speed – how much time have your visitors got? – logging in, registering and loading different windows on a site takes time.  Readers truly don’t want to be hanging around for a page to load – I know I definitely don’t, I want to read the content, note down my point of view and go onto something else – my time is limited and I have a lot of things to do.

Where to change moderation

If you’re not sure where or how to change your moderation settings, then you’ll need to go to your wordpress dashboard and click on Options > Discussion and change the settings that are circled below.  Also, you’ll need to decide whether people need to register and log in to comment or whether you’ll allow people the comment without logging in (the latter I believe is better).

If you’re using a blogger blog and you are not sure how to change the settings, then see here.

What do you do?

It would be interesting to hear what you do on your blog and why.  Do you moderate and if you do, do you just do the first comment and then let the commenter post away to their hearts content on other posts, or are you deeply controlling the comments on your blog.  Also, do you like people to login to your blog to comment so you feel more ‘secure’ in the comments your blog is getting?  It would be interesting to hear what you have to say.

Check out the Article Marketing Domination Ebook

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In this special 2008 Election podcast, we listen to part of a speech given by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. This speech took place during the recent Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institutes events in Washington, DC.

For more information on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute go to www.chci.org