Archive | December, 2011

Hi everyone… Michael N The Affiliate Blogger here… Merry Christmas!

Now…I’m not subscribed to many lists these days having learned the lessons early on and receiving tons of unwanted sales pitches veiled thinly as content. I’m very prudent with whom I give access to my email address. But every now and then you receive something valuable…straight from the heart and that’s what I received this morning…a moving email which I think important enough to reproduce here on my blog. I’ve been on Mike and Troy’s subscriber list for a while and I really believe these guys to be the real deal in the online marketing world. The email below is written with a lot of heart and does not sell anything but sound advice.

If you have been scammed, discouraged on the verge of giving up this thing called affiliate or internet marketing…I urge you to read this then decide…I’m not an affiliate of Mike and Troy’s nor do I know them personally in any way. Please read on….

Embrace the meaning of a single word & change your life …An email from Mike and Troy

As I sit here today on the 24th of December thinking about Christmas and what it means, I think of all of the distractions that us entrepreneurs face and I wanted to share a little personal story with you.
At the age of ten, my sister, Traci (18 years old) was tragically killed in an auto accident. At 10 I was forced to grow up very quickly and learned many of life’s lessons in a “forced” manner sooner than I should have been expected to. In many ways my childhood was cut short, but in many other ways my understanding of life was hastened and my sheer dedication and devotion was born.

I began playing the piano when I was very young. In fact I don’t really remember when I started - six or seven years old I think, but I’d have to confirm that with my mom (she’s got a much more reliable memory than me). A few months after my sister’s death, my parents and I attended a live piano concert and the pianist played a song that put both of my parents in tears.

Life was not very joyous those days and my parents struggled to go on - each day a challenge. It was an enormous burden to bear for a 10 year old as I felt pressured to somehow ease the stress of my parents. The only route that I saw was that song that had so touched them.

At the concert I had purchased the sheet music and even got it autographed. So now I made a decision to learn to play that song. At 10 years old I learned the true power of a single solitary word - decide.

For those of you that don’t know, the word ‘decide’ has been redefined, as much of our language has, through the generations. But the true Latin root for the word “decide” means “to cut off from all other possibilities”. That bears repeating:

“decide: to cut off from all other possibilities”

You see, when you “decide” something you should not be wishy washy but rather resolved and committed. When you decide to take an action, commit yourself to it as if there is absolutely no alternative - as though every possible other option has been “cut off”. When you can truly embrace this concept you will watch your success in anything you go after skyrocket - that I can assure you of.
That day I “decided” to learn to play that song, to be able to “touch” my parents through music - well, I committed to it 95%. Don’t buy into the hyped garbage about “give it 110%” - that’s BS. Most people live their lives and never learn how to give even 70% of their true force to anything.

No matter how hard you’re focusing on anything right now, I challenge you to think if you couldn’t do “just a little more”. Choose to be different. DECIDE to make a difference in your business and in your life in 2012.

The song I learned to play took months - many, many months. I don’t even remember how long anymore, but I know it was at least six months or more - I’m sure my mom could tell you. She will certainly remember because I used to wake up at 5:00am to practice in the morning for a couple of hours *before* breakfast and heading off to school. My parents would “wake up” to the sound of me torturing that poor piano into submission day after day after day.

But that wasn’t all. I came home from school and sat down and practiced another 2 or 3 or sometimes even 4 more hours. Often times I practiced more than six hours in a day - margin by margin, until I had finally succeeded in learning that song. My rendition wasn’t perfect, probably about a 7.5 on the 10 scale to be honest, but to my parents it was an “11″.

Today, I give my thanks to my sister Traci for teaching me how to succeed even from afar. Though I hardly knew my sister and have very few childhood memories at all, she has certainly been the biggest influence in my life and that one DECISION to learn to play an impossible song, well, that is something no one can ever take away from me.

That one decision helped shape many others later in life, like becoming one of the youngest directors in the history of a 200+ year old company, or becoming my bosses boss in mere months in my 20’s. It gave me the confidence to become a nuclear certified electrician before I could legally drink a bear. It gave me the confidence to lose 55 pounds in 90 days and regain my health a few years ago (a feat I, unfortunately, now need to repeat) and to become a private pilot in 30 days and get my instrument rating in just 10 days.

But more importantly it gave me the confidence to rebuild my life despite many mistakes - bankruptcy, divorce - the same things many of you have likely faced or are facing. It gave me the character to believe in myself when no one else did and the relentlessness to achieve far beyond what anyone else would have ever believed and, more importantly, to demand from myself far more than anyone else dared.

Two years ago I was recently divorced, had lost everything and was just “getting by” on about $800 a month. Today I am married to the one and only true love of my life - my wife Edina - and have a beautiful new baby girl (well, 18 months, but seems like yesterday) as well as my two other precious children from my prior marriage. Oh, and yes, a 7 figure business that had it’s strongest month ever this month (still growing) and enabled me to spent nearly four months traveling this past year.

I am truly blessed, and I share these things with you not out of arrogance but to humbly point out what is there waiting for you should you decide to get it and inspire you to not dream but to make your dreams reality. But I want one thing to ring abundantly clear as I close out this long winded story. I want it to be very clear to you that this did NOT happen by accident and I was not “lucky”.

You see I never really had any natural “talent” - still don’t. But I’ve always had a sheer determination and relentless pursuit of my objectives that have more than made up for my lack of talent. Luck has had nothing to do with Mike and I’s success. We have created the opportunities that allowed lady luck to descend upon us and that choice is available to you as well. All you have to do is DECIDE.

So please, decide to make 2012 your year. Decide to make 2012 the year that you break free and then simply make it happen, not allowing any other possibility the chance to even blossom.

A very Merry Christmas to you and your family from Mike and I and our families…

Work smarter not harder,

Mike and Troy
http://ArticleSubmissionReview.com
http://ArticlesOnTap.com
http://BusinessAutomationMastermind.com
http://www.facebook.com/ArticleSubmissionReview

So…very good advice don’t you think?…. So decide and learn the essentials to succeeding in the online marketing world from either Mike, Troy or Myself.

All the best in 2012.

Michael

The Affiliate Blogger

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The Year 2011 In Review….

Well….I cannot believe how quickly thus year has gone by. This is one of the first ever posts I have done on this blog which has nothing to do with affiliate marketing in any way. What it has to do though is the major events of the year in review. I came across this fantastic you tube video done by Google Zeitgeist review.

Watch it and just see how much has happened over the course of this year…from tragedy, triumph and celebration. Reflect on what has been and what will be in 2011. Have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year. My sincere wishes to all who have visited and continue to visit. Thanks again. The Affiliate Blogger.

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I still remember when I first began my online journey around 5 years ago, I had just set up my website and eagerly was awaiting sales to come flooding in!! :)

Nothing happened and as the learning curve goes...I was getting sorely disappointed at this stage which was when I received a very interesting and hopeful phone call. They introduced themselves...said I had a very interesting website and that they were interested in what I was advertising. He then asked me whether I wanted my webpage to be number 1 on Google to which any self respecting newbie to internet marketing would reply "YES". I was informed that If I parted with a measly 2000 USD, this SEO company would skyrocket my sales by getting my website ranked number one on the search engines within 2-3 months.

Well...I had my credit card out but believe me or not... divine intervention saved me from bankrupting myself even before I started. The CC did not go through and for the next few weeks this company tried everything in it's arsenal to get me to pay up, threatening legal action. I'm glad the money did not go through but it was an invaluable lesson anyhow.

So here's a short article on how you can recognise fraud and scams in the online world...

Every body has heard of duplicitous online schemes: fraudulent business deals that soak innocent folks for hundreds and even thousands of dollars. These bad deals are rampant on the internet, and virtually any search for work at home opportunities will turn up several scam programs. As aware as most people are that these bad deals exist, there are still three things that the perpetrators count on your not knowing.

1. The best bad deals are carefully disguised to look like good business models. In fact, there are many fraudulent schemes based on legitimate businesses! Taking a solid business and tweaking some of the components can produce a money-making fraud that most people will believe in. Frauds that look a lot like reputable programs can be virtually indistinguishable, opening even the most suspicious online business people up to harm.

2. The bad people behind frauds keep their hands as clean as possible by staying hands off. A fraud will quickly reveal itself when you can’t get an answer from anyone you try to contact with questions. Much like the little wizard behind the curtain in the magical world of Oz, these people sit safely behind computer screens and never respond to the calls of their victims. They count on eager customers who will not try to speak with them in advance to ensure that they do not have to start any communication that might hinder their fraud later.

3. People who live off of scams rely on shame to perpetuate their crime. They rely on the shame of their victims and the silence that shame inspires. Online scam artists trust that you will not tell anyone you fell for a scam. When you don’t tell, their secrets stay safe and other people might fall for the same scheme again. They rely on your embarrassment and silence to strike out at new victims.

These simple facts about scams help shed light on the way these awful businesses perpetuate frauds online. Keep these facts in mind as you work online, and you might find you avoid a few more fraudulent schemes this festive season....All the best.

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When used properly, an autoresponder can be a terrific tool for your affiliate marketing. It can save you a tremendous amount of time while allowing you

to disperse a single email to a vast amount of people. The trick is knowing what not to do and what to do with the tool in order to make money online.

Did you know that email marketing brings in an average of $43 for every $1 you spend? (source: DMA)  That’s an amazing return on your investment that you can’t get

anywhere else.

If you’re on a budget — and let’s face it, all of us are –email marketing gives you a huge bang for your buck.

But writing, designing, and sending out all those emails takes a lot of time, doesn’t it?

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO!

AWeber makes email marketing seamless, simple, and more effective than ever, and you can sign up for $1!



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* Email newsletters
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And AWeber’s knowledge base helps you learn the ins & out of email marketing with articles, live webinars, and videos!

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Don’t waste precious hours when AWeber can handle your email marketing campaign at such a low price!  No more stress, no more guesswork.

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“The Money Is In The List


AWeber proves it to thousands of businesses every day.

Learn how email marketing software
can get you more sales, too.

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This may shock you but statistical data reveals that most people who are involved with affiliate marketing on the world wide web are just plain doing things the wrong way. That is why around 90% of people who begin with dreams of making it big fail and give up within the first 3 months.

I have compiled a list of what I think are the 4 biggest mistakes in stopping someone from achieving success in terms of banking their affiliate commissions

Just “trying it out”

It’s a fact that if you’re not serious enough, you won’t get serious results.

Would you like to know the real secret to successfully running a business online?

I think having a profitable Internet or affiliate business can be summed up in one phrase, “view it like a real business”!

A lot of people start out with affiliate marketing on a part-time basis. This generally means they have other things that take up their time. Usually that is a full-time job so you can immediately cross off 40 to 50 hours a week to work on your Internet business.

This immediately puts people in the category of having an Internet business as a hobby. This is okay and there is nothing wrong with a hobby, but if your goal is to be profitable and to make money online you need to consider it as more than a hobby.When it comes to succeeding whether in a “bricks and mortar” type business or on the internet the amount of work that you need to put in is the same. You need to work hard. Contrary to popular opinion there are no freebies in the internet world.
Sure, the dynamics are different and you get to work from home but it is still “work”

That means putting together a schedule and actually working on a consistent basis. The only way you will ever make money online with your affiliate marketing is if you
work at selling quality products and getting traffic to a website to purchase them from you.

Re-read the above statement again and really let it sink into your head.

Getting distracted and information overload.

The saying “less is more” couldn’t be more true when it comes to starting a profitable business on the internet.

The less you do, the more results you get.

Consider this…the problem most people face especially if they are beginners is that they have their hand in too many pies.

You must choose to focus and direct your efforts on just ONE business/venture, you’ll get a lot more from it. In other words, focus your efforts on one thing at a time.

If you need to write an article, don’t do anything else till that article is done and submitted.

Or choose one quality product/service and promote the hell out of it.

Not following a proven blueprint

Have you ever heard the phrase “there’s no need to reinvent the wheel”?

ALL successful marketers do one thing, they leverage on other successful marketers.

What I mean is if you “model” mentors who are already extremely successful, you’re bound to get better results than going on your own.

Make’s perfect sense but few actually DO this.

Here’s where I The Affiliate Blogger can assist you in learning affiliate marketing the right way.

Providing up-to-date information and resources will keep you on top of the game at all times, so take a look at a few of the benefits you’ll receive just
for joining The Affiliate Marketing Newsletter:

* What to look for when choosing programs
* Avoid common mistakes many marketers are making
* Where to find the best advertising
* Why building your own list is a must
And so much more!

I invite you to browse the blog right now to see for yourself how the information can benefit you and how
you can immediately start applying many of the tips and tricks to your marketing strategy!

Shooting arrows in the dark

This is related to the point above and needs reiteration, if you don’t use a proven blueprint that provides a clear and precise direction, you’re likely to be confused and be aiming at no real targets.

The most successful affiliate marketers all follow a blueprint to make money, with each step building up a long-term business and generating more income.

I hope you found this article useful and I wish you the best of success.

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