//// By Marlon Sanders \\\\

There are 6 basic ways to get dough online:

1. Promote affiliate products

2. Google adsense

3. Sell a service

4. Sell advertising

5. Sell physical products (think ebay)

6. Sell information

You’ll notice that the last 4 all involve selling something. That’s the approach I wanna talk to you about today.

I did a survey with my Milcers and Alist members. I found out that most of them are still stuck to a degree in getting things going.

I want to give you an abbreviated action plan that I spend 100 pages elaborating on in “Gimme My Money Now” and that the icons walk you through in “The Marketing Dashboard”.

There are MANY Formulas out there. Here’s the Marlon Sanders Formula in a nutshell. So many of you have written and said, “I need a Formula. I need step-by-step.” This is the big picture:

1. Find demand

2. Write sales letter

3. Create info product to meet demand

4. Roll out with affiliate program

That whole formula is elaborated on in much greater depth in both Amazing Formula and Gimme My Money Now.

Here’s what I found out from my survey. Most of you guys and gals have jobs that you want to escape from. You have bills and debts to pay.

And most of you are coming into this without a lot of prior knowledge of marketing and some of you have limited computer skills.

Based on that, do you think it’s safe for me to say it’s unrealistic to think you’re going to quickly and easily become a zillionaire? Well, it’s true. If you have no background in sales and marketing, and you don’t have very good computer skills, you have a learning curve ahead of you and that takes time.

HERE’S HOW I PERSONALLY DID IT

I remember when I was broke and bought deodorant with all pennies. But what I did was kept learning and didn’t expect easy nor overnight results.

I kept buying books when I could afford them. There were no cheap and easy ebooks back then. I could have done it 10 times faster if I had access to all the information available today.

Anyway, my way out was self education. And action. I kept doing little projects to put what I learned into ACTION.

I ran this one little business where you sold booklets using answering machines. You didn’t have voice mail then. So I had 3 answering machines hooked up in my home (my friends hated it).

I ran these little ads in what we call in the U.S. “penny shoppers.” These are little papers given away for free that are all classified ads.

I ended up running ads in 72 cities! And people would leave their name and address on the answering machines. I shipped the books C.O.D. Half the books came back. It was sorta like paying out 50% affiliate commissions.

You didn’t have Paypal or easy merchant accounts in those days. So you had to do C.O.D. I sold $12,000 of books via “mail order.” And I was exhilerated to do so. I think at the end of the day I probably LOST money.

But I sure learned a lot.

Then AOL and CompuServe came along and I started writing sales letters and running ads on there. You’d run a little classified ad (they were free on AOL). People would email you.

Since autoresponders didn’t exist, you’d personally email them back your “free report.” Since there weren’t any PDF’s then (at least, that I knew of), the free report was a long email.

The “big trick” my friend Jonathan Mizel taught back then was to put their name in the return email! That was a big secret back then.

Mizel, me, others all learned copywriting from Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples. That was like one of 4 or 5 books on copywriting. But you know what? We wrote some pretty good sales letters back then. I first met Jonathan Mizel ’cause he sent me one of his sales letters, and I thought it was good. So I wrote and asked him where he learned to write copy.

Of course, he said “Tested Advertising Methods” by John Caples. So we were immediate friends.

AOL was great. You could test out your little ads, emails and sales letters. I don’t even think in those days we sent out follow up emails.

As far as I know, my friend the late Corey Rudl created the demand for autoresponders when he wrote about how he brought in all this money by automatically emailing buyers 4 days later.

It was only after that someone was smart enough to create an autoresponder. Corey’s stuff was hand coded. Gosh, I miss Corey. And I reckon you’ve been in this business a long time when you see your friends move on to the next great adventure.

Somewhere in this timeline (it all escapes me), I had a little retail store selling self help books and tapes. The first thing newbies think to sell online is either diet stuff or self help.

Man, self help is a tough sell. Both Dan Kennedy and I had self development stores. And we both lost bux on ‘em. But I did have the chance to write and send out a few sales letters. And since I often didn’t have the money to print and mail letters, I’d call ‘em on the phone.

I found out that just by calling people, I could say ANYTHING and I’d STILL get a lot of people coming in for the next 3 weeks.

That’s the power of staying in contact with your customers.

Anyway, I could go on with this story. I’ve told the rest of it in bits and pieces in different places.

What are you supposed to get out of this?

Dan Kennedy I think had a path kinda like mine. And what he said once is profound. He said, “I became an overnight success after 20 years of effort.”

Now, I’m NOT saying you need 20 years of effort. You don’t. But neither is 20 minutes a week gonna do much for ya.

Most of the people I’ve seen make it in this business do so after trying things that didn’t work. And they kept on trying. And sooner or later, somethin’ clicked.

I think I shoulda called this article, “Sooner or Later, Something Clicked.”

So you got a job that sucks. You got bills that are stacked up. Hopefully you can buy deodorant with something other than pennies like me in the old days.

So what do YOU do?

My friend, I’d personally tell ya to do what I did. Fall in love with the process more than the immediate fixation of “I gotta make this work now or the whole thing is a scam.”

What you’re learning is marketing.

And that’ll benefit you your whole life. It can help you get your son or daughter or friend a job. It can help you raise money for your Church or charity. It can help you promote an idea whose time has come.

See, a LOT of people say, “I feel like I’ve just wasted my #*$&* money on stuff.”

I my response is, “Then you don’t understand what you’re learning. No wonder things haven’t clicked for you yet.”

See, this isn’t about gimmicks. It isn’t about you figuring out how to trick people into buying with magic words. It isn’t about fooling the search engines into stickin’ your stuff at the top. If you do this business the way I teach it, it’s about learning marketing. And yeah, I said the dirty 5-letter word — LEARN. You can paint it up. You can put perfume on it. You can sell the sizzle not the steak.

But my friend, what you’re doin’ is learning. And like my friend Jim Edwards says, “That isn’t something you microwave.”

“So Marlon, tell me how long this is gonna take and how much I’m gonna make when I’m done?”

Rule 1: People learn at different rates, so no one knows.

Rule 2: You’ll never be done.

Rule 3: It depends on what you sell, who you sell to, how much you charge, what your margin is and how often they buy.

Some people like Russ Brunson get in this business, do it part time between classes in college and go great guns with it. Russ was one of my top affiliates. But he figured out this business so quickly, before I knew it he had his own line of highly successful products. More power to him!

Others are like me and take like 10 or 20 years to learn it. What’s average? Average is not doing anything, therefore not learning anything, therefore the bills pile higher and the job gets tougher.

“Well, if you can’t tell me how much I’m gonna make, how long it’s gonna take and how much it’s gonna cost me, then I think this whole thing is a scam.”

To say that is to say you believe marketing is a scam. Because at least the way I teach it, that’s what you’re learning.

What’s my advice?

Think of the best info product idea you know how to come up with. Interview some experts and record it. Or have a friend interview you. Do a little 3-hour product, write a sales letter for it. And see if anyone buys.

If they don’t buy, guess what? You asked the market a question and the market answered.

You asked the market, “Do you want to buy this?” And the market responded, “No, not in the way you’re presenting it to me.”

Your choice is to present it differently or do another product. Along the way hopefully you learn some things about how to find out what people want, how to get ‘em to buy, how to fulfill products, write letters, create sales pages and so forth.

Honestly, in the DOING, you’ll learn a lot more than you’ll ever learn in the reading. You ask. The market answers. You learn along the way.

But if you’re a spectator and you never get in the game, I can guarantee you one rock solid thing: You’ll never win the game if you aren’t in it.

This is a great business. It isn’t for everyone. It sure isn’t a way to become a zillionaire overnight. Maybe after 5, 10 or 20 years you hit that zillion and you’re the next John Reese or Jeff Walker.

I don’t think everyone should be in this business. If you don’t wanna figure anything out yourself, if you don’t wanna learn how to solve problems, if you don’t wanna learn more things about html and the computer than you really wanna know, if you can’t tolerate risk, if you need your first attempt to be a success, or even your first 3 or 4, then I don’t know, if you can’t afford to spend money on learning and education, if you can’t afford to try things that don’t work, if you think it should all be simple and easy, I don’t know if this industry is for you.

A lot of people get seduced by the lure of ez dough. The promises of zillions without learning. Just connect the dots and you too can be John Reese, Marlon Sanders or whoever you wanna choose.

Here’s the deal: People WILL sell you a turnkey system to escape your job, make zillions or whatever. They’ll give you the fish. I want to teach you TO FISH.

I have a strong belief that unless you buy a franchise, in most cases your going to better off learning marketing than “buying a fish.” There are exceptions. But more often than not, buying a fish doesn’t serve you well.

Some of my friends would disagree with that premise. I happen to have a strong conviction that you are better off learning marketing. My friends are RIGHT in that people DO want to buy the fish versus learn how to catch it. So oftentimes, you’re best off selling a “fish” product.

But everybody has their perspectives. And for me, my criteria for buying a product: If whatever “IT” is doesn’t “pan out” for you, are you STILL better off from having spent money on it? Will it continue to benefit you, your family or your friends in the future?

If the answer is NO, then think twice before spending your money.

You have a job you wanna escape, bills to pay off, retirement to prepare for. Or special needs like a sick loved one. Or a sickness yourself.

I can’t promise you ez zillions. There’s no integrity in that.

I can’t promise you 6 figures a year ez as pie.

What I CAN promise you is that selling products works. It’s no scam. People been doin’ it for thousands of years.

I can promise you that marketing works. Always has. Always will.

I can promise you that money and time spent learning marketing can pay off in many ways.

I can promise you that if you find demand, meet it with products and well-executed promotions, and you do that over time, those bills will likely fade away.

I can promise you that everybody on the Net selling you this or that “dough making system” ALL have 1 thing in common — THEY are selling you a product, service or seminar.

They have a target market.

They have an intro offer.

They have a back end.

I believe in paying more attention to what people DO than what they SAY.

People get all confused what to DO. And there’s a new system invented every day that’s the next big thing. Thank God. I love commerce.

But to remove the confusion, understand this:

They all may disagree on HOW you make money. But one thing is certain: They’re making bux selling a product to a target market — YOU!

Go and do thou likewise.

I remember back then. When I bought deodorant with all pennies.

I remember the date I had with a model in a car that smoked like a bomb.

And to me, there’s no confusion. It’s all crystal. It’s all simple. Take away the smoke. Take away the mirrors.

You need a product. You need people who want it with the money to buy it. You need some great promo out there.

There’s only ONE method people having using to pay their bills and quit their jobs for the past 1,000 years –

Selling products and services to a target market with a great sales pitch that presents benefits and solves problems.

I know you want more details on how. How do you find target markets? How do you identify demand? How, how, how.

I have provided a lot of those answers in the Milcer’s newsletters, Amazing Formula, Gimme My Money, Action Grid.

You wanna quit that job? You wanna liquidate that debt? I don’t have an ez zillion for you. But I do have a crystal clear answer.

Find a group of people. Find out what they need and want. Meet those wants with a product. Provide great service.

And who knows. Maybe. Someday. If the stars shine down on you, you’ll hit that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

———————————————————–
Marlon Sanders is the author of “The Amazing Formula That
Sells Products Like Crazy.” If you’d like to get on his
mailing list and receive tips, articles and information
about online marketing, visit: http://www.marlonsnews.com 

Also -> Marlon Sanders’ Best

We, Internet Marketers, know what we are about but sometimes we find it hard to explain to our friends and family what it is we do and why we spend a considerable amount of time doing it. 

Those of you that are looking for a good explanation so that you don’t look so secretive doing what you do or are considering marketing a product and/or a service via the ‘Net … well … it’s a good read. Just click on the image and you can have the report.

I'm an Internet Marketer

Washington DC was nasty as could be. As I sat on the bench
waiting for my bus to arrive I couldn’t wait to get back to the
backwoods of Louisiana. I had almost sat in a pool of blood that
was on the far end of the bench and I was ready to go. I truly
hope people coming to visit our country don’t make DC one of
their stops.

Anyway, before my bus arrived I was approached by a nicely
dressed elderly gentleman in need of directions. I told him I had
no idea what he was looking for as I too was just passing
through. To this day I’m not sure why, but we started talking as
if we had known each other for years.

We talked about life, people and eventually the conversation
turned to business. It was here that the gentlemen saw something
in me, I suppose, that made him feel like sharing what he said
was the greatest secret ever told. He said everyone had heard it
but almost no one paid any attention to it, even though it was
the one thing that could bestow a fortune upon any man or woman
who used it.

My ears where definitely starting to perk up. Something about his
tone told me this man knew from whereof he spoke. And I wanted to
know what the secret was with a passion. He must have sensed my
anxiousness because at that very moment he gave me a warning that
was almost a scolding.

I’ll try to recount here as best I can the rest of our
conversation…

Man: “Do not make the mistake of shrugging off what I am about to
tell you because you have heard it before. No doubt you have
heard it already from at least one person in your life. You may
have even heard it many times. Do you have any aversion to
religion Mr. Says?”

Me: “No I don’t. I don’t believe many preachers know what they
are talking about or even what they are trying to teach, but I do
know the Bible has a lot of great knowledge in it.”

Man: “Good. I would not want you to discount what I am about to
tell you because it does come directly from the Bible. But its
applications reach far beyond what most people can conceive of.
It will take thought, intense pondering on your part, to begin to
get some inkling of its power.”

“This simple secret, when applied to business, will draw money to
you as easily as water runs down a mountain. Even a fool can
apply it and prosper. When applied to relationships, it will
create more friends than you can handle” (laughing heartily)

Me: “What is it, I’m dying to know now?”

Man: “Patience Mr. Says, Patience. I will not give it to you as
it has always been repeated by fools who have no respect or
knowledge of what it even means. No. I will give it to you
another way.”

“What type of business are you interested in?”

Me: “Well, I’m dabbling in Mail Order right now. I would like to
place ads and sell books.”

Man: “Fine. Fine. Mail Order it is. Let me tell you how to create
a fortune in this Mail Order. All you have to do is create the
product you want to buy”

Me: “I don’t understand”

Man: “You will”

“You see, you are your market. Whatever you want, there are
millions of other people wanting the same thing. That elusive
product you are looking for is the product millions of others are
also looking for right now.”

“All you have to do is create the product you want to buy, the
product you yourself have been looking for. Once you have this
product, what would you want the sales message to say so that you
know this is the product you have been looking for?”

“If someone else where selling this product, what would you want
the ad to say, what would get you to buy this product?. When you
have that answer, that is the ad you want to create.”

Me: “I see” (hesitantly)

Man: “See the business across the street here? Pizza. I could
triple the business that place does inside of 10 minutes. That’s
what I do by the way” (smiling)

“All I would do is walk into the business as a customer. I would
sit there and imagine all the things that could be done to me
that would make me a loyal customer to that business for life.
What could they do for me that would make me feel this way?”

“Once I had the answers to that question, I would implement them
across the board. Every customer would be treated the way I had
imagined. And without any doubt what so ever that business would
triple the profits it now makes.”

Me: “I think I know…”

Man: “Wait, you don’t really know anything yet. That’s the
problem with people. They brush something off because of where it
came from or because they heard it many times. Leave that for
fools. You won’t “know it” until you have deeply pondered it and
put it to use.”

Me: “Ok”

Man: “What I am telling you has power undreamed of. The simple
words used to describe it cannot contain it. Does not do justice
to it, and has been prostituted by blabber mouths who let wisdom
fall off their lips with not even a single brain cell grasping
what they are rambling about.”

“What I am telling you is Law, not man’s Law, but the very Law’s
of nature herself. It’s the way things work and those who truly
understand it rise to the top in every field known to man.”

“What people don’t understand is that it applies to everything.
This secret can be applied with virtually every step you take,
everything you do, every word you speak and everyone concerned
profits by it.”

“If you are a writer, write like you would like to be written to”

“If you are a salesman, sell like you would like to be sold to”

“If you are a speaker, speak like you would like to be spoken to”

“If you want more love, then love like you would like to be
loved”

“If you want more friends, be the friend you would like to see”

“When you infuse everything you do with this secret it takes on a
magical power. Businesses dominate the market, books become best
sellers, leaders attract huge and loyal followings.”

“How would you like it?”

“How would you respond to it?”

“How would it make you feel?”

“Those are great questions to think about every time you do or
create something. You will get into the hearts and minds of
everyone who comes under your influence if you will first think
how you would have it done to you.”

“I’m certain you already know the quote from the Bible I’m
referring to. But don’t repeat it, just ponder it and pratice
it.”

Me: “I do. But I’ve never thought of how it could actually apply
to everything in life. I too was one of those fools who passed it
over without so much as a second thought. I really want to thank
you for sharing this with me.”

Man: “It’s been a real pleasure talking with you Mr. Says, have a
safe journey home.”

———–

And with that, he was gone. The funny thing was, as I was riding
home on the bus I realized I never got his name, nor do I
remember ever giving him mine. Maybe he saw my luggage tag. I’m
not sure. It really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I’ve
profited from that advice for the last 15 years.

I’m not even really any good at it either and I’ve still pulled
in huge amounts of money. Especially from the Internet. This is
one place this knowledge can really shine. People have always
asked me my secret. How come the Warriors is still here, with the
same products, with all this competition, after all these years?

This one simple secret is the answer. I always ask myself how
would I like to be treated by this company? What would I like to
see? What would I like to get? How would I like to be dealt with?

Those simple questions are all you have to answer. When you do
get the answers, put them into action and watch what happens.

        Create The Site You’ve Been Looking For

       Write Like You Would Like To Be Written To

         Sell Like You Would Like To Be Sold To

        Talk Like You Would Like To Be Talked To

       Deal Like You Would Like To Be Dealt With

  Create For Others What You Would Like Created For You

   Excite Others The Way You Would Like To Be Excited

—

Allen Says is the creator of legendary Internet Marketing
Warriors group – probably responsible for more millionaires than
any other community today. It’s the one group you need to join if
you’re selling anything online.

Click here to find out more: 
The Warrior Forum 

—

Thanks much for your attention,

Remember …

“The people who get on in this world are the people who
get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if
they can’t find them, make them.”
                                 -George Bernard Shaw
Respectfully Yours,
Jimmy Cook
Proprietor: The Internet Marketing Video Training Center

When starting any enterprise or business, whether it is full-time or part-time, we all know the value of having plenty of capital (money). But I bet we both know or at least have heard of people who started with no capital who went on to make fortunes.

How? You may ask?

Well, I believe there are actually some things that are more valuable than capital that can lead to your entrepreneurial success. Let me give you the list.

1. Time.

Time is more valuable than capital. The time you set aside not to be wasted, not to be given away. Time you set aside to invest in an enterprise that brings value to the marketplace with the hope of making a profit. Now we have capital time.

How valuable is time? Time properly invested is worth a fortune. Time wasted can be devastation. Time invested can perform miracles, so you invest your time.

2. Desperation.

I have a friend Lydia, whose first major investment in her new enterprise was desperation. She said, ‘My kids are hungry, I gotta make this work. If this doesn’t work, what will I do?’ So she invested $1 in her enterprise selling a product she believed in. The $1 was to buy a few fliers so she could make a sale at retail, collect the money and then buy the product wholesale to deliver back to the customer.

My friend Bill Bailey went to Chicago as a teenager after he got out of high school. And the first job he got was as a night janitor. Someone said, ‘Bill, why would you settle for night janitor?’ He said, ‘Malnutrition.’ You work at whatever you can possibly get when you get hungry. You go to work somewhere — night janitor, it doesn’t matter where it is. Years later, now Bill is a recipient of the Horatio Alger award, rich and powerful and one of the great examples of lifestyle that I know. But, his first job — night janitor. Desperation can be a powerful incentive. When you say – I must.

3. Determination.

Determination says I will. First Lydia said, ‘I must find a customer.’ Desperation. Second, she said, ‘I will find someone before this first day is over.’ Sure enough, she found someone. She said, ‘If it works once, it will work again.’ But then the next person said, ‘No.’ Now what must you invest?

4. Courage.

Courage is more valuable than capital. If you’ve only got $1 and a lot of courage, I’m telling you, you’ve got a good future ahead of you. Courage in spite of the circumstances. Humans can do the most incredible things no matter what happens. Haven’t we heard the stories? There are some recent ones from Kosovo that are some of the most classic, unbelievable stories of being in the depths of hell and finally making it out. It’s humans. You can’t sell humans short. Courage in spite of, not because of, but in spite of. Now once Lydia has made 3 or 4 sales and gotten going, here’s what now takes over.

5. Ambition.

‘Wow! If I can sell 3, I can sell 33. If I can sell 33, I can sell 103.’ Wow. Lydia is now dazzled by her own dreams of the future.

6. Faith.

Now she begins to believe she’s got a good product. This is probably a good company. And she then starts to believe in herself. Lydia, single mother, 2 kids, no job. ‘My gosh, I’m going to pull it off!’ Her self-esteem starts to soar. These are investments that are unmatched. Money can’t touch it. What if you had a million dollars and no faith? You’d be poor. You wouldn’t be rich. Now here is the next one, the reason why she’s a millionaire today.

7. Ingenuity.

Putting your brains to work. Probably up until now, you’ve put about 1/10 of your brainpower to work. What if you employed the other 9/10? You can’t believe what can happen. Humans can come up with the most intriguing things to do. Ingenuity. What’s ingenuity worth? A fortune. It is more valuable than money. All you need is a $1 and plenty of ingenuity. Figuring out a way to make it work, make it work, make it work.

8. Heart and Soul.

What is a substitute for heart and soul? It’s not money. Money can’t buy heart and soul. Heart and soul is more valuable than a million dollars. A million dollars without heart and soul, you have no life. You are ineffective. But, heart and soul is like the unseen magic that moves people, moves people to buy, moves people to make decisions, moves people to act, moves people to respond.

9. Personality.

You’ve just got to spruce up and sharpen up your own personality. You’ve got plenty of personality. Just get it developed to where it is effective every day, it’s effective no matter who you talk to – whether it is a child or whether it is a business person – whether it is a rich person or a poor person. A unique personality that is at home anywhere. One of my mentors, Bill Bailey, taught me, ‘You’ve got to learn to be just as comfortable, Mr. Rohn, whether it is in a little shack in Kentucky having a beer and watching the fights with Winfred, my old friend or in a Georgian mansion in Washington, DC as the Senator’s guest.’ Move with ease whether it is with the rich or whether it is with the poor. And it makes no difference to you who is rich or who is poor. A chance to have a unique relationship with whomever. The kind of personality that’s comfortable. The kind of personality that’s not bent out of shape.

And lastly, let’s not forget charisma and sophistication. Charisma with a touch of humility. This entire list is more valuable than money. With one dollar and the list I just gave you, the world is yours. It belongs to you, whatever piece of it you desire whatever development you wish for your life. I’ve given you the secret. Capital. The kind of capital that is more valuable than money and that can secure your future and fortune. Remember that you lack not the resources.

______________________________

ABOUT JIM ROHN

Jim Rohn is considered to be ‘America’s Foremost Business Philosopher’. He’s been delivering his life and work-changing seminars for over 39 years… addressed over 6,000 audiences and four million people worldwide… he’s the recipient of the 1985 National Speakers Association CPAE Award… authored 17 different books, audio and video programs… and, Mr. Rohn is internationally hailed as one of the most influential thinkers of our time.

This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America’s Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to www.jimrohn.com or send a blank email to subscribe@jimrohn.com
Copyright © 2005 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide

Viral marketing is probably the number one method for generating traffic and sales – IF it is set up properly.

Take the case of a viral ebook – which means a book that can be passed from one person to another bringing benefits (profits) for each party in turn.

How is this achieved ?

The basic concept is that the book contains links to affiliate products. When a reader of the book makes a purchase from a link then the affiliate receives the commission.

The creator of such a book will allow some of the links to be ‘rebranded’ which means a person (who we will refer to as the rebrander) can replace them with his own affiliate codes thus collecting commission. This is the obvious incentive for him to pass the book around and begin the viral progression.

If we want to maximize the benefits for everyone and create the perfect viral ebook we need to have THREE key factors in place.

1) Wide Distribution

There are many permutations in the ways that you can offer an ebook. It can be free or paid, and for either option you can charge for rebranding or offer it free; plus you can have part customization or full customization. On top of that, for a paid book you can offer resale rights and even the right to grant resale rights.

Let’s keep it simple.

What we want is the widest possible distribution so that we get the most commission from the affiliate links.

So we will have a FREE book and FREE rebranding rights.

2) Quality Affiliate Links

It goes without saying that your book should contain good content on a topic of interest.

But will readers click on those affiliate links ?

The answer is ‘NO’ if you copy the poor example of many authors, for instance:

- have you ever opened an ebook and been faced with a barrage of affiliate links ?

- or seen affiliate products which have nothing to do with the theme of the book ? For example in a book about hypnotism you get a link to a web hosting company.

So what is the best way ?

The secret is to have highly relevant links and weave them naturally into the content in a low key style without appearing to push for a sale. So when you discuss a particular topic and want to show where more detail can be found, or how a particular problem can be solved, that’s where you can mention the affiliate product as a source of further information. If you want to see really good examples of how to do this read the free book at the end of this article.

See – that last sentence was an ACTUAL working example of how to weave in a link.

3) Maximum Return For Both Parties

You need to get the rebranding balance right.

If you give away an ebook and allow all the affiliate links to be rebranded that is a great deal for the rebrander – but what do you get out of it ? No affiliate commission, just subscribers maybe for your mailing list if you have a sign-up form in the book.

Conversely if you hand out only a few affiliate links for rebranding then that provides little incentive for the rebrander to distribute the book.

Ideally what you want is the maximum motivation for your rebrander which would be

* to allow free rebranding
* to allow ALL the links to be rebranded

but in a way that you can still benefit.

Can that be possible ?

Fortunately it is, using any of 3 different methods

* if the links in the book are for your own products

* If the links are for products for which you have resale rights

* If the links are for 2-tier affiliate programs so that you collect the 2nd tier commission when a rebrander, who has signed up under you, makes a sale

And so, if you use these techniques you can begin a viral marketing campaign which will continue to generate traffic and sales with little on-going effort on your part.

EXCEPT for two issues we need to resolve

1) What happens if everyone rebrands the book and only makes purchases from their own copy ?

Well, I have found that in practise only a minority (say 10%) will take the time to rebrand a book which means that the majority (90%) will be reading your book and purchasing from YOUR links.

So only 10% will be ‘lost’ to you . . . or are they ?

2) Suppose you plan to produce a viral book. It’s about a popular topic – so it’s bound to have a wide circulation – but you can’t find any of the three types of suitable links to put in the book, i.e. links to a product of your own, to products with resale rights or for 2-tier affiliate programs.

Is there a solution ?

Yes – there are answers to both problems in my book “101 SuperTips” – they are actually tips 100 and 101.

As you might expect this book is free, with valuable information linking to highly relevant products, and you can rebrand it, again for free.

By all the rules above it’s a candidate, I hope you agree, for ‘the perfect viral ebook’ and a profitable source of revenue for you.

——————————————————————————–

Harvey is the author of several viral ebooks including 101 SuperTips, a collection of unique Internet Marketing tips and The Ultimate Super Tip,  perhaps the most powerful viral ebook of all time. Both FREE for your Internet Marketing Education.

After having published my little article on Affiliate Marketing Ethics, I received his newsletter in my inbox and the subject matter matched. I emailed him and asked if I may reprint it here in it’s entirety. He graciously said yes although he normally doesn’t allow that with his material with the occasional exception of the public service stuff that he puts out.

This is good – and one of the comments that I received that I inadvertantly deleted had asked for more information on this subject matter. Here ya’ go …

[TalkBiz] Look, Ma… I’m a scammer!

TalkBiz News
 Friday, July 24, 2009

 —–===(*)===—–

 Hi, folks…

 Not the usual kind of issue today. The main article is more
 about protecting your reputation than making sales. I think it
 will be useful.

 But first, a brief disclaimer and some crass commercialism for
 your reading enjoyment.
 ”Got Empire?”
 ===========

 My latest masterpiece (well, okay, training system) is now
 available. It’s called, “Build Your Own Empire – 20 Pages at a
 Time.”

 I kind of like the fact that even people with products on the
 exact same subject are giving me testimonials on this one.
 Including suggesting that it should be priced somewhere between
 two and four times what it’s at right now.

 It’s not new or “secret.” It’s not revolutionary. It’s not
 expensive or highly technical. It’s just a clear, complete and
 easy to do system for starting a business that you can scale up
 and make as big as your talent and ambition will let you reach.

 And compared to most online business models, this one can start
 to pay off fast.

 Grab a copy at:

 http://talkbiz.com/r/empires.php?page=107

 Oh yeah… It doesn’t just work for reports and written
 material. It works with videos, software, interviews and even a
 few things you might not have considered as products.

 Check it out.
 ”Nope. That’s the OTHER Paul Myers”
 =================================

 I’ve been getting a lot of questions for the past few months
 about a site called “Partner with Paul,” that’s run by someone
 named Paul Myers.

 No, that isn’t me.

 The only thing I really know about the site is that it’s
 promoting a nutritional MLM. (Herbalife, I think.) I have no
 connection with the guy, and don’t know anything else about
 him.

 If you emailed him and I didn’t answer, that’s why.
 ”Look, Ma… I’m a scammer!”
 ==========================

 There’s been a lot of talk about the FTC and various other
 government agencies clamping down on deceptive advertising
 online. The main focus seems to be on the new rules regarding
 testimonials, which we covered a few issues back, and the need
 for proper disclosure by various people acting as paid
 ”reviewers.”

 Those topics are important, certainly. There are others that
 don’t get talked about as much, but which are just as
 potentially troublesome. They deal more with making good
 decisions and protecting your reputation than with making
 sales.

 Unless you’ve been at this game a long time, you might be
 surprised at the traps that are waiting for you out there.
 Especially if you somehow become a “target” for one of the
 Internet’s lower life forms.

 At the end of the article, I point out how many of these
 potential problems can be made worse if you ignore the early
 recommendations.

 Let’s take a look at some of the pits you can fall into,
 starting with one many of us see every day…
 ”Give a Man a Phish…”
 =====================

 A phish is a mix of (usually simple) technology and social
 engineering to get you to reveal information that can be used
 to steal your identity or gain access to an online account.

 The usual way you get these is via an email alleging to be from
 some well-known company with which you may have an account. It
 may claim that there have been problems which require that you
 log in and correct information. Or it can tell you about
 charges you didn’t make for products being sent to someone
 else’s address. The one thing they all have in common is that
 they involve you clicking on a link and logging into a site.

 Once you do that, they’ve got you. They have the user
 information and password they need to do whatever they want
 with your account.

 Not the best way to start a day.

 ….

 Quick… What domain does this URL link to?

 http://www.example.com.doLogin.custsrv.info?update.me

 What did you say?

 If you said example.com, you flunked. The phisher is in ur
 account, eating all ur moniez.

 The actual domain in that one is custsrv.info.

 Now, how about this one?

 http://www.example-svc.com/doLogin.custsrv.info

 If you said example-svc.com, you’re right. But what if it said
 paypal-svc.com instead? Would you consider that safe? If so,
 you lose again.

 Sluuurp.

 ….

 If you read email in HTML format, you may even see the real
 company’s URL in the visible text, and not notice that the
 underlying link actually leads to a different site altogether.

 If you get emails claiming to be from Paypal, eBay, Amazon,
 your bank, Google or Yahoo’s pay per click systems, or pretty
 much any other system where you have money in an account or a
 credit card associated with it, do not click on links in those
 emails.

 Log-in by typing in the URL you know works, not the one in the
 email. For example, you’d log into Paypal by typing in
 https://www.paypal.com, not any other URL.

 If the email talks about security problems, you can usually
 ignore it. If you’re not sure, grab an account statement that
 you got from them via postal mail, and call the number in that
 statement.

 This subject is way too extensive to cover properly in this
 newsletter and get anything else done. I recommend that you
 Google the word ‘phish’ and do some reading on the subject.

 Don’t get hooked.
 ”In My (mumble) Opinion”
 ======================

 The practice of posting positive reviews of a product by fake
 customers is as old as electronic communication. Before that,
 we had shills at auctions and carnivals, and in pretty much
 every other kind of sales process.

 A while back, I pointed to this Dilbert comic in a discussion
 of ways that people abused forums:

 http://www.dilbert.com/fast/2009-02-01/

 Maria Lasilla sent me a link (thank you!) to a less humorous
 article in the New York Times, which mentions a cosmetic
 surgery firm that settled a case with the state of New York for
 $300,000 for doing just that: Getting employees to post fake
 reviews.

 You can read about that one here:

 http://nytimes.com/2009/07/15/technology/internet/15lift.html

 Fun stuff, eh?

 ….

 The games don’t stop at posting glowing fiction. It’s not
 uncommon to see hatchet jobs done on perfectly good companies
 by their competition.

 Along with this, some of the so-called “scam reporting” sites
 have been accused of even sleazier tactics. One is alleged to
 have posted and/or solicited lies about various companies and
 charged the companies for removal or rebuttal of the fraudulent
 claims.

 To get an idea of how bad this can get, check out the comments
 about RipOffReport.com at http://www.reportsripoff.com

 No matter which one you believe, one of those two sites (at
 least) is engaged in a pretty involved scam.

 On the flip side, there are some useful sites that can help
 you, and which are solid and fact-based. They tend not to
 accept random accusations from anonymous reporters, though.

 One really good place to learn about online scams is run by a
 couple of old friends, Jim and Audri Lanford, at…

 http://scambusters.org

 Who ya gonna call?

 ….

 To add further to the confusion, it’s become quite common for
 people in this business to recommend creating “review sites,”
 and suggesting that the site creator choose high-converting
 products to recommend.

 Some of the people suggesting this will be careful to tell you
 to only review honestly. Others outright endorse saying
 whatever is needed to sell the product being reviewed,
 regardless of the quality of the thing.

 Consider the context and the reviewer before putting too much
 faith in their comments. Too many of these sites exist for the
 sole purpose of making the sale, with no concern about the
 value the customer gets afterward.

 ….

 Then there are the “flogs.” Faux blogs, purporting to tell the
 story of how someone used one or another product and got
 amazing results. They very frequently use IP-locating scripts,
 which let them insert the name of your town, or one near it, as
 the home of the alleged blogger.

 A common tip that you’re looking at a flog is a sequence of
 positive comments or hopeful questions, ending with the
 statement that further comments have been disabled due to
 spamming.

 ….

 A variant on this is the piece that’s designed to look like a
 news report about a product, often using the same “your town”
 trick. It will say, “As seen on” and name a number of credible
 news sources. It will go on to extol the virtues of the
 product, in a format that sounds somewhat like a folksy “human
 interest” story.

 Ask yourself: How often does your newspaper do a story like
 that and start it off with “As seen on AOL, CNN, the New York
 Times,” etc?

 As the gecko would say, “Come on, people.”

 If it looks like an ad, assume it’s an ad.
 ”In His Opinion”
 ==============

 One of my favorite targets for scorn is the site with fake
 testimonials. These are so common that, unless you can verify
 the testimonials yourself, you should just ignore them.

 Yes, that probably sounds like strange advice, coming from a
 copywriter. Still, it’s probably safer than believing them.
 Even if they’re true, they probably don’t have much to do with
 your situation.

 I’d also recommend disregarding any and all screen shots
 alleging to show proof of income. Way too many are faked. It’s
 really easy to do.

 Even if they are real, and many are, they’re irrelevant. You
 don’t know all the factors that went into making whatever
 amounts are shown.

 As the old saying goes, “Your mileage may vary.”
 ”Clean Out Your Sock Drawer”
 ==========================

 Chuckie was evil, but he had nothing on sock puppets.

 A “sock puppet,” in Internet terms, is a user account created
 for purposes of deception, most often in a discussion forum or
 chat room.

 They are commonly seen adding to the illusion of support for
 the controller’s position in a discussion, bashing or praising
 a person or product, or to provide cover for what amounts to an
 anonymous complaint or attack.

 They can also be used to start a conversation, allowing the
 controller to step in and steer it in the direction they
 wanted, without looking like they’re responsible.

 In the time I’ve been moderating electronic forums, I’ve seen a
 lot of these critters. They’re getting sneakier now, to avoid
 the ability of most forum software to track the IP addresses of
 posters. That’s given rise to a different kind of sock puppet,
 called the “ghost poster.” This is someone who is paid to post
 according to instructions from the controller.

 These can be positive presences in a group, but that’s very
 rare. In virtually every case I’ve seen, they’re hired to
 create the illusion of an independent presence, to be later
 used for profit or abuse through deception.

 Here’s a little more humor on the subject, from one of my
 favorite web comics.

 http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070729

 Xandros, indeed!

 ….

 Sock puppets are, for the most part, only a problem if you
 believe them. The simple solution is to discount any claims
 that seem a bit too convenient, unless you know the person
 making the claims.

 And remember: The number of people who agree with a position
 has very little to do with whether or not that position is
 correct.
 ”Socially Inept”
 ==============

 For a lot of people, social networking sites don’t really seem
 to make much sense. Older surfers (anyone over 40) tend to
 think of MySpace, and dismiss them all as places for teenagers
 to chat mindlessly and indulge their exhibitionist tendencies.

 The whole social media thing just doesn’t seem to offer
 anything but another way to spend precious time.

 Even if you believe that, there are good reasons to create
 profiles on them. I’m not going to get into using them to make
 money or find prospects in this issue. There are plenty of
 other people ready to explain that to you.

 The one overriding reason to create a profile, even if you
 never plan to use it, is simple: To keep someone else from
 pretending to be you on those sites.

 The simplest reason someone might use your name or company name
 on a social networking site is to get traffic from folks
 looking for you. This would most often be your competition.

 Another potential problem could come from someone creating a
 profile in your name and using it to do things that would
 damage you or your reputation. An irate customer, an angry ex,
 or even just some random nitwit who thinks it’s fun to screw
 with people, is all it takes.

 You don’t need to try and cover every possible spelling or
 common term someone might use to search for you. Your personal
 name or your business name (depending on the site) should be
 enough. If your personal name is common, like mine is, just
 make sure you have a profile on each of the major sites in some
 variation of it, and include your URL in the profile.

 As long as you have a presence, you can easily answer people
 who ask about others that sound like you.

 I recommend having profiles on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and
 LinkedIn. There are dozens of others, but these are the big
 ones.
 ”Master of Someone Else’s Domain”
 ===============================

 This one should be a no-brainer, but a surprising number of
 people miss it:

   Register the .com version of your business name,
   if it’s not already taken.

 I don’t care if you currently have no plans at all of ever
 doing anything online. The opportunities for people to mess
 with your business by grabbing the domain are too big to leave
 out there to save a few bucks a year.

 If it’s taken by a business with the same name in another town,
 you can skip this. Or, get something that includes the name and
 the town, like, “FredsBank-NY.com.”

 I would also recommend grabbing a generic form, along the lines
 of “profession-town” or “town-profession.” For example,
 ”SanDiegoRealEstate.com” or “PlumberInPawtucket.com.”

 Just don’t grab one that’s the same as the name of another
 local business, even if it’s generic. While that may be
 tempting, it can also create problems you don’t want.

 It’s also sleazy, for those who care about such things.
 ”The Poisoned Pen”
 ================

 Here’s where things get weird, and where you see why it’s a
 good idea to do some of the things I mentioned earlier, even if
 you have no plans to do anything online or to get actively
 involved on the social networking sites.

 A while back, someone posted a “press release” on one of the
 free press release sites, accusing me of being involved in
 scamming people. The thing was very poorly written, and was
 made sillier in that it named as one of my “victims” a person
 with whom I am known to get along very well.

 It mentioned the Warrior Forum, so I just went there and
 posted a link to it, with a simple comment that it was lame.

 Why would I advertise a page that accused me of criminal
 activity?

 Hang on. We’ll get to that.

 ….

 Remember a while back when a Google search for the phrase
 ”miserable failure” would show George W. Bush’s official White
 House bio page as the top link?

 That was a simple thing to arrange. All it took was for a lot
 of people to link to that page, using “miserable failure” as
 the anchor (clickable) text. It wasn’t hard to get a lot of
 bloggers to join in, and that makes it fairly quick. Search
 engines, especially Google, give a lot of weight to links from
 regularly updated and popular blogs.

 Manipulating search results with a co-ordinated effort and
 large numbers of links that way is called “Google bombing.”

 When you’re talking about relatively uncommon search terms, it
 doesn’t take much to rank high for them. Sometimes as little as
 one or two well-placed links with the right anchor text will do
 it.

 In short, it’s not hard to poison the search engine results for
 most local or specialized terms.

 ….

 Let’s see how some of the other stuff plays into the potential
 for this.

 If someone grabs the domain version of your business name, it’s
 pretty much a done deal. They can rank your name in combination
 with almost any terms they want, and say whatever they like on
 the resulting page.

 If they don’t have the domain name, they can easily put up a
 page on a free blog, social networking system or other site and
 link to that. A few posts in the right kinds of discussion
 forums, a link on a blog or two, and you’re “branded.”

 Keep in mind that it’s not necessary that they have the number
 one position on the search engine if they can grab attention
 with a sensational title in positions 2 through 5.

 It isn’t really even necessary that a trouble-maker understand
 what they’re doing in order for them to create serious problems
 for you this way. Just that they use the same link text a few
 times, pointing to their gripe page.

 The problem there is that nutcases, like politicians, tend to
 say the same thing, in the same way, over and over and over
 again.

 Ain’t that fun?

 ….

 If you participate in forums, you need to understand something
 about sock puppets: As they become more experienced, they learn
 a few tricks. And they get nasty when they’re exposed. That’s
 what prompted the idiot I mentioned earlier to post the fake
 press release about me.

 If you don’t know how to handle them and their tricks, you’re
 better off leaving them to people who’ve dealt with their type
 before. The lone twit isn’t usually much of a concern, but some
 of these folks act in groups.

 For example, there are a few people from one IM forum who seem
 to derive a great deal of satisfaction by wasting time creating
 trouble for various members of the Warriors. This kind of
 linking trick is one of their favorites. And, with a bunch of
 experienced online marketers involved, that can be very
 effective, very quickly.

 One of their idle pastimes is to link a “target” to the kind of
 videos that most businesses don’t want associated with their
 names…

 These guys need hobbies.

 ….

 This is another area where social networking profiles are
 useful. They fill spaces on the search engine results pages
 (SERPs) when someone looks for you online. That helps to keep
 casual complaints or stupid comments in discussion boards and
 blogs from being the first thing someone sees if they go
 looking for you in a search engine.

 It won’t stop a determined Google bombing, but profiles from
 these sites get decent rankings, and can make even that a bit
 harder.

 Being listed in the social networking sites I mentioned also
 shows that you are at least aware of new media, which says
 something positive to a lot of consumers.

 While you’re at it, go to http://local.google.com and get your
 business listed with them. It’s free, doesn’t take long, and
 helps when people go looking for someone in your area and line
 of business. And those results show _above_ the regular
 listings.

 That stuff shouldn’t take a whole afternoon to get done. It can
 save you significant hassles, along with possibly increasing
 your sales and building a more extensive network of contacts.

 Do it this weekend, if you haven’t already.

 ….

 Now back to why I actively pointed people to the fake “press
 release” accusing me of various unsavory things.

 I know the guy was trying to link my name to that stuff in the
 search engines. He wasn’t going to be able to rank for it with
 just that posting, as there are a ton of links to me and some
 other guys with the same first and last names. So, that part
 was a non-issue.

 The effort itself was useful as an example for showing people
 some important things. First, making them aware of this kind of
 ”attack,” and what it could do. Along with that is the idea
 that you should not freak out or get defensive when some random
 nutball starts foaming at the keyboard.

 Remember: Breathing is Good.

 The title of the thread was “Look, Ma… I’m a scammer!” Other
 than including the link, my only comment in the first post was,
 ”This would be funny if it wasn’t so lame.”

 It really was lame, by the way. The guy’s spelling and grammar
 are atrocious (yet he claims to be a professional writer.) He
 lost track of who he was accusing at one point. And he quoted
 someone I’m known to like and respect as a “victim” of my
 alleged fraud.

 One thing you’ll notice about these types of people, should you
 have occasion to have to deal with them: They’re usually not
 all that bright.

 Anyway…

 The big lesson in that example comes from the fact that I am
 already a known quantity in the group where all this happened.
 Yes, some people posted that the accusations might be true.
 They were new to the group, and were immediately told by the
 folks who’ve been there a while that it was just someone who
 was torqued at me over what he sees as forum politics.

 Because I was already known to them, I didn’t need to defend or
 explain myself. That left me free to make the points I wanted
 to make about that kind of prank, without needing to get
 distracted with the silliness of the thing.

 That lowered the chances of someone doing the same thing to
 another member of the group. The guy who posted that particular
 one got no joy from it, certainly, so he’s likely to try
 something else next time around. (He’ll be back. He’s petty,
 obsessive and has no life. He can’t control it.)

 It was a fairly heavily viewed thread, with many of the more
 active members participating. Some people with less than honest
 motives will see that the tactic can backfire in a big way, and
 avoid it. The active members will know better how to deal with
 similar things in the future.

 These are the kinds of advantages you can build for yourself by
 developing a reputation in your market before you need it.

 A good reputation will do more than help you make sales or find
 people to work with. It is the best way to protect you and your
 business from the digital roaches that wander the web.

 This may not seem like it would matter if you don’t plan to do
 business online. That would be a dangerous assumption if your
 customers, prospects and business associates use the Internet.

 If you have an online business presence, this is something to
 be very aware of. You can keep an eye out for people talking
 about you, your business or your products by setting up a few
 automatic searches at http://www.google.com/alerts

 One trick I’ve found handy is to test the search terms you use
 for your alerts in the main Google search box first. That way
 you can see which ones bring up the most relevant results,
 which will keep you from getting a ton of useless notices that
 take up a lot of time.

 Then just let it run. Let Google do the work. If they find
 anything that fits, they’ll email you.

 Sometimes automation really is a good thing.

 ….

 Enough for the moment. Take a few minutes this weekend and
 create those profiles. You may also want to do some vanity
 surfing (type your name or company name into a search engine)
 to see if there’s anything being said about you that you should
 know.

 ….

 Back to the blatant commercialism for a moment…

 One really good way to develop a reputation in your market is
 to sell them stuff that helps them get more of what they want.
 And that’s time spent that makes you money, rather than costing
 it. Grab a copy of my latest manual to see just how easy that
 is to do…

Build Your Own Empire

 See you next issue. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
 Paul
 —–===(*)===—–

 Find this useful? Buy me a beer!
 http://www.buy-paul-a-beer.com

 To tell your friends about us. Send them to…
 http://www.talkbiznews.com

 Copyright 2009

 ”100% of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.”
                    -  Wayne Gretzky

——-

And that, my friends, is knowledge from one that knows. I, personally, don’t profess to know what he and others of his caliber knows. What I do is bring their wisdom to the public – The Internet Marketing Video Training Center.

Also, if you would like – for your education, edification and enlightenment – a goal book and worksheets by Paul himself – for you – free – no charge – -> Goal Book with worksheets in a zip file <-

Be back soon with more goooood stuff!
Jim Cook – Proprietor – The Internet Marketing Video Training Center