How To Get Things Done

January 30, 2011 By 2 Comments

I want to talk about the best way that I have found to get things done. A long time ago I read a book called Think and Grow Rich.  Then I read another book called How To Win Friends and Influence People.  I read them both several times.

I am not sure which book had the following paraphrased story in it, but it is the one thing that has really stuck with me and helped me. There were a lot of other things in each of those books that were pretty good.  I should go back and re-read both of them.  Here’s the story as I remember it.

Andrew Carnegie (the big shot behind what eventually became U.S. Steel, and the richest man in the world at the time) hired a consultant to come in to help him be more efficient in getting things done.   The consultant gave him the following list:

1) Write down on paper the five most important things you want to get done today in order of their importance.

2) Begin your workday with the first thing on your list.  When you are done with it cross it off the list and move to #2.

3) Continue on down the list until you have completed all of your tasks.

Carnegie could not believe the advice he was given. He was almost outraged, but the consultant told him to try it and if he saw no value in it then he should not pay him.  If he did find value in it then he should send a check for whatever he felt it was worth.  Carnegie gave it a shot.  After one month he sent the consultant a check for $25,000.00, a huge amount of money in the 1920′s.

I have found that this is the absolute best way to get things done too. It helps to keep you focused. In this day and age of the internet and cell phones and all of the other shiny things available to capture our attention it is a wonder that anyone gets anything done at all in a day.

If I make a list of things to do, those things get done.  Period. Even if I ignore the list for a while.  It has a magical power of drawing me back to it.  I may not do all of the things on the list in one day.  I may not even accomplish all of the tasks I have written down “in order of importance”, but I get the list done.  When that list is done I make another list.

I keep one of those cheap spiral notebooks that kids use in school open on my desk where I work.  On that open page the list sits.  And sits.  And slowly I get into it.  I find that once I have one thing done, the second thing on the list gets accomplished much faster.  As I cross each one off (or put a check mark next to it to tell me it is completed) I have a sense of accomplishment.

Sometimes I can complete the list in a few hours.  Sometimes it takes three days.  But the list gets done.

If you are frustrated with your inability to really get the things that you want out of life and you are not using a list then you may want to try this.  Don’t be fooled by it’s simplicity.

Jack Folsgood

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Make More Money as a Passionate Blogger

December 13, 2010 By 1 Comment

If you want to build make money blogs, you’ll want to consider your personal passions.

You might think sentiment seems misplaced in the otherwise mercenary world of internet marketing. Why would your feelings make a difference? It’s really just about finding a good niche with the right numbers, right?

Not quite!

If there’s one thing experience has taught us about blogging profitably, it’s the fact that those who are sincerely interested in their subject matters are far more likely to succeed than others are. There are some strong justifications for choosing a niche you love. Let’s consider four of them.

Initially, those who love a niche are more likely to create quality content for their blogs. If you really know your topic, you’re less likely to supply inaccurate information. You’re also far more likely to create content that will connect with your blog’s readers. When you’re passionate, you’re simply a better all-around blogger and you’ll be better able to make money online.

Second, you’re much less likely to abandon a project if you care about the subject area. Motivation is a critical part of internet marketing success and it’s much easier to find the motivation to work on a project that interests you than it is to labor on something that bores you to tears. Blogging isn’t something you can just do once before moving on to something else. Your success depends upon regularly adding content and making improvements. Failing to consider your passions can prevent you from seeing your blogging efforts through to the point of completion.

Third, working with your passions can kick open doors to other moneymaking opportunities. If you’re working with your passions, you’re more likely to find ways to expand your operation in profitable directions. If you’re not really interested in widgets, you’re not going to discover some great ways to maximize the value of your widget blog. You’ll overlook opportunities to interest, excite and motivate your readers. You just won’t see all of the possibilities if you’re bored with your niche. If, on the other hand, you love your niche, you’ll be motivated to discover new and profitable ways to transform your business.

Finally, it’s fun. It’s simply more enjoyable to work on topics about which you care. We’re all interested in making money online. That doesn’t force us to think exclusively about monetary issues, however. There’s nothing better than actually enjoying both your work and the money it generates.

When you make a choice about your blogging projects, consider the way you feel about the niches. Don’t just edit the most unbearable options from your list of choices, either. Make a real effort to hone in on your personal passions. Keeping your passions in mind is one of the best things you can do for your business.

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Boosting Your Profits with the Ideal WordPress Theme

November 22, 2010 By 3 Comments

Potency, Capabilities and a Hindrance

What started as a convenient foundation for blog writers currently is a highly acknowledged content management system. We’re referring to WordPress, a zero cost application that can change anybody into an efficient web based writer.

WordPress makes it easy to produce websites. It makes it easy to add or modify content and articles. It’s internet search engine oriented, extremely reinforced and is versatile enough to deal with almost any sort of job. As a result, its acclaim keeps growing at a rapid speed. It includes a number of themes, giving its end users the option to build websites with an boundless variety of looks and structures.

Although WordPress is fabulous, it isn’t perfect. You are able to use it to do practically anything at all, some functions are harder than others are. WordPress hasn’t entirely escaped its roots as a blogging platform. Consequently, some of the sites people produce with WordPress seem much less like static web-sites and more like blogs. That can be really troublesome for online marketers, tend to have several different distinct requirements that don’t easily fit in the templates desired by a large number of WordPress themes. That has triggered the invention of customizable theme engines like AuthorityPro.

Gaining More from WordPress

You can get a variety of WordPress themes that copy the look and feeling of fixed internet sites. They are an acceptable solution for a few tasks. However, these types of themes don’t offer the flexibility required to handle various online marketing purposes. They may also lack the visual appeal one would expect from a superior internet site.

That leaves web entrepreneurs who would like to harness the strength of WordPress with just a few choices. Either they might develop into expert theme developers or they might utilize a strong theme development engine to build the type of websites they require to obtain the best final results.

Mastering the ins and outs of WordPress and coding doesn’t excite most entrepreneurs. They’re more excited about rapidly making and implementing lucrative projects. They’re not necessarily interested in the idea of becoming designers or programmers. Only those people who already have quite a bit of experience in these topics will be interested in generating tailor made themes for projects.

A theme engine is a better option. A theme engine is a very customizable WordPress theme that can be fine-tuned to serve any number of particular tasks. A marketer can utilize a quality engine to create themes with different web page layouts and designs, making use of required applications.

If you’ve ever before tried to create a engaging squeeze page with a typical WordPress theme, you understand that it’s practically impossible. Even many of the more adaptable premium themes cannot get the job done. A superior theme engine, in contrast can make it simple and easy to make a strong squeeze page, a dazzling sales page, attractive supporting internet pages, sign up documents and everything else required to turn a new idea into a money maker. The appropriate theme engine makes it easy to make the most of sign up forms, online video media, audio tracks and additional marketing elements, as well.

The Very Best WordPress Theme

The very best WordPress theme is far more than one particular theme. It’s a resource that will make it possible for you to create the internet sites you require to be successful. A great theme engine will deliver customizability, superior design elements, flexibility, full compatibility with critical tools, and tremendous simplicity of use.

The WordPress Authority Pro Theme, as an example, is able to do well on every one of these levels. It can make it achievable for entrepreneurs to create site layouts by dragging and dropping customizable factors. It comes with collection of powerful custom widgets, functions well with just about all of the most well-known Internet marketing resources and maintains the simplicity newer WordPress users demand.

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Multiply Your Profits with Joint Ventures

October 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Beyond Selling Your Own Product

Marketing your own product is a great way to generate an online income. When you combine a good overall marketing and promotion plan with a nice product, sales will inevitably follow. If you find a sweet spot in the market, your product can become relatively successful.

However, you won’t really make the big money if you’re out there alone. The most successful internet marketers realize that it’s easier to achieve success if you’re traveling with joint venture partners. It’s easier to post huge profits when you’re working with others.

How many more sales could you make if you had a team of big-time marketers aggressively promoting your product? How big could the numbers get if you had top marketers backing your product just as diligently as they would their own? Now, think about the impact having several top marketers as partners could mean to you!

The Power of JVs

You must have an affiliate program if you have your own product. When other people are pushing your product, the sales figures naturally inflate. The standard-issue affiliate program won’t do the trick, however. You want to do more than attract a few other marketers to your cause. You want major players to line up with you to transform your product into a best-seller.

That’s why building joint ventures should be a top priority. There’s no better way to post sales than by creating JVs with top marketers. That’s why forging successful joint ventures is the most important step anyone with an interest in moving up into the ranks of the top marketers can take.

Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to create those JV partnerships. Unfortunately, it can be tough to reach out and build solid JV relationships. It can be hard to build top-notch JVs if you and your product aren’t already well-known. Top marketers are constantly receiving requests for JVs. You need to have an interesting, attention-grabbing, smart JV offer to make something happen.

Many marketers make the mistake of approaching joint venture partners as if advertising their existing affiliate program is enough. That’s a doomed strategy. You’ll never put a great joint venture together unless you work harder. You need to approach the process the right way.

What You Need for JV Success

Building joint ventures the smart way requires a few things. First, you should have a strong understanding of the different ways to structure a joint venture. Second, you need to understand how to put together a plan that will be truly beneficial for you and for your JV partners. Third, you need to know how to get your foot in the door and to make the connections necessary to tap the power of joint ventures. Fourth, you need to know the fine details of building a JV proposal that will really take off. Fifth, you must have an iron grip on the details of JV organization and implementation.

If you fall short on any front, you’re unlikely to experience optimal JV success.

Put simply, you need a formal education in the world of joint ventures.

You could try to figure out all of the details on your own. Be prepared to experience at least a few failures before things get moving if you take that route. You can ruin an otherwise great JV plan with a single misstep.

That’s why those who understand strength in numbers will want to learn from someone who knows the world of joint ventures inside and out. If there’s one part of internet marketing that screams for a quality, paid education, this is it. You should make a point of finding proven JV recommendations and information. Once you’ve learned the ropes and have a good blueprint in your hands, you can use internet marketing joint ventures to transform your product into the next Big Thing!

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Why Back Links To Your Site Are Important

October 8, 2010 By 16 Comments

I want to take a few minutes today and explain a few things about the importance of back links to your website.  Some people just call them “links”.  Either way they are the same thing and all that they are is a link to your site from another site.

If you are not yet sure on the best way to go about getting links to your site then I highly recommend that you check out The Keyword Academy. They have an absolute compendium of free information that you can research and get a good general knowledge on how to go about doing that.

One thing I have to tell you is that I was pretty much lost on the proper way to promote the sites that I was building and get them ranked in the Search Engines until I came across these guys.  They also have a monthly subscription to all of their services and it starts with a $1 (30) day trial.  After that you have a couple of options, but the maximum subscription price for everything they offer is currently $33.00/month and it is so worth it that I can honestly say that I wouldn’t still be in the business if it wasn’t for them.

Okay.  Once you understand the importance of “back links” or “links back to your site” the next questions a lot of aspiring internet marketers have is:  “Are all links back to my site equal in importance?” or put another way “do the search engines see all links that point to a site the same?”.  The answer is NO.  The search engines or SERPS do not see all links in the same light.  They pay a lot more attention to links that point to your site if they are coming from .edu and .gov sites of course as they see those links as being a lot more authoritive.

But no need to worry about trying to get those kind of links at all right now.  I have many sites (and more particularly “pages” within those sites) on the first page of Google that don’t have any of those kind of links.  They are not all that important especially if you are doing your “keyword research” properly.  Once again I’ll point you to the Keyword Academy to learn more about the importance of that, and especially the best way to go about it.

Why Back Links To Your Site Are Important:

The bottom line about back links is that getting ranked on the first page of any search engine comes down to the fact that The Internet is a Popularity Contest. That is the best way I can describe it. If you have more links pointing your site about any given subject (or keyword) than anyone else promoting the same or similar content then you will rank better than them in the SERPS 99% of the time.

Now that statement sometimes scares a lot of aspiring “I want to make money on the internet” personalities.  And it should.  It is the one reason that 98% plus of those trying to make money on the world wide web never make enough money to keep going.  They don’t know how to get good quality links to their sites and even if they do they don’t know how to get the kinds of links that not only hold up over time, but also give their sites a lot more authority in the eyes of the search engines.   That’s why having a resource like the Keyword Academy is so important.  Not only do they teach you how to get the right kind of links, they also have the tools to help you do it as well as a community of people who will help you along the way.

A final note… Don’t fall for all of the “Make $10,000 in 30 days” type promotions that are out there.  (you might even find links to some of them on this site)  While most every one of those e-books has quality information that you can use don’t get yourself in the mindset that you are going to make that kind of money that quickly.  It takes time.  If you get to work following the principles taught at the Keyword Academy you can (and will) develop the ability to make that kind of money, but you have to be willing to put in the work and be patient along the way.

Return to the Home Page of JackFolsgood.com for more internet marketing articles.

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Don’t Go Broke Trying to Build an Online Business

October 7, 2010 By 4 Comments

Trying to Buy Success

Are you a serial IM product buyer? Are you spending cash hand over fist in pursuit of an ideal approach to implement your business idea? Do you find yourself hitting the BUY NOW button day after day, believing that you’re about to find the missing link in your moneymaking chain?

You’re not the only one convinced that the only way to make money involves spending it in copious quantities. Countless people find themselves buying the latest and greatest new systems.

Those spending habits have a logical appeal. It makes perfect sense to purchase new information and products to keep your business rolling right along. There’s nothing crazy about acquiring new information and products in order to stay abreast of changes in the business. However, there is a problem with running on the BUY NOW treadmill if you’re not making any money.

Buying new tools to stay ahead of the games is very different from desperately making purchases in hopes of finding base-level success.

You want to be the smart investor. You want to avoid being the serial buyer whose efforts only add to his or her debt.

The Right Kind of Purchase

So, how do you avoid becoming the wrong kind of serial buyer? The first step is creating a bedrock foundation for your IM business. If you ignore the bells and whistles, you’ll see the IM is really based on a few simple premises.

You must have a product you can sell. You must have a way to sell the product. You need to bring traffic to your the site you’ll use to make sales.

That’s it. All of what you do needs to relate directly to one or more of those core basics.

So, you must work to create a strong presence on all three of those fronts. Anything you buy as you’re building your business needs to address the construction of that foundation.

Before you start reaching for details, tweaks, adjustments and tricks, you need to develop your core means of making online money. You can start experiencing real IM success after that foundation is in place. Then you can start experimenting with new ideas and products.

Smart Foundation Building

You don’t need to spend big money to build a profitable foundation. Here’s what you need to do.

  • Develop a holistic understanding of Internet marketing. You need to hear, straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth, how things fit together and what really works.
  • Focus a great deal of effort on traffic generation. Traffic is, as noted, one of the core elements to a successful online business. It’s also the most important one you’ll address. Until you have adequate traffic, you won’t be able to find out if your products are attractive or if your copy is converting. You need as much traffic as you can get–and you need it quickly.
  • Find a source of ongoing assistance. A smart ebook can be worth its weight in gold. Solid tutorial videos are a great idea. However, you’ll find more value in cultivating a good relationship with an experienced, successful IMer. Good mentoring increases efficiency, makes it easier for you to build a foundation, and allows you to avoid common mistakes.
  • Don’t overexpose yourself. You want to meet your objectives without risking significant losses. Avoid overspending on the tools and information you need to build your business. Find a way to develop a valuable relationship with a personal business coach or mentor at a reasonable price.

Return to the Home Page of JackFolsgood.com for more Internet Marketing Ideas and Information.

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How and why to build an email list

September 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You’ve probably heard this common Internet marketing mantra a million times. The money is in the list. List marketing is probably the most powerful way to create a profitable home based business. You can’t afford to ignore this powerful approach.

Why it works

In most cases, people need to see a marketing message more than once before they’re persuaded to make a purchase. Repeated exposure is usually necessary to inspire action. You can create opportunities for multiple exposure by adding an individual to your list.

People are also more likely to buy from those with whom the feel a trusting connection. List marketing gives you a chance to develop a relationship with the people on your list. That increases your credibility, producing more sales.

How to do it

Internet marketing is a proven winning home based business for women or men when you implement a simple squeeze page. A squeeze pages has only one purpose. It should persuade the reader to become part of your list. Anything else is completely extraneous.

The use of a free gift is an effective way to persuade visitors to join your list. This time-tested strategy can substantially boost your bottom line.

Having a quality inducement won’t automatically make your squeeze page a success, though. Building a squeeze page the right way is just as important. We know that specific squeeze page techniques generate optimal results. You should emulate those proven techniques. That means you’ll want to follow these three guidelines.

Squeeze page basics

Initially, there should be no outgoing links on your squeeze page. You want people to sign up for your list, not to have them click away to something else.

Second, you’ll need to write a short, powerful message. You want people to take advantage of your inducement and to become a subscriber, not to complicate the situation. Don’t forget that your squeeze page only has one purpose – to build a list. You should choose every word with that goal in mind.

Third, you will want to approach the sign up process as if it were as important as a big sale – close that deal! Thus, your squeeze page’s sign up form needs to include an extremely strong call to action. Clearly communicate the value of subscribing to those reading the page.

Summary

A good inducement and a squeeze page built with these three recommendations will get the job done. That will give you the opportunity to develop an effective relationship with prospects. You’ll also have the chance to expose your subscribers to key marketing messages more than once.

You will take your Internet marketing efforts to the next level if you learn how to build an email list. It’s not a coincidence that top marketers all rely on their lists. It’s true – the money is in the list!

Return to the Home Page of JackFolsgood.com for more Internet Marketing Ideas and Information.

Filed Under: Internet Marketing Tagged With: , , ,
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