EXPENSIVE MISTAKE MOVING MY BLOG - TECHNORATI.COM
In the last few months I've been heavily working on this site, shifting things around until I get comfortable with it. It's also called trying and testing things on the fly.

At the start of the process I put this blog on the main home page of the site. I hooked up all of the connects with technorati.com and many of the other blog services. www.technorati.com was pointed at www.express-marketing.com. A few weeks ago I shifted the blog over to www.express-marketing.com/blog.html.

YOU LOSE YOUR CREDITS IF YOU MOVE YOUR BLOG
The problem with that was I stopped getting credit for published articles or links back to the blog. All of the links back credits stay with the original page.

Now I am starting fresh again with my blogsite being at this location.
This is an expensive error as it cost me a few months of posting and backlinks etc. As I was trying different things, I'm not sure how I could have avoided this problem.

There are only theories on the best places to put your blog.

If possible, if you're going to set up a blog, make sure you put it in a spot from which it isn't going to move again.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I LOVE INSPIRATIONAL STORIES
I was watching Rudy the other night. I was in the mood for an inspirational movie about a young fellow who beats the odds and fulfills his dreams. His story was later portrayed by Sean Astin in the movie "Rudy" in 1993.

See Rudy's official website

The imagery on the movie is pretty inspirational as they show young Rudy having a dream and then all of the activities he does to fulfill his dream. He has to change his mind set and the mindsets of people around him.

The parts on the movie where he is playing football against huge football players. He gets the stuffing knocked out of him over and over. He keeps getting back up for more punishment. His diligence is tremendously inspirational.

WEBSITE MARKETING IS LIKE RUDY'S ADVENTURE
In order to be successful in internet marketing you have to be like Rudy. Just coming back for more. Bloody and all.

The important thing that I enjoyed and was refreshed by was that, when people see that you're really serious about what you do and that you'll take the hits to achieve your goal, they'll get behind you and support you. Sometimes it takes a while for people to back you.

You just have to keep working at it. If you really believe in your goal, you just have to keep going for it.

Website marketing and internet advertising is not an easy task. If you don't market your site and products, nobody else will. You just have to keep getting out there and promoting yourself.

If you haven't seen the movie Rudy, look out for it at your local video store, or see it on TV. It's a worthwhile. movie to watch.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

Well it's that time again.
Getting out and visiting with the relatives. Leaving all this website marketing stuff behind for at least a few hours!!

I posted a new article for new articles writers here.
It's about writing articles, article submission and some of the problems new writers face when they're just starting.

All the best in this holiday season.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Tim Berners-Lee started his blog on 2005-12-12. Tim Berners-Lee was the fellow who created the first internet browser which he called WorldWideWeb and later called his browser Nexus.

According to The WorldWideWeb browser

The first web browser - or browser-editor rather - was called WorldWideWeb as, after all, when it was written in 1990 it was the only way to see the web. Much later it was renamed Nexus in order to save confusion between the program and the abstract information space (which is now spelled World Wide Web with spaces).

This is a screen shot of the first browser.

You just gotta love this stuff.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

One thing I find, which is remarkably noticeable in these forums, is the lack of content relating to actual marketing. It's as if all the contributors believe the only way to rank at a search engine depends on some technical issues which need to be addressed. It's like, we'll do the SEO and then we'll have a look at your marketing!

Further

Awareness campaigns for new brands/sites, using niche marketing into verticals, especially for b2b sites works a treat. If you are a genuine marketer, there are dozens of methods of promoting a web site other than just sitting on your ass in the so called sandbox, waiting around for Google to do YOUR job.

Mike says market your product

There is so much talk about this search engine marketing technique and that website marketing idea.

I think it's important to market your product or service. If you work on behalf of clients, market their products and services. The people that spend the most time actively marketing are those who are going to survive.

While it's important to know how web pages work and website marketing/ programming works, it's more important to know marketing skills. I say this as I come from a marketing background first and then from SEO marketing second.

As I've mentioned over and over again people are going to buy from you if they know you, like you and trust you. You've got to know this from the depths of your sole. Fancy programming, blog spamming, cloaking etc is not going to magically get people to like you and trust you.

There are many more ways to advertise your website than just free google search engine results. I have to admit that prior to Google Update Jagger, all of my online marketing came from free search engine results. For the last several months, I've gone through the excruciating process of learning several new methods of internet marketing. No longer am I going to rely on free google search engine results!

I like to read these posts as they are entertaining. I like to read posts from real marketers because I know that they know how to market to people.

I like Mike Grehan's common sense comments in his blog.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Recently I moved my blog page over to blog page from my home page.

The problem I was having was that my page was loading slowly. I did some tests with the load times and different components that I had loading.

As soon as I took the Technorati.com "blogs that link here link off"

the page loaded alot faster.

The problem is that technorati won't track your site if you don't have their code on your blog. It's good to have technorati loaded on your blog as it gets you more traffic.

So, I moved the blog page away from the home page and have all the blog toys and goodies on this page. My apologies if the page loads alittle slower than it should. I just hope that technorati adds some new servers soon.

The problem of success... technorati has done such a good job, but now they are too successful and it's bottlenecking all over.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Brett Tabke is one of the best in SEO that I know of. His www.webmasterworld.com is one of the highest traffic seo forums on the net, if not the largest.

It seems that just for fun, he has put his blog in the Robots.txt file on his site.. It's amazing that people actually read Brett Tabke's robots.txt file.

It's an enviable position to have that much power and traffic. Currently WebMasterWorld has 292,000 pages listed in the google search results.

I like this comment from Brett Tabke with regards to being completely white hat, or being a little 'black hat' -

Does that mean we will be pure-as-the-driven-snow? No way - our job
is to generate traffic at a reasonable to low universal risk. That means getting listed - getting ranked - getting traffic - is only the
first step. *ANY* SEO policy MUST focus on ROI as well as
traffic acquisition. If your seo practices poison your ROI, then
what is the point? You can only trick your visitors for a certain
amount of time.

So... even one of the most respected names in the industry is in the business of "-getting listed - getting ranked - getting traffic no matter what he has to do. Brett Tabke also admits the fact that many blackhat techniques are going to go by the wayside, especially with google.

I find that encouraging. The whole idea is to get people to get on your site and stay on your site. The only way to do that long term is to give them value, value, value.

The hard earned luxury that Brett has is that he has enough traffic to try all sorts of things with his loyal visitors.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Website development and SEO are like going to the Gym and doing heavy weight lifting...

It's extremely difficult, exhausting, frustrating, etc while you're doing it.
Afterwards, you feel great for having done the work out.

I've had this quote in my mind alot lately.

Also.. google just updated their backlinks, pagerank etc. It's a new , fresh google update.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Monty's quote of the Day:
There is a new linker born... every second!
(This is SEO motivational talk to help us when we feel we're getting low on people linking to us.)

After my email blunder, I contacted each person who complained, all two of them.

I spoke at length with Rod Beckwith over the phone and told him that I wanted to introduce myself as I was selling his products on my site. As with the affiliate game, he had no idea who I was. The email blunder and phone call started a good relationship.

Rod Beckwith indicated that he's got alot of new products that he is going to introduce in 2006, so I'll be looking forward to seeing them.

The whole point of the internet or any business is to create good relationships with people. I thought I would turn my error around for the good and it worked.

Aside from that... i've been beefing up my pages on this site and putting more value into them.

rod beckwith email problem website development

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Well... when you eat, sleep, and breathe something sometimes you make dumb errors. I thought I would share mine with you.

As I was working through one of the techniques suggested in one of the ebooks I'm reading about developing your newsletter, it suggested that I send out emails , as in a reply sort of thing, to all of the people who have emailed me , in my 'inbox'.

So I thought, that's cool... it's not spammy... these are people who have sent me emails asking for something or replying to something, it's fair game.

What I forgot about is that all of my email addresses from my websites are funneled through one account. There was no way for me to tell from which websites these people were contacting me from. OUCH... this is embarrassing.

Being that I work in advertising in different industries with different websites promoting really different things, some people don't know my different identities.

I got a crank email from Rod Beckwith of Mr Joint Venture fame, whom I some software from. He sends out spamarrest emails to those who are trying to contact him. My auto emailer sent out an email to his spam arrest account and he thought I was a spammer. Geez... I feel stupid.

I got another angry email from a fellow who made a purchase from me from a different website, and wouldn't have a clue about this marketing site. He was happy with the service from the other website, but he didn't know who was sending him this "marketing" type email.

The lessons from today... Much unlike myself, please put in at least 3-5 minutes of planning with something before doing a campaign like this. It was pretty dumb, and I cancelled all subsequent "automatic" emails to people that send me email.

I always look at these types of things as a learning experience. I'm sure I'm going to do a few more idiotic things like this, however, sometimes you've got to do them in order to learn not to do them.

I am going to make sure that everybody I email from now on is actually from the website that they contacted me from. What a marketing concept. Market to targeted people. Don't market to people who signed up for something on a different website as they won't have a clue who you are.

I thought I would share this BONE HEAD mistake publicly so as to help people not do the same thing.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

I've been programming for the last few months steady, to build up this website. I thought I would take a break today and practice some of the techniques I've learned.

I won a copy of RoboForm over at WebMasterRadio the other day and by using it, found a product that I really like. Traditionally I have made it a point to memorize every last password that I use at every last website I log in to. I log into alot of websites each day.

RoboForm automatically and securely remembers my log in passwords and usernames, autofills the login forms and then hits the submit button for me. Before, I would cringe at having to go to a website because I had to 'manually' remember the login codes. Now I just have select the site I want to log in to and RoboForm does the rest. I was impressed with the software at this point!

Then I learned that RoboForm fills in all types of online forms.
(I didn't get it when I first visited RoboForm's website.)

Being a web-a-holic, I have considered myself pretty diligent at
logging into forms and posting at blogs, forums etc. Example, I like to post at alot of blogs. I usually have to enter in my name, email address and website EACH TIME.. RoboForm has a feature that automatically fills this information in for me every time. And as all blogs/ forms are different, RoboForm has a system that allows me to train it to look for words and phrases of the respective input boxes.

I was so excited, I couldn't sleep last night, thinking about all of the ways I could use this new tool! I've often thought about how to program this type of tool, but I just don't have the time nor inclination at this point. RoboForm is going to help me communicate, better, stronger and faster with all of the blogs, forums, directories i like to visit each day. Check it out for yourself...RoboForm Webpage

Aweber.com - Autoresponder Email is another product that I am starting to like. I am currently building a collection of valuable articles and information that I want to share with my subscriber base on a regular basis. All I have to do is enter these articles into my aweber account, make sure they're formatted properly, and then submit them.... These website marketing articles will be automatically forwarded to my subscribers .

While autoresponder technology is not new by any means, I'm starting to learn the value of it, and I do like aweber. Aweber
has been reliable to work with and gives me more tools and reporting than I initially needed. (They've even come out with an RSS email tool feed).

The reason I'm just now starting to use aweber's email autoresponder is that up until a few months ago, all of my websites were pretty well ranked with google. With google update jagger, my sites have lost the positioning that I enjoyed for years. I am now learning and exercising the "OTHER" internet marketing methods.

Aweber even has a 30 day free trial .. Aweber's website

New Website Marketing Articles Area

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I just added website marketing article directory

We're starting to collect website marketing articles that we feel will be good value for our readers.

These are written by authors who are knowledgeable in the field of website marketing.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I came across this interview with Barry Schwartz - Rusty Brick of SERoundtable fame.
interview with rustybrick barry schwartz

I've met Barry at some of the webmasterworld conferences. He is very good and diligent at taking notes and keeping records of things.
That's why his blog is so well respected.

website map product categories

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I'm finally starting to get control with how I'm showing products on this site.

The following links are for marketers products which we are selling on this site. The linking is a much better format and was a bit of a learning curve to get it right.

Just to let you know... we DO sell products on this site. The products below are from some of the more popular authors and creators around.

Jeff Alderson
Jimmy D Brown
Michael Rasmussen
Chris Carpenter
Rosalind Gardner
Michael Rasmussen
The Rich Jerk

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Trying to market product when you're just starting out with internet marketing is a little frustrating. I've been going through this myself, lately. I've taken on the task of programming my websites as I want to get a closer control of how they're laid out and created.

The problem I'm having is, being a guy, I can only concentrate on one thing at a time!! Therefore, marketing takes a back seat when I'm learning a new programming skill.

Sound familiar?

The best thing to keep in mind when you're just first starting is that you've got give yourself some time. I've been relearning how php, mysql and html works together for about three months. The first month was spent just relearning the logic of the programming code. At that point I wasn't even thinking about keyword placement etc in my documents. Search engine optimisation wasn't even coming into play.

After the third month, I am now starting to memorize some of the programming language which is allowing me to be fluent in programming.

This weekend, I was looking at google to see how my pages were ranked. Much to my shock and horror, my pages weren't doing well. I then looked for the reasons and immediately noticed that I had completely missed some fundamental components of search engine optimisation on my pages.

Prior to programming these pages, I wrote them out manually. My pages have usually done well in the search engines and I spend a great deal of time making all pages search engine friendly.

As I'm getting a little more fluent in programming, I thought it might be a good time to look at the other aspects of page development. I can finally concentrate on other issues.

The point is... even though I consider myself somewhat of a veteran web page builder, I overlooked many of the fundamental principles of webpage development when I was learning a new skill. If you're starting off in website marketing, you're going to be flooded with a huge learning curve for the first several months.

Give yourself lots of time to learn everything.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been developing this site lately, and have made extensive changes on an ongoing basis.

Lately I've noticed my site was loading a lot slower than I would like. I did some checking and ran into the W3C Markup Validation Service

This site analyzes your website's html code and looks for broken tags and invalid code of any sort.

I noticed that I had 18 code errors on my home page. These weren't big errors, however the browser still has to translate them and try to correct for them. That takes time...

Last night I went and corrected all 18 errors and Voila! my page started to load faster. I was surprised and thought I should pass that along to the readers.

At the webmasterworld conference in New Orleans, I heard talk that the search engines might penalize sites for having code mistakes in pages, ie... sloppily written pages. I can see why now. If a google spider is slowed down while trying to parse through your page which is full of errors, they might hesitate before coming back. This makes sense.

So... take a moment and validate your html code.

The best part about this is it's FREE!

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been trying to understand, so as to write about it, why internet marketing is so frustrating for people.

You hear about product reviews where people say this product works, or that product doesn't work. I've figured out why some product DON'T work.

As with all small businesses, online and offline, the initial setup stages are filled with many mini failures. You keep trying different things until you figure out what works.

There are three variables which you have to consider when looking at why your hard work fails:

1. Your level of experience - company maturity - in the market place, and how much credibility your company has in the market place.
   
2. Product maturity - which is how saturated your product is in the market place, how well do people know about the product and its benefits.
   
3. Industry maturity - how many competitors there are - how saturated is the market place with product, Overall experience of the market place.

It's a good idea to think about where you are in your market place. example... if you're a new inexperienced company working in a mature saturated market place, it may take you longer to succeed than if you were an experienced company in a new market place.

There are challenges and hurdles no matter what level you 're starting at in developing your business.

THE 80/20 RULE.
When starting a business there is no road map for success for sale at the local store.

When I look back at some of the businesses I've developed, there were many times when I spent weeks on a project that was later scrapped. I've done that several times over my career. I've spent time on developing things that at the time were a good idea. Later, I realized they weren't valuable and scrapped them.

YOU MAY HAVE TO SCRAP SOME OF YOUR WORK
Is it possible that in order to be successful you may have to scrap 80% of the things you build and keep the 20% of things that work? That's what I'm starting to think. R&D like everything else is a numbers game. Especially on the internet. you have to keep trying and monitoring different things until you find what works for you, your company, and your industry.

If you can become comfortable with knowing that you may have to scrap 80% of what you build, you will have an easier time of developing your business.

It is important to keep in mind that monitoring the success and failure of what you build is very important. The whole thing is to know when to scrap things and when to keep them.

The 80/20 rule of marketing and developing your website is a good one to remember.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

This post is one of the more honest analysis I've seen about creating spamlike scraper sites.

He's saying that a life expectancy of a scraper site is 3 months. Your expected revenue is $xx.xx for that time period.

Black hat spammers are often frowned upon. It is my strong opinion that if they could, the largest ad agencies on Madison avenue would be doing the same thing offline if they could.

Advertising is all about creativity. Black Hat spammers are some of the most creative people I know.

The only thing I don't agree with, is black hat spammers scraping white hat sites and getting the white hat sites banned. That's unethical.

---

Email Marketing Products

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I saw this on Oilman's blog.

I did a little more research and found this on CNN
CNN -Reporting MicroSoft, AOL or Google $20 Billion Dollar Deal?

NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Investors looking for something that will move Time Warner's intractable stock price, stuck between $16 and $19 a share for two years, should expect to be disappointed -- again.

All fall there has been talk about its AOL unit doing a huge deal with either Microsoft or Google that would value AOL at at least $20 billion -- triple what analysts value it at now. But it's not going to happen. A deal with one of the two will get done and will likely be announced within two weeks. But it will be radically scaled back and likely won't move AOL's valuation needle on Wall Street at all.

Google already works with AOL with content

Currently, Google supplies search and search related advertising to AOL as a subcontractor. AOL gets about $300 million a year from that arrangement; Google gets about $100 million. AOL wants an even bigger take and more importantly, to get more of its content into Google's search index. Because of AOL's years as a subscription-only service, most of its pages are still hard for search engines to find -- even now that most of the content is free.

It's interesting when the big guys are battling. It's also scary. Every time these giants get larger, they also get more control of the net. It makes it more challenging for the mom and pop internet businesses to make a go of it.

I guess we'll see as this mystery deal unfolds

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Internet marketing with PPC just got even more difficult.

Google Adwords - Quality Score

I've been working pretty heavily with Adwords in the last few days getting brushed up on it.

With this Quality score they're even putting an algorithm on pay per click ads. This is much different than the old days where you bid on a term and you got placed at the rank you bid at.

I spoke with a client rep at google yesterday and she was briefly explaining Adwords Quality Score. The way she explained it, you may get a better rank than a higher bidder if your keyword, adgroup ad and your landing page are better quality than a higher bidder.

That puts the onus on every body to go and rework their ads if they were just throwing in tons of keywords and crappy ads.

It's a continuous tweeking process.

One the one side, it's good that google is giving the customer better results. On the other side, it's creating a great deal of work for the thousands of advertisers.

One thing you have to say for google is that they continuously innovating and improving!

Links of people who sell Software and ebooks
Links of people who sell Software and ebooks
Links of people who sell Software and ebooks

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I just received another product announcement in my email for Press Release Equalizer by Jeff Alderson. Jeff seems to have some pretty good products.

In the process of building up this site, I have reviewed a few hundred websites, products ebooks etc. The last thing I need is something new to learn?!!!

SO MUCH TO DO... SO LITTLE TIME
One of the main problems with internet marketing is that is it is so time consuming. On top of learning products and marketing softwares etc, you have to then go and do the work.

The press release software is good, but you have to learn it, and then you have to write the press releases! This all takes time.

THE LEARNING CURVE IS ENDLESS
Along with press releases you need to learn about:
? Keyword development
? Pay Per Click (PPC) development and management
? Website development
? SEO
? HTML writing
? Making Graphics
? Checking for people copying your content
? Products
? How to capitalize on opportunities
? and on and on... the list is endless

Another problem with owning any type of business, online or offline, is that you have to learn many different aspects of the business in order to make it work.

GET A GRIP ON THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT IS REQUIRED
The first thing to do is realize the amount of learning you've got to do. If you're just at the starting phase of your internet marketing business, expect that you're going to have to spend alot of time in studying and set up.

SET ASIDE TIME FOR A TASK
I would recommend allocating a certain amount of hours on a certain day to a certain task. Give yourself two hours on Monday, for example, to learn and develop keywords and your pay per click system. Give yourself a half hour each day to write article(s) for your blog.

The best thing is to pace yourself and keep your expectations to a realistic level. You're not going to be able to accomplish everything you need to do all at once. Allocating time to yourself will cut down on stress and give you a sense of accomplishment.

MASTER ONE SKILL AT A TIME.
I am also seeing that mastery works the same on the internet as it does in other professions. The people that do well on the internet are those who have taken the time to master a certain form of marketing, or writing, or what ever the skill is. Since there are so many things to do to market your business on the internet, it's especially important to work at mastering one thing before moving on to another.

Of course, mastery, is easier said than done. Especially when there is a huge quantity of 'must do' marketing activities staring you in the face each day.

SAVE ON STRESS, ALLOCATE TIME FOR EACH TASK
The best thing to do is get into a quiet area, sit and plan what you need to and would like to do as far as developing your online business, and then allocate the proper amount of time to do these tasks on a weekly basis.

Good luck!

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I received this in my email today from Sandy.
I don't usually read joke emails but I thought I would read this one.
It is an interesting marketing message that I and many others are guilty of. Sometimes I find it hard to stay in touch with people.

Sometimes sending customers and prospects a cute joke is a nice and non-commital way to stay in touch. It's well appreciated by the recipient as well. I loved the concept of it when I read it and thought I should post it here for you to read.

This explains why we forward jokes.

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."

The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is Heaven," he answered.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."

Soooo...

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes.

Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get?

A forwarded joke.

So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

It's interesting that some of the top, most creative and experienced web marketers are starting to blog.

Greg Boser - WebGuerilla
Todd Friesen - Oilman
Mike Grehan

These guys are legendary in the SEO industry.

I'm curious as to why they've started to blog. I'm also very glad that they are blogging. They are extremely important to listen to as they have a huge amount of experience.

It's good to see this trend.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

AT LONG LAST, IT'S HERE! - The KLT Factors ebook
I put the finishing touches on the first publishing of The KLT Factors ebook. If you haven't subscribed to our newsletter, please do so and you will receive the ebook at NO CHARGE!!

SIGN UP FOR FREE, INSTANT DOWNLOAD
CLICK HERE to send us a quick email to subscribe. Once you confirm your email address you will receive an email giving you the link to download the book.

SUBSCRIBERS GET A FREE COPY
If you have subscribed to our newsletter I have already sent you a link to the ebook via email.

THIS EBOOK IS TIMELESS AND VALUABLE
Unlike many ebooks about marketing on the internet, KLT Factors is a timeless ebook. The information will never go out of date.

I will be making references to KLT Factors more and more in my reviews so this ebook will help our readers and customers understand the standards that we're using.

PLEASE DO give me some feed back as to what you thought about the ebook in the blog comments. This will help me to refine the material for its next publishing.

I hope you enjoy The KLT Factors.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS
PS please tell your friends to come by and get their ebook. We're excited to have more and more people get to Know us, Like us, and Trust us!! ;-)

CLICK HERE to send us a quick email to get your free copy of the KLT Factors.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

? Love him or hate him, Matthew Lesko is a great self marketer. I met him in person and he is actually quite a quiet fellow. The point is, if you love him or hate him, you must know him and it proves my point that Matthew Lesko is a great self promoter.

? BL Ochman's What's Next Blogis another blog that I have started to read. I like her style. She seems to research her material well and talks about fresh new ideas for internet marketing and blog marketing.

? Buzz Marketing with Blogs by Susannah Gardner is a site with nice graphics. I love the concept of buzz marketing. Seems she's even written a book about Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies. Talking, Buzz, Talking some more, More Buzz

? Jensense / Jenstar Making sense out of contextual advertising
I've met Jenstar a few times at Webmasterworld. Along with being a podium speaker at WMW she writes a down to earth blog. I always remember her saying, "don't / never click on your own adsense links"
She is pretty down to earth, and good at what she does.

? Matt Cutt's Google - SEO blog Matt Cutts who is the PR guy, industry intemediary guy for Google goes to most of the search engine conferences and has to talk about what google is doing. Needless to say that people listen to every word he says and then talk about it to death. Matt puts up a blog where he wants to talk about stuff and is VERY closely watched. It's hard to have a somewhat anonymous blog when you're Matt Cutts

? Spam Huntress The Norwegian Spam Huntress - Ann Elisabeth I have sort of mixed feelings about SpamHuntress.
My thoughts are that as long as people aren't stealing (copyright theft) or breaking the law in some fashion, marketing is marketing.

Spamhuntress seems to be pretty diligent in tracking down spammers. It's good to read her blog to see what's she's up to.
I think that people should do what they need to do (within reason) to get people to know their sites, blogs, products etc.

? Dan Janal's PR LeadsDan Janal's service is pretty unique in that he's matching up speakers and experts in their fields to reports / magazine writers who want to interview experts. The beauty of this is that PR Leads gets requests from hundreds of journalists for expert text bytes for their articles. If you are successful in having your name published in a top level publication, that is huge credibility for you and your website. This helps the "TrustRank" of your site.

? Adland DisAdinformation - Ad Rag I love blogs that talk about ads. It's refreshing to have an honest discussion about all types of ads. Let's face it, you're stuck with the ads you see on TV. Some of them are pompous / arrogant bits of expensive air filled promotion. Some ads are actually quite good. It's nice to have an honest discussion about them.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (5)

A few weeks ago I issued an Invitation to different authors and creators of software and ebooks.

I received a few replies from my emails and post here but nothing that was earth shaking. From those replies I was able to do some good reviews of marketing ebooks . To note, I received replies back from John Stafford, Jeff Alderson and Dianna Huff.

INTERNET SALES DIFFERENT THAN TRADITIONAL SALES?
It was interesting to me that I suggested that I wanted to sell these people's products and that I would like to contact them. These website marketing software & ebook developers must get tons of these requests. In the traditional business world, the supplier always talks to their customers and answers questions directly.

In the world of internet marketing, I guess the suppliers don't have to talk to the customers. ( NOT!! )

I don't mind doing a quick review of a product, however, it seems that it's pretty difficult to do an extensive review of a product, even if I buy the ebook or software. I learned a great deal from the people that I spoke to about how they do things and how to conduct their business.

BAD SITES ARE EASY TO EVALUATE... THEY'RE JUST PLAIN BAD
What I'm finding is that it's easier to weed out the bad marketing software and ebooks than it is to do a really good in depth research and review on good products.

Another thing I'm finding is that because some of the products are so detailed, and require quite a bit of set up work , it may take a few months to review these products in any great detail.

THE PRODUCTS WORK, THEY JUST TAKE TIME AND EFFORT
From some of the ebooks I've read so far, the author suggests this technique and that technique. To really see if these techniques work, you've almost got to dedicate a few days to setting up these suggestions and then exercising them.

If there is one criticism that I see alot with regards to these "GURU" type books, it's that they don't work!. The reason that it may not seem like the technique works is because it takes hard work and may require days and months to get the momentum built up.

In reading John Stafford's book about email marketing and list development, I was overwhelmed with all of the good information he had listed. I have done some of the minor recommendations, but I haven't had the time to get into the heavy lifting suggestions. I'm still intending to do so, but this just illustrates why people may get a little disappointed with a product.

AFFILIATE SOFTWARE & EBOOK VENDORS ARE STILL WELCOME
So... the invitation is still out to every affiliate supplier who markets a website marketing software and ebook. We would like to review those here on this site, if you're interested. The invitation is still open to get your product reviewed and placed on this site.

If we review a product on this site, that's just a little more credibility for the product if we like it.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

James Martell is reputed to use only organic search traffic for his affiliate programs. In the past, James Martell has boasted that his 90 sites make / sell $1000 per month each.

Interesting discussion I found on this topic of James Martell paying for clicks.

I would be interested to know how James Martell and other super affiliates are making out after the google update jagger fiasco.?!!

From what I've read, James Martell is pretty creative at what he does. He and his wife have built tons of websites and done really well. He has to be pretty creative to stay ahead of the curve.

What happens if half your sites get tanked by something like the google update jagger?

Does a person like James Martell then start doing pay per clicks?

I am curious to hear from anybody who may know the answer to this question. I've heard many stories which go both ways.

I'm sure that the super affiliates such as Rosalind Gardner who only do pay per clicks laughed at the other super affiliates who rely on organic search engine traffic.

It's interesting to note that an acquaintance of mine who is a prominent black hat marketer has since taken a "very white hat" job promoting other people's websites. I've heard stories of a few hard core marketers taking on regular jobs in the last year.

This just tells me that marketing on the internet is becoming more difficult by the day!!

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

I wish I could spend as much time as I need to get this area as spiffy as I would like, however, it's going to have to be a work in progress.
See our new Product Menu

As I've mentioned, I will be adding more and more reviews, critiques etc to our catalogue of products. Then we can get into the really juicy gossip about the vendors and what they're doing etc.

If there are any website marketing products you want us to review, let us know and we'll put them on the list.

Articles from December 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

THE SCENARIO
You're trying to find some good marketing software products and ebooks and you've been looking around, trying to figure out who has what to offer.

You've seen a million websites that have these mile long sales pages and are full of hype. You're confused, and need some background on these people that are offering these hyped marketing products.

MY ANALYSIS
On my few days off, I was trying to put in perspective the products that we sell on this site. It's a part of trying to help define our customers expectations when they buy these marketing software products and ebooks.

One thing I noticed is that most, if not all, of the developers of these clickbank type products are really small companies and home based businesses.

These are not companies that have had millions of dollars of cash injection put into them. They haven't had tons of research and development dollars put into them.

These developers are people who have most likely done really well themselves on the internet and want to share their successes with other people and make a few bucks at the same time.

It's important to keep in mind that anybody who can write software that is reasonably well tested and for sale has to have a certain amount of competence. That goes for ebook developers as well. It's not particularly easy to write an ebook that is going to genuinely help the reader.

EXPERTS HAVE A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE
Being an expert and developing a product takes hours of research, study, development etc. That's why I give credit to these products.
Because the internet is such a highly fluctuating place, it's difficult to get financing from banks and venture capital companies to support the development of these one-off products.

The developers of these internet marketing software and ebooks must then finance and market the development of their products on their own. You have to give them credit for their creativeness and diligence.

That's why we thought it important to develop our review system here, to develop some standards for which to evaluate the usefulness and value of each product.

LARGE CORPORATIONS HAVE A BUDGET FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
The benefit of large corporations is that they have the resources financially and employee wise to develop all of the supporting documents and product manuals. Large corporations such as Microsoft and Symantec have customer service help desks that their customers can call in to. These companies have the budgets to develop, train and maintain these customer service departments.

SMALL COMPANIES DON'T HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE OR BUDGET TO MAINTAIN CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENTS
With a smaller, homebased business, the customer service department is also the developer of the product. The small business owner is usually doing his/her best to get through their daily chores.

We believe that by doing our news & reviews, we are adding value for our customers when they are shopping for internet marketing software & ebooks.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

IS SEO DEAD? HAS SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION GONE BY THE WAY SIDE?
There was some chatter on the RockStars program, on WebMasterRadio.fm with 'Oilman' Todd Friesen and Greg Boser 'WebGuerilla', that people are talking about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) being dead?!!

I don't think SEO is dead. I DO think the rules have changed quite and bit and it is worthwhile to be mindful of what the search engines want in order to get some free traffic. I love free traffic.

SUPPLEMENT SEO WITH DIRECT WEBSITE MARKETING
However, I think it's also prudent to work on developing traffic with many other types of direct, controllable marketing. This ensures that you're insulated against the whims of googles algorithm changes.

If you're developing traffic with other types of marketing methods then worry about search engines will become less and less.

I am becoming more and more excited about internet marketing as I learn all of the techniques of the people that we're reviewing. That's the great benefit of studying and learning about different types of website marketing. It's a pile of things to learn, but I've developed a whole set of new strategies that I'll be able to share with our readers.

TIME TO TAKE ON THE NEW LEARNING CURVE?
SEO is not dead. People will be getting free traffic as long as google, yahoo msn etc will be giving it away. By that definition, people need to continue making their sites appealing to their visitors as well as the search engines.

It's also important to take on the task of learning a few other ways to market your website. We'll be here along the way to help out.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Tomorrow we should be showing a new link to show some new products by 8 new categories. I'm trying to give our readers and customers better ways to shop for software.

If you want a quick preview have a look at Website Marketing Software & Ebook Menu

As time progresses we will continue to add more and more products to fill up these categories.

WE DO SELL PRODUCTS ON THIS SITE
The purpose of review products and filtering out bad products is to help our customers find good products.

There may be some concern about our keeping objective with selling products while reviewing them. It is our intention to give solid evidence to substantiate our reviews. We will provide facts that back up our reviews which will strengthen our sales discussion even more.

Not only that, we are being pretty harsh on sites that we don't feel are solid value for our customers. It's easy to evaluate crappy no-value sites and very difficult to do good quality reviews on good products and ebooks.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I am taking a few days off . I will be back on Tuesday.

In taking a few days off, I am developing some great ideas for the site.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Jeff Alderson's website marketing products

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME
Wow... sometimes good things take a while to develop. After reviewing 200 websites for marketing software products and ebooks, my mind was spinning trying to categorize these websites and make them a little more black and white for our visitors.

A SOLUTION TO A COMMON PROBLEM
I think I've got a system that is pretty black and white for reviewing these mile long hype filled web pages. Although I do enjoy the hype and sales language, I found myself getting bogged down in trying to understand what the product was really supposed to do.

I'm really excited to know that a marketing software product or ebook is going to direct 58,765 visitors to my site, or make me $34,657 in 6 weeks!! I am even more excited to know what it's doing and if it's really what I want for a marketing tool.

15 CATEGORIES OF WEBSITE MARKETING PRODUCTS AND EBOOKS
After studying these sites in detail I was able to come up with approximately 15 categories that most of these products fall into. It was really great that after determining these 15 categories, my work had then become easier.

After determining these 15 categories I was able to quickly go through the list and allocate the products that we're promoting in this site to those categories. I believe that this will be greatly helpful for our customers as they will be able to shop in the categories that suit them. Not only that, the products in these categories will be reviewed, for the most part.

BETTER THAN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A BUNCH OF COLD WEBSITES
Instead of trying to go to a bunch of 'cold' websites, they'll be able to look through our already previewed and reviewed websites to see what we're recommended.

SHOP BY CATEGORY
Example: we will have a section for all of those who are interested in marketing their sites with Newsletter, Email List and ezine products and services. (I know that this is a valuable service as it's taken me several hours and weeks to work through these sites to see what's good and what's garbage.)

It's also nice just to see a list of related products categorized in a nicely done and nicely reviewed area. I hope that our customers and friends will enjoy how we've built these categories.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

UP-TO-DATE & RELEVANT WEBSITE MARKETING PRODUCTS vs
OUT-OF-DATE & IRRELEVANT MARKETING PRODUCTS
In an attempt to give people better service and helping them find things better on our site, I have been thinking of different categories that our software and ebook products fall into.

I thought of the following categories that website marketing and software may fall into. (I'm writing this out because you may find it helpful if you're site is somewhat disorganized or doesn't follow a theme.):

ONSITE WEBSITE MARKETING & EBOOKS
Onsite marketing is what you do on your site to get people to buy your product or service. This can include Search Engine Optimisation.

Examples:

• Onsite content pages
  
• Keyword development
  
• Graphics
  
• Forms
  
• Sound & video etc.

These are all things that people have to be at your site to see and listen to

OFFSITE WEBSITE MARKETING & EBOOKS
Offsite are all the ways you try to get in front of your client that are not on your site. This type of marketing has nothing to do with Search Engine Optimisation.

Examples:

• Newsletter Emails
  
• Blog Chat
  
• Forum Chat
  
• Banners
  
• Popups
  
• Links on other sites
  
• Offsite Classifieds

These are offsite marketing that you do to get people to click to your site.

NEW AND RELEVANT Versus OLD AND OUTDATED
As I started to think about what's relevant and what's not relevant with regards to online and offline marketing, I started to see more categories.

The problem with advertising on the internet is that it's an ever changing market place. As I've been talking about Google Update jagger. This update changed some of the fundamental rules about SEO and website marketing.

If you've mainly concentrated on onsite marketing (as I have), some of the techniques that you used to use are now irrelevant and outdated. Some of the website marketing SEO products that have promoted these now irrelevant techniques are now old and irrelevant as well.

SOME MARKETING TECHNIQUES ARE TIMELESS
One thing that's important to remember is that some marketing techniques are timeless and will hold true no matter what's going on in the ever changing internet marketing place.

When shopping for products that will help you market your site, it's important to look for onsite and offsite marketing. You need products that are going to help you exercise the KLT Factors: helping prospects to Know you , Like you, and Trust you. While this is kind of basic, it will always hold true no matter what the internet is doing at the time.

Direct marketing, ie getting out and actively marketing to people will always stand the test of time. The more things you do off site is just as important as what you do when people visit your site.

BOTTOM LINE:
When you're shopping for internet marketing products make sure that the products or services are timely and relevant. In one ebook I reviewed, there were a bunch of out date links. Because these links made up a great deal of the value of the ebook, I felt that some of ebook was somewhat outdated, even though the bulk of the information was relevant and timely. ( I mentioned the outdated links to the author, and he subsequently updated the links making the product timely and relevant again.)

I'll be doing my best to make sure we're giving you good quality products in relevant categories in a time fashion!

Cheers

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

ClickTracks Analytics
One of the hardest things to do is admit openly when you do something dumb... Or not do something that you should have done along time ago.

Over the last 5 years, we have enjoyed some nice organic search traffic from Google MSN etc. We have never been terribly concerned about what our traffic is doing, because it's always been free and we've always had more than enough.

With google's most recent Jagger Update, they've thrown us out of our comfort level and into oblivion. We're being forced to change the way we market. our site and our products.

The first thing that came to my mind was "WE NEED TO BE DOING ANALYTICS".. We need to be analyzing what's going on on our website. We need to know our numbers if we're paying for traffic.

I installed ClickTracks Analytics and am starting to look at it. (This is where the horrified comes in). 63% of my free traffic is leaving the site without looking around any further. Not on this site, but another site that we manage. Had I have known this I could have done SO MUCH BETTER when we had the free traffic.

I am now able to see what people are doing when they're on my site. (This is where the excited comes in) . I'm glad that I have to only learn this lesson once. I am completely sold on doing using this analytics software on my sites.

Analytics tells what's happening on each page of your site. It's based on actual sendlogs or actual history of the traffic on your sites.

It tells where people are going on your site and how many are leaving. If 63% of the people are leaving after looking at the rest of my site, that tells me one BIG thing.... I need to greatly enhance that site. If I could get 50% more people to look at some of the other pages, I'm probably going to double or triple my sales on that site.

If I was paying for clicks to go to that site, I would be burning 63% of my money, because paid visitors aren't any different than free visitors.
They want value and to know that the site is credible.

CONCLUSION: If you're trying to make money on the internet and AREN'T using any type of formal analytics software, I encourage you to do so right away... Please learn from my horrible mistake.

Topic: website traffic analytic software.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I love this post about Creating Passionate Users. This is a well written blog post that talks about more important and long term methods to advertise to people than just hammering them over the head with money and advertising.

They talk about

The most important skill today is... teaching.

Whatever it is you're launching is probably not in short supply, and there's always someone who's doing it better, faster, and cheaper (or will be within weeks). Most of us authors, non-profit evangelists, indie software developers, small start-ups (the soon-to-be Fortune 5,000,000) can barely afford broadband let alone a "marketing/ad campaign". We can't hire a publicist. We aren't going to be on Oprah.

How truthful and refreshing.

Getting people to like you by adding value to them and helping them use your product better, or do something better.

Here's another great bit of wisdom

But passion requires real learning. Nobody is passionate about skiing on their first day. Nobody is passionate about programming in Java on their first day. Or week. It's virtually impossible to become passionate about something until you're somewhere up the skill/knowledge curve, where there are challenges that you believe are worth it, and that you perceive you can do.

I share these beliefs.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I thought I should write about this here as I'm starting to get some decent reviews going.

25 Ways To Grow Your E-Newsletter List

I liked her style. Dianna Huff is a B2B copywriter and indicated that she works with Fortune 500 companies. Being that she works for Fortune 500 companies she is interested in quality and credibility. She described how she wrote her book about developing a newsletter email list. She said she did so out of necessity. She researched so many ways to build a newsletter and finally got successful at it.

Dianna indicated that she has a list of 1500 high quality subscribers and doesn't want to grow it any further. Every time she sends out a newsletter she gets more business than she can handle, so she has to be careful at this point. (A nice problem to have)

She mentioned that her techniques are for new newsletter list developers who want a high quality lists and not huge spammy lists.

I like the concept, I like her low-hype approach and I got a good feeling from talking to her on the phone.

Check it out...25 Ways To Grow Your E-Newsletter List

See more RECOMMENDED PRODUCT reviews:

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

I'm interested to know what's going on a WMW pubcon because I'm not there this time around.

Check out this blog and this blog as the writers are in Las Vegas at WebMasterWorld, in person.

I learned so much from going to WMW, it's taken me six months to implement what I've learned!!

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (3)

From what I hear, the response to Google Analytics is so good that google's servers are not able to handle the load.

Google has says that they would take 12 hours for them to have initial data reported. It's been alot longer than 12 hours, and my data is not reported. No biggie.

What was google thinking.. Understandably Google's trying to pull out all of the stops to compete with Microsoft and Yahoo. They're giving a feature rich service away for free. Of course their servers are going to be jammed.

As is the way of the internet, I'll just wait and see what happens.

UPDATE: It's now 36 hours later and google analytics is not up and running. Hmmm...

I think Google wasn't anticipating the response.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I just visited 1clickpromotion as I was searching for sites which do viral marketing.

I quickly read the page and then scrolled down to the bottom. I clicked the buy now button and paypal gave an error message that said,
"Error Detected
This recipient is currently unable to receive money. "

That's not something you see every day!.

I then checked Alexa to see there were any reviews on this site: This was even more interesting: Alexa Review 1clickpromotion.

This wasn't pretty at all. This is an example of a bad website that is dishonest, gave horrible customer service and was shut down.

This site is provided by: Micky Multani - 1clickpromotion.com
DON'T BUY FROM THIS GUY!!

Visit our Marketing Blog

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

I've read some reviews about products that I am reviewing and promoting on this site. I often hear about people who are disgruntled because the information they read in the ebook can be readily available on the internet.

Well... Yes... Of course.... the information is available on the internet. Which information isn't available on the internet?

Sometimes you have to spend hours searching for that FREE information. I've spent hundreds of hours researching free material on the internet. If my time is worth... say $10 per hour and I spend 10 hours looking for free information that is available in a $35 book, you're losing money. You've spent $100 of time when you could have purchased the ebook for $35 and spent the 10 hours learning even more and marketing your products.

The other problem: Some people are experienced senior marketers. They're buying books that are intended for junior marketers. Then they complain because the information is too light.

DO EBOOKS HAVE PAY BACK AMOUNTS?
Let's do some more math... If a junior marketer some spends $100 to buy an ebook that explains 25 ways to market a product for free that they haven't heard about, then that's good value.

If the junior marketer was going to spend 20? per click to get people to his site, and instead he practices the free way to get traffic, he would need to generate $100 (paid for the book) /20? (saved from not using PPC's) = 500 visits to his site using the free methods to get traffic to his site.

If a junior marketer is serious enough about using the free marketing methods described in the book, I'm sure that most people are going to get those 500 visitors for free over time using the free methods.

If the junior marketer is diligent with these methods over 6 months to a year, he's going to much more than make back his investment.

FREE VIRAL MARKETING SYSTEMS
I use different viral sites like WebBizInsider and AdLandPro Viral Community I don't get paid if you sign up for these, but I do get free traffic. People seeing my site for FREE!

You can find these on http://www.express-marketing.com/viral-marketing.html

These sites are free, and of course you can pay for stuff, if you want.
These are simple sites that you probably would find people complaining about the free traffic. With webbizinsider, I've had 150,000 people see my site at least. It may not be the best, most high quality traffic in the world, however, it's free and it's another way for people to get to know my site.

So, people can complain all they want. The idea behind marketing is to get free traffic and paid traffic. They do the same in offline marketing. Publicity departments strive for free advertising all the time. Richard Branson owner of the Virgin Brand is genious at getting publicity.

So... if you're just starting out.. you have to make a decision on how much you can afford to buy in ebooks etc. I would recommend buying some website marketing ebooks coupled with surfing the net for free information.

If you're a senior marketer, stop complaining about some of the ebooks available. If somebody has written a 165 page manual and sells it for $97, I think the junior marketer will have spent his money well if he learns enough techniques to save himself $98 in PPC's or other cash costs.

CONTENT OR INFORMATION IS NEVER FREE!
Remember... there is never anything done for free in business. Free internet content costs money to produce in man hours. Publicity costs money in the implementation stage. The costs of "free" content has to be paid for some how. My feeling is that companies won't give out free information unless they're going to make their money back.

(There you go.. I've spent 20 minutes writing this FREE blog post. Now I've got to sell 3 products to pay for my time !!)

Cheers.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Oh My Goodness. it's -29c this morning.

I thought I would throw this picture in. It's hard to see the trees. The frost is 1/8" thick on the tree's branches. It's a really nice site.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO PLUG YOUR CAR IN?
That's pretty cold. I'm sure the folks in the southern U.S. have never had to plug their car in?!!! Plugging your car in means that it's so cold you have a heater that keeps your car engine warm enough to start in the morning.

I'm going to have to plug my car in if it stays this cold!

Also the frost is so thick on the windshield that I have a hard time scraping the windshield. We get frost on the windshield, however, when it gets really cold the frost seems to be glued on the windshield.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

Google Analytics
Google has published their Urchin analytics software and is giving it away for free. If not temporarily.

Google Analytics will tell you about the traffic on your site and what people are doing while they're on your site.

I'm pretty excited to try this out.

If you don't already have an analytic tool in place that you're subscribed to, I would recommend checking this out.

Google Analytics is now published - for FREE!

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I needed a little afternoon levity. That's the ultimate challenge for website marketing is to get in front of tough prospects. I saw this picture of cowboys, who probably don't like computers, out in the middle of nowhere. That's a good marketing challenge to sell these cowpokes on the internet.


Regarding the KLT Factors... I hammered out approximately 10 pages today. I'm excited about the new information. It's hard to say how long it's going to take to finish this ebook. There's so much to talk about and only so many hours in the day. The concept is making even more sense to me as I am getting the information into my MS Word doc.

Just remember: There are only three reasons why people buy from you. Those are the KLT Factors....

Stay tuned.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

DEVELOPING AND EASY STANDARD TO UNDERSTAND ADVERTISING
I've been working for several months to come up with a way to document and categorize my advertising experience into a method to communicate what I know with my readers. In effect I'm trying to develop some easy to understand standards.

After thinking about it on and off I believe I have come up with a simple, comprehensive method to explain how internet advertising works. The problem with standards are that they are simplistic in their most base form. They require a great deal of definition in order to understand their full meaning.

INTRODUCING THE KLT FACTORS
I'm calling my standards the KLT Factors. I started thinking about how EVERY method of internet advertising weighed against these Factors. I was able to come up with some definitions on how all internet advertising comes within these Factors.

I got more and more excited that I could define the benefits of each type of internet advertising based on the KLT Factors.

Oh by the way, KLT stands for "Know you, Like You, Trust You"

KLT Factors is not sexy or hype filled. It's a fundamental and foundational way to understand advertising and if an internet advertising product, software or ebook is going to work for you.

I am going to write a short version of KLT Factors ebook and start having people sign up for it.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

TAKE 132/ SHOT 36 LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION!
Getting the camera set up to do some video taping.

GEARING UP FOR OUR VIDEO
As part of our viral marketing campaign, I think it's really important to do some video so that people can get to know who I am and what we're all about.

It's fun getting in front of the camera, except for the bright, hot blinding lights. Setting up for the shot. Doing the shot 20 times to get it right. Good thing for digital cameras. This would be expensive if you were throwing away film all the time.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

Pictures from my office this morning.
Winter wonderland on November 14, 2005

This direction


That Direction:


It kinda looks the same with all that snow!

It never ceases to amaze me when I wake up in the morning and have 3 more inches of snow on the ground.

I thought I would show these pictures to give an idea of what it looks like in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada today.

Enjoy.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

ONE BIG SITE OR MANY LITTLE SITES?
I found this article: My second web affiliate programs experiment earns $1,000 (Update: up to $3,400) a month"

I like the idea of building one website per keywords or topic.

EXAMPLES ARE OUTDATED WITH GOOGLE JAGGER UPDATE
The site shown in this example was written in 2003. Two years ago!! This site is completely believable back then , when you could rise fairly easily in the search engine results.

With Google's update Jagger I am questioning if people should be relying on free search engine results as their sole method of marketing.

I DON'T HAVE ENERGY TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO MULTIPLE SITES.
What I mean by that is, in the past I have built sites that have risen to the top of the search engine results, because we worked hard at SEO. With 5 good sites which I wrote regular content for, we always did pretty well in the free search results. It was okay then to write a few articles here and there to keep people interested and the search engines happy.

All of a sudden, google changes their algorithm and my sites are no where to be found. The things that appealed to google no longer appeal to them. Google changed their mind. And because I only have infrastructure to keep writing articles, I DON'T have the infrastructure and training to know how to attract visitors without those search engine results.

If this has happened to you, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

I am currently aggressively seeking ways to invite visitors to my sites without the search engine results. It's a completely different kettle of fish. In some ways I wish I hadn't been spoiled with lots of free search engine results for the last 5 years.

The other thing is, do I have the time and energy to apply all of these viral marketing methods to all of my sites.? Possibly. All of those sites I had built, and whose traffic just got decimated are going to have to wait until I figure out how to consistently drive traffic to my main site here.

VISITING FORUMS IS GOOD
I have heard that visiting forums on a regular basis and visiting with people, (and putting a signature in your post) is a great way to go. Asking questions, answering questions and general visiting is good for marketing. For that reason I like the following forums:
Search Engine Forums WebMasterWorld and Allan Gardyne's Associate Programs and Harvey Segal's Click Bank SuccessForum"

Creating traffic from non-search engine results is a whole new ball game. It's one that I embrace whole heartedly.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

GOOGLE UPDATE JAGGER 3 WINDING DOWN.
On (Google) Matt Cutts blog, he's telling us about the different status' of Update Jagger 3. He has indicated that Jagger 3 should be visible soon and is starting to wind down. See also SEroundtable

That's great!! Some of my sites are getting a little more visible. They're going from position 650 to 15 on the SERPs. At least we're heading in the right direction.

WEBMASTERWORLD IS ON NOVEMBER 15-17, 2005
I am going to sorely miss going to WebMasterworld in Las Vegas which has been immensely interesting the last two times. I attended WebMasterWorld in New Orleans in June 2005 and Las Vegas in November 2004. I will definitely be planning to get to the next Webmasterworld conference.

PUTTING SOME COSMETICS ON THE REVIEW SYSTEM
I'm just in the midst of putting some cosmetics on the review reporting system so that it looks a little nicer. Details Details Detail.

As well, I am going through some of the software and ebooks that I have purchased in the past and can personally recommend.
I generally research website marketing products before purchasing them. I have purchased a few dogs. I generally try to download the preview version before I make the purchase.

I will present some of these "RECOMMENDED" products to you shortly.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

What Makes Your Advertising Viral? clickz.com

This got me thinking: is viral marketing good for any brand?

As we create rich, viral advertising, we must keep an open mind in terms of what will motivate content sharing.

This is an interesting comment.

Is viral marketing good for any brand? Presumably I would say, YES!!

Isn't that what everybody strives for? The only companies who wouldn't want their brand to be publicly talked about are secret type governmental military services that are hush hush. That's fine with me. I don't want to talk about them any way.

Otherwise every retailer and manufacturer wants their product to be talked about at the office, at home and everywhere else.

Viral marketing is about you telling two people, and they tell two people, who in turn tells two people.

The key to viral marketing on the internet is to get people to take your information and share it with others. I think what Dorian Sweet is getting at is that not all types of viral marketing fit all type of products or services.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

YOU'RE INVITED
If you're one of the people / companies listed below, I want to visit with you and do product review.

I've invited several of the following people to visit with me so that I can interview them regarding their website marketing products and ebooks etc. It's the way of the internet. Many of these sites don't have contact emails or phone numbers on the site. So, I thought I would just do this the had way.

I invite all of the following people to drop by for a product review on this site. If for some reason I cannot get a hold of you, I guess I'll just have to review your site without your input. Such is life. To give our readership a better impression of who you are and what your product / ebook does, it would be a great idea to meet personally and talk about YOU!!

The invitation is out there.... Thanks..

Cron Enterprises, Inc - Shaun Cronrath
The Rich Jerk - The Rich Jerk
e-trinity Internetmarketing Ltd.
Accel Innovation, Inc. - Janis Pettit &Terri Zwierzynski
4 Web Marketing
Tom "The Tool Man"
Marketing Kit
Prime Visibility LLC - Andrew S. Hazen
Search Engine Wizard
Computer Quest
EasySEO - Millennium Enterprises llc.
JennTech Inc
Costa Dedes
R. James Enterprises - Rufina James
Northern Pine Marketing Services - Tim Bossie
InstantAutomaticTraffic - David Hendra
MLM-e-Secrets - Tim
SunSteam Search and Directory - Lars
Professional Global Marketing
Rod Beckwith
autoalexapro - Nicholas A. Levenhagen
BrandingYouOnline - Rick Beneteau
Bizzy Bees Advertiser
Jimmy's Value World.
Winning Lottery Lotto Wheeling System -
Conquering-The-Search-Engines - Mark Flavin
How 2... Information Products
Click Ad Equalizer
The New Marketing Center - Ren? Ronse
Gardner Marketing Group Inc. - Jeff Gardner
AutoHitsMachine - Richard Brewster
Virtual eBooks - Laurie Duncan
Classifieds Central Free Classified Ads
Joel Comm
e-trinity Internetmarketing Ltd. - Sebastian Foss
SearchMaster:
Ritchie Media - Ruth Ritchie-Farmer
Page Zero - Andrew Goodman
tipfortop - Teresa King
Instant Marketing Secrets, - Ewen Chia & Jun Lim
Tale Chaser Publishing - Jack Humphrey
misspelledtraffic
Fred Gleeck Productions - Fred Gleeck
Affordable Internet Solutions
Interactive Marketing, Inc. - Matt Hockin
Smart-Web-Promotion
Richard Quek
KDM Publishing
emallplex 2000
SND Systems, Inc - Mike Filsaime
ResellRightsIncluded - Chrisa Lopez
TrafficSolutions2004
MaxNet Profit LLC
Adpost Free Classifieds
DH Communications, Inc. - Dianna Huff
Sen Ze
Guaranteed Marketing LLC - Kevin Donlin
Schneiderman & Associates, LLC - Steve Schneiderman
Biz Site Biz E-zine
SearchEngineWorkshops - John Alexander
Michael Rasmussen
Total Advertising Network
Fit Biz Solutions - Eric Vaughn
AdSubmitPro
Universal Marketing Media, Inc. - Juan Walker
profitjump - Alan Yap
iwinweekly
AdtrackzAnalyzer - Jonah Klimack
Dynamic Media Corporation - Michael Campbell
123WebMarketing eBusiness Center - Jimmy D. Brown
MarketingStudies.net - Guerricom Rok Hrastnik
Grant Neilson
CE Buys, LLC, - Nick Pang
morethan1income - Leslie Gibbon
bloglinkinggenerator
SuccessInMotion - Andrew Daum
Free-Hit-Counters
Joel Mendoza
A-to-Z Internet - Graham Hamer
nichekeywordanalyzer - Oskars Baltais
AGPCommunity
startingamembershipsite - micheal
John Colanzi
Future Internet Marketing - Palyn Peterson
Awesome Seminars
Maryanne
AdwordsAnywhere
arielis web directory
Barbara Ling
Access Cafe Networks, Inc - Zachary McCullough
Roderick Hutchison
Chiara Publications
ezinead.net

By Monty Loree - Express Marketing - Affiliate Marketing Software and ebooks products

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

Ann Althouse's Blog & Jane Galt Blog.

These are some blogs I follow. They are completely unrelated to marketing issues, but they sure DO get a ton of traffic.

Ann Althouse is a posting robot. She loves posting, mostly about politics, and she does get into some other creative topics. The people who read her blog I would consider to be well educated and very opinionated. This is a great audience.

It goes to show that if you put high quality information on a blog, people from different genres and interests will come by and visit.

JaneGalt.net (real name Megan McCardle) is another blog that amazes me. She posts a 5 line post on her blog and gets 86 comments. That's amazing!

The beauty of these blogs is that they are NOT commercial in the discussion at all. They do have ads on the sides, which is acceptable.

If you're interested in study some high traffic sites, these are good ones to study.

By Monty Loree - Subject - Blog Marketing - Ann Althouse from Wisconsin, althouse.blogspot.com and janegalt.net (AKA) Megan McCardle

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

Oh My Goodness:
The Instant Guru

I've owned my own business for 12 years and I've learned alot of stuff over the years. I can't say I've met anybody who is an instant guru! That just doesn't sound right.

People go to university for 8 years to be a doctor. Would you want an instant guru doctor doing brain surgeon on you?!! It's just not logical.

I hate this type of site/blog. All of the articles are simply ads for the booklet. I'm sure it's great information but I can't support the concept.

The people that are truly successful, get into nitty gritty of their business, learn the fundamentals along with the the frilly parts. This takes months and years to learn and master.

I respect people who have been there, done that several times.
The Instant Guru is not something I promote.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

Blogging vs Ezine marketing

I was just reading this article after I read John Stafford's ebook about email list building.

While I can see the value of blogging, (you're reading my blog), I can still see the value of emailing and list building.

They're two different forms of advertising. One is getting into somebody's email box, the other is somebody visiting your site.

I've seen some blogs that have huge readership. These blogs are usually written by some people with a certain amount of "celebrity status".

To develop blog readership, if you don't have celebrity status, you need to get out and post on as many blogs as you can to get people to know about you. Developing blog readership this way is a lot of hard work. It's fun to visit, however it's hard work like everything else.

Developing an ezine is hard work in that you've got to work 50 ways to build your lists. You've got to work the systems that build lists. That's hard work. Most paths to success are hard work.

I'm seeing that a combination of blogs & list development & ezines are a good mix. I've seen magical things happen with blogs that I could never achieve with a regular website.

The whole idea is to be communicating with your prospects on a regular basis, and giving them good , valuable information and products and services. Ultimately, that will win the day.

Jeff Alderson's website marketing products

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

Do you know how I know I like something? When I get enough practical tips in a 68 page ebook to give me a headache!!

I just read through John Stafford's 68 page "Your" money is in the list. ebook.

I'm reviewing the ebook with practicality and value in mind. It definitely has that.

For the past many years I have relied strictly on organic searches for our business. With the latest Google Update Jagger, which wasn't kind to us, I decided to go looking for ways that I could market my service in a fashion that I can control.

While the methods that are discussed in John Stafford book are not easy or immediate results, they are doable and give me the control that I' looking for.

Building email lists and staying in touch with people is one of the cornerstone marketing methods on the internet. I am embarrassed to say that I haven't taken advantage of this method at all in the past.

I was so impressed with this ebook that I thought I would write about it in today's blog post.

As I mentioned, I either like things or hate them. I either feel that I've received value from something, or that it is a waste of my time. For the fact that I was glued to this ebook for the last two hours with my jaw dropped on the floor means that it was pretty good!

I feel comfortable recommend John Stafford's 68 page "Your" money is in the list. ebook.

I am not new to advertising, but I am new to email marketing and so this book gave me several points that I hadn't thought about.

I'm going to follow up with more of a review but I thought I would write this out while I'm still glowing with excitement.

It's good to note that while conversing with John Stafford, he's been very prompt with emails etc. I value that as well.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

We are visiting each website that we have in our listed in our Express Marketing Tools. For the sake of expedience, we are marking some of the sites as Lightly Reviewed - No Recommendation for those sites which we think are worth spending some time reviewing.

If a site or product is a complete dog, (not valuable) we're marking it as not recommended.

Lightly Reviewed should at least say that some thought and effort went into the website we looked at and there is potential value for you.

Just thought I should clarify that.

Subject = Clickbank products website marketing software and ebooks.

Have I mentioned that we have a credit cards U.S. section and credit cards for Canadians section & TransUnion Canada Credit Reports.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

This is a photo of Andrew Petrick - and Monty Loree President of HomeGrown Advertising Inc.

We're in the midst of working with a client to help promote their stock trading software and training programs online. Andrew Petrick has been into stock trading for many years and is really knowledgabe about how to make money daily with his unique software system.

He and his wife Maria, (Maria's taking the picture) drove in from Winnipeg, Manitoba to meet with me on their way to Calgary, Alberta for some other businesses.

I am looking forward to working with Andrew. I have a fairly good understanding of his company and how his stock trading software works. It's pretty impressive.

MAKE 1% PER DAY TRADING STOCKS
With their software and training program, they are teaching people how to make approx 1% per day return at trading stocks. The creator of the software has been using it for about four years and makes a good living from just trading stocks.

Andrew is going to write a free ebook about stock trading as a start to our campaign. I will give that away to all of my readers and subscribers as soon as it is available.

If you have any questions about this stock trading system software and training product, just comment here. I'll get back to you shortly.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (4)

I am inviting all Clickbank Advertisers who want me to review their site.

Currently I am concentrating on Clickbank Advertisers who focus on website marketing products, ebooks etc. It is our goal to develop a good comprehensive review directory for Clickbank products that people can trust and rely on. This is going to mean that we raise the bar on how these website marketing software and ebooks are reviewed and talked about.

It's all about credibility. As we've looked at many types of product and ebook websites, we've noticed many things missing. Many of these advertisers don't like to put their name and contact information on their mile long website.

To develop long term sustainable sales, we are asking for different pieces of information about the product, the seller, the developer.

Are these companies members of the Better Business Bureau, the local Chamber of Commerce? Any other business group or club that we could refer to to give us a third party verification of the sellers and developers credibility.

What I'm trying to say is that we're going to try to up the bar with regards to the standard of information that reported regarding advertising software and ebooks sellers and developers.

We want to refer the most credible products on this site. Ultimately the companies that are interested in the long term of a product will serve our readers and clients better.

So... if you are a Clickbank advertiser, we want to here from you. We want you to complete our survey so that we can get to know you and your product better. This will enable us to share that information with those who are looking for good quality website marketing software and ebooks.

Thanks

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

You may notice that we're starting to get a few clickbank reviews chalked up on the right Express Marketing Tools menu. As we started to go through them today, we noticed that there were some advertisers who's sites were not in service, under construction etc.

We're quickly weeding out the poor quality, lack of value sites.

We're in the midst of contacting some of the good quality sites to get further information from them before we post any sort of review on them. We'll be getting to the good ones shortly.

In the meantime, have a look around and give me any feed back via the comment section here.

We need to know how to make this site the best value for our customers and visitors.

Thanks

Subject - Website marketing product reviews software and ebooks

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I started reviewing some clickbank products yesterday. It was interesting to see the varied quality of advertising services offered by different sellers.

There were some sites that I immediately dismissed as not giving proper value for what they were charging. The polite word for these sites were 'garbage'. There was even a site listed in clickbank that was no longer listed. IE I got a 404 error Page Not Listed error.

The crappy sites were actually easier to evaluate than the good quality ones. I will contact the site owners of the good advertising products and ebooks to get more information from them.

This will be able to help me get a better report to the reader.

Amongst other things, one things I am trying to determine is, if I buy this product, is it going to give me some type return on my investment and how long will it take to give me return on investment.

The software that I'm writing for this has gotten a little more complex and thus I am spending the time to learn what I need to, to give the reader the most value.

I'm getting more and more excited as I think we're going to have a pretty valuable review reporting service when I'm finished.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

It looks like some of our sites are finally coming back after getting tanked by Google Jagger Updates 1 and 2.

Is anybody else experiencing changes with your sites search engine results?

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

I'm putting the finishing touches for the reviews we're going to be doing for clickbank products and advertisers. You'll see this located on the Express Marketing Tools ad area located at the top right of our page.

We will have some color coding to make it easy to see what we've done with the products , if we've reviewed them and a preliminary look and feel of what we think about them.

We're adding the Recommended and Reviewed bars to the bottom of each ad. This way you'll be able to see if we've reviewed the website and product and if we recommend the website and product.

For the first little bit you are going to see mostly "Not Reviewed", "No Recommendations" until we start visiting the sites. Little by little we'll get the all of the clickbank products reviewed. We believe this will be a great tool for all web marketers who are shopping for website marketing software and ebooks to help them build their businesses.

Also, I've put a comments section on these posts so that you can comment, ask questions etc. Please feel free to communicate with us and comment on what we're doing.

Thanks

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

Well, CNN hasn't dropped by to do a story of the 3 inches of snow we received so I thought I would post some photos to give you an idea of what we've got for weather.

You're wondering what is the danger when we get 3" of slushy slippery snow..? Well it slows every thing down on the road. And you have to drive VERY CAREFULLY. Otherwise your car will slide into the other cars, other the other cars may slide into you.

It's always somewhat tragically amusing to see all of the accidents that occur when we first get snow. People forget about the slippery factor and drive like they usually do, until they hit a patch of ice.

When you hit your first patch of ice, you've then got to instantly remember all of your ice driving skills that you'd forgotten 7 months ago.

Here are a few more pictures:

This is a close up photo of my car to show how many inches of snow we've gotten so far this morning.


This is what my view is out side my office when it gets snowy out.

I'm inviting CNN to come and visit and report on this incredible weather we're receiving. I'm calling this "SNOWFALL ANDREA" :-)

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (4)

I wrote the first 6 rough chapters of my new ebook - Expectation Management yesterday. I got on a roll and cranked out a few pages.

You've heard that sometimes people take things for granted. Well I take for granted the experiences that I've accumulated for being a work-a-holic for the last 20 years! It sounds kind of funny but it's true.

I'M HAPPY TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE
I've hit some highs and lows, and have accomplished alot since 1985. The first ebook is going to be fairly simple to write as I can pretty much do this one in my sleep. I'm focusing on common sense information that I've proven over and over again over the last 20 years.

The purpose of the book is to help people develop their expectations as they're starting to build their online business as well through out the journey. I'm guessing the ebook should be approx 20 pages in length.

As I mentioned, I am giving away this ebook for FREE to all of our newsletter subscribers. Make sure you sign up if you haven't already.

Although I like to generate excitement through advertising, I also feel that it is important to get excited about the nuts and bolts of business development. It's important to get excited about developing the foundation of your business. That's what my ebook is going to talk about.

What you expect of your business is probably what is going to transpire with your business.

I should be releasing the first cut of this ebook - Expectation Management - by the end of this week - November 11, 2005.

Once again, it's free, and it's a non-hype ebook. If you've been in business for a few years, you'll probably think that this is a good refresher ebook. If you are new to web marketing and online business there will be alot of good information to use to plan and consider while you're developing your business.

Sign up today on our newsletter signup area

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (2)

I am currently writing my new ebook entitled:
Expectation Management.: A guide to help entrepreneurs manage their expections in the businesses.

This is the second ebook I'll have written. The first is Credit Repair for Canadians which is a 40 page ebook.

THE NEED FOR THIS EBOOK
The thing I see time and time again is product hype and how it gets people expectations out of the realm of possibibility. When new online business owners are starting their businesses, they get promised so many things from so many Gurus.

Some of these online business owners fade away because they never really figured out what they can and should expect from owning and operating an online business.

This free ebook goes into a reasonable amount of detail on how to Manage your expectations with an online (or any) business. Managing your expectations over the long term will help you stay in business and be happier over the long term.

GIVING THIS EBOOK FREE TO NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
I am giving this ebook away for FREE to all of my newsletter subscribers. If you are not currently a subscriber, please sign up on the form on the left menu. You will be sent an ebook automatically when I am finished.

Please feel free to let me know what you think and make what ever critiques you can.

This is our way of giving back to our readers and clients. Your continued success means our continued success.

I'll let you know as soon as my ebook is finished. Expectation Management will be helpful for all people who are working on their online business.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

That's a pretty relevant saying. It reminds of the old Joni Mitchell song, Big Yellow Taxi.

I DID APPRECIATE IT - NOW I REALLY APPRECIATE IT
I did appreciate all the years that our site were on page #1 or at #1 of our main keywords. We've had that privilege since 2000 when we first started with our websites. It was no accident that we got top rankings with our sites, we had to work pretty hard for it.

With the latest Google Update "Jagger", we've lost our coveted ranks on Google. Our sites are nowhere to be seen in the Search Engine Results, the way we're used to.

MISSION - COLD CALLING ON THE INTERNET
It is my new mission to figure out how to develop traffic and sales for my site through NON-Google methods. I am starting to learn quite a bit about true viral marketing and community development on the net. We had these things in place before, however, as we're shifting the focus of our business, we are having to change how we're marketing as well.

The people who do well with non-google traffic are those who network quite a bit in forums and who get their names published in different documents, ebooks. These people develop their names into a recognizable brand.

The internet has long been an anonymous place. People like to sell things with anonymity. The problem with this is that you then rely on the strength of the product name or some other brand to sell your product. You may be able to sell with out using your own name, however, you're at the mercy of the product or service you're selling losing it's credibility.

By the way... My name is Monty Loree - President of HomeGrown Advertising Inc (1994) ;-)

I'M SORRY, I CAN'T TELL YOU MY NAME?! - OUCH!!
Branding your name is important on the internet is important as it helps people trust you as you're selling products. Imagine a sales person doing a sales call. He tells you he has a great product for sale, however he can't tell you his name or his companies name. This would create immediate doubt in your mind about the product.

SELLING WITHOUT AN OFFICE OR SALES FORCE?!!
Imagine yourself with your new company and a great product that's going to help millions. You're standing at the front door of your retail store waiting for people to come in to buy. You do a little advertising in the newspaper and you tell people about your product yourself. Sales are miniscule because people aren't familiar with you or your product or your credibility.

The next thing to do is do a little more advertising and put a sales person into your work force. The sales person is paid to talk about your credibility and your great products.

MORE SALES PEOPLE=MORE SALES!!
Ultimately the more sales people you have out there telling people how good you are and how great your product is, the more sales you're going to make.

This is what they refer to in the online business as Affiliate Marketing.

I'm just in the midst of research affiliate marketing and how it works. I will let you know my findings as I find them. I like the similarities between traditional marketing and affiliate marketing. Same thing, just a different medium.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

I've received this email at least 40 times in the last 2 days because I turned the automatic budget feature off in my account. My account had run out of money.

Is Yahoo starved for cash..?!! I got the message after the first time I read it. I woke up this morning and had another 20 of these emails in my box from overnight!!

Ok... I went and refilled the account with some money.. Yahoo, you can rest easy for a while.

Dear Sponsored Search Advertiser,

We wanted to let you know that we attempted to process a credit card transaction on Nov 05 2005 07:13 PT to deposit $100.00 to your Sponsored Search account: xxxxXXXX. Unfortunately, we were not able to complete the transaction because the credit card was declined.
This typically occurs if the credit card we have on file has expired or reached its credit limit.

Please log into your account and click on the Money Manager tab to update your credit card information.

We value your business and we're here to answer any questions you may have. If you'd like to reach our Customer Solutions department, please use the Support Request form, a link to which is found at the bottom of nearly all pages within your account. For questions regarding specific charges to your credit card, please call 1-866-Yahoo-SM and we will be happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Your Partners at Yahoo! Search Marketing


Please do not respond directly to this email because we are unable to receive e-mail responses to this address. If you would like to contact us please use the Support Request Form, a link to which is found at the bottom of nearly all pages within your account.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

People are asking why we stopped offering reciprocal links and have discontinued our reciprocal links exchange on this site.

SEARCH ENGINES ARE PENALIZING SITES FOR HAVING LINKS
The simple reason is that the search engines are starting to penalize sites with lots of reciprocal links.

Reciprocal links used to be a good idea in the past.

The logic behind why search engines are frowning on reciprocal links farms are, "who looks at reciprocal links pages anyways?" Aside from generating the reciprocal links themselves, what value are reciprocal links pages to the reader?! I heard this directly from Matt Cutts who is a senior software engineer at Google at the Webmasterworld conference in New Orleans June 2005.

OUR SITES ARE GETTING PUNISHED
Because we heavily practiced link generation and trade in the past, our sites have now fallen out of grace with the search engines. This means that whereas once upon a time, many reciprocal links gave us high rankings on google, they don't any more.

It seems that the world of search is heading towards get more money for the search engines. This means google and yahoo wants to give free searches to free types of sites. This is not true in all cases.

It makes sense that they would want to have commercial sites pay for traffic.

So... I recommend that if you're practicing reciprocal linking, you may want to think your strategy if you think it's going to give you top results on the search engines.

BENEFITS OF RECIPROCAL LINK EXCHANGE
Reciprocal link exchange is a great way to network on the internet and get to know other webmasters. However, it seems to be a lot of work for the benefit received back.

So... that is why we have stopped doing reciprocal links on this site. We enjoyed getting links from people all over the world. That was pretty exciting.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (3)

I am so excited.

After working on this marketing ebook and review system project for about 4 days, I finally completed the first portion of my review system.

The next step is to notify clickbank vendors that I am starting to review them. I'll be visiting websites and picking up their contact information.

In the meantime, if you are a clickbank vendor, please contact me and I will set you up with a clickbank review questionairre.

I love programming.. I like to do it when I'm relaxed. I don't enjoy it as much when I'm under the gun. I've learned / relearned some fundamentals of programming, system design etc.

Doing projects like this gives me a whole new respect for programmers and system developers!! The good thing is, that as I relearned some fundamentals of programming, this type of project shouldn't take more than 1-2 days at the most next time.

It's snowing like crazy here. For heaven's sake. It's only November 4 today! Oh well... people in Arizona will never know snow like we have in Saskatchewan.

Let's get the reviewing engines started

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

This is a picture of snow that I took this morning in front of my office building as I was coming into work.

While snow is not something new or exciting, it tells me that we've got a long winter ahead of us. It makes me want to work even more because, let's face it, when it gets below 0c what else is there to do.

SNOW SNOW SNOW!! While other people have hurricanes, tornados etc, we have snow. It's cold. Sometimes it gets to -45c here. They don't even have names for those days.

I think they should have a name for each -45c day.
Such as: -45c Wilma or -45c Katrina or -45c Rita. You get the idea.


I'm finished the first part of my review system. It was a great learning curve and interesting at that. I'll post more about it in another post.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I offered to write a review for Bob Horton's PSDServices.com website. This website is in the business of Website Maintenance and Hosting for Churches, Nonprofits and Charities

I have known Bob for many years and know that he is quite capable of hosting and maintaining websites with a good amount of competence.
Websites are becoming more important for churches and non-profits in order to help their members keep up with events an information.

Some questions I have are as follows:
Does PSDServices offer any special services to churches and non-profits that are not available to other organizations.? Is this service just catering to that industry as Bob is a devout christian? This seems like a service which is run by christians for other christians.

Question regarding The Maintenance and pricing page.
Website Maintenance $30/month includes an average of 10 page changes per month
If 1000 churches signed up, PSDServices would be liable to service 10,000 pages per month. Even with Revenues of $30,000 per month would they be able to handle that type of volume?

This seems like an unreasonable price. I would like some more definition as to what I can expect for $3 per page.
Does this include text updates... Who writes/edits the text. Does this get into page modifications?

Bob mentions that he can update Calendars and events for churches. Is there some preformatted method for the churches to provide their event information? Otherwise, this sounds like it's unreasonable to offer that amount of work for $3 per page.

(In subsequent correspondence regarding this review, Bob Horton has assured me that he is more than capable of honoring the 10 page changes per month for the $30 price.)

What kind of a website can I expect for $100? It would be good maybe to see sample web pages or websites that one would receive for the $100-$500 price. Would the non-profits expect to get any search engine ranking for this price or are these all template website pages just designed for the church/non-profit to put on their calendar?

I do like the FAQ page. It offers some good questions and answers.

From a marketing stand point, this site has absolutely no credibility points. IE.. how long PSD Services been in operation. Who is the owner and what sort of qualifications does he have. Is PSD SErvices a member of the Better Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce. If you're marketing to churches, what have you done for other churches and non-profits and how have you helped them.

If PSDServices is going to market to churches all around the company, I would hope that they would add some items that give their prospects confidence in them. Even if it's a letter from their current church pastor.

These are just a few quick points. The site has good potential. I would write out more definitions to give the readers a clearer understanding of what they're purchasing.

This site is located at www.psdservices.com

BOTTOM LINE: Would I be enticed to use this service by looking at the website alone? NO!!

Would be I be interested in using the service because I personally know Bob and what he can do? YES!!

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS

Who are these products?

TopReports

The Traffic Toolchest

Referral And Viral Marketing E-Book

Mlm-E-Secrets

Rss Solution Package
What are they going to do for you?Very soon I will be reviewing them for you and talking about them in detail. Who's good and who's bad and who's in the middle.

Is the author's ebook any good. Does the author actually have any experience in what he's saying or is he just trying to make a quick buck?

I'm writing the software this time.
In the meantime, it's been a while since I sat and wrote software. Previously I had to programmers who worked for me and built some pretty good software. For this project, I want to build the review software myself.

I need to get back in the trenches to see exactly what's going on with programming, databases etc. I feel that by programming this review system myself, I'll be able to better review sites with people who develop software and write ebooks.

Getting back into the trenches
Getting into the trenches means I'm getting back into the nitty gritty of things and is giving me a much clearer picture of what's working and what's not working.

So... while it's taking a little longer than I had expected to build the preliminary part of the review system, I think the benefits will be well worth it when it comes time for me to write the clickbank affiliate reviews or cj affiliate reviews.

I have programmed quite a bit in PHP and mysql and html in the past. That was four years ago. I haven't exercised making IF statements FOR or WHILE loops for a few years.

Internet marketers and developers have to be multi-talented.
It's interesting to note that people who make ebooks and software have a double duty. They've got to first create the product, and then they've got to market the product. It will be evident as to which the author or developer is best at, marketing or developing.

Personally, even though I am writing this review system in php and mysql, css and html, my programmers could have done a much better job. They would have used all of the bells and whistles and much better mutidimensional arrays and joined mysql queries.

The product reviews are the most important thing.
I'm going to build it so it works and looks good. It's probably not the fanciest thing in the world however, I want the reviews and the words to be of value to the reader. The words or the reviews are most important. The website itself is just a back drop or display area for the reviews.

I'm back to writing code for the balance of the day. I'm going to put a comment section on this page, to make this page blog style so you'll be able to talk to me directly in the near future.

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I'm in the midst of developing the review system software. Of course there are a few obstacles that I hadn't anticipated.. (As always)

I'm revving my engines and reviewing some sites so that I'll know what I'm going to write when I get going at this.

I am seeing some patterns of sites and products and what I like or won't like. I'm seeing sites that aren't much value, and some website marketing software which isn't great value.

I'm also seeing some good products and sites and am thinking about the best way to present these to my readers in order to best help them with their website marketing process.

My goal is bring a good review that will save the reader time and money in their marketing program.

If you have any questions or want your clickbank or other affiliate program product reviewed, let me know.

Now I'm back to to system development. Somehow, writing software is not the same as writing reviews!! :)

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Every year on November 1st, I get excited and have a sense of satisfaction.

I founded HomeGrown Advertising Inc back in 1994 and to date have helped thousands of customers all over the world with their advertising needs.

I get a sense of relief because they say that most companies fail after 2-5 years, and even more companies fail or fold before their 10th anniversary. For the fact that we've gotten to our 11th anniversary means that things should be alright! :)

We've certainly learned many lessons about marketing for ourselves and our customers on the internet as well as offline. We've also learned the sometimes excruciating lessons of how to navigate the business during growth and decline, through good times and bad times.

I must say that keeping a business going for 11 years is not for the weak of heart. It's been a tremendous amount of work, but it's been pretty exciting and fulfilling.

In the early days many people called me crazy and told me to get a 'real' job. After a few years, they just gave in and accepted that we were going to live the lifestyle required to maintain this type of business.

I would like to thank our customers who have 'paid' our way throughout the years. We certainly have tried to give you more than enough value for your money over the years.

In the meantime, I'm pretty exciting to celebrate HomeGrown Advertising Inc's 11th birthday all day today!!

Cheers!

Articles from November 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Monty Loree arriving at the office


Monty Loree at his desk

I thought I should take a few minutes to introduce myself, as we probably haven't been formally introduced.

I'll be the person doing the marketing software & ebook evaluations for you.

I thought I should post my pictures to let people know the man behind the keyboard.- Monty Loree- President of HomeGrown Advertising Inc

TOMORROW IS HOMEGROWN'S 11TH ANNIVERSARY!!
I'm excited to say that tomorrow, November 1, 2005 is HomeGrown Advertising Inc's 11th anniversary! We're excited about that as we accomplished alot in those years.

PRODUCT REVIEWS COMING UP
I am currently working on the review system for the affiliate suppliers and for myself. My goal is to be able to review as many products in a quality fashion as I can each week.

I've got my work cut out in the next few weeks as we're just starting on this path. If you are a Clickbank, CJ, Shareasale or other affiliate supplier, and would like us to review your marketing software or ebook, let me know.

Initially we are going to have to inhale a ton of information about the companies, products and people that develop them. Hopefully by today or tomorrow, I will have the review form published for the advertisers to use to tell us more about themselves and their products.

I'll post it here as soon as I've got it up and running.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

THE FIRST REVIEW - RICH JERK EBOOK
I just thought I would give a real , but example quick review on the Rich Jerk ebook using my new buttons.

RATINGS




I researched the Rich Jerk ebook for about an hour. I read different blogs on the Rich Jerk's ebook product.

I READ THE WHOLE PAGE!!
I visited his website. Normally, I don't read the whole 'mile long' sales page because I can usually get to the point at the bottom of the page. However, I DID read the Rich Jerk's whole page, including his claim where he shows how much money he's made. I wouldn't have continued to read unless he was showing me some of his own success. He did manage to grab and keep my attention which is unusual.

I was impressed with the lay out and copy on his page. Let's face it, marketing is marketing, even if he is insulting you throughout the copy. I was intrigued and tempted to buy the book.

After reading some blog and forum reviews, some of the readers indicated that they tried to return the book for a refund and received a nasty email with profanities from the Rich Jerk. They did not get their refund back.

At last look I couldn't find his book listed anywhere in the first pages of Clickbank. It may be because of the complaints from his poor refund performance.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you're a newbie, apparently there is SOME GOOD and valuable information in The Rich Jerk's book. His style of writing is definitely unique, and he seems to be doing well with his style. You may or may not get a refund from him. It's a good idea to visit his sales page to get a preliminary look at how he works.

aluminum manufacturers

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

In reviewing different products and services, I have created some visual indicators to help readers understand how we rate each product and how much time and effort has gone into the review.

RECOMMENDED STATUS







REVIEWED STATUS











The benefit of this format is that we'll be able to tell you if we've reviewed the product or not. If we've done a light review, but everything looks good, we'll put a recommended label, with a lightly reviewed button.

I'll use the "Warning Label" if a product has value but should be used with caution. This is especially true if it's a product that is meant for experienced users and not by brand new internet marketers.

I'll post some more detailed instructions for our recommended buttons and review stages on a static page.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

With the last google update Jagger, we're having to change / greatly enhance the way we're talking about our products and services.

It seems that the old rules of website marketing have changed. Change is good. After reviewing our strengthes and weaknesses, coupled with what we like to do, we've decided to change www.express-marketing.com into a product review format.

As an advertising company, we believe in truth in advertising. Sometimes it's difficult to get truth on the internet, or at least that's what I find. Only after doing a reasonable amount of due diligence am I able to get an answer that I'm looking for, or at least a pattern of an answer. This is especially true for website marketing software and ebooks etc.

As the owner of an advertising company since 1994, I have seen many products and companies come and go. I have seen advertising campaigns succeed and fail. I have seen more hype in my life time than I can remember.

Don't get me wrong, along with being the CEO of my company, I am also the CXO "Chief Excitement Officer" of my company. I like excitement and I like to generate excitement.

The excitement I would like to generate on this blog is based on facts. I would like to think about what we're building as 'clinical' reviews of products that are offered for sale on the internet.

My understand of products on the internet is that most are NOT one size fits all. For example, while I have years of experience writing online and offline ads, I am relatively new to blogging. Thus I need software / ebooks for people who need help with blogging.

I don't need help writing ads. I understand fundamentally why people buy products and services. I do however need products or services which talk about working PPC's and ad placement as this aspect is not something I've aggressively practiced. I am just now learning about high end ad placement on my site to get the best results.

As I start to publish reviews on products, I will keep in mind that what's best for me is not best for people with other levels of experience.

I will try to give a very objective look at what I'm reviewing. If I think the product or service is garbage and of no value to anybody, I won't hesitate to say so.

To be honest, I am a very discerning customer. I usually spend a while reviewing a product or service before purchasing it. If a product is going to give me value, I want to purchase it. I hate wasting my time reading or using crappy products.

My aim is to build this site into a place where I would trust buying the product.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

That would be interesting if credit card companies had to put health warnings on the back of their credit cards.

WARNING: USING THIS CREDIT CARD CARRIES THE FOLLOWING HEALTH / LIFESTYLE RISKS:

• Suicide
  
• Depression
  
• Anxiety attacks
  
• Marital separation
  
• Marital Divorce
  
• Over stress
  
• Sleepless nights
  
• Over working
  
• Bankruptcy
  USE THIS CREDIT CARD AT YOUR OWN RISK

People think of financial maturity like health food. "That's old fashioned, we have new ways in the year 2005." People rely on medicines that are developed to cure problems that have cropped up in our 21st century, because of our current lifestyle.

In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, they had a pretty simple life style. Adam and Eve didn't have credit cards, ipods, electronics of all types, BMW's. They weren't bombarded by advertising. They couldn't have lived our current North American lifestyle if they wanted to.

People look on credit and consumerism as the lifestyle, because it's relatively new and exciting. They're not looking at the risks associated with this lifestyle.

In my opinion, "NO, IT'S NOT OK TO GET DIVORCED OR SEPARATED BECAUSE OF DEBT / MONEY PROBLEMS!" It's not really ok to have prolonged arguments between spouses because of the pressure that debt puts you under. Especially if the debt was caused by irresponsible spending. ie.. if you don't need what you purchase and it's going to cause fights later on... that's irresponsible spending. Don't buy it!

There should be more discussion in the market place about the risks of credit usage. Clinical studies of what happens when you owe way more than you're able to pay back in the next 20 years. They can be just as deadly and serious as some other types of activities.

Here's a site that I found when searching for "clinical studies" people in debt on google.com

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (3)

MSN Money - Why credit cards expire
This is an interesting article as to why credit cards expire.

They site that the two main reasons that you credit card companies expire you credit card is that the card deteriorates physically. As well, They have to mail the card out to you which keeps their databases more up to date.

If you think about it, there are hundreds of millions of credit cards outstanding and the credit card companies need different ways to keep track of them.

Hypothetically, if there are 300 million credit cards outstanding, there would be approximately 274,000 cards that expire each day over a 3 year period. IMHO this is another great marketing tool for the credit card companies to stay in touch with the customers. Keeping 274,000 credit cards up to date each day must be a pretty large task, especially with people moving on average every 5 years.

MSN - So is an upcoming expiration date a good time to talk terms with your card company?
"It's always a good time to renegotiate," says Staten. "If you think you're in a position where you think the issuer would be sorry to see you go, you can always call and bargain for a better rate." This is the best point of all. Use your card expiration as a great time to renegotiate interest rates. And yes... you can get better interest rates IN CANADA!

MSN Money - Why credit cards expire

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

U.S. Treasury - Fact Sheet on the Gross Federal Debt History

In 1940 the Gross Federal Debt - U.S. debt was $ 50,696 million ($51 billion). in 2005 the Gross Federal Debt is estimated at $6,118,364 million ($6.2 trillion)

That's a 12,000% increase in the debt over 65 years.
That does not indicate that people have been patient and paying cash. It indicates that everyone from individuals to corporations to goverments are deep in debt.

U.S. Population 1940 - 130,962,661
2005 U.S. Population - 296,383,219
That's a 226% increase in population.

Recap:
12,000% increase in debt
226% increase in population

U.S. Treasury - Fact Sheet on the Gross Federal Debt History

Check out Population Clock World

How long can this go on?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I'm just reading Clash of the Titans by Richard Hack.

This is a dual biography about Ted Turner of Turner Broadcasting empire and Rupert Murdoch of the Fox News Network. These guys are multibillionaire media giants.

The thing that I keep thinking about is that even though these guys are titans of business and media and news, they don't publish a fraction of what is published on the internet each day.

If it was possible to read all of the blogs of all genres, I'm sure the pages published would be in the hundreds of thousands.

Anyway, it's interesting to hear about the start of CNN which is currently the credible source for news, especially with disasters and wars etc. CNN has come along way since it was a gleam in Ted Turner's eyes. According to this book, CNN was on the brink of bankruptcy before it hit some breaks. This was in the first few years of its existence.

The beauty of the internet is that it is uncensored. When you're reading people's blogs, it's what's on a person's mind. Blog writers don't have to write to appease a boss, in most cases.

When watching CNN this past few weeks with Hurricane Katrina, I got a sense that CNN was ratings grabbing, even though they had the ratings in their pockets. It was amazing that at some points they would show only some pictures until some new news broke. Then all of a sudden they would show a more relevant set of photos and video feed.

I have already read the Clash of the Titans once. I am going to reread it to glean out some more points. These media titans are described as having a whole bunch of control over how people think about the news etc.

I am beginning to see that bloggers might have a little corner on the real opinion market. Blogs are 'Opinions Unscripted'

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch News and Media Titans

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I'm pretty excited. I just got back from the WebMasterWorld Conference 2005 in New Orleans today. I got a whole bunch of ideas on what to do with this blog.

There are a whole bunch of things that need to be said about where people are heading with their current financial spending habits. I think that Canadians and Americans are on a pretty slippy land mass (financially) that is sitting on a huge earthquake fault! More and more spending happens, and people are digging themselves into the ground.

I've been talking about this stuff since I was in high school. I've been talking about this stuff since 1992 when i was a financial analyst in Toronto. In 1992 the debt balloon scared the crap out of me. I was in awe at how much debt people were in.

People are stressed out. Here's the vicious circle... We buy "stuff" to make out lives easier. Then we work really hard to pay for the stuff that makes our lives easier. I can't say it any better than that.

The best way for a country to lose control of itself is to be in huge debt and then start owing other people and countries. Right now we're pretty wealthy countries in North America. We're also in the cross hairs of financial/debt disaster.

So... People... I am urging you to take a look at your lifestyle. If you're working in a vicious circle of "quality of life" please take a look at what you're doing. Maybe you should find the real meaning of quality of life.

To put it in perspective: "In the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve, people didn't need cell phones, computers, wide screen tv's, and all of the modern gadgets that make life so much easier."

For the most part, I practice what I preach. I am putting these thoughts into even more of my own future plans.

What do you think?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

52" TV vs visiting with your neighbors?!

WHAT A CONCEPT!

I'm sitting on my couch, watching commercials yesterday. As I'm sitting there, rather exhausted from the day, I'm getting less and less interested in the widescreen T.V. that is being advertised. I use TV these days more as a time killer than enjoyable entertainment.

I'm trying to think how much extra work I'd have to do (I'm self-employed) to pay for this new luxury. I'm getting less and less interested because I don't want to do any more work. I'm tired and burnt out from the regular day to day grind.

I'm trying to think of alternatives to purchasing a $6,000 72 inch TV to replace the 32" I've enjoyed over the years. It's hard to think about this concept because every advertiser and lender wants me to buy the bigger and better TV. I've allowed my conscious and subconscious to be programmed to want the bigger, better TV. Nobody is trying to get me to keep what I've already got, and save my money!

Now I'm thinking to myself, what are ways that I can combat the programming in my head. I need to start to relax in ways to don't cost money and don't cost any more stress on my overworked mind and body.

(I am not adverse to buying the finer things in life. However, I am getting more and more adverse to over working myself for less and less benefit and enjoyment.)

The following are things that I'm starting to toy with:• Visit with my wife and kids in low tech ways. ie.. playing monopoly or cards
• Visit with their neighbours more. I haven't spent any time with my neighbours ever.
• Hmmm... I'm running out of ideas.

The thing I'm trying to achieve is starting to enjoy what I've already got, and maybe work a little less. Put less stress on myself. Ultimately this will put less stress on my wife and family. (They won't have to listen to me bitch and complain.)

If you're making good money and it's not going to cause you any more stress to purchase a huge expensive TV, then you should buy it, if you really need it. If you're trying to keep up with the neighbors and you can't afford the new luxury, please don't buy it. The costs emotionally and mentally are not worth it.

The ad agencies and banks don't like my logic here. I don't care. I am saying enough is enough. I'm happy with what I've got. No sale here for the TV manufacturers and retailers!

I hope you have a relaxed day as well!

Monty Loree is self-employed and lives in Canada.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I heard it once said that people have either too much money, or not enough money. Nobody that I have ever met has just the right amount of money.

How often have you heard people say, "I wish I could afford that", or "That's way too expensive". These are the people who don't have enough money. Otherwise they wouldn't make these comments.

On the other side, there are people who have too much money. They have all of the things in life that they want and need, etc. This position in life has it's problems as well. When you make too much money and have achieved all of your worldly goals financially, you have nothing to look forward to. This can be very demotivating.

I would like to hear from others the problems they have experienced from having too much money!

If you have too much money:

1. Do you feel compelled to continue to work for more?
   
2. How do you motivate yourself to continue on?
   
3. What types of new goals do you set for yourself? Financial, mental or spiritual?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

That's unusual... President George W Bush telling Americans to Conserve. I guess he was mostly talking about using gas resources, but it's unusual to hear President Bush say that.

It's interesting that The Federal Government is spending approx $1 billion per day to keep troops in Iraq etc. I'm thinking that many Americans may disagree with a President asking them to conserve, while the government is debt spending on a nation, and in an action that is not well accepted.

I question also whether this conservative mentality is going to lead to a "recession"

As gas prices continue to rise, as well as other products and services because of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, many people are going to have less discretionary income to spend on luxury items.

The word conservative in my opinion may be the start to some kind of recession.

Inflation: Along with higher gas prices, I believe that all of the supplies being consumed in the Gulf coast rebuild is going to cause the cost of these building materials to hit the ceiling. It's great that there is going to be a huge demand for building materials in the Gulf Coast. It's going to mean that these building materials are going to be as readily available for the rest of the country. Of course, everything is available at a price.

It's estimated that there are going to be 450,000 homes needed to be rebuilt ALL AT ONCE. That's unprecedented.

More Housing Inflation: The Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims take up some of the vacant housing slack across the other states. Should these evacuees decide to relocate to other states, they're going to be using up a percentage of the current vacancies. This means that the house prices and rental properties will increase in those areas because the inventory of those properties will diminish. In this case the Hurricanes are increasing the property values of other cities and states.

Of course this bad economic news is not going to relate to higher income people who have more than enough discretionary income. The rise of housing and gas prices etc are not going to affect their behaviour. The affect will be mostly to middle and lower income families.

Is a recession around the corner?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - President Bush Conserve - Recession and Inflation

animal pet photographers

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been working like crazy lately. Doing projects and making money. It's been exhausting but rewarding, to a point.

IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
The problem is that throughout the last 3 years or so, I have gone out and purchased whatever I wanted and tried to get the most expensive or highest quality of what I've wanted.

TOO MANY CANADIAN TIRE REWARD POINTS
With my Canadian Tire points card, I was getting close to $100 per week in Canadian Tire points. (Canadian Tire is a big retailer in Canada.) So for approximately six months, I spent $100 per week on household items, housewares, dishes, soaps, tools, garden tools, and anything else I could find. I overstocked on things. I bought the most expensive Canadian Tire things I could find.

Eventually I was buying stupid stuff that was just cluttering up the house and office.

I switched to purchasing stuff on my air miles card so that I could collect air miles. I soon had collected too many air miles.

For the office, I purchased absolutely everything that I've ever wanted. Pens, paper, etc. I even purchased a real leather covered inbox for my desk, because I needed a little something extra.

I hate electronics, but I purchased high quality electronics, DV cameras, sound boards, sound cards for my advertising company. If it makes me money, I'll buy it.

I bought and bought and bought. It was fun buying all that stuff. I researched the items, talked about them with others, and have fun using them.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM:
I don't really need much. I haven't been to the electronics store or any store really for the last year. I haven't felt a big urge to go out and buy stuff. I haven't been motivated to look at any electronic gadget for the office or home.

The excitement has gone for most of this stuff. All of that fun stuff that I purchased has now become work. It's lost the glamour and glitter.

I'M A BAD CUSTOMER - SORRY, NO SALE HERE!
Currently I'm not a really great booster of the retail industry. I'm not going to purchase the newest Ipod, or the lastest Cell phone/mp3 player. I'm not going to purchase the 62" TV or any other gadget found at the store. I just don't have the interest.

Being a workaholic doesn't have its rewards at times. The American dream is about making money and buying bigger better things constantly. Here's the question: what happens when you've satisfied everyone of your gadget needs? What do you do then?

GADGETS AREN'T THE SAME RUSH AS A GOOD BUSINESS VENTURE
Workaholics, myself directly included, are usually people who are unhappy or dissatisfied with the status quo. We like to work hard to achieve goals and beat the challenges. I personally love a good challenge and am always interested in the next challenge. The bigger the better. I don't get the same rush with gadgets and trinkets.

The good thing is that I like working and I love what I do for a living. I'll just have to sort through this problem. Maybe I'll just have to find more extravagant ways to save or invest or something.

Anyway, as far as financial maturity goes, this is my new learning curve. Getting happy with the way things are. The way things are means that I am completely happy and satisfied with all of the things that I've got and don't really want or need much more.

The problems some people have!?!! I better go read my post on How to feel rich.

Your thoughts?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Satisfied with what I've got. Don't need much else.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

How do recessions begin? Recessions start when people start to get into conserving mode. Spending less on gas, and then less on automobiles, and then less on travelling.

With all of the news about Hurricane Rita and how people are cutting back, it's no wonder that people may be in the mood to start conserving a little. The governor of Atlanta keeping kids home from school for 2 days to save 500,000 gallons of diesel fuel. That sends a huge message across to people in Georgia, but also all across the U.S. and Canada. (It's shocking to learn that 2 days of school uses that much diesel fuel.)

Gas prices are going to rise after Hurricane Rita. That is definitely going to cut into lower income people's discretionary income. They may have to start buying less consumer goods.

There seems to be talk about how the government can conserve money. Can we save money here? Can we save money there? Saving money means a conserving mentality. Once you start asking how you can save, you start spending less money, and especially on luxury items.

If gas prices are that high, you're probably going to think twice about driving across country to go to Disney Land. You're probably going to think twice about travelling on the following because prices are going to skyrocket:

• Cruise Trips -
  
• Airline Trips
  
• Train Trips
  
• Car Trips

If you're not travelling, it's going to put a dent in the hospitality industry, including hotels and restaurants.

Gas prices may only affect decisions made by lower income people. They will be more sensitive to price increases. If you've got to choose between purchasing gas for your car, and food for your family, you're going to choose your family.

I'm wondering if the hurricane disasters as going to make people think conservatively.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Recession - conservative thinking.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

The news has been crazy lately with regards to finance and economy. Interest rates are rising, gas prices are up, record bankruptcies filed with the new bankruptcy laws coming into place on October 17.

One of the good things about reading personal finance blogs is that I've learned about how to get finances in order.

Quite frankly, even with a depressed economy, if you've got your finances in order, you're going to become more depression proof.

I've heard news where people making $50,000 to $80,000 are having trouble making ends meet! The elevated gas prices are taking a bite of the life styles of people making $80,000 per year? That's ridiculous.

Many years ago, I visited a family who had a combined income of $80,000. I was trying to sell them a $20 per month subscription to an education savings program. As I drove up to their house, I noticed they had a boat, a RV, motorcycles skidoos and more toys. I thought to myself initially that these people must be loaded. They showed their wealth pretty well.

After talking to them for a while, they were genuinely discussing whether they could afford $20 per month for their child's savings program!! $20 was going to stretch their budget. I never forgot that example.

I don't have much sympathy for people who make lots and spend lots and save nothing. If a person has a 'live for today' policy, then enjoy today. I certainly hope that nothing happens to upset these people in the future.

Middle income people who are used to living free and easy with their money, may have to adopt a little more conservative approach to spending their money. I'm hoping that with the vivid examples of Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims, people will get the idea to save up some reserves to help through slow economic times.

Ideal scenario:
Let's say that you've been prudent to keep your credit card down to a minimum and have adopted a 'purchase needs only' mentality. You also have saved up enough reserve to pay your expenses for 3-5 years.

You'll be sleeping much better than a person who makes $80,000 per year, spends it all and loses his/her job. Especially if this person is used to the $80,000 per year lifestyle with all of its expectations. People who are used to spending $80,000 per year have a tough time coming down to earth if their income source is all of a sudden wiped out. (Being self employed I've seen the ups and downs of business and have experienced this a few times over the last 20 years.)

Recession is a state of mind. If you've got money in reserve and have cut back your desires to a level that you can afford, you won't be affected by a recession or depression.

That's the good news!

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - recession, depression, get reserves saved up. Get your financial expectations in order.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Did you ever notice how TV advertising is completely controlled by the TV stations and the government. I was thinking about this today as I was reading Kevin Trudeau's newsletter about his struggles with advertising his health book.

TV stations are all about ratings, even when it comes to the advertisements shown. Of course ads have to be approved by the appropriate legal and regulatory body before they're shown on TV.

However, you just can't say anything you want about any topic in an ad or TV spot.

Advertisers want to show you the great parts of their products and services. They don't get into the reality of situations that you can encounter with their products.

It would be funny, but sad to see an add for some new drug like VIOXX where the people are experiencing the side effects of the products. You've heard the great virtues of each product as designed and developed by the ad agency.

What would happen if the commercial enacted what really happened with the product. Example: "This product can help your allergies, but the side effects may cause dry mouth, nausea, weak bladder, lack of sexual performance and desire, loss of sleep etc."

The commercials should show these as the total package of what the drug is actually going to do to the person. My question is then: If you showed the benefits and side effects of drugs, would as many people buy them?

I saw a documentary about McDonalds Restaurant. In it they showed how McDonald's uses the whole cow in their meat. The brains and bones and guts of the cow are ground up to a point where they're imperceptible. It just tastes like a nice burger, with all of the additives they put in. Why doesn't McDonalds actually show this. Why doesn't McDonalds show the conditions of where the chickens are grown and how they are treated before they become chicken McNuggets?

McDonalds spends it's money on image enhancement and driving volume. It would lose 90% of its business over night if it showed in its ads what that documentary showed.

On the flip side, most activists who would want to purchase ad spots to show the reality and/or down side of products and services aren't able to advertise on TV or any other medium. Why would they be allowed to do so. I've had credit repair ads refused by a newspaper because they were distasteful and would hurt the newspapers relationship with its creditors.

If activists showed the reality of the past/present/future of a product it would reduce sales for companies and stop those companies from advertising. These wet blanket companies are not welcome to advertise.

The big question is: If this is really the way advertising works, where you're only shown one side of the product, is that really good for the economy? People then seem to be buying products and services that are based on a one sided foundation.

Just a bit of economic philosophy rattling around in my head.

Thoughts?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - advertising is one sided.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been working on a project lately that has been quite challenging and exhausting. Being self employed, it's always important to secure continuous revenue streams. As with all businesses, there are no guaranteed revenue streams.

What I've found is that more always wants more. Success always wants more success. Everytime I've succeeded at a goal, I've always told myself, I will sit and enjoy this feeling of accomplishment for a while. It always seems that there are external requirements that keep asking for more. ie... other people see that you're successful with something and want you to help them out.

Conversely, if your business has slowed down sales wise, and you're having to cut back, you have to scale down in all respects to accomodate the slow down.

So... You're either going to be in a state of growth or decline. You're either going up, or you're going down. That means you can plateau for a short time before you go up or down. Plateauing, or enjoying what you've got, only lasts a short time.

Here's the part I've learned over the years. No matter what state you are in your life, you're either going up or down with things in your life or your career. You're going to have to face decline or incline even if you're exhausted, stressed out, unhappy, excited, happy, or energized.

I will always remember the time when I had worked several months to get a project off the ground. I was completely exhausted and was suffering from burn out. I worked seven days a week to get the project going and successful.

All of a sudden the project took off and the business started to be wildly successful. All of a sudden I went from exhausted to way past exhausted trying keep up with the successful business.

People around me were wondering why I wasn't ecstatic about the new business success. I was ecstatic, however I was completely exhausted.

Here's what I learned. I still practice this today. Just keep showing up!

If you're working on a project and for whatever reason you don't want to be there, it's really important to keep showing up each day. That's usually the difference between failure and success. People usually fail because they lose interest and stop showing up for the job or project.

I find that even if I show up and do five minutes of work, because that's all I can manage mentally or physically, it's better to do that then to quit the project. The next day will be better.

This is what I've been doing in the last few weeks. I've been working to get my business off of the plateau and moving it in the upward direction. Overcoming the inertia to get off the ground takes a huge amount of work. The good news is that my efforts are paying off and things are starting to move forward.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - maturity of success - just show up.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

GOOGLE UPDATE JAGGER named on webmasterworld.

Matt Cutts - Googleguy says that there will be PR and backlinks updates in the next few days.

This means that your google toolbar will show some new results for your sites with regards to your websites PR and the amount of back links your site is showing.

It's nice that google and its reps are telling us before hand.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Jane Galt's -Assymetrical has a post regarding Kevin Trudeau being a quack. See Comments More Comments Jane Galt is saying that:

"Just last night I was watching some guy on television claim that the drug companies are withholding the cure for diabetes in order to make a profit."

See also Corante's Derek comment about Kevin Trudeau.

Here we have a one sided opinion about a guy who is trying to make a difference by disagreeing with the all powerful drug companies. It's a pretty flippant commentary.

Here's my short comment on the situation:

• Ignorance is bliss until you get sick.
  
• Ignorance is bliss until you run into financial problem situations.

I'm not going to get into a health argument on this point. I hate onesided, narrow-minded commentaries that try to destroy a person's character.

We live in a lazy convenience oriented society, financially as well as healthwise.

People are suffering from credit health problems at a chronic rate. They're using "financial drugs" and get quick schemes to try to dig out of the problems.

Subsequently bankruptcy rates are at record levels. Debt settlement is becoming a credible business model.

Ignorance is bliss until you start having financial health problems.

My recommendation is to look at the "herbal / natural" solutions for credit problems:

• Learn about your credit agreements. Understand what you've agreed to with the credit companies. This will give you the frame work of what you need to do.
  
• Start taking your credit seriously. If you're spending unnecessarily using credit.. DON'T DO IT!
  
• Get involved learning about your lifestyle and how credit affects it.
  
• Get to understand your financial situation
  
• PAY CASH FOR EVERYTHING. If you don't have the cash, don't buy it.

These are some healthy naturopathic solutions for your chronic credit problems.

Don't be blissfully ignorant about your money and credit. You can get into control of your financial situation.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

That's in part why the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) together with the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys will call on lawmakers Wednesday to postpone implementation of the law for Katrina victims for six to 12 months, said CFA's legislative director Travis Plunkett.

It's nice to see CNN Money covering this almost a week after I put this on my blog. I wrote into CNN about it as well.
It's amazing that they've got some of the poorest people in the nation in refugee camps in Louisiana and around the nation.

People are in trauma. These people barely know what day it is. Now they're potentially being legislated on for bankruptcy. That's pretty ridiculous. I have a problem with that.

Maybe the government will set up bankruptcy booths in the Houston Astrodome so that people can conveniently declare bankruptcy, by the October 17th due date.

Hurricane Katrina is going to bring us stories of credit and debt late payments, defaults, bad credit. debt settlement, bankruptcy etc.
This is a bad situation which is no fault of the people. Some people are going to stop paying their bills just because they can't pay them. PERIOD!!

As I've said before, something that will make me furious is if these crisis victims start getting hounded by debt collectors anytime soon. Third party collection agencies who call up and say, "well I understand you've been in the New Orleans hurricane. It's been six weeks since the hurricane, I'm demanding that you can start paying your bills or we'll take you to court." The next thing the bill collector is going to hear is , "CLICK!"

Things are not going to be status quo for these Hurricane Katrina catastrophe victims for a long while. I just hope that the mechanical credit system will understand that. Things can't be done on a 30, 60, 90 day basis like the computer program says. People aren't machines.

Bankruptcy worries for Katrina victims - Sep. 6, 2005: "Bankruptcy concerns for Katrina victims
A new bankruptcy law may deal another blow to those left financially hard up by the storm, some say.

The brutal distress of the nearly one million people affected by Hurricane Katrina may be compounded for those victims who could face bankruptcy in the coming months.
Consumer advocates and bankruptcy attorneys are concerned that tens of thousands of people may be pushed into bankruptcy as a result of the storm and will be unduly hindered by the provisions of a new bankruptcy law going into effect Oct. 17.
The new law makes it harder for individuals to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, which allows them to clear their debts and get what's known as a 'fresh start.' It makes it more likely that those wishing to declare bankruptcy must do so under Chapter 13, which requires debtors to repay some or all of their debts within five years. "

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

PAY YOUR DEBTS!!

I am the first one to say it.. if you signed a contract, you owe the money, you agreed to it, pay what you owe.
The integrity of a nation is based on things like paying what you agreed to. Integrity is not based on defaulting on payments because they're too hard to make.

This article Problems with debt settlement companies talks about the problems of debt settlement companies. There have been some FTC issues with debt settlement companies.

It goes against the grain that people would want to settle their debts at 35%-50% of the agreed principal amount.

According to http://credit.about.com/cs/economics101/a/031203.htm
(I assume this article is dated March 12, 2003)
• BusinessWeek says that total household debt in the US was more than 100% of our disposable annual income last year. Now that is scary.
• The total consumer debt is at 1.7 trillion dollars. Apparently is close to $2.2 trillion in 2005

According to another source, American's default on between 5-7% of it's debt on a yearly basis.

This means that
$2,200,000,000,000 ($2.2 trillion) x 5% =
$110,000,000,000 ($110 billion)
defaulted each year. (Of course these are approximate figures)

These are $110 billion dollars that that the creditors have to try to collect from people. I'll have to research what percentage of these dollars
are due to bankruptcies and what percentage is because of people simply not paying.

These $110 billion dollars the creditors have to build into their price of credit.. ie high interest rates.

On the one side, the creditors are some of the most aggressive marketers in the U.S. Stuffing credit down peoples' throats.
People are addicted to credit. They love their credit. They love buying stuff. All of the big box companies such as Walmart, Home Depot, Loews, Circuit City, Best Buy etc are built on people's credit cards. Consumer debt. Consumerism. Don't even get me started about people shopping on the internet.

How can you help but not get hooked into the consumption spiral? You've got to be pretty strong willed to resist it.

Getting back to debt settlement:
People are in an age of what I call "mechanical debt". Almost all consumer credit these days is mechanical. It's computerized.
The credit card companies are willing and able to sell this much debt because it's all computerized, non-personal and mechanical.

PEOPLE AREN'T MACHINES
Meanwhile, people are flesh and blood. People are not mechanical.

I liken this mechanical credit card problem to "people running behind their car for five miles at 60 miles per hour." Your car is a machine. You are not. You can't keep up with your car.

Similarly, your body and mind are not machinery. Your emotions are not mechanical.

You get stuck in this mechanical debt world and sometimes it's pretty hard to keep up with it.. especially if you get behind.
Sometimes life gets pretty hard, and you get exhausted by it all. You're so exhausted that you're just struggling to keep your job and keep your family together. If you get behind in your credit payments, you start to get collection calls. This is more exhaustion.

CREDITORS ARE FULLY MECHANIZED
If you don't make your credit payments, the creditors and collection agencies electronically report your missed payments to the credit bureau. They don't care about your exhaustion because they report mechanically, with their reporting machinery.

Once again, your body and mind are not machines. At some point they're going to give out and collapse.

That's where bankruptcy and debt settlement come in... people NEED relief.

Finally, it may take a few generations or so for people to learn to properly manage their debt in this mechanised world.
Currently people are dropping out. They've learned that they've taken on too much debt. They're exhausted. They just want out.

Want out?

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Saturday Commentary:
Writing in this blog has been quite enjoyable. I have enjoyed the comments and responses that I have received so far. I invite everyone to stop by, comment and leave a link to your personal finance blog.

In writing about financial maturity, I am usually pulling from my own experiences. Since a very early age, I have always been extremely anxious when it comes to money and credit and debt.

A silly but important story.
When I was about 21 years old, I owed $5 on my TD Visa credit card. This was after months and months of paying down a $500 balance. I was so debt anxious that I actually lost sleep over the $5 I owed. Don't ask me why. The next day when I got paid, I literally ran down to the bank and paid my $5.00 off. I was then debt free.

It was cool that I was debt free, but it was scary that I had that much anxiety over the enormous $5 outstanding. That was the beginning of my financial maturity process.

I suddenly realized that the banking system wasn't going to crash without my $5.00!! I realized that I had always paid my bills on time and that my credit rating was perfect. The amount of anxiety that I had wasn't going to make my credit rating any better. All of the fears that I had relative to my meager $500 credit card were pretty much unfounded.

Since then, I have created, developed and ran a few companies. In my employee days I was a financial analyst and my job title was to administer company debt, foreign exchange transactions, fixed assets etc. I administered $110 million in debt, $650 million in fixed assets and $35 million in foreign receivables, corporate payroll, amongst other things.

So... on a corporate financial level I've seen many things that the average person wouldn't see. I've seen what happens when a large company defaults on its debt. I've seen what happens when foreign exchange changes rapidly when I'm trying to sell a 650,000 pounds sterling letter of credit.

The beauty of my corporate experience is that it rings true for the consumer. Leveraged by outs of the 80's created a glut of debt that hurt and destroyed many companies.

It is my opinion that the U.S. and Canadian consumer will soon feel the same damage. That's why I'm pretty passionate about this topic.

Corporations did not have financial maturity in the 80's when they were taking on debt. They had no idea what was going to happen to them. They were more interested in the instant gratification of expansion via leveraged buyouts.

I have learned and grown a huge amount personally since my $5 credit card debt - anxiety days. I still have the same fears and anxieties, as they are part of my nature. However I have learned to deal with these anxieties in a much more productive fashion.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I've been trying to come up with a good way talk about my favorite pipeline of cash illustration. I thought I would draw it with my Adobe Illustrator package as that seems to be the easiest way. (My art skills are not as well developed as my writing skills)

PIPELINE OF CASH ANALOGY
This really talks about a person's economy and their ability to earn cash. For example a person who makes minimum wage needs a smaller pipeline than a person who has a business that generates $1 million in sales and a personal income of $250,000.

SMALL CASH FLOW MEANS SMALLER PIPELINE
If you're starting off your career and making a smaller amount of cash, you generally don't need a larger and stronger pipeline to flow your cash through. You don't need a well insultated reservoir to hold your cash in. A bank account usually does well enough.

MORE CASH FLOW MEANS BUILDING BIGGER PIPELINE
If you decide to make more money, you've got to increase the pipe size and wall thickness in order to properly house the flow of more cash into your economy. The more money made means greater complexity as far as what to do with it, taxes, investments etc.

MORE MONEY REQUIRES MORE EDUCATION
More complexity means more education and research into your financial situation. The best way to lose all your money is through lack of education and practice of using or investing your money. The more education you acquire, the 'thicker' the walls of the pipeline become. Thicker walls insulate your money much better.

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS PIPE LINE EXAMPLE
Increasing the pipe size/diameter is important to getting more money flowing through.
I've recently seen images on CNN of Louisiana pumping out water out of the city of New Orleans. Apparently they're using 16" diameter pipe and all told they're pumping out 27,000 gallons per minute. This is a huge amount of water to pump out all at once. That's 1,620,000 gallons per hour.

If the city of New Orleans decided to use 1" diameter pipe, it would take them infinitely longer to pump out the same amount of water. You get the idea.

The whole idea is to get the money to flow safely into your bank account. Next the next point is to keep your money and investments safe and insulated against predators.

Building a bigger pipe line for your cash flow comes with the following:

• Developing bigger goals
  
• Educating yourself to achieve the bigger goals
  
• Educating yourself on how to handle more money
  
• Learning how to insulate your money against outside forces
  
• Learning how best to work your money and investments so as to pay the least amount of interest and taxes
  
• Watching and Managing your money and investments on an ongoing basis.

You cannot make more money if your mindset and education don't allow for it. If you have a small money mind set and then all of a sudden start making big money, you'll lose it right away. The reason is that you're not ready for it emotionally and mentally. How many times have you heard of people who have received money and then spent it right away on frivolous items.

There are generations of families who don't have money because they're not educated for it. They don't understand money.

THE RICH GET RICHER
There are generations of rich families who have money and build their wealth because they understand the pipeline theory, and how to insulate and grow their pipeline. That's why the rich get richer. Because they understand, or hire people to understand how to manage their money for growth and security.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - CashFlow Pipe Analogy. Why the rich get richer.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

As Promised, the manager of Media over at Experian Sent me this press release with regards to how the credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are going to help out Hurricane Katrina, and also Hurricane Rita victims. Please read this carefully as it will help you with your credit reporting problems if you were a hurricane victim.

Maintaining and Salvaging Credit After Katrina

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Offer Important Education Information to Help Consumers Take Steps to Maintain Their Credit Standing and Avoid Becoming Victims of ID Theft

Washington, D.C. ?V Sept. 15, 2005 - The waters may be subsiding in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast, but for millions of Hurricane Katrina survivors the process of rebuilding their lives is just beginning. After they??ve secured the essentials of shelter, food and medical care, survivors are wondering how they can get their financial affairs in order.

For those consumers affected by Hurricane Katrina who wish to take steps to protect their current credit standing, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion recommend the following actions:

?h Consumers should send letters to their creditors explaining their situation and inquiring about any special programs or handling they may be offering to hurricane victims.

?h When evacuees become settled in to their new addresses, even for the short term, they should file a change of address form with the post office. This will ensure that they receive their bills and credit card statements?Xenabling them to keep track of their financial situation while also keeping these documents out of the hands of potential identity thieves. Consumers who may not yet have a permanent address should consider getting a locked P.O. Box to protect their forwarded mail.

?h After affected consumers have changed their address with the U.S. Post Office, they should make certain the address changes have taken effect before ordering a credit report.

?h As soon as possible, victims should examine their credit and bank accounts and look for any impact, and take the necessary steps to resolve any discrepancies.

Those who suspect they are victims of fraud should quickly report and resolve the matter. Equifax, Experian and TransUnion suggest the following steps for dealing with fraud:

Step 1: Fraud alert

Contact one of the credit reporting companies to request that a fraud alert be placed on their credit files. Consumers only need to contact one of the credit reporting companies to have an alert placed on their credit files at each of the three companies.

?h Initial alert - This 90-day alert can be placed on a consumer??s credit file if the consumer suspects fraud. This alert warns potential creditors to verify a consumer??s identity or contact them before opening new accounts. Consumers should be aware that adding an alert to their credit file may prevent them from opening an account unless the creditor is able to contact them and positively confirm their identity and that they are applying for credit.

?h Extended alert ?V The initial alert can be extended to 7 years when a consumer confirms through an identity theft report that he or she is a victim of fraud or identity theft. The extended alert also removes a consumer??s name from prescreened credit offers for 5 years.

Step 2: Review all three credit reports

Consumers should review their credit files from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Look for signs of identity theft such as suspicious inquiries, unfamiliar new accounts and unfamiliar new addresses.

Step 3: File a police report

If a consumer is a victim of fraud or identity theft, he or she should contact their local police department to file an identity theft report. Record the officer's name and the report number and keep a copy of the identity theft report in a safe place.

Step 4: Complete the Federal Trade Commission's Universal Fraud Affidavit

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers a fraud report form online at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. Consumers should complete the fraud affidavit form, sign it and have it notarized, and sent to those companies that opened fraudulent accounts in their name.

Step 5: Notify your financial institutions

If consumers find fraudulent activity on their accounts, they should report it to the creditor's fraud department. Include copies of the police report and the FTC??s Universal Fraud Affidavit with the report. Follow up to ensure all accounts are correctly resolved and keep copies of all communications for future reference.

Step 6: Notify the credit reporting agencies

Mail copies of the completed fraud affidavit and identity theft report to the fraud departments at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Follow up to ensure all account concerns are correctly resolved and keep copies of all communications for future reference.

Step 7: Check your credit regularly

Consumers should review their credit reports at least 1-2 times a year or 3 months before making a credit application to verify that all information is accurate and free from fraudulent data.

Consumers affected by Hurricane Katrina are reminded that they have the right to a free annual credit report from each of the three credit reporting companies. Reviewing their credit files at this time may help to determine the current status of their financial situation. Consumers who wish to obtain their free annual credit reports may visit www.annualcreditreport.com. If a consumer wishes to receive a credit report by mail, they may contact the credit reporting company directly to assure proper delivery of the report to the correct mailing address.


Contact Information:

Equifax: 800-685-1111 or www.equifax.com

Experian 866 966 1067 or www.experian.com

TransUnion 877-680-7275 or www.transunion.com

About Equifax
Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) is a global leader in turning information into intelligence. For businesses, Equifax provides faster and easier ways to find, approve and market to the right customers. For consumers, Equifax offers easier instantaneous ways to buy products or services, and better insight into and management of their personal credit. Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax reported annual revenue of over $1.3 billion in 2004, and employs over 4,600 employees in 12 countries in North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax. Information That Empowers.

For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.

About Experian
Experian is the global leader in providing value-added information solutions to organizations and consumers. It has an unrivaled understanding of individuals, markets and economies around the world. Experian provides information, analytics, decision-making solutions and processing services. It assists organizations in understanding their markets and customers and helps them find, develop and manage profitable customer relationships to make their businesses more profitable. Experian promotes greater financial health among consumers by enabling them to understand, manage and protect their personal information and helping them control financial aspects of key life events.

Experian works with more than 50,000 clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, health care, insurance, retail and catalog, automotive, manufacturing, leisure, utilities, e-commerce, property and government. A subsidiary of GUS plc with headquarters in Nottingham, UK, and Costa Mesa, Calif., Experian??s 12,000 people in 28 countries support clients in more than 60 countries. Annual sales exceed $2.5 billion.

For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.experian.com.
The word ??Experian?? is a registered trademark in the USA, EU and other countries and is owned by Experian Ltd. and/or its associated companies.

About TransUnion
TransUnion is a leading global information solutions company that customers trust as a business intelligence partner and commerce facilitator. TransUnion offers a broad range of financial products and services that enable customers to manage risk and capitalize on market opportunities. The company uses leading-edge technology coupled with extensive analytical capabilities to combat fraud and facilitate credit transactions between businesses and consumers across multiple markets. Founded in 1968, Chicago-based TransUnion employs 4,100 associates that support clients in more than 30 countries. Visit us at Transunion.com.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Announce Coordinated Encryption Standards
The story I promised, Equifax Experian and TransUnion working together for Hurricane Katrina victims, and NOW Hurricane Rita victims.

Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Announce Coordinated Encryption Standards: " WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The three national credit
reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, today announced a
cooperative effort to adopt coordinated encryption standards to further assure
the protection of sensitive consumer data when transmitted between data
furnishers and credit reporting companies.
Each of the three major credit reporting companies has long employed
information security tools and programs, including programs designed to meet
the Safeguards Rule of the Federal Trade Commission. Today's announcement
further advances consumer data protection by providing data furnishers with
the choice of a single standard of encryption that can be used when reporting
data to Equifax, Experian and/or TransUnion.
'This is an important step for the credit reporting industry,' said Stuart
Pratt, President and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association. 'This
cooperative effort to simplify, clarify and accelerate the use of industry-
level encryption standards is progressive and necessary. These standards
address the goals being advanced by the credit reporting industry of
encryption use by all data furnishers and make the implementation of
encryption a single straight-forward choice for all -- from the largest
financial institutions to the smallest market lenders.'"

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

New Orleans - 1 million people bankrupt or bad credit!!??
As I've mentioned in the blog, this is a mechanically credit society. The creditors and credit bureaus seem to have no mercy for people and their credit.

The reports are that there are one million displaced people in New Orleans and Mississippi, etc who are homeless.

These million people have:
? Mortgages
? Lines of Credit
? Credit Cards
? other types of credit.

1 MILLION PEOPLE WITH BAD CREDIT OR BANKRUPT?
If these unfortunate people are displaced from their homes and jobs, they are going to default on ALL of their credit payments for the next several months. Many are going to be forced into bankruptcy.

How are the creditors going to deal with this? How are the credit bureaus going to treat these people?

All credit items and lack of payments are recorded 'mechanically' by the creditors to the credit bureaus Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

MECHANICALLY REPORTED DEFINED:
At each reporting date, a creditor will send an electronic computer data file of all of their customers accounts and payment histories to the major credit reporting agencies. This information is all generated programatically.

This is going to be a credit repair night mare. These innocent people who would normally make their payments in a timely fashion are going to be penalized because of this Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.

I would be interested to hear from the credit companies and the credit bureaus how they intend to show some reasonability with these hurricane victims!!??

REQUESTING HELP FROM BLOGGERS: I am asking other bloggers to talk about this matter on your blogs. I think this is going to cause a huge amount of problems for the victims, along with the other horrendous things they're already suffering.

The major Credit Bureau websites are as follows:
Equifax: www.equifax.com
TransUnion: www.transunion.com
Experian: www.experian.com

See our press release

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

ARE CREDIT REPAIR COMPANIES FAKE OR REAL?
I've read a few blogs which talk about how credit repair is a fake service. I love/hate uneducated blogs that don't have a clue what they're talking about.

The problems people have with credit repair companies is that it's not understood what a credit repair company is supposed to do.

DELETE ALL THE NEGATIVE ITEMS ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?
Some credit repair companies claim to delete all the negative items on your credit reports with Equifax, TransUnion and Experian leaving your credit scores nice and clean and perfect.

I know a company that has pretty good success at doing just that, even though I don't necessarily agree with the tactics. This guy uses every loophole in the book to erase people's bad credit. He's very aggressive and forceful, but he gets the job done.

FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT
The U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act which is a Federal act states (paraphrased) that all items on your credit reports, with all credit reporting agencies, must be accurate complete and verified within 30 days or they must be deleted from your credit report."

Being that I do credit repair in Canada, I have seen several credit reports which have items that are not complete, not verifiable, and not accurate. I have seen many bankruptcy reportings that were completely inaccurate, and that's based on the system of how creditors report bankrutpcy items to the credit bureaus.

There are far more things reported in the U.S. on people's credit reports. Medical bills are one that come to the top of mind. Canadians don't see medical bills on their credit reports.

PERSONAL EXAMPLE - GOOD CREDIT REPORT HAS INACCURACIES
I have perfect credit, meaning no late payments etc.
I started my personal credit repair process over two years ago. At the time, TransUnion had duplicate records on my credit report which were costing me 100 points at the time. I didn't understand it until these items were removed.

So... my credit score went from 620 to 720 on my TransUnion Canada report because the creditors had incorrectly put duplicate accounts on my reports. Go Figure.
Not only that, they were showing incorrect previous addresses and credit history going back to 1985!! I am only interested in having credit shown on my report that is within my agreements and within the law.

Equifax had my name misspelled on my Equifax Canada credit report. It took nearly a year before they fixed it. I had to complain to Consumer Protection - Justice department for about 4 months before I got my name fixed properly.

SEX 900 NUMBER ON MY CREDIT REPORT AND OTHER PROBLEMS
There was a contact number on one of my credit items on my Equifax credit report. This is the contact number to get a hold of the creditor to discuss the credit reporting of my account. When I called the number, the recording said, please call 900-555-1212 (i can't remember the exact number). The toll free 800 number sent me to an adult sex line!!

I was feeling disputive and thought I would see what it takes to get this 900 number fiasco cleared up with Equifax. It took two days of rangling with the creditors LEGAL DEPARTMENT and Equifax's LEGAL DEPARTMENT to get the number fixed. Needless to say that I complained about this to Consumer Protection.

Another creditor contact number was a toll free 800 number that was out of service. This was with the TD Bank. I had checked this 3 years earlier and the same number was out of service. I then went through the same process to get the number fixed in their database.

There were about 5 examples of wrong phone numbers and obsolete contact information for creditors on my personal credit report.

INQUIRIES MISREPORTING
For inquiries on my Equifax credit report, there were either no phone numbers, or they had the contact phone numbers listed as 999-999-9999 literally. Or the phone numbers didn't work properly.

I made so much noise with the regulatory bodies and Equifax Canada and the creditors that Equifax cleaned up their whole database in Canada! I had to expose their problems with Saskatchewan Justice and the Canadian Federal Government.

Within a few months, I noticed that contact information was much better updated on my clients' credit reports.

These are the kinds of problems that I've had in Canada with credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion. I have hundreds of stories that I could tell.

CREDIT REPORTS MUST BE ACCURATE COMPLETE AND VERIFIABLE
The point is that all items on your credit reports must be accurate, complete and verifiable. They should be. You wouldn't want anything else reported on you.

When you sign up for a credit card or credit line, or mortgage etc, you authorize the creditor to disclose your information to the credit bureaus. It is the responsibility of the creditors to accurately report your information to each credit bureaus.

There are countless things that can go wrong in the course of many years through out your credit life or personal credit history. You may switch credit cards with the same creditor. You may sign up for two accounts with the same creditor. You may have made late payments that you didn't know about. Somebody may have stolen your wallet or purse and gotten a hold of your identity. This is identity theft.

Declaring bankruptcy or doing credit counseling or debt settlement are usually poorly reported on your credit report. Not only is bankruptcy hard on your credit, but the creditors don't usually report the credit properly on your report.

NOT SURE WHAT'S ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT?
I hope I have created a little doubt in your mind if you haven't seen your credit reports yet. As part of being in touch with your finances, you need to see your credit reports at least once per year. This should be a mandatory part of your plan.

FINALLY
There are inaccuracies on most people's credit reports, if just small ones.
Credit Repair - Is it real or a fake service?
The credit repair business is for people who don't have the inclination to fight credit bureaus, creditors, and regulatory bodies by themselves. A credit repair company is trained to make sure that all items reported on your credit report fit within the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or in Canada each Provinces' Credit Reporting Acts.

I have seen items on most credit reports that I could easily dispute based on 'loopholes' in the law. The credit bureaus are regulated. And because of these laws need to be fitting within these regulations.

? If you want to do the credit repair yourself, knock yourself out.
? If you have inaccuracies on your credit report and don't want to do the work yourself, hire a credit repair company.
? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, start to do some research on the matter.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Credit Repair, Credit Reports, Equifax, TransUnion, Experian credit bureaus

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Wasting Stuff = Wasting Money
I'm still working fast and furiously on my project and will be probably for the next week or so. I've got a great deal of building to do. So.. I'll be posting lighter than usual until I can free up some time. Time is money, so I've got to make it before I can spend it here in time. (Time = Money)

DO YOU WASTE STUFF?
Financial Maturity means not wasting things. I've caught myself on several occasions wasting things because it was more convenient and time efficient to do so.
What I mean by that is, rather than spending time looking for something that I had already purchased, I would just go out and buy another one of the same item.

In my mind, time is important, and sometimes just didn't have the interest, energy or inclination to go and look for something if it had been lost.

The problem is that I would buy 5 or more of the same item. As soon as they would get lost I would go and buy another one. I'm not talking about expensive things, but it is the principal.

IMO, buying a new item when you have an existing item is like throwing a perfectly good item out. It's a waste.

The manufacturers and retailers love it when you're too lazy to find stuff, and rebuy the same item over and over again. When I think about it like that, is it good for the economy for people to be that lazy. What percentage of sales do the retailers enjoy because people are too lazy to use and reuse the old items they've got.

That's the other point. How many times does a person throw something out because it's a year or two old. It's still in perfectly good condition. Yet because we feel we need a new one, we throw the old one out so that we can get that just purchased feeling with the new item. I'm guilty of this. Sometimes I have purchased something just to get that 'I got something new today' feeling.

I've wasted too much money on this type of bad purchasing behaviour. I don't do it alot, but I have done it in the past.

I've started to look for things so that I don't buy and rebuy the same item 5 times. Not only does it save money, but it also makes me feel that I'm in control of my possessions. This is a feeling of control. A feeling of well being.

It's good to stop and think about what you've got and what you value of your possessions. If you value something, then take care of it. And that includes knowing where it is, and being able to find it. This will save money along the way.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Wasting money , wasting items. Save money by not repurchasing.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Going back to the gold standard - philosophical question YO

In my fit of non-sleeping last night as I had way too much on my mind, I thought of the following interesting question for PF bloggers, economics bloggers and legal bloggers:

What if the U.S. and Canada was mandated to go back to the Gold Standard as it was decades ago. What if the we had to peg our currency against gold, platinum or some other valuable commodity?

How would that work?

With so much inflated money floating around the world and in our economy, would it be possible to go back to the gold standard for the U.S. dollar and the Canadian Dollar

What economic impact would this have?
What social impact would there be?

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - Gold Standard, U.S. Dollar, Canadian Dollar, economic and social impact.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Budgeting, or the 'B' word, is considered by some to be the hardest thing to do. It's an unpleasant and thankless task.

BUDGETING GIVES YOU PEACE OF MIND
I think that budgeting is actually a relief as it helps me define what I'm going to do with my income over a given time period. It gives me peace of mind to know where my money is going and what bills I can and cannot pay off.

Budgeting is actually quite a large topic when you look at it. It requires gathering up all of your regular bills and then thinking about future expenses that you may incur. You have to look into the future a little in order to anticipate future items that you may have to budget for.

START WITH FIXED HARD NUMBERS
The first thing to do is deal with the hard numbers. These are items that you know are going to happen each month.

Income	$3000
Rent or Mortgage	-$500
Electricity	-$100
Natural Gas	-$95
Water	-$45
Auto Payment	-$320
Student Loan	-$100
Bank Loan	-$135

NEXT PLAN FOR REGULAR VARIABLE COSTS
After these bills are paid, you're left with $1,705
The next thing to plan for are regular things that you buy but don't have a fixed amount.

Groceries	-$750 ($187.50 /week)
Clothes	-$300
Personal Care	-$75
Entertainment	-$150
Credit Card Payment	-$125

LEFT OVER DISCRETIONARY INCOME - REQUIRES GOALS AND PLANNING
This leaves with with an balance of $305 of left over or discretionary spending money. This means that you've got $305 that doesn't have to be spent on anything.

This is where your plans and goals come into place. This left over $305 should go into retirement planning, or vacation savings, contingency fund or whatever your goals lead you to.

DEVELOP A 5 YEAR GOAL - 60 MONTHS
It's important to decide where you want to be financially in 1 year, 3 years and 5 years based on how you use your discretionary income. Since you only have your discretionary money left, you simply multiply that amount x 12 months, 36 months etc.

You could even ask yourself questions like: "what happens if I save $50 over 12 months to start? How much would that give me in savings?" I used to do this for hours when I was just starting off. I remember that it amazed me that I would have $600 saved up after 12 months if I saved $50 per month. I then thought about how I would feel to have $600 cash in the account.

For example, if you saved the $305 for 60 months (5 years), you would have $18,300 not including interest calculated on the savings. If you are currently renting, this may be the down payment you've been looking for. If you value travelling over saving money, then this money could buy you your desired vacations.

It's important that you have a hard look at what your goals are. If you don't have any financial goals, more than likely you'll spend all your discretionary income and have nothing to show for your hard work after 5 years.

IT'S IMPORTANT TO DEVELOP A 3 MONTH CASH RESERVE
It's also important that you develop at least a 3 month reserve in the bank, if you haven't got this already. This is a cash reserve that will keep you safe in case you have a loss of income. I recommend that this be a higher priority than paying off your debts. What I mean by that is, make your minimum credit card payments, but save any discretionary income until you've got a 3 month reserve.

A 3 month cash reserve is defined as what you would need to cover your household expenses for a three month period.

As every body has different priorities and values, it is up to you to decide the best way to spend your money. The more you practice budgeting and looking at your finances the closer you'll get to achieving your goals.

I hope this gives you at least one good idea for budgeting. Let me know if you have any questions.

By Monty Loree - Financial Maturity blog - Topic - budgeting, making a budget, personal budget detail, personal finances.

Articles from October 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

We are happy to add some new products to our website for residents of the U.S.
? Discover Credit Cards
? Chase Credit Cards
? Bank of America Cards
? Vaya Credit Cards
? Advanta Credit Cards

These credit cards are especially for the residents of the following states:
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Thanks Mui,

I'll see what I can do with those words.

Monty

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Monty,

You asked me to post these words for you.
I'm not sure if they're helpful or not.

Can you let me know.

Thanks,

Mui


banner exchange
free banner
banners
free banner exchange
homemade taser
free banners
links exchange

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (1)

That's a good point. On the last site you built, www.canadian-money-advisor.ca the code you built nicely integrated CSS and php and html.

As far as I'm concerned, that is the best search engine friendly, content based site we've built. You cut through alot of the old clunky html to build a clean efficient site that shows the content to the content hungry search engines.

We started getting some search engine traffic after about 2 weeks of the site being published. That's pretty good. Being a new site, we're just developing the content, so the searches are getting steadily more as we go.

Colin, would you say that all sites should be turned over to this new clean CSS cascading style sheets format?

What are some examples of sites that should be converted to your method of programming with CSS, php and html? What are some examples of websites that SHOULD NOT be converted to this CSS PHP and html format?

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Cascading Style Sheets are more than just a good way to design the look of a web site; in fact, good CSS can help with Search Engine Optimization, not to mention being a way to separate a site's presentation from its content as much as possible, thus making it possible to update an entire site's look and feel without editing each individual page.
The goal of good CSS is not just flashiness or prettiness -- it is cleaner HTML code, and the flexibility to modify a site's look without making modifications to its content -- which is a big time-saver. The initial design of a site's CSS (and how the site will use it) may take some time and effort, but once you have a working model, it becomes rather easy to make changes that are site-wide. And because the HTML code ends up cleaner, less cluttered with styling information (definition of borders, colors, fonts, etc.), that means that your actual content takes up a higher percentage of the information on each page, which is good for search engine optimization.

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I was happy that Colin helped me with the graphics and CSS, Cascading style sheet looks on my Financial Maturity Blog which is hosted on www.blogger.com

Blogger.com has a few nice templates, but if you don't want to look like everyone else, you have to do it up your own way. I like a custom look and for the financial maturity topic, it was important to have something easy on the eyes, and professional looking.

I found the blogger.com template pretty complex as it relies mostly on CSS for the layout. I've worked with CSS a little but certainly don't have the experience to competently edit the CSS code.

Colin was able to go in and get me the look that I need. There are still more tweaks that I want to do, (there are always tweaks to do) however, we've got a solid start.

That is just an example of Colin being able to get into a foreign programming environment and do some good work.

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

Hey Colin,

Can you illustrate some of the things you've built in php, mysql, html, and css so that people can get an idea of the work you've done?

Also, take a moment to take about why these features would be beneficial to our client's and new clients.

The good thing is that you've built so many good things, there is a great deal to talk about.

Thanks,

Monty Loree

See also Website systems development

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

I have been working with Colin Reid on and off for the last 9 years. He has worked continually for HomeGrown as employee and then contractor for the last 3.5 years.

Colin is adept at programming in PHP, MYSQL, CSS, HTML etc.

He and another co-worker have built all of the websites and systems for HomeGrown Advertising Inc. These websites include this one, www.express-marketing.com as well as financial websites.

As some of our website projects are coming to completion, Colin is ready, willing and able to help our current clients as well as new clients with their website needs.

If you want to get a hold of Colin, or need some pricing for your website development needs, please give Monty a call
at 306-949-9511.

I recommend working with Colin. After looking at the work he has done for HomeGrown, I am amazed at the depth of what he's accomplished. He has years of development skills that he will be able to help you out with.

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)

We're pleased to announce the New Marketing Store

Currently we've got books about publicity, marketing research etc.

I like self help books because they're reasonably inexpensive and are written by experts who "have been, done that".

Articles from September 2005
More articles from Year 2005

Comments (0)