Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Instant Success or Gradual Improvement?

We live in a culture of instant success. This is especially so on the Internet. Everyone wants to become an 'Overnight Millionaire', 'Retire Quickly', 'Get Rich Quick', and so on. Unfortunately, it doesn't work - except in rare cases. But here's a system that does work - it's called evolution or Gradual Improvement and Nature has been doing it for millions of years. Nature operates through tria. . .

10 Tips for Successful Ezine Advertising

If you're like most people starting out on the Internet,you've been along this well-worn path: You try free classified ad sites and get bombarded with spam by people trying to sell you stuff. You try banner exchange programs and get a handful of click-throughs. You finally get into the top twenty results in the Search Engines, and then a week later your site has dropped back to number 150. The . . .

10 Tips For Promoting Through Ezine Articles

What's the most powerful marketing technique on the Web? Search Engine positioning? Perhaps. But did you know that some of the most successful web marketers don't bother much with the Search Engines? They put most of their effort into another technique that's just as powerful and is much more under their control. They write Ezine Articles. There are tens of thousands of Ezines being published e. . .

Review: Profit From The Author Inside You

I've reviewed a number of eBooks recently, and none of them excited me, but this one definitely did. If you've ever had the slightest desire to write a 'How To' book, I urge you to read 'Profit From The Author Inside You'. It's worth pointing out right at the start that Roger Parker does know what he's talking about - he has written 24 books that have been translated into 37 languages and there. . .

How Did You Get Here?

When marketing your website, it's important to know which of your efforts are producing results and which of them are a waste of time. You can learn a lot about this by analyzing your website's statistics (assuming your webhost offers this service). However, even with the best statistics programs, it can be difficult to determine where exactly your visitors are coming from. Did they arrive on y. . .

Website Magic: How To Compact Ten Online Seminars Into On...

Marketing a new E-book is one of the many challenging tasks that we face as Online Entrepreneurs.Articles are great. But surely there must be an easier way.How about E-books. You've heard of them, chances are you've even read a few.But then lies another challenge.Reading through your computer screen. It's tiring. Hard on the eyes. No where near as comfortable as curling up with a good paperback. . .

Is Your Company Name Killing Your Online Business?

Ahhh... your company name.Your identity. What separates you from everyone else.I would be willing to bet that you spent a good deal of time coming up with the perfect name for your company. Am I right?Something catchy, easy to remember, and unique. How am I doing so far?What if I were to tell you that your company name is possibly the single biggest hindrance to your business's success online.U. . .

Can I Really Make Money Online?

You certainly can! You can also make money by investing wisely or working a 9 to 5 job, or starting a business. Play along with me for a minute. Let's just say that you stumbled across a message hidden in a book in the attic of your grandmother's house that tells you about a treasure chest filled with gold and precious gems valued at over $1,000,000. Now, the message tells you that this tr. . .

How To Get a Big Downline Without Being a SuperPromoter

Do you routinely sign up thousands of direct referrals? Me either. I do get a lot of signups for some of my programs without doing ANY promoting. Want to know my secret? I submit new programs to a downline club. By submitting a new program, my ID becomes the ROOT ID for everyone else to sign up under in the club. If your club has several thousand members, this could be a bonanza for you. There . . .

10 Reasons To Sell A Fee Based Subscription Ezine

1. You will create residual income. For example, if you charge a monthly subscription fee, you will get recurring income every month. 2. You won't have to spend all your time marketing to gain new subscribers. Just get and keep enough subscribers to reach your monthly income goal. 3. You can figure how many subscribers it'll take to meet your income goal. Note on your ad that you'll only accept. . .

Time Management And Organization For Online Marketers

TIME DEMON. For online marketers, time is one of their most important assets -- time spent marketing and selling their products. But often, organizing information (i.e. ad copies, sales letters and contact addresses) and managing this information eat up much of online marketer's time. Precious time that could have otherwise been spent selling products and earning money. LOSING MONEY. Every m. . .

Selling Yourself to Reach Online Success

Usually, success in an online business depends upon selling outstanding products or representing really good affiliate plans. But just as important in getting people to buy from you is your business image. In this article we will look at how to define that image and sell yourself to help your potential customers decide to buy your products. There are several things to think about when developin. . .

Affiliate Surprise

I can’t believe it! I open up my mail today, and what do I receive? A statement from one of my affiliates saying that I’ve earned a pretty good amount of money for the last quarter. Wow! How’d that happen? Since my web site is only a couple of months old, I couldn’t believe that I’d already earned that much from this affiliate. Now why am I surprised? Don’t I tell all of my visitors and readers. . .

Running Your Own Race

There was an article on the front page of the Los Angeles Times Friday that caught my eye. The headline was "Small Dot-Coms Thrive While Industry Giants Melt Down". Here are the opening paragraphs ..."Beneath the chaotic dot-com busts of the last half-year, an overlooked breed of Internet companies - mostly small and nimble - is thriving."They have no public stock, no Super . . .

The Secret of Making Money on the Web

So, you really want to know the secret formula of how to make some money out of a home business on the Web? Well, that formula is J.F.D.I.J ustF lamingD oI tSimple! No, I am not being flippant - that really is the secret formula to success! - please read on for the full explanation.How long have you been surfing around looking for the "right" opportunity? How many people do you know w. . .

The Benefits Of Having Internet Big Picture Skills

This article explains the value and relevance of having Internet big picture skills.To start, just what is Internet Big Picture skills?Definition: Internet Big Picture skillsBeing able to understand problems and Internet opportunities In the largest, biggest picture perspective possible. Always understand opportunities from a global or very wide perspective.Use your understanding of this broad,. . .

3 Hot Ways To Crank Up Your Sales

1) QUICK FOLLOW-UPSWhen you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer. You could follow-up with a "thank you" email and include an advertisement for another product you sell. You can be more subtle including the offer within your signature file.Another way is to take your customer to a "thank you" web page right after they order. You should thank them for their order. . .

Affiliate Programs... A Not THAT Easy Start To Your Own O...

"Where is all the help I'm supposed to get. I have been buying ezine and classified ad builders and signing up for Echecks and Virtual credit cards. In the meantime I have no business and no ads set up. When does all this happen? Let's go here. I spent all day on this. I'm running out of time."I kid you not, this is the sum total of an actual email that hit my inbox this week. Not onl. . .

He Didn'T Plan To Fail - He Failed To Plan

Before you go too far down the road of developing your web-based business (or any business for that matter) you really need to formulate a plan of action.Your plan should have long term goals and short-term action points - and be realistic and achievable. Many people start on a course of action, not really sure of where they are going or how to get there. Imagine that you said to your wife &quo. . .

How to Avoid the Death of Your Business

Hello and welcome to this, our final tutorial, in our series, "101 Ideas to Improve your Business." Administration and Management! What is it? It is simply the most overlooked are of any micro or home based business? Why? Because most home business operators think that they can build their business successfully, without the infrastructure of a traditional business. Without doubt, that. . .

How To Choose An Affiliate Program To Join

All the internet users related to the netmarketing are often faced with this topic. There is in fact a huge number of websites that offer affiliate or reseller programs. Which mean rather the same thing, but not exactly. For example it is right to distinguish amongst the two definitions when you join programs that require no payments by you. How can you find the right programs to join and to pr. . .

The Secret To Success Is In The **DOING**

One of the unique features about doing business on the net is that you are exposed to unimaginable volumes of information. It can boggle your mind. You can read until you go cross eyed and your head starts to spin. You read because you believe that reading contributes to the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge is supposed to be the all important ingredient to every form of success. This afterno. . .

One Giant Leap for Mankind

Those Oldies amongst us who can actually remember Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon never think of it as just history. We were there. It was live, and we were all part of it.Practically everyone on earth who could, was huddled around a TV set watching the shaky black and white pictures in awe.It was something that united the whole world like nothing before. First stop the moon,then onwards to . . .

How To Turn Any Product You Sell In To Residual Income

The concept of this is for you to offer a subscription type product as an upsell or backend product. For example, if you're selling an ebook for $37 offer a subscription to a related e-zine for $9.95 a month. Instead of an e-zine, it could be monthly updated information for the ebook.It's not just for e-books, you can make it work for any product or service you sell. Some subscriptions that mig. . .

Hocus Pocus? It's Just Focus!

How many times have you wondered what magic formula the top Net earners were using?There really isn't any magic involved. No magic wand or success secret that only a select few know about.Making money on the Net boils down to one thing, and one thing only.FOCUSEasier said then done. Right? Do the following statements sound familiar?*All these emails in my in box I just HAVE to read because they. . .

Creating Trust

It can be difficult, at best, to do business on the Internet.Okay, you and I LIVE out here. We have grown to rely and trust the Internet. We have friends. We shop, we bank, we do business.We order take out, we even fall in love. We have found ways to do almost all of our daily tasks out here in cyber space. We hear daily of all of the people signing on for the first time.So how could it be. . .

10 Things You Should Try To Barter For Before Buying

1. Information Products - it could be ebooks, "how to" videos, cassettes, magazines, newsletters, paid e-zines, courses, etc.2. Advertising Space - it could be banner ads, ezine ads, ebook ads, magazine ads, newspaper ads, tv ads, fax ads, online classified ads, etc.3. Web Hosting - you could offer a free advertisement for their web hosting service on your site in return for free or . . .

Secrets Of Network Marketing Success

Network marketing and the internet were made for each other. The world is your oyster. It's as easy to send an email around the globe as it is to talk to your next door neighbor. If that's true how can we explain the fact that 95% still fail in network marketing? What are the traits of the top earners? They have a solid bullet proof marketing system. They have the patience of Job. They have the. . .

Free Online Content To Make Your Website Sticky

Depending on what you are reading, most sources state that a person must see an offer somewhere between 3 and 10 times before he or she will actually purchase. And unless you are a master copywriter with expertise in forcing the sale down your visitor's throats, chances are that you will need to figure out how to get them back to your site for another visit, or two, or three. Of course, with t. . .

Are You The Master?

Have you noticed some of these posts in the forums or the feedback sections of the marketing ezines? <> Is anybody really making money online? <> I've been promoting this program for months and I'm not making any money. Is it a scam? <> What's the best program to promote? <> What's the best product to sell online? Well if you're still asking these questions, you don't un. . .

Don't be Anonymous Anymore: 7 Ways to use Orange Snowflak...

Out of the over 1 billion web pages on the net, exactly HOW do you plan to get your site noticed? The Answer - Orange Snowflakes. Out of the myriad of marketing techniques and approaches, do you KNOW what's the #1 source for internet profits today? The Answer - Again, it's Orange Snowflakes. And just what are Orange Snowflakes? Orange Snowflakes are classified ads that compel your prospe. . .

10 Ways Focus Groups Can Propel Your Profits

A focus group is a group of employees or current customers that discuss and brainstorm new ways to improve different parts of your business. 1. They can give you new ideas on how to advertise and market your product or service to your targeted audience. 2. They can give you ideas that could help improve your current product or service. For example, you could make it smaller, faster, heavier, . . .

How To Create Your Own Information Product: 3 Examples Of...

A number of articles tout the benefits of selling your own products. (You get all the profits!) There's a lot written about how your product should somehow be "information." (This being the Information Superhighway, that's why people are here, and all that. Besides information is cheap to reproduce and can often be delivered immediately.) Yet there are few attempts to explain just how. . .

20 Ways To Increase Your Traffic And Sales Using Free Fol...

An autoresponder course is a group of articles or information set up to be sent out separately over a set period of time by e-mail. People just e-mail your autoresponder to receive the free course and it is sent out automatically over time. You can find free follow-up autoresponders to use by typing it into any search engine. Below are ten ways to use them to increase your traffic and sales. 1.. . .

Selling From Your Website

Greetings! Friends and relitives ask us all the time " How do sell from your website?" and no doubt you want to know as well. Over the next two issues we will be covering this very thing! We decided to divide it into two camps - tangibles and non-tangibles. Feel free to create a hybrid if you are daring, however, for the sake of simplicity - both for your visitors as well as your plan. . .

The Five Most Commonly Encountered, Off-putting E-commerc...

While getting less public handwringing than during holiday season, the "abandoned shopping cart problem" continues to wreak havoc on online sales. Recently I judged a raftload of sites for the Webby Awards (my second time) and for the Inc. magazine Web Awards, as well as for my own clients. Here are the five irritants and obstacles that most frequently disrupt the visitor's shopping experienc. . .

Overcoming the Five Obstacles to Affiliate Success

Nearly every mass marketable product or service available online sports an Affiliate Program or MLM matrix to encourage small business people to sell those products or services to others. For beginners in the online marketplace and even some pro's, these programs offer the best opportunity for earning substantial incomes to their participants. Yet, despite the promise of Affiliate Program. . .

Branding On The Web Is Like Mining For Fools Gold

I am sick and tired of marketing geeks touting the beauty of branding, brand building and just spouting branding in any context, especially when the term is used with "internet" or "web" or "digital!" You can't have a conversation today for more than five minutes without some marketing type throwing in a line about brand building!Branding doesn't work with the net's warp speed - look at some of. . .

Your Magnificant Obsession

Wow! You've just signed up for the greatest prgram on earth.This baby's going to give you "Unlimited Wealth" to satify your: Wants Needs DesiresBoy you're going to be running with the "Big Dogs".Well brothers and sisters you better think again!Before you celebrate and break out the champagne, you better decide if you're going to be a leader, a follower or if you're just go. . .

Guarantee For Success

If you're trying to get a new online business started, and you don't have a clearly stated guarantee policy, I can GUARANTEE you that a year from now, you'll still be trying to get your business OFF THE GROUND, unless you've gotten discouraged and given up! Even in the traditional brick and mortar world of off-line sales, people need to touch and see a product before they have enough confidence. . .

Speaking of Success

In the quest to attract customers and make more sales, the temptation is to focus on the Internet. It's easy to forget there are other tools that are less tedious, easier to use, and even more effective. For example, simply telling people what we do and how it benefits them is the most profound marketing "secret" ever invented. And, the opportunities to talk to people are unlimited! C. . .

Succees with a 1930's Computer

I'll never forget the day that my brother, who runs up his own department in a major software company, came to my house with a box full of computer parts. He told me it was time that I got with the program and join the twentieth century. He built this computer right in front of my eyes. I'm using it right now to write this article. It consisted of spare parts he picked up from work. It's slow b. . .

Growing Your Company In Today's Chaotic Market!

I think we've all heard enough bad news to last us few months to last us several lifetimes! Our mantra for clients is "get over it" - cut your losses when where you can and focus on the basic building blocks to grow your business. Here are some fundamentals we recommend to any company that wants to survive and grow in this chaotic market:1. Practice maniacal focus! Who is your customer, how do . . .

Growth From Within

Business on the Net is a fast paced proposition. Net entrepreneurs are looking for the edge that will take their business to the next level. Who doesn't want more business, right? Here's a simple yet POWERFUL idea for increasing your income. As business people we look at many propositions that will help us take that next, much desired growth step. We hear that we must "brand" ourselves and be e. . .

Is There A Guru In The House?

The Internet has given us many marvelous advantages in international marketing, from the speed and convenience of email to the ease and economy of product downloading. Yet these wonders pale by comparison when you realize the sheer volume of Gurus that inhabit the Web. As a young boy growing up in Ohio I was impressed by the rarity of those mystics who with one utterance, could place in a nutsh. . .

How to Get FLASH Indexed by the Search Engines

Note: The example portions of this article have been removed. However, you can view the article in its entirety at: http://www.academywebspecialists.com/newsletters/0702.html Perhaps you can relate to the involuntary groan elicited by search engine optimizers when a client presents an expensive new Web site featuring high quality FLASH movie content. Of course, the client (or maybe your boss?) . . .

Choosing An Internet Merchant Account

Surf to Google and perform a search on "Internet Merchant Account". The results are staggering (472,000 results!) If you have created a web based business and need to accept credit card payments, your choices are limitless. Before you partner with a provider, take time to understand the different components of internet credit card processing, and know what to look for in a merchant provider. Ho. . .

Does Your Homepage Work?

All websites have a homepage. It is the most important page of your site. It acts as the main gateway to the entire site. Most of your prospective customers will enter through it. Its vital to get it right. You dont want them to just turn around and go away again.Take a moment to clear your mind. Now go and look at your homepage and take a minute to evaluate it. Does it work for your prospectiv. . .

Don't Let Amazon.com Use Up Your Valuable Bandwidth!

You already know that affiliate programs are a great way to make additional income for your web business. By promoting products that are RELEVANT to your target audience and presenting those products in a meaningful way through the pages of your ebooks, websites and ezines, you can build up a nice steady income with little effort. Don't forget though, affiliate programs will only earn you money. . .

You Don't Know Which One...

I still remember it very clear ... It was almost a decade ago that I wrote it in my notebook as an interesting quotation from a famous man at that time and even now and ever. Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet president, shared this so-called joke with some reporters: "Mitterand has 100 lovers. One has AIDS, but he doesn't know which one. Bush has 100 bodyguards. One is a terrorist, but he doesn't . . .