I like to help people learn internet stuff

Awesome news, Winnipeg is coming back to the NHL!

I heard the new name might be the Manitoba Polar Bears or the Manitoba Polar. What do you think?

PS – I think they should sign Teemu Selanne for one more season!

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This week I will share a new presentation called Building Winning Websites … in 10 easy steps at DOMAINfest in Santa Monica, California.

The Fig Tree at the Fairmont Hotel Santa Monica (Flickr Photo Credit Sergey Golonkin)

Here are the themes I will be presenting, please let me know if you’d like a copy of the slides by commenting below

- Build it – 3 Types of Websites (Editor, Blog, Community/User Generated Content)
- Drive traffic (Search, Affiliate, Social)
- Create a ‘relationship’
- UVP (the magic of 8 connections)
- eNewsletter
- RSS, Social Media, Facebook Likes
- Monetize it – AdSense, Affiliate, Social, Subscription

PS- A big thank you to Ron Jackson from Domain Name Journal for a nice review and Domain Sherpa who wrote a great summary of the presentation

Flickr Photo Credit Sergey Galyonkin

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Have you seen 99 Designs? This is a cool site that does ‘Crowd Sourcing’, allowing many people to develop designs for logos, webistes, product packaging etc.

I just added a new logo design contest with a $495 prize. I will be curious to see how it works and how many designs are submitted.

If you know any aspiring designers, please pass it along!

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If you have seen one of my presentations recently you know I am spending a lot of my time studying and learning about info product launches.

What is a Product Launch?

This is a fascinating type of internet business. Here’s how it works … someone with an area of expertise creates some free information in a digital format such as an eBook, videos or a PDF download. You generally have to opt-in through email to receive the free content and you get a ton of really valuable information in exchange for your email address. After providing 2 or 3 pieces of information the product ‘launches’ with an offer to sign up for a course or a webinar or a new type of website that combines video training, downloads and live calls.

Jason Van Orden's Recent Product Launch The 'Traffic Attraction Formula'

Last week my friend Jason Van Orden created 3 videos about his new Traffic Attraction Formula launch. I have presented with Jason at a few different conferences and I am a big fan of his Internet Business Mastery podcast, I listen every week. This launch is extra cool because the inventor of product launches Jeff Walker (another friend of mine) is personally working with Jason on this launch. I will be interested to see how this launch goes – good luck Jason!

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Tips for a friend who was laid off

A friend recently told me that he’d been laid off after 20 years, he wants to learn more about internet marketing. Here, in part, was my reply to him. If you have tips and advice, please add your notes in the comments section below.

I am sorry to hear that you got laid off. I’ve been there and it sucks…at the time.

However, when you look back on this period of your life, I’m confident this will be an amazing jumping off point to something new and something that you are even more passionate about.

While you are looking for your next opportunity, I highly recommend that you set up a nice blog website (pointed to your own domain name like this one) and start promoting yourself for freelance work through sites such as eLance.com and Guru.com . At Ten Golden Rules we use these sites all the time to find expertise and this is the best way to keep a few $$ coming in and to see if you take to the solo-preneur life.

Another resource that may be worth listening to, I recorded a podcast with ten tips to find a job in a recession .

There are a number of ‘free’ options for tremendous education. If you’d like to learn more about internet marketing, The Internet Marketing Club Wednesday Webinars are awesome. Also, we have recorded all of the webinars and we will be making them available for a small monthly subscription price in the near future.

There is also a tremendous amount of great free content on blogs here are my Top 10 Internet Marketing Blogs and I love learning through audio when I’m working out, walking my dog or communiting, here are my favorite  Top 10 Internet Marketing Podcasts and here are my recommended Internet Marketing Books.

What tips do you have for someone looking in this marketplace? Are you looking for work, how can we help?

Photo Credit Steve Rhodes on Flickr

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A professional services client with a small niche expertise recently sent me the following note:

Jay, I am trying to figure out how to start our social marketing as you recommend. Our information is so technical that we cannot hire someone off the street to blog or answer questions in the different medias. Our technical staff is so overwhelmed with work that they really have no time to monitor the different sites. Help?

Here is my reply:

Not all Social Media needs to involve a two-way conversation. For example we could develop YouTube videos. A series of 8-10 videos explaining common tips for your target market could gain a lot of popularity on YouTube, we would search engine optimize the videos so they would come up in Google and YouTube searches and they could be easily uploaded to your website and blog. Did you know that YouTube is the #3 website in the world and the #2 search engine!

Speaking of blogs, they are primarily a  1-way informational medium, they don’t require a lot of moderating and conversation. I check the comments on my blog a couple times a week or so, it only takes a minute to approve comments.

I love podcasts!!! These are another 1 way medium, primarily. You could do a series of 7 or 10 podcasts with tips for your target market. There are very few podcasts on any topic, but there are now millions of iPhones, iPods and iTouches – 25% of users download podcasts. It is a great way to build a following with an audience looking for this content, very few competitors are podcasting. You could also add the shows to your website. Here’s how we do it for our internet marketing podcast.

Another good tip, take 5-10 minutes every couple days and log onto LinkedIn. Click on the ‘More’ tab, and click ‘Questions’. You can search for questions in your niche, provide answers and position yourself/the firm as experts. You will likely generate leads and build your valuable LinkedIn network.

We should create Facebook ‘Fan’ Page. By offering valuable tips and including the videos this page would gain a small but loyal and valuable following among your target  community.

One last idea. We could create a community for you, like the Internet Marketing Club . You could have your experts develop a short webinar, if you have 5-6 experts,  they could do 1 webinar every 2 months, and you could invite authors of books and some complimentary professionals to do a webinar once in a while – voila! You’ll have an active community, a weekly webinar series with more content to add to your website, more leads and more links! The webinars keep the site growing because they are very viral, people tweet about them and tell friends. We just landed a great new customer thanks to Internet Marketing Club, it really works!

All of these approaches will get noticed and build links for your website and support search engine optimization.

Please let us know if you’d like to test drive any of these new mediums.

Best regards,

Jay

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I had the pleasure of meeting Author Chris Crowley today, he co-wrote the book Younger Next Year: A Man’s Guide to Living Like 50 Until You’re 80 and Beyond.

Chris is over 75 – he looks great, he ski’s double black diamond runs and cycles in the moutains.

Here’s a few notes on living well and aging exceptionally:

• 70 percent of aging is voluntary
• 50% of heart attacks, diabetes, most cancers etc are avoidable
• Behavior can improve your health 50%
• We have two choices after age 32 1/2 — we send signals to our cells ‘Grow or Atrophy’
• The tide of aging seems strong – every year after 33 we get a little slower, a little fatter,  a little less sexual
• Send counter signals, grow signals:
• We are designed for movement. Do aerobic exercise 45 minutes 4 times per week .  Get your heart rate up to 60% of its max. “Put in the damn time”
• Inflammation is the great killer. Your own blood can be inflammatory. Make good blood with strength training You can double the strength in your legs in 6 weeks. GO TO THE GYM! We’re saving your life here.
• As you age you lose balance  because you signaling system stops working correctly. Strength training reconditions it and prevents falls and lessens the impact
• The great hallmark of aging is pain.  With strength training you reverse it . Get a good trainer and put in the time.
• You have your hands on the controls every day you can get up and get a little older or a little younger.
• There are 300 million Americans. 147 million are overweight, 67 million are obese
• Cut out white breads, starches, eat fish, oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast.

It’s hard to live this way. Working out, eating well, but the alternative is way worse.

If you make these changes in your life, you get to be yourself all over again. You have energy, you are more sexual and you enjoy life without pain.

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A very Smart Businessman who is in a business networking group with me is skeptical about social networking. He doesn’t think his friends are on Twitter and he finds that Facebook lacks immediacy.

I agree. Facebook skews young and trivial.
Twitter may be a passing fancy.
YouTube can be a time waster.

But LinkedIn is the business network for your Dad, your boss, and my friend.

For the over 50 Executive who wants to put his toe in the water, but feels generationally challenged, suggest that he tries 2 simple things on LinkedIn

1. Set up a profile (many have already done this)
2. Answer some questions. (Click on More > Click on Answers > Click Answer Questions )

Answer questions. Help people. Be a selfless giver. And position yourself as an expert in your field. Make a few connections. Try it you might love it.

My friend is a financial specialist, here is an example of questions people are asking in the category of Finance and Accounting right now.

Can having more new products in the pipeline substantially increase the perceived value of a company for M&A purposes?

We have been considering a number of ways to apply a proprietary technology for new product development that works across all industries. It would seem that a company seeking a buyer might be more attractive, and thus have a higher valuation, if it had a number of potentially profitable new products under development. Is this actually the case? If so, what metric would potential buyers likely use to evaluate such intellectual property?

Microfinance entrepreneurship & paying it forward vs. creating indebtedness

Friends, I endeavor to get involved with micro finance, am familiar with Grameen Bank and similar orgs. Given the concerns regarding interest in heavy-inflation zones, I am taken by what this group is doing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAK_members_bank
Who do you know that is doing great work in this regard?
Thank you!

Comment about the state of corporate access in today’s marketplace.

It seems that “corporate access,” which consists of arranging meetings between executive managements of public companies and institutional investors, is getting more competitive. Is that perception true? Who’s getting most of the corporate access business–large broker dealers, IR firms, niche players, firms using new high-tech approaches?

Do you want to connect with Internal Auditors, Recruiters, Employers in or around Chicago? The Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditing has the group for you.
I am on a committee with the IIA Chicago Chapter with a goal to increase membership to the IIA Chicago LinkedIn Group. The goal of the group is to facilitate the sharing of ideas and virtual networking. You don’t have to be an IIA member to be in the group… you don’t even have to live in Chicago.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1123977

I have noticed it is taking longer for CPA candidates to get certified. It used to take 2-3 years now it is taking 4+. Any thoughts as to why?
Clarification added 1 day ago:
This question refers to years post graduation. Thanks

Adding Credit card payment to website

How can I add credit card payment to my website? I have used PayPal so far, but they take almost 3% of the transaction value, while you don’t incur this expense with wire transfers.
How much is the commission with credit cards? How do you get started? Is there a set up fee?
Thank you, will rate all answers and honor the best!

What Accounting Software Does Your Firm Use?

Looking to find the most popular accounting software, as to better educate our staff.
Which software and version does your firm use?
How many employees do you have?

PA Tax Amnesty Program…Any luck?

Has anyone had any positive experience with the PA Tax Amnesty program that began on April 26th? Some of my clients are receiving the Amnesty notice for businesses that are out of existence, or where there is no tax due, no returns due, etc. Contacting the state is nearly impossible…any thoughts????

CAIA Designation

The CAIA designation (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) is a new one I was just exposed to and I wanted to know who has one and do you know what reputation do they have in the marketplace?? For what I offer, I think they might be a better fit for an advanced designation than the CFA but I’m checking both out. All opinions welcome and Thank you in advance.

Let me know if your Dad, or your boss gets into LinkedIn

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A friend of mine quoted an author earlier today who said that electronic communications are making us less human. Do you I agree?

A big part of my social life is through social media. My friends and family mostly live many miles away and I keep in touch through Facebook, Twitter, text, email etc. I also have a number of real genuine friends I have met through social media.

Just this weekend I had the following very enriching social interactions:

- A friend sent a tweet that he was going for lunch with another friend, I tweeted him. I joined them for lunch. We cooked up a new business venture, a podcast, we’re going to work on it this week.
- A friend mentioned he needed a lead gen expert. I sent a note to a friend. She Facebooked me from Spain that she’s out of the country. I sent an email to connect the two of them.
- My friend John in Atlanta (who I met through my podcast) sent me a shout out on Twitter just to say Hi. I sent him a tweet – we connected.
- I discovered a great little Yogurt place on the location based networking site Foursquare
- I saw a link to Barak Obama’s speech at the White House Correspondents dinner. I watched it on YouTube. The President was great Jay Leno tanked.
- A friend recommended that I see a speaker named Jared Spool. I watched his SouthXSouthwest Presentation on YouTube – he has a great audience interaction method
- I listen to podcasts while I workout, walk my dog, commute etc. Just this weekend I listened to:
o Marketing Over Coffee Two social media friends of mine (Christopher S Penn and John Wall) cover interactive marketing. I learned their perspective on the new Facebook ‘Like’ functionality
o I listened to another podcast called Dishy Mix and learned about virtual seminars
o Cliff Ravenscraft who I met at a podcasting conference has 30,000 listeners to his GSPN Lost Podcast

I replied to my friend with an email, and now I am sharing my thoughts as a blog. I’ll tweet about it and Facebook about it. A few people will Re-Tweet and ‘Like’ my post and spread it to their friends. I look forward to some interesting feedback and conversation. Very Social

Personally I believe that since moving to Florida 8 years ago I lost a lot of social connection. Social Media has given me back a lot of human connectedness.

How about you? Are you more social or less human?

I'm not a blogger I Tweet a lot

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