How To Get Information Marketing RIGHT!

Amazing new blog profit tool

A quick preview of Blog Auto Publisher left me amazed - and my head filling with some great ideas.

I first heard about Olga's proposed project from a presentation at Yanik's Underground Seminar - speaking of which, registration just started for the next session in March 2006 (if you're interested in attending, drop me a note, I'll tell you how you can be one of the first to sign up!)

Back to Blog Auto Publisher... I had a rush through the features, including the detailed video tutorials, and am excited about the possibilities. Here's a part of the short note I sent Olga after my first look...

Olga, I'm VERY impressed with what I've seen of your program so far. Just viewed the video tutorials.

Very well done. You've thought of almost everything - and I've got a ton of ideas for my new project, which will be based entirely on a set of 100 blogs. I've been working on the template, content creation, finding helpers to work on the promotions - and was about to focus on setting up systems for blog-and-ping.

Now, it appears I can even do away with the tasks I had planned for a few of my helpers!

Will send you a nice testimonial once I've got some results to share - and I'll be telling a few close friends to check this out as well. Think I might do a special report for my blog list also - but only after I first try out all the amazing features you've thrown in.

Once again, thank you, and congratulations on putting together a really useful piece of software.

Now, the software is pricey. In my opinion, it's well worth the price. If you'd like to check it out, here's where you can read more about this...

Breakthrough Idea in making affiliate money with Blogs

It's time you, a Marketer, work with blogs much easier

My Meeting With "Hurricane No-Name" !

Hurricane 'No Name'. Or is it Cyclone 'No Name'?

It came out of nowhere - with seemingly little warning - and wreaked havoc. 42 centimeters of rain in just 40 hours!

I was one of the hundreds of people like this young man below, wading through waist-deep water, hoping I didn't drop into an open manhole or encounter a snake.

On my way back from 24-hour call, my car engine died when it encountered waters too deep for even it's sturdy heart - and I had to abandon it a kilometer and a half from home. An easy 12 minute stroll became an hour and half struggle against a slow, yet powerful current, in a stream that turned roads into rivers.

After reading so much in the news about Hurricane Katrina, or Ivan, or Wilma, or Rita, it was an unpleasant surprise to meet "Hurricane No Name" literally in our backyard - with no hint or warning of it's approach even a day earlier!

So much for the Met department's technology. To give them credit, however, they did report that it was raining heavily... just a few hours into the deluge!

John Reese's Newsletter - A Life Lesson

John Reese just published a newsletter. In it, he shared some very personal news. I had been aware of this for a few months - but had no idea it hurt John so badly or so deeply.

I feel his pain. In a sense, I experience it almost daily in my professional work. The senseless loss of life, of innocents suffering, of redefining my purpose.

The ebook I wrote, encapsulating a lot of these intense feelings, emotions and reflections, has become a runaway best-seller. It got rave reviews from many readers from all walks of life. It's titled "The Emotion Prism - How to be Happy When You'd Rather be Sad" - http://www.EmotionPrism.com

More recently, as I wrote in my blog post on October 26th titled "Shocking News - And New Paradigms", I've experienced a new urgency to getting projects done. It's amazing how much of a kick on the backside it can be when you realize how transient our existence could be.

John's newsletter ends with these words:

I would like to challenge you to do some deep thinking of your own. Look inside yourself and try to identify your purpose in life. I would also encourage you to spend more time with your friends and family. And also let them know how much they mean to you. If you feel a certain way about someone in your life, tell them. Don't wait.

You never know when they might be gone.

It's sound advice. Do it.

Marketing - With Ethics, Emotion & Empathy

Paul Myers of TalkBiz.com is my friend. He runs an amazing blog. It's here.

On it, he posted an interesting note - Alienwear, or the Big Bash?. It made me think. About many different things.

About Ethics

My first passing glimpse of the politics-ridden 'real' life Internet marketing legends live behind the scenes came almost 2 years ago. I posted a note about one of them on a forum run by another - and the owner wrote me an email 'englightening' me about the 'other side' of the one I had praised.

Paul might even recall this incident, as I asked him for his opinion on what I should do.

Anyway, it's there. Exists under the surface. Currents and alliances.

And I'm no longer surprised (though I was when I first heard about it)... because we're all humans. People with the same feelings of competitiveness and partnership, envy and idolization, jealousy and admiration.

When we get started, we're looking for 'heroes' and 'gurus' to look up to, follow, emulate. After a while, when we get better (or sometimes, bored or frustrated) we need a scapegoat to blame, hate and beat down. Oftentimes, it's the same ones we once put on a pedestal!

And it's there in EVERY field, branch or area of life. I'm a heart surgeon. In many ways, this is one of the most hyper-competitive branches of medicine. There are strong passions and emotions governing interactions between members of this close-knit and small community.

We're all professionals. Work for the good of our clients/patients. In some ways, the rivalry is helpful. In most ways, harmless. Notice, I say 'most' - because there are times when these strong feelings do affect 'professional' performance.

The difference is that, in most situations, the people in a field are exposed to this scenario over years. They are 'trained' for it, accustomed to it, thrive within that unique environment. There are rules, protocols and acceptable behavior patterns in each. Ethics, if you will.

And these 'ethics' are different for different professions, occupations, environments, even geographies and time periods.

Internet marketing is uniquely - even refreshingly - different in that it embraces a wide audience. Anyone can become an 'Internet marketer' (yes, even a heart surgeon!)

There isn't any formal training process. Networking is rare, informal, unstructured. Each formulates his or her own rules. And it reflects our personalities - since most of us gravitate to Internet marketing because we want to 'do our own thing' and not take orders from the boss.

In this kind of 'laissez faire' situation, the word 'ethics' itself has a very diverse meaning, a loose definition, and even looser interpretation. What is perfectly acceptable behavior to one may raise hackles of another and be condemnable to a third.

The case study Paul details in his post is representative - though certainly not the an isolated incident.

And when you pause to think about it, certainly not hard to understand - when you realize the 'players' in this drama are human. With feelings of envy/pride, insecurity/confidence, inferiority/superiority, success/failure, each constantly battling the other for pre-eminence.

When YOU become successful, you are going to be exposed to the same kind of 'pressure-cooker' climate - guaranteed.

When folks talk about you, be prepared to hear good things as well as bad. Expecting anything less is deluding yourself. The very same product that has some folks raving and praising will disappoint some people or worse. You, as an online marketing success, will touch lives - some favorably, some not.

And that's ok. The world is a mixed place with people having different opinions - about EVERYTHING. If all of us thought the same way, it would be BORING.

I'm reading Donald Trump's book, 'Think Like a Billionaire' - and love the way he looks at these things.

I just finished 'El Diego', a book about my favorite soccer star, Diego Armando Maradona. I stayed up at 3:30 a.m. to watch his 'goal of the century' in 1986 - pure magic. To some folks, he's God. To others, he's a drug addict.

I love John P.McEnroe Jr. - for many things, especially his magical tennis. He's an idol and hero to thousands of people. And many thousand others thought he's nothing more than a spoiled brat.

What I'm trying to say is that it's ok. You don't have to agree with my opinions, views or feelings. But the way you disagree says a lot about YOU. So make sure you work on the way you will disagree - and deal with others who disagree with you.

As I said in an earlier post - A Rant About Joint Ventures:

Remember This Is NOT The Entire World!

Yes, I understand you might be spending many hours of your life doing this Internet marketing thing. You may be feeling isolated and lonely working all alone in front of a computer screen in a dim lit room, shooting off emails and writing sales copy and running promotions - and closely tracking results.

It's easy to believe that EVERYTHING is about your website, your ebook, your latest sales numbers, your response rates, your list size, blah blah blah

But it is not.

There's more to life - and a lot of it is more important.

Stuff like the kind of person you are.

The kind of person your success makes you.

The things you do with your success and money.

Zig Ziglar says this: "Life is like a grindstone. Whether it wears you down or polishes you up depends upon what YOU are made of"

In a spat like the one exemplified in Paul's post, it's the way the protagonists behave that defines the 'public' opinion about them, just as much as their individual positions or stance on the issue.

About Specificity:

More specifically (!!!), being specific with accusations.

Paul wrote:

"I don't recall any of those people taking public shots at Ken."

Well, I recall one. The incident sticks in my memory - because I got 'involved' in a rather unusual (and funny) way.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, I sent a note to my list about raising funds. I ran a 'fire sale' - and managed to multiply my original donation 20 times, contributing $1,000 to a relief effort managed by 2 amazing members of the Warrior Forum.

Now, just around that time, Ken McCarthy posted a link to a set of relief organizations and emailed his list to say the link was up - with an opt-in box on the landing page.

A day or two later, I got an email from Armand Morin's list (I'm on his list too) lashing out at 'unethical' marketers who tried to 'profit' from the disaster by sending out email invitations that help building their lists - and running special sales.

I don't even consider myself noticeable enough to be on Armand's radar, having only met him once at Stephen Pierce's seminar. Yet, I received MANY emails from my list members, suggesting one of the promotions being 'condemned' in Armand's post was mine!

That made me smile - and I replied to my subscribers to say it was VERY unlikely... but even if it was, I didn't care because it helped me up my contribution to the victims of that terrible natural disaster by TWENTY times more than I could have afforded to give.

(And of course, I was donating 100% of the profits - and in principle, agreed with Armand's point about mis-using a disaster to promote sales that resulted in a bottom-line profit to a business... but hey, again, that's MY personal opinion)

The point here is, if Armand's 'attack' was 'specific' and mentioned names, it would have helped avoid any mis-understandings or incorrect interpretations. I see this on many forums too, where a disgruntled member posts a message with broad, sweeping accusations that could apply to a wide group of people - including many innocents!

Trouble is, the message is so vague and NON-specific, it's like firing a shotgun into a crowded auditorium - and hoping to hit only your chosen target!

Don't do it.

Be specific. Or keep silent. Or deal with the concerned people, one on one.

Again, that's just my opinion.

If you're on the 'receiving end', be extremely cautious about such sweeping attacks. Like Paul says,

"Be aware of the politics of any vague and damning sounding posts or emails that you read. Or at least be aware that there is very likely some form of politics behind them. Vague comments usually suggest that the speaker doesn't want to reveal their real meaning."

Not everyone likes calling a spade a spade. I do. Paul does. Others don't. And that's ok. Just be aware of this reality, and you'll be fine :)

About Common Sense:

It's amazing just how true is the aphorism -

"Common sense ain't all that common"

Time and again, you'll find people getting all indignant and upset that they took a certain action, purchased a certain product, followed a certain person's advice - and it didn't work out.

And 99 times out of 100, you'll find the thing didn't make sense in the first place. Away from the hype and hoopla, by employing an ounce of common sense, you could be sure it won't work. Yet, people do get carried away.

One of my snippets of advice that gets the most feedback is something I put into one of my special reports. It goes like this:

"If you like something you read about, want to buy it badly, but can't afford the price today... make a note about it - and do NOT buy.

Wait until you can afford it. Make a plan to raise the money. Work for it - in any way you know to. And when you can afford it, go back and buy it. 90% of the time, the deal will still be around, maybe even cost you less. Rarely, you'll miss out - and that's ok. Better than getting into a growing debt trap to get instant gratification.

And this advice is truer than ever about the 'get rich quick' niche of Internet marketing and 'Make Money Online' where there's just as much hype as real good stuff.

I can't express it better than Paul did, so I'll 'swipe' his words...

"When someone starts talking about your honor and your virtue and your ethics in a commercial exchange, without being very specific about why those terms are relevant - put your hand on your wallet and don't let go until they explain."

Write that down, or print it out - and paste it over your computer where you can see it the next time you want to order something online.

Oh, and I almost forgot - I've got a special device that'll pop up and cover that note when you're on my websites looking to order something from me!

This 'one of its kind' device regularly costs $97 - but I'll let you join the small club of 'premium' owners who'll get it for just $49.95 - if you order RIGHT NOW. Click here - don't waste another minute!

Dr.Mani

P.S. - If you clicked on that link above, SHAME on you! Go back up and read this post again! :)

Shocking News - And New Paradigms

This morning I had a shock. My friend, who trained in cardiac surgery along with me, died in a road accident. He was 42 years old. Was just approaching his best years as a highly skilled professional.

I was numb. Went through the motions all day automatically, as my mind grappled with the news, struggled to come to terms with this reality.

Life is uncertain. It could end anytime. Even tomorrow.

And all of a sudden, everything took on a new urgency. I found myself re-thinking many elements of my life. Studying plans I had made for 'some day soon'.

It's amazing how many irrelevancies we allow to clutter up our lives, consuming every waking moment of our thoughts, pushing to the back-burner the worthier, higher value, critical and important things.

I'm reading two wonderful books by Donald Trump. 'Think Like a Billionaire' and 'How To Get Rich' are fantastic insights into a person who loves life, lives it to the hilt, and does big things by working hard. In context with today's shock, the lessons Trump shares became many times more impactful.

For years, I've had a dream (click here to read about it). Worked my way steadily towards it. Against odds, not really knowing if it will work, yet trying. Today, the dream is more real than ever before.

But today, I realized it hasn't happened as early as it might have. And part of the reason is I've been acting at less than my best speed. That's because I thought I could get it done 'by next week' or 'by next month' or 'by next year'.

Now, I realize no one guarantees tomorrow.

In the words of N.S.C.Bose, "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never come. Today is yours. Act. Act. Act."

On the Warrior forum, I read a post by a friend. He asked: ""What Now?"
Tell me... what do you do (or did you do) to find 'Life' goals and purpose? How much is enough?"

And as I thought about this question, answers crystallized in my mind. Answers to the questions AS ASKED BY MYSELF of me.

Big hairy audacious goals demand big sustained action. I've not followed through. That's about to change.

My wife and I spent an hour discussing a huge project we had shelved for far too long. Each time it came up for study, we had put it off for 'another day'. Today was that day. It has been broken down into components. Work will begin on it immediately. The deadline for completion has been shrunk to a third of the original estimate.

Awareness of the limited time available to us has this effect.

For the n'th time, I listened to Steve Jobs' address on graduation day at Stanford University (June 2005). Several things he said took on a new, more intense, personal meaning.

"...for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Persistence - A 'Secret' of Success

I first read this story in a book by Zig Ziglar.

A stone-cutter sits in front of a huge rock, pounding away at it
with his tiny hammer. It looks pretty hopeless. The man is so
puny, his tool so small, the boulder so massive.

Yet, he persists. Bam. Bam. Bam.

With each stroke, he gets a little weaker. There is no change
in the rock. It all seems fruitless. Still, he persists.

Bam... bam... bam... again and again. 25 times. 100 times.
500 times. Nothing.

750. 999. ONE THOUSAND... when, all of a sudden,

C-R-A-C-K

The boulder splits apart and shatters into a million pieces!

To someone watching, it appears it was that one single blow,
the last one, that broke that huge chunk of stone into pieces.
But the stone-cutter knew - and so do you - that it was the
COMBINED effort of all the 999 strokes that went before.

In a nutshell, this summarizes success on the Internet, too.

And a GREAT example of this is my friend, Kim Standerline. A
nurse in the British NHS, Kim is an avid internet marketer,
and a VERY helpful person. We've known each other for around
4 years, and planned a joint project - a 'Doctor-Nurse' thing.

But unfortunately, I couldn't follow through. Had too many
other projects underway and simply didn't have time for more.

You'd imagine Kim would shelve it away for the future - but no.
She went ahead on her own, with help from a partner, and has
come up with an amazing niche marketing program I'm kicking
myself for not being a part of.

Yesterday, I spent some time looking around the membership
area, and LOVE it. If you have *any* interest in the broad
niche Kim has targeted, you owe it to yourself to take a look
at this offer.

www.Reach-n-Relate.com/kim-health.htm

I'm throwing in some exclusive bonuses for members on my list
who sign up this week - and they will help you get even more
from your membership. No clues about what the bonuses will be
- it's a SURPRISE :)

And if you are NOT interested in signing up, your time will not
be wasted.

Here's why.

* You will learn by example. See how simple and elegant Kim's
new project is. Can you do something like it in YOUR niche?

* You'll get inspired by her persistence. This is Kim's first
big success in several years of work online. I'd like to help
her make it a 5-figure launch - and she's very close to it.

* You will meet a very niche (oops, I mean NICE) person. Kim
Standerline is a nurse. Helping people is second nature to
her. Get to know her and observe her 'system'. It works.

Ok, now you've read this, go on to the site and take a look.
The membership slots are almost gone (less than 40% left) plus
Kim's thinking about raising the price to reflect the real
value in this package.

www.Reach-n-Relate.com/kim-health.htm

Making Steady Progress

The Blog Challenge is well and truly on.

We're at $3,573.64

And this is day #7. There's another 23 to go!

Making Money Online - Finding YOUR Right Path

"...there appears to be a sense of frustration and lost goals among newbies. People are worried about making millions. I am just worried about making anything that will give me satisfaction.

There is just so much to learn, so many systems for making money, and so many gurus that I almost want to back away and hide. Some tell you one thing and then you are told completely the opposite by someone else.

The problem with learning to make money on the web is the equivalent of doing a major course where half the students are the professors and everyone has something to say. Its a case of selectively picking through the brambles to find the road.

I have joined a system that is all laid out for me and, hopefully, I am told that all I have to do is follow the one guru and it will succeed. Its all I can handle at the moment and even that, at times, seems like too much.

How many feel like I do?"

This post on one of my favorite forums made me think.

We had a power outage at home that lasted a couple of hours. It gave me time to re-evaluate my strategy for the coming year.

And I realized something startling... I'm in the same boat!

It wasn't easy to choose one or two from among the various 'models' of generating online profits. I've tried out many - and they work. But when it comes to integrating all my online activities, and implementing the best, tested and proven, highest yield strategies in ALL of them, I'm finding it a bit hard.

It's not surprising how much MORE difficult it must be to someone new - who doesn't even know if any of them will WORK in the first place!

After a couple of hours of brainstorming with my wife about the direction we should take in the future, we've kind of settled upon going the Adsense/Pay-per-Click / Affiliate / Direct Selling route... in different niches.

Does that mean others are wrong or won't work? Absolutely not. The choice we made was based upon our own unique resources, skills, and goals. And yours should be based upon yours.

Sadly, too many folks begin venturing into online marketing without a clue about what they want, where they are headed, how long it will take them, and how badly they want to get there... and most critical, WHY they want to do it at all.

It's close to the time we all make New Year's resolutions - but nothing prevents you from taking stock and setting course today. In fact, I should have taken my own advice sooner - thanks to the power cut, I got it done.

So, sometime soon, take the time out to ask yourself these questions. They appear simple - but when you think hard about it, they aren't so simple, or even easy. But answering them honestly and completely could change the way you go about your work online.

Why do you do what you do/want to do online?

What income targets do you need to reach? When?

What resources do you have, or have access to?

What are you willing to do or give up to get there?

How much knowledge do you plan to acquire? How?

Who are the people you will work with?

Once you've got these things clear in your head, you'll find yourself automatically being attracted towards certain systems, specific 'gurus', particular models to adapt and adopt to your online business.

Set your goals. If you don't know how, here's a short little guide to help you along - Your Goal Setting Guide.

Review your progress. It helps you keep on track, retain focus. It also helps energize you as you reach each milestone on target.

Make changes. Adapt to the course. Tweaks and twists help you navigate the rocky path surely and steadily.

Choose your mentors carefully. It's easy for anyone to claim success with a system. You must be convinced it is one you can translate and employ in your business.

Learn constantly. Things change. Effective strategies lose effectiveness. Don't waste time blaming or crying. Adapt, modify and forge ahead.

And to keep you motivated and inspired, here are 2 things you can do:

Download and read 'How Long Does Success Take' - it's FREE

Subscribe to your 'Daily Inspirational Quote' - it's FREE too

Breaking a Barrier

It's pretty cool to break a barrier - and I just broke through the $3,000 barrier with this promotion.

We're currently at $3,107.99, which means...

One Child's Operation Will Happen!

That's so, so cool. Thank you for making it possible.

An Early Review

See one early review from Keith who ordered the latest version of
SMART Niche Minisites:

*** "You Have Brought Things On A Long Way!"

- Keith Longmire, on email

Hi, I purchased the latest mini site to see how you have progressed
since the first set.  I still have a couple of those that I have
not set-up.

First impressions are that you have brought things on a long way.

I think these mini sites are a big improvement on the originals.
My only complaint is the lack of in-built list building provision.
I will have to work on a name-squeeze page.

Bye for now.

Keith Longmire

You can see many more reviews of our turnkey niche marketing
solution at 'The Niche Proof' blog - click here

Dr.Mani's 'Blog Challenge' In the News

A short progress report - we're up to

$2,134.75 in profits from the new launch.

And you can download a copy of Dr.Mani's 'Blog Challenge'
in PDF form - click here for the 'Blog Challenge'

We're Making Steady Progress

Just a quick update on how the 'Blog Challenge' is coming along.

In 48 hours since I've started promoting the new product, exclusively to a small group (owners of my current niche marketing package), we've had a profit of 1680.57

And the marketing efforts are just getting into full swing.

This is going to be one exciting ride :)

Next newsletter is ready

This week's PDF has some exciting updates - don't miss out

Download it from here:

www.Reach-n-Relate.com/drmani-oct05-2.pdf

Off With a BANG!

'The Challenge' is off to a GREAT start.

$1064.51 in the first day - and ONLY my current
niche package clients have even heard about it!

And hey, it's just Monday!

A reader challenged me

After I posted the note yesterday on my blog, one reader wrote with some useful comments - and challenged me to do something.

Carry Out A 5-Figure Launch - Without JVs or Partners

His point was that, like it or not, you NEED JVs to make significant profits online. While in a general way, I do agree that JVs are far easier to profit from, I don't think it is impossible to do it on your own.

How can I say that?

Well, in a sense, I've been doing this for a while now. Most of my projects start out with plans involving dozens (if not hundreds) of partners, but my efforts always seem to fizzle out - leaving me to handle promotions all on my own.

I've been fortunate to learn from close observation some successful launches like John Reese's 'Traffic Secrets', Yanik Silver's 'Underground Seminar' (both involved many affiliates and JV partners) and Allen Says' 'Warrior Alliance' (which was run single-handed, and sold out the limited 500 slots within 24 hours - at $67 a month!)

Plus, recently I had the chance to read the transcripts of Jeff Walker's POWER interview with Frank Kern, Jim Edwards, Yanik Silver, Jason Potash and John Reese - about co-ordinating product launches (it's a lead-in to Jeff's soon-to-release 'Product Launch Formula' package, which promises to be AWESOME!)

Still I thought this would be a good experiment - done in a formal and planned way.

And to make this 'challenge' more meaningful, I'm going to tie it in with my passion and purpose!

So for my launch of Smart Niche Minisites v2.0 I have decided upon 2 things.

1. No launch partners, JVs or affiliates. I'm going it alone

2. All - and I mean 100% - of all profits will go to the Dr.Mani Children's Heart Foundation, and be used to sponsor heart surgery for poor kids (click here for details)

The target will be to fund 4 operations - that's $10,000 in net profit. The deadline for this challenge will be November 30th, 2005.

Let's GO

The Bird Flu Factsheet

I put the finishing touches on the Bird Flu Facts HOTSHEET -
and it's now ready for download, all 6 pages of it!

Make sure you register to receive future bird flu updates.

Here's the link:

THE BIRD FLU FACTS HOTSHEET
- http://www.TheBirdFluFacts.com

Looking forward to your feedback and comments.

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