Testify Baby! C'mon, Testify!

Resurrection

2006-09-13T06:34:00.000-05:00

I'm so predictable. It's all good though. Okay like most bloggers, I took a hiatus after only one month of blogging. Probably insight into my personality. It's been a weird year. After spending countless amounts of hours looking at different online businesses, trying different things, reading and then reading some more, I've come to the conclusion that I don't have what it takes to do an online business.

Face it, I only follow my own advice, I suck at following instructions from others, I do things half-assed consistently, I'd rather the short easy way than the painfully long and arduous way. Basically, I suck.

So after almost seven months of not even looking at any online moneymaking scheme, I kind of went back to last years hoopla with 12dp, even cdt and a few others that made money for people in this time frame. I guess this might be an amateurs eye, but I noticed that several of the sites had crazy increased traffic around this time of the year. Was it because of advertising? Was is because of word of mouth? What was the reason? Last year this time I was only looking, but not really seeing anything cause I really didn't understand the world of online businesses. Being able to retrospect, (cause I caught the tail end of the frenzy) I see now what it was. People hyped up certain businesses where they could get seemingly fast cash by referrals and networking.

Programs like 12dp made record amounts of signups, even though autosurfs and HYIPs were being slammed left, right and center. People were making 12% return on their investments. The key thing is people were making money and that was and is the goal.

That is the goal for this time of year. Christmas, vacations, etc, etc. We are so f**king programmed, it makes me really sick (of my ownself even). Imagine, a good portion of us, who are probably really cautious in real life, will give thousands of dollars to someone we don't know, in the hopes that we will get double or triple our money back, just so we can show off and buy that fantastic gift for ourselves or someone else.

For F**ks sake. How mindless are we. I've always thought myself to be a little more conscious, a little more discerning, a little more sceptical, but really I'm caught up in that "American" dream too. I want to have the nice house, the fancy car, the trip to Europe and the Caribbean each year. I want to buy my progeny, relatives and friends those really cool gifts, that make them love me sooo much. I want to take my friends to clubs or restaurants and keep all my company in the best refreshments. I am that citizen. The one that keeps Wal-Mart and company mega rich. I am that citizen, the lower 95% who keeps the other 5% in their Porches and Benz's (which by the way I will never own, by legitimate means anyways) I am the one.

So what does this mean? Do I have any sense? Do I have any ability? Can I overcome my station? Can I too be like Charis Johnson and ride the wave? I actually feel sorry for Charis. It's so ridiculous that due to no real fault of her own, her very successful operation was shut down and the real culprit, the one who couldn't deal with the business she sent their way is still operating and taking peoples (read suckers) money. Yes by all intents and purposes this is the time to either set up your own program or jump on the bandwagon of something that looks good.

Beware though; there are many predators out there. If you don't know how to play the game, don't know when to quit, are susceptible to goading, become easily addicted or any of the other traps set for the masses (read sheep), you will lose your shirt, shoes, panties... you get the picture.

Ten Truths About Online Marketing

2006-02-24T11:03:00.000-05:00

This article hits it bang on. Take a look

Article Search Engine: GoArticles.com

The Programs I've Joined...

2006-01-24T13:22:00.000-05:00

Listed below are the programs I have entered. I've given a brief synopsis of the program, a link and what I think about it so far. I have not been in any of these programs for more than a month. I've also included some of the sites I use to market these programs.

Canadian Diamond Traders is my prime program. The premise of this program is to purchase diamonds at a wholesale cost. As a new diamond trader, you can place a deposit on your first diamond for $100 or $500. You bring new traders into your business and they too place a deposit on a diamond, you move up on a trading board. When you reach a certain level on the board you are then awarded commissions. The commission on the $100 level is $800. $500 of the $800 is automatically used to enter you into the next level of commissions and the balance is used to purchase your feeder level diamond, which is approximately 1/4 carat and will have an appraised value of approximately $500. The second level of trading is at $500. Once all the conditions are met and your commissions are to be awarded, you receive $3000 cash plus a 1/2 carat diamond worth over $2500.

The goodies in this program keep coming. I've already received my first diamond and well on my way to cash. The best part about this program is almost everyone re-enters. That means that this program will not end. Contact me if you want more info or to see pics of my diamonds. (I'm still a lazy you now what! and don't have them scanned yet)

Global Niche is a very excellent concept. You pay $20 and purchase tools to promote and build a downline Club, you refer 2 people, then you help them refer 2 and teach them how to help their 2. When all is said and done, you end up with with a filled 2X4 matrix. When the last position fills, you then graduate to one of three programs of your choosing: Candaian Diamond Traders, The Country Club and now BizBuzz. You also receive your $20 back with an option to re-enter if you choose.
To tell you the truth, I don't like the landing page. It Sucks S**t. The tools and links are pretty good. Not much communication in a helpful way. But if one were to take the concept and make it better,success is posible. Check out the next link.

Reality Networkers has a very well put together site. Excellent tools, great concept. Basically you join this program to build a downline. You join for free to check out the site and to complete your first task. If you advertise this one, you will get signups. Their ads are excellent. Trust me, YOU will sign up just by reading their ads.The other thing I like about this site is the extensive list of safelists. Members give you a clear picture of what worked for them and what didn't. This is real useful if your new to online marketing.

I just have just 2 problems with this networking club. I'm not sure if they know how to transition from a club to active participants "of your choice of program". I have completed my first task, which is to sign up 5 memebers. To become part of the "Club" you must contribute $25 one time as a membership fee. Then you must help your referrals also complete their first task. I not sure of the commissions... they say that you get $40 for completing your first task and helping them complete their first task. Then it's just wait for your downline to do the same. Update: Surprisingly this is working. Cool.

Sites I've used to market these programs
Here are some of the sites I've used to market these programs

TO CREATE A VIRAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE

Instant Buzz is a program that installs in your browsers toolbar. Everytime you go to a new web page it gives you credits. If your really interested in getting traffic to your website, it helps you by prompting you to do specific tasks. It's not bad as far as viral marketing is concerned. I consider it a tool just for viral marketing.

I like traffic swarm as it also provides a viral type of marketing for your campaign. I would use this with instant buzz to get your site out there. Traffic swarm has over 400 000 users. They are all promoting their own programs, so don't expect many signups, just get your program noticed.

Direct matches is great place to promote your program, meet like minded marketers and access great tools. Although it's free to join, they have an affiliate program where you can have access to even better tools to build your organization. Check it out.

OKAY... I HAVE QUITE A FEW MORE THINGS TO TELL YOU ABOUT. BUT TO START YOU OFF CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE SUBMISSION SOFTWARE. IF YOU PLAN ON STARTING A VIRAL CAMPAIGN FOR YOUR PROGRAM, YOU SHOULD SUBMIT YOUR WEBSITE TO AS MANY SEARCH ENGINES AS POSSIBLE.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW: You can try this site out for 3 days and submit your site to several search engines. There are also many useful tools for SEO...

I will be posting links for sites that lists thousands of safelist sites, autosurf sites, eprocessor sites, webpage creation sites, stuff and more stuff. So stay tuned...

Come back soon...

Part 2: The testimony

2006-01-24T00:51:00.000-05:00

Three weeks of virtually spending all my free time researching making money online. My free time is quite a bit of time. I actually tried many of the things people (read "guru's") suggested. I actually spent a total sum of $80CAD on programs and spent about $120CAD on domain (2 yr) and hosting (1 yr). So far I 've made $0, but I do have a list of about 200 interested, which is a start.

The programs I bought are:

Global Niche: Global Niche is a feeder for Canadian Diamond Traders, The Country Club and BizBuzz. It cost's $20 to join Global Niche. Global Niche has many good programs in their backoffice, but you can only use most of them with Global Niche. To earn money in Global Niche, you must refer 2 people who in turn must do the same. You earn commission on the third level and the fourth level of referrals. Total commissions equal $120, that's 600% ROI. You can do this as often as you like.

Premier Optin: Premier Optin is a safelist or supposed safelist. I've been using it since the get go and I haven't been in any real hot water - except, I'm not sure. The cost is $1/month, 12 months paid in advance and you can use it as often as you want in any direction you choose. The admin here says that his list is about 10 000 strong. I dunno, maybe. The site is really bad as far as anything to help track your campaigns or any tools whatsoever. I'm not even sure the mails get sent. He doesn't send you any confirmation or even a preview. Probably not a good spend. We'll see.

Direct Matches: Direct Matches is a networking site, much like Adlandpro and a few others that I didn't get into. You can sign up for free, use the tools available to you and see what's happening in your backoffice. Your 10 free emails get used up really quickly. And it gets old fast when you can't do many things that would help you accomplish your goals. I had it free for 3 months. I just recently upgraded to the first level, which they call "customer". That cost me about $13CAD. Many people on Direct Matches click your link and will actually contact you for more information about your business. I like the site and the real business minded people who are on it. Beware, there really aint no socializing, mostly business and business alone.

Affiliate programs:
Traffic Swarm
Adland Pro
Instant Buzz
Monster Matrix
Teaminator
Web Business Centre
Search Estate
Hits Frenzy
Oppseekers
GDIU
Site Submission
PlanetX

and so many more, I'm tired thinking 'bout them.
P.S. I did it for the free stuff and viral campaign!

My learning curve plateaus. I almost clearly see what is necessary for me to make the online thing work. Not a solution for everyone, but something that will work for me.

My ideal Backoffice has:

A viral marketing campaigner, which includes: mass emailer, mass site submission tool, ad copy writer, headline writer, mass ad poster, ability to publish your sites thru RSS feeds, autoresponder w/data management tool, what did I forget?
A follow up tool, which contains: a contact solution w/useful email, telephone and fax capabilities.The ability to download software, scripts, or learning materials at the touch of a button and no ads.
Automatic links to eprocessors (just enter your id&password and press a button to load the site)
Webside tools like a hit tracker, ad tracker, and things I haven't learned yet.
I would like people who come to my ideal backoffice to have access to forum-like networking. Trade goods or services, barter, auction or whatever.
Then there are the things that I haven't even touched, like SEO, Design, etiquette and legal requirements

Needless to say, there are so many things I think I will need to make the online thing work for me. The funny thing is that these things are not impossible to get. It might just cost a whole lot to set it up. Many of the tools I've listed can be found for free, others will have various fees. And I didn't even think of becoming a spammer, not even once.

In summation....
What did I do that was most useful? Just doing something. Posting an ad, publishing a blog, reading and following some of the things the writers said to do. Networking with like minded surfers. I've been surfing and chatting and that sort of stuff for many years now. I've signed up to other affiliate programs, but the difference this time is that I am actually advertising. I have an idea of how to drive traffic to my site, I know how to manage that traffic and convert it to sales (although I don't have all the tools in place -YET!). Perhaps I have an edge on some newbies, but it still took some concentration on my part to make it happen. Plus having a friend who's in the know like KAI EXOS helped me a lot. (Thanks Kai)

My mindset. Nirvana. I am actually happy doing this stuff. Maybe I could have been a programmer (it"s probably just as solitary as bookkeeping). I spend way too much time online when I should be sleeping.

My goal: Four weeks to have all the tools I've listed here, organized and in use. I should have my business site up by then. And then the real business begins...

Note to all newbies - You can buy every ebook out there in www land, buy an "automated" system or just believe that you don't have to do any work at all. None of those things will work until you decide that you'll just do it. Don't believe the hype. If it's gonna be done right you gotta JUST DO IT!

I know what you need

2006-01-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

Three weeks almost to the day that I made my first post.

"I know what you need. You need to do things exactly like I do it and by the way, here's how I do it. You can have it for $49.97 or upgrade to my super-deluxe bullcrap package for just $100 more. Plus for wasting your money with me, I'll give you these other useless ebooks and scripts and other stupidass downloads so you can waste your time reading useless information and learning how to use idiotic software, while I continue to sell other people like you my download of usless data and programs. Wait! It doesn't end there. Look at all these waste of realestate ads I have on my site. You could check out my competitors who will charge you ten times more for the same things I'm giving to you for just a one time waste of only $49.97. You'll come back here, just you watch and see!"

So, I had this conversation with you know who. Shh...KAI about spreading myself thin and information sites that have become adsense hog sites.

Background...
Kai is design oriented and republican in his viewpoint. Me, if I were political, I would be a mix of socialist and new democratic (cause I'm Canadian) with capitalistic tendencies, making me I guess a socialistic democrat. I only care about design as long as it don't give me a headache, if so, then I just leave the site and don't go back. We do get along pretty well and share ideas and we are able to agree to disagree and life goes on...

My intention was to culminate my experiences of the last three weeks with a post today, but our conversation sparked some clarity in my overall approach to online marketing.

Snitches...
Abuse of Google AdSense from Wikipedia today
Some webmasters create sites tailored to lure searchers from Google and other engines onto their AdSense to make money from clicks. These "zombie" sites often contain nothing but a large amount of interconnected, automated content (e.g. a directory with content from the Open Directory Project). Possibly the most popular form of such "AdSense farms" are splogs ("spam blogs"), which are centered around known high-paying keywords. Also many sites use the free Wikipedia content to attract visitors. These and related approaches are considered to be search engine spam and can be reported to Google.

Reading my previous posts, one might conclude that my background is street. Although I did go to college and I did do the corporate thing, for a minute, I'm still street. To the core. I don't snitch (yes, everything implied). One way to make a system work to its full potential is for the system to continuously improve and adapt. I think search engines should do just that. SEARCH. But if they release programs like PPC, PPI, Google's Adsense and such, they should expect that savvy advertisers will fully use its components. Why not? As it is, I'm playing with it and I am an average user.

An improvement goal for the search engine might then be to index searches a different way or offer the ability for the searchers to filter for the info they want.
Like, if the 157 people who searched for organic yogurt on yahoo in dec 2005 actually found sites that actually had useful information on organic yogurt and where to get it, rather than sites covered in ads by the various search engines, would they then be happier and not be whiners and snitch on the ad covered site which actually provides the same information (albeit probably not as visually pleasing)? Then what if only 50 of those 157 really wanted useful information and the other 107 wanted a start off point for their research and appreciated the sploglike sites? :)
Being silly, but you know... What is the balance and who decides (the search engine, the customer, who else?) how much is enough?

I have a small adsense banner on this blog and I'm thinking of putting a few more. Yes, for the hopeful payoff it might bring and as a way to learn how to use such tools effectively. I agree there should be some balance, but the amount is personal. I find myself wanting to click on some of the ads on this page, cause it's interesting to me. I am the average user, ain't I?

I don't hate spammers, I consider them aggresive advertisers, I do hate the techniques some of them use. I hate when they become too intrusive and steal and cheat and lie (sounds like a country song). I hate when you go to a site and you get 100 popups or popunders attacking you and leaving cookies on your hard drive in a sneaky way. I hate the several other things they do to make surfing miserable as well, but I don't hate aggresive advertisers who do what they feel they have to do and do it using available tools. Using an adsense hog site to redirect traffic ain't such a bad idea. If search engines thinks its spam, they should actually place a limit on ad code you can have at your site. Isn't that a simplier remedy than turning surfers into snitches?
... part 2 soon

Is it a Scam? Due Diligence All Over Again

2006-01-18T22:25:00.000-05:00

How do you know if the program you've just signed up for is a scam?

It doesn't even have to be a program. You might have ordered something from one of those "gurus" or from eBay or you might have just been surfing and found this great safelist from a random site. It could be anything. But what could you, would you do?

I'm only somewhat suspicious of things and have a tendency to take chances. The only thing is I'm not rich and can't throw good money after bad. Not forever anyways.

So what do I do to measure the validity of someone I plan to do business with online? Well for starters I use Kai's hard and fast rule - if the site looks like shit, 9 out of ten times it is shit. (So much for my blog :)

If it's something I think I can't live without and the site looks like shit then I do some due diligence. I google them, see who links to them, who they link to, who owns the site - Try Whois or one of those other domain name places, make phone calls, send emails. I do whatever it takes not to separate myself from my hard earned cash. If I still can't decide, I call Kai and ask him what he thinks.

A nice polished site ain't all that either. Do your Due Diligence. Even when the site looks nice, neat and professional. Who knows? Remember movies like "Catch Me if you Can" where a polished Leonardo D. dupes folks into believing he was what he wasn't. All he had to do was put on a uniform.

Scams come in all sizes, shapes and colours.

You can be scammed by telemarketers. General rule of thumb with telemarketers is if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. I came across this really cool telemarketer rebuttal script, but didn't bookmark it or I'd share it here.
Funny, cause I once ran a call centre, blah, blah,blah... a story for another time.

You can be scammed by chain letters asking you to send $1 to every one on the list then you make the list yourself and send it out with your name on top or something to that effect. SCAM! (yeah, you saw it too? - "As seen on Oprah!" I didn't see it on Oprah and I don't want to believe Oprah would endorse this scam)

You can be scammed by affiliate programs claiming to pay 1000000% every 10 days. (Where, where???) It's most likely a scam. HYIP's (High Yeild Investment Programs) are risky and as I've read elsewhere, don't invest money you can't afford to lose. It's like gambling.

What's a pyramid and is it a scam? You know, I read the Federal Trade Commissions' article on pyramid schemes and it's really a foreign language to me. One of my team members at Global Niche made this post at the Global Niche Forum and I thought he came across very clear (if wordy) in his explanation.

At least with eBay you can report the person, request a refund and do other things to get your money back if you pay for a win and don't receive your prize.

Suffice it to say, there really ain't no need to whine if you get scammed. You just jumped too fast. Take the time and make an informed decision. That means do your homework. Check them out before you buy it. Check out some of the scam sites out there (some are just whiners, so read between the lines with these).
Make sure you have safeguards in place, like being able to get a refund or chargeback on your credit card or knowing the procedure your e-processor has in place for such instances.

Big note - Vendors hate chargebacks. They'll do almost anything not to have a chargeback. The holder of their merchant account only allows about 2% for chargebacks before they close their accounts. And getting a good merchant is crazy hard, especially for online businesses (don't be fooled, it costs mucho dinero to do business online and offline)

For some reason, I feel kind of writish today, but I'm gonna stop there. Due Diligence is the key to not being scammed online or offline. But don't worry, even if one somehow falls through the cracks in your Due Diligence armour, don't feel so bad, give me a holla, we'll go find 'em and deal with their case. :D

PPC, Adsense et al

2006-01-17T11:09:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately,MasterCDT.com has not been published yet, so while I've been waiting I've been exploring PPC, Adsense, SEO and such. I absolutely love Problogger.net. He gives free information without all the trying to sell you stuff crap. His information, although a few months (years?) old is still timely, clear and applicable. I've also found some helpful tools that I've begun to explore. I will start posting reviews here as I learn them better.

Something is starting to click with this adsense and ppc stuff. I hope it clicks before it passes me by.

The other thing I've been exploring is Tagging or social bookmarking. I can't speak on it yet, cause I don't quite understand it. But some of the implications for marketing purposes are starting to dawn on me. For instance, there are about 10 (+/-) services that provide the ability to store your bookmarks online. Once they are stored you can access them from any computer with internet access. You have the ability to share your bookmarks with others in the service and to view their bookmarks. There seems to be several ways to broadcast your info as well. More stuff for me to learn.

I signed up with del.icio.us. It's a bit confusing but I'm learning. I believe that somehow I'll be able to use this for advertising purposes.

I also bumped into this site adsensepages.com. They just been online 4 days. They are selling a package that loads adsense ready websites. I tried to do due diligence but I came to road blocks. Their website is registered by a third party registrant and it stops there for me. It looks so good (because I want things ready made, I live in a fast food society and I am privvy to the mentality) and I am so tempted to purchase it, but I don't want to spend money. Dayum. I hate Kai for instilling this crazy caution in me. I'd like to throw caution to the wind and just buy it...

Diamonds on the net...

2006-01-13T21:49:00.000-05:00

I get over 10 000 hits with "Canadian Diamond Traders" on google. A good portion are other kinds of diamond sites in Canada. The program is being advertised by many of its members, but I think it's still early.

Canadian Diamond Traders still have some kinks in their setup. Their website sucks, but they say they are working on it. Right now their communication is about a 3 out of 10. They say by early March they'll be on track. Who knows? But I did get a diamond. I will post pictures soon.

Kai has uploaded my site. He says that I should see it by Saturday. Then it's advertise, advertise, advertise...

Just me thinking aloud...

Everyone is doing the same thing with advertising for this program. What can I do that is different? I really believe that I can do this program. Make some cash and diamonds for myself and for everyone who joins with my team. This has to be a team effort. Meaning everyone who signs up under me will have to commit to getting 2 people. I also figured out that I will have to find some way to help people who are clueless like myself. But how do I circumvent the competition?
How can I approach this in a way that potential members won't just read past, but will actually contact me for more info? Should I do a print ad in one of the local papers? Should I do a press release? Or join a forum? Do all of the above? Then some...

What did I do this week?
This week has been so busy. Hanging out with my favorite dude, obsessing over my progeny, the JOB, no time to advertise. Thank God for Sunshine - my daughter (picture).

The weather has been nice here in T.O. for the past week and that's put so many people into good spirits. I've been talking about the Canadian Diamond Traders to a few people and hope word of mouth helps. Sunshine has been advertising Global Niche for me. I put some time in when I could this week. I'll spend the weekend finding ways to make Master CDT more clickable. I will need to start advertising it as well. I am soooooo excited. My first website. It's gonna be a money maker. Just you watch... :)

About 1 Week Later...

2006-01-08T02:14:00.000-05:00

Just over one week since I wrote my first entry. I've gone back and looked over my first posts and seen somewhat of a progression. I am definately a newbie, but I think I'm making some progress.

I've almost run the gamut of some of the garbage marketing techniques online. I shouldn't call it garbage but it really is the underbelly, the scum of advertising. Most of the techniques I've been reading about and trying are somewhat underhanded and as Kai prepares to put up my website, I am still not sure how I want to proceed.

Here are my choices...

1. I could keep it pretty and respectable.

This means that I wouldn't cover my pages with affiliate links, no popups or popunders, no url rotators, no webrings, so forth and so on.

But Adsense might be okay. Free offers might be okay. But otherwise it will just be a respectable site promoting my Canadian Diamond Traders opportunity.

2. I could kill it with affiliate programs, and advertise the hell out of it with those real underhanded (read guerilla) methods of advertising.

I don't want to play around and keep things peachy, that really
ain't me. I'm grimy. Straight.
I'm not sure that this program will sell if its presented in a grimy way. There's already a negative feeling associated with multi-level marketing programs. Do I want to perpetuate that on my site?

I kinda want to keep it clean (and right now I don't have much choice)
because its such a nicely designed site and I have so many thoughts as to its
development.

Decisions, Decisions....

So what have I been up to the last few days?

First, I've been working at the J.O.B. which is kinda cool. I do bookkeeping on a contract basis. I have 2 clients presently. The guys at Hooplah are a hoot. I'm developing a deep affection for them. They sell novelty items online, like bobble heads, wacky wobblers and pez, drinking birds and other really odd throwback type novelties. They are also becoming PPC gurus. Google "fuzzy dice" and their site will come up on top, consistently.

Sidebar......I think that although I've been running from doing bookkeeping full-time, I might just have found a niche for myself. Doing bookkeeping for online business retailers and ebay sellers. It's accounting at a different kind of pace. You have to be real computer savvy and solution oriented. Do you see the light bulb over my head? I only found a couple links for what I'm thinking and not a bad keyword search count in overture...Hmmm?

I convinced my daughters to be my minions and do some posting for me. Craigs List has given me the most hits so far on the Global Niche site. Then AdlandPro. I actually got a hit from google, which is kinda good. I just did a google search on "global niche" and my global niche link is on the first page - whoa! What does this mean? What did I do right? The keyword phrase "global niche" doesn't even come up with any suggestions on overtures keyword selector tool. It's still kind of cool though.

I have one sign up, but I'm not sure if its from spillover or my own efforts.

I've done a lot of reading on various things. For instance I read this dude's blog called problogger.ca. It was like a personal web page, but in blog style. I actually felt comfortable being there and didn't want to leave. He had a lot of good posts on various subjects pertinent to me and my journey. I also downloaded this free ebook by Ken Evoy on Affiliate Marketing. You can download it here for free. Ken Evoy has a few free ebooks that I found helpful. You'll need adobe acrobat reader to view it.

I also spoke to my upline in the global-niche program. A cool dude named Jim. At least it finally feels like there's a pulse. I mean what is the good of network marketing if you don't network. I hope to get a chance to speak to his upline, he sounds like the shiznit. Jim told me that Global Niche is still in prelaunch and there are already over 600 members. Kewl! They are getting ready to do a massive email campaign on Monday.

That's it in a nutshell...I'm really feeling postive about this journey.

Revelations... the internet is a joke

2006-01-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

"Really it isn't, I don't think I like that attitude... "

That's what KAI said about the comment a mutual client said about the internet during one of our daily conversations. I went to our clients defense because I kind of understood what he meant. It's crazy ridiculous what people are doing to make money online.

I was thinking about a street festival we have here in Toronto called the "Taste of the Danforth". On Danforth Ave just east of the Don Valley for about 2 miles you can have some of the best Mediterranean (ok mostly Greek) and international food in the city. The 3 day festival attracts over 1/2 million participants. A friend of mine has a clothing store in the vicinity where she sells her own designs. The first year she sold only casual wear and underclothing for both men and women. She had over 700 pieces in stock at the time and she had been in business for only 6 months and was struggling to get clientele and make some sales. Anyways, during the 3 day festival she sold all 700 pieces plus another 150 which she manufactured during the 3 days. She made more money in those 3 days than she had made all the previous months put together.

When someone says the internet is a joke, this is what I think they mean. It's like this festival where there are over 1 billion people in attendance. And lining the streets are 100 million booths selling everything from chips that look like St. Peter to trips to the moon, plus every organization known to man has a booth and every crackpot has a booth and every wannabe has a booth. Is it all for real? Or is it a joke?

I mean if 1 billion people attended a festival in your town and you had a booth, wouldn't it be more than likely that everything you had in your booth would sell?

I have come to several revelations regarding making money online today.

#1 - F**k free marketing. It's crazy time consuming and really doesn't exist. I mean if you have time to sit and post ads, track clicks and conversions, surf for credits and the millions of other things you have to do then go ahead and do it. You'll eventually find a way to manage it all, and after a few months you'll see your click thru and conversion rates increase. I will continue with this anyways because I'm not a quitter.
#2 - If you have everything setup already (product website, payment processor, etc), do pay for performance marketing (pay per click, pay per impression and so forth). Using my festival analogy, it's like having someone walking around and listening to everyone talking about what they want and as soon as someone says something almost like what you have at your booth, they're given a flyer about your booth, then given a ride right to your booth. Okay somewhat simplified, but you get me right?
#3 - I'm a whore. Straight. I'll sell anything even if it's amoral. Dollars have to run. Ok just jokes, I'm not interested in selling sex, but neither am I opposed to it. I'll do whatever has to be done to make money online. Period.

Okay what have I done since yesterday? Well, I realize that in order for this affiliate program thing to work I need to have my own website where I can set up all the urls and such. So I found this site where you get your own url with 25 megs of space. That's good enough for what I want to do (kind of I think). I'm tired tonight and gotta work tomorrow, so I will spend the time away from my computer mapping out what I want to do with the affiliate programs I've signed up with and the money I've spent on programs already and use that space to implement it. Kai's supposed to have my site www.cdtmasters.com up by Friday. So I have a few more days to decide how to proceed with what I'm doing. I have 50 hits on the global niche program, but no signups yet. I think that global niche program needs an opt-in popup or popunder whatever... it caught me but I was directly interested in finding a program for Canadian Diamond Traders. I think I should rethink my ads and really focus on putting it out there for the crowd seeking to join Canadian Diamond Traders. Suggestions are welcome. Later..

Sleepless Nights...

2006-01-02T02:37:00.000-05:00

Hey, Happy New year! Jan 2.

I've spent the last three days with this marketing stuff. Well trying stuff out anyway. I found this article that really summed up a lot of why I didn't start doing anything online before. I like writing but sometimes it sounds better when someone else writes.

I have spent, how many years searching and searching and not quite sure of what to do and how to do it. I can't say that things are much different now, except I am actually trying things out.

So these are the links to affiliate programs I've signed up for:
Traffic swarm, you sign up here and surf through some of the links which are advertisement for various online businesses. I figured it would make sense to use the time I spent surfing wisely and perhaps profitably. I had been surfing anyways for information and ways to market the global niche program.
Oppseekers, You can buy leads from this company, plus they have an affiliate program. I figured I could sign up for them because I was running a telemarketing company before and made a few contacts who were always looking for good leads for their programs. I haven't done much with it yet, but I have set up their affiliate program.
Hits frenzy is just that. another classifieds kind of thing. I liked the banners (*smiles*).

I also paid for another program that sends out opt-in emails to subscribers who paid by paypal. This is called a safelist. This guy claims to have over 20 000 subscribers. The program costs $24/month for a franchise and I get a website where I can offer others the mailer for $12/year or a franchise for $24/month too. I get the whole $12 from people who sign up for the mailer and $12/month for those who purchase the franchise. I bought this franchise because I could see the relevance of having access to a huge list of opt in subscribers who are already buyers and are also interested in marketing online and making money.

My franchise site is up now. I will let you know how it's working as far as mailing to the safelists.
Do you like how I'm learning how to use the html stuff????? I'm learning...Kai you will be proud of me yet!

What's been working so far? Well its only been a few days but so far the ads I posted on craigslist has driven the most traffic to my site. (I am using the global niche opportunity) 30 unique visitors so far, no signups yet though. Work work work. My signature link in the MoneyMakersGroup forum also sent a few to my page.

I think if I spend a few hours each day marketing in about 3 months this stuff will be crazy. I hope soon enough...

Am I addicted???

2005-12-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

New years eve 2006... So I was looking at what else I could do to drive people to my site. It seems every thing is the same. This in a box, that in 3 simple steps... and it all requires work. My lazy ass had one good day, sort of. But that doesn't mean I should stop... am I addicted? It will take about 7 - 30 days to see the outcome of the work I did yesterday. So should I be posting more ads to free lists or write press realeases or just keep on looking for that one way to boost my program?

None of the tools in any of these programs are gonna be of any use to anyone who doesn't want to read or doesn't want to do any work or just doesn't understand the language. Remember how much time I spent on that shit yesterday. I literally had to read things over 3 and 4 times to get it. Then even after I read it I had to go back and read again while I was doing it.

If you want to make money, there is no easy way about it. You got to do the work. You got to read, you got to get your feet wet. You could buy all the "GURU" material you can find and you could read them all and do exactly what they say to do and you may or may not reach your goals, but the one thread that runs true is that you are doing something.

It won't work to be half-assed (like me). It won't work to do some of the things. And it surely wont work if you just spend your money and sit on things. If you've read some of the testimonials from people out there who are doing something online to make money, they will tell you how many years it took them and how much credit card bills they ran up and how their wife left them and so on. It all kind of goes over my head. But you will probably go through the same thing. What do you have to do? I don't really know except that you have to DO!

You can come along on my journey and I will tell you the things I do each day and how much actual time I spend doing it and what I spent money on. I say don't sign up for anything until your sure your ready to spend time marketing it. There really is nothing in a box, or an easy 3 step way to do anything. If you don't know much about the internet or computers, then I would say spend some time on that first. Learn about things like setting up email and subscribe to paypal.com and stormpay.com. Open an e-gold account. Join some forums and start posting. Write a blog to get your thoughts down somewhere and where you can go back and see your progress.

Shit, I sound like I'm preaching. See ya tomorrow!

Happy New Year! Live long and prosperous :)

Oh my God

2005-12-30T23:46:00.000-05:00

I've been online literally 15 hours straight. For me that would be kind of normal, but I'm usually crunching numbers. Today I spent the whole day promoting that site I signed up for. So far I haven't spent any money. I made a quick trip to scarberia, picked up my eldest daughters and dropped them home. Then it was back here. I have a friend coming over. Its his earth day and we gonna kick it a little.

Okay what did I do? I spent a good part of the day on craigs list (craigslist.org). Checking out the ads in the business sections. I randomly picked about 10 cities and read some of the more relevant ads in the small biz sections. I picked ads that attracted my attention, nothing real specific. Some of these ads led me to sites that caught my interest, but for the most part it was mostly crap.

The most useful thing I used today was the backoffice of the program I paid $20 to join (sorry for the shameless plug, but I got marketing fever http://global-niche.com/default.php?id=408 . I signed up using paypal (paypal.com). This site has crazy stuff and although I consider myself pretty good with programs and such it was a real learning curve for me.

Digressing... I had literally 5 calls today from friends trying to use the internet. One of 2 things - my friends are mostly illiterate or just poor and out of the loop. I became frustrated on one call and got her off the line quick. But it just made me realize how daunting an experience can be when you have no idea what's being said. It's like another language. I will be more considerate of those who don't know. I have this attitude that everyone at least knows the basics, but not so, not so atall.

Anyways, needless to say I can really appreciate the challenge computer newbies encounter.

Okay, I posted 6 ads on craigs list, submitted my site to 10 search engines, subscribed to a blogblaster (i know i suck), scripted a url rotator and something else i cant remember right now... so dayum my day is ... I'm fading

Canadian Diamond Traders in a NUTshell

2005-12-30T13:52:00.000-05:00

This is a quote from a forum where one dude was just going off about the CDT being a scam. I've put one of the final responses below. The writer is "gameplayer". I'm posting it below cause it felt real.

"Honestly, this thread is off the rails and just goes on and on with falsehoods and opinions that run contrary to the real world and facts. The Canadian Diamond Traders website very carefully covers that the product they are selling is DIAMONDS. That is the product and that is the only product. They are a diamond company and they sell diamonds. The affiliate program is set up to sell diamonds and get them into the hands of consumers. There is nothing illegal about that. There is a link on their website that spends PAGES AND PAGES carefully laying out every single legal requirements to differentiate a PYRAMID SCHEME from a proper MLM structure. It lays out every point of the law in regards to this and explains in great detail how they have arranged the Diamond Trading Program to be in full compliance with Canadian law. This is a DIAMOND TRADING PROGRAM. It is not illegal. It is very carefully put together to be legal. If you feel some aspect of it is illegal, then PLEASE take the exact points of law you feel are being contravened by this company and MAIL IT TO THEM so they can have their legal team look into it and correct anything that is wrong, if there were indeed to be anything actually wrong. Just going on and on about it here does not help anyone. This is a real live company in Toronto, run by real people who are trying to make a living. Why all this noise in cyberspace that is not helping anyone? It just runs down an actual and real company. When someone signs up for the diamond program, he is making a down payment on a DIAMOND, which is delivered after a certain procedure has been followed to completion. The diamonds that are sold are individually appraised and certified by a company EXTERNAL to CANADIAN DIAMOND TRADERS. The certificate states exactly the cut, clarity, weight and so on of the diamond as well as its replacement value in Canadian dollars. It is done in Canadian dollars as it is a Canadian company. And there is nothing wrong with CDN as an abbreviation for Canadian. I have been Canadian for 5 decades and I have seen this over and over as a standard abbreviation. Each person that joins invites in two new members. Nothing wrong with that. Yes, each person has to do this for the system to work. Some will do less and some will do more. I have been in the program since early November and I have a diamond enroute to me now, as my initial position fulfilled all the requirements of the feeder board I was on. My positiion has now moved onto the upper board and is a CUTTER on that board (2nd level). I estimate it will be about 2 months before that position will be eligible for payout (in other words for all requirements to be fulfilled before the payout can occur on that position). In my estimate it takes about 4 months for a position to go through the whole procedure from beginning of the feeder board to the final payout on the main diamond board. Honestly, why be on such a rampage against this company and this program? The product is DIAMONDS into the hands of consumers, nothing more and nothing less. And the program has been checked out by a Crown Attorney and found to be legal. This not an internet ponzi or scam. It is a two-year old BRICK AND MORTAR company on Steeles Avenue in Toronto. It is right there in the real world. Anyone can go there and see what is going on and and get briefed and see the diamonds that are the product of this company. They advertise on a Toronto radio station. It is an actual company. They are trying to markedly increase their market share of the diamond industry in Canada, thus the Diamond Trading Program. Their business is sales and distribution of diamonds. The more people they can get to buy diamonds, the bigger they will succeed. And this program is designed to activate and empower financially an ever expanding sphere of affiliates in the process. They even have a money back guarantee for anyone who does not manage to get their payout. It is a win-win situation for all who honestly particpate and do their share. That's the way I see it."

Due Diligence

2005-12-29T16:00:00.000-05:00

I found out today that due diligence is what stock brokers do before they decide to add a company to their portfolio. Online Marketers and investors also use the term to describe what they do before they choose particular programs to join.

In this last week, I've learned what HYIP's are, what Forex is and a whole slew of other crap - doublers, surfs, u name it. And basically people invest in this crap... Who are these people and why do they invest in this crap. How much money is actually moving around on these schemes. Really, aren't they schemes. Is that what we all do... scheme?

I signed up for a new one today (hehe) global niche. Okay take a look, but don't stay too long http://global-niche.com/default.php?id=408

Did I do due diligence? Not even. Is this a reflection of my lazy nature? Why do I ask myself all these questions .. is that my due diligence?

I figure I would use this program to practice with some of the tools I want try out such as blog blasting (sounds destructive), url rotating and perhaps one or 2 more.

I feel like I'm digressing, from CDT Masters. But maybe not...

Diamonds on the net...

2005-12-28T19:02:00.000-05:00

I get about 10 000 hits with "Canadian Diamond Traders" on google. The program is being advertised, but i think it's still early. A good portion are other kinds of diamond sites in Canada. Canadian Diamond Traders still have some kinks in their setup. Their website sucks, but they say they are working on it. Right now their communication is about a 3 out of 10. They say by early March they'll be on track. Who knows? But I did get a diamond. I will post pictures soon.

Kai has uploaded my site . He says that I should see it by Saturday. Then its advertise, advertise, advertise...

Just me thinking aloud...
Everyone is doing the same thing with advertising this program. What can I do that is different? I really believe that I can do this program. Make some cash and diamonds for myself and for everyone who joins with my team. This has to be a team effort. Meaning everyone who signs up under me will have to commit to getting 2 people. I also figured out that I will have to find some way to help people who are clueless like myself.

But how do I circumvent the other ads out there? How can I approach this in a way that potential members won't just read past this, but will actually contact me for more info?

Should I do a print ad in one of the local papers? Should I do a press release? Or join a forum? Do all of the above? Then some...

This week has been so busy. Hanging out with my favorite dude, obsessing over my progeny, the JOB, no time to advertise. Thank God for Sunshine - my daughter (picture). The weather has been nice here in T.O. for the past week and that's put so many people into good spirits. I've been talking about the Canadian Diamond Traders to a few people and hope word of mouth helps. Sunshine has been advertising Global Niche for me. I put some time in when I could this week. I'll spend the weekend finding ways to make Master CDT more clickable. I will need to start advertising it as well. I am soooooo excited. My first website. It's gonna be a money maker. Just you watch...:)

Yes, It's True! You get Diamonds!

2005-12-28T17:27:00.000-05:00

You can make money online. That's all I'm interested in when it comes to using the internet. But how? How the hell!?

I'm lazy as hell. I don't want to read what the Guru's wrote. I don't want to surf. I don't want to do surveys and I sure as hell don't want to sell shit. So how can I make money when I'm so lazy and don't want to do shit???

First, I guess I have to get over being a lazy shit and do something. This blog is my something.
Second, I should get a website. But about what? I'm interested only in 2 things, sex and making money. If you google either you get zillions of websites already catering to these subjects. So what do I do now?
Okay, I'm a bookkeeper and one of my clients sells retro novelty items online. They make about $300 000 a year in sales. They seem to love what they do and just do it. So my third guess is that I should just do it.

Who cares if its already been done and being done. Just do it.

Get over being lazy, get a website up and just do the dayum thing.

I've registered a domain called mastercdt.com, I'm building the website now with a great web designer kaiexos.com and then I gotta market it and manage it. It's not gonna be easy. I am sifting through different marketing techniques and options. I want to spend as little as I can on marketing but realize that I will need to spend to make.

One thing all my associates and friends tell me is that I give good advice. But I'm stubborn and take advice badly. So what does that mean? Well, I could go to my client and ask them how they make over 300 grand a year and actually listen to their advice. Or I could actually subscribe to one of the millions of "Secrets to Internet Marketing" ebooks sold online and actually read and apply the writers suggestions. Or I could go my own stubborn way and learn as I go along.

If I was being efficient, I would read one of those books. But I can't stand it. Who is right, who is bullshit, who is just a scam? My client has offered to assist me with marketing... Should I take up their offer?

I will be marketing a mlm program called "Canadian Diamond Traders". It's a brick and mortar company here in Toronto. They wholesale diamonds, but I guess to take their business to another level, they've started this mlm side to their business. At first it looks like a pyramid to me. Well the payout plan is set up like a 2x3 matrix (whatever that is) and you have to get people to place a deposit on a diamond.

So I did my due diligence and went to the company, attended one of their presentations and joined up. I got 10 of my friends to join up too. The problem is most people are like me. They just some lazy shits (true but jokes). My website will be up in a few days (hopefully) and now I got to market it. That's the only way me and my friends are gonna make some money from this program. So where should I go? I get so easily annoyed.

I got my first diamond. It's a 1/4 carat diamond worth $525 CAD (so I made back my initial $100 investment). And I moved to the board where I will make $3000 plus a 1/2 carat diamond when I cycle out. My problem is that I've been on that board for 4 weeks now. I want to get this thing moving!

The Guru's say to start posting to forums, write press releases and such things. But how do I chose? Who do I target? What do I write?

I'm just too stubborn.....

Losing my virginity

2005-12-28T16:02:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh...My first post...

I've been on the internet for the past ten years. First just using the chat pages to talk sex with strangers, got bored of that in the first year. Then it was looking for business opportunities, can you believe I'm still looking. I google home based business, work at home business, you name it, I've googled it. Something like 35 billion hits come back. Okay, so how does the average user sift through it all?

I consider myself the average user. I've made purchases online using paypal. I subscribe to all kinds of newsletters and such. I've joined numerous forums and lurk on many more. I've read hundreds of blogs. I use the internet to find services that I cannot find in the yellow pages at home. I use the internet to research people and companies I have some interest in or plan to do business with. The average stuff people use the internet for. So I'm losing my virginity and blogging.

Why? Well really I think somewhere inside me is a writer wanting to get out, but I think writing makes me relax and to have somewhere to rant and rave, share some crazy stories and maybe, just maybe make some sense of the internet to myself and anyone who reads my blog. Feel free to share your comments and anything else. Trust me you'll see blood, this is the real thing.