Just Purchased BANS
By Alan | May 12, 2008
In March I blogged about how I was going to try my hand at BANS. Well, I got busy on other projects but finally I’ve cleared time to check out BANS!
I just ordered it and I’m going to check it out. I did do some domain/ebay research looking for niches and that has been a lot of fun. Now to add BANS sites for those domains.
Stay tuned. I’ll post once I install it and get to check it out. I literally just ordered it and I came here to post this so I haven’t even unzipped the BANS download file yet. 
Topics: BANS | No Comments »
Jeremy Palmer’s Black Ink Project
By Alan | May 8, 2008
This week I started a wonderful new course from super affiliate, Jeremy Palmer. Jeremy is the author of the High Performance Affiliate Marketer e-book (which he is now giving away for free).
Jeremy is amazing and his new course: Black Ink Project has been fantastic. And he is offering this course for free! That’s right. No stings attached. I’m speechless to be honest at how much he is giving back.
At first he only had 1,000 seats open and registration was quickly closed but now he has more seats available so go and register now!
The course lasts until June 20th and it’s one week on and one week off. We’re supposed to implement what we learned during the week off.
Everyday at 3:00 PM PST is the class which is a one hour webinar hosted via webex. Within 24-48 hours that webinar is available for download. I like converting the audio portion into an MP3 so I can listen to it while I work out.
This is truly a unique course. He could easily be charging a lot of cash for it but he has not. So get over there now and register.
Topics: Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »
Tube Mogul Review
By Alan | May 5, 2008
Tube Mogul is a great video marketing tool. I can upload my video once via Tube Mogul and it will be posted to several video sites such as You Tube, Google Video, Yahoo Video, Viddler, and others.
Plus you get really cool stats on our video’s metrics such as views, comments, and more. And the best part is Tube Mogul is free! Check out this video tour of Tube Mogul. I uploaded this video via Tube Mogul and I’m showing it below with Viddler.
Topics: Internet Marketing Video Tips | 1 Comment »
Internet Marketing Product Launches Coming In May
By Alan | May 1, 2008
There is a lot of activity on the Internet marketing forums and from some of the gurus ezines that May is going to be a very busy month with several big product launches coming.
I’m not sure how bad it’s going to be–I don’t have insider connections. But, it appears our in-boxes will be flooded with new launches. I would imagine many of these will be hyped up and that the JV partners will be competing for prizes and bragging rights to being the top affiliate for these product launches.
Although I’m sure some of these new products will be very cool, I would like to warn you to be responsible.
If you’re already succesful and making a living online and you want to learn something new–by all means go for it. But if you’re struggling, do not jump on the next fad. Focus on what you have on your plate right now.
You do not need to buy every single damn new product launch. That is a bad habit that will keep you from succeeding and it will just put you in debt as you keep buying the latest Internet marketing fad.
These product launches are done by pros at getting you to part with your money. They pay thousands of dollars to top copywriters to write sales page that will make you want to buy. I’m not immune to it! It’s good copy but remember it’s just that-good copy!
If you’re already trying something, BANS, PLF 2.0, whatever it is…focus on that!
Finish creating that product. Finish launching your affiliate review site. Finish what you’re doing before you jump to the next fad. Fad jumping will get you nowhere.
Topics: Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Google Rankings and PPC
By Alan | May 1, 2008
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Pay Per Click (PPC) scares the crap out of me! I’m slowly overcoming my fears of PPC, thanks to Perry Marshall’s excellent e-book on the subject: The Definitive Guide to Adwords.
I wrote a review of The Definitive Guide to Adwords last summer in July of 2007. And almost a year later it is still the best book about Google Adwords–period.
Aaron Wall who wrote the great e-book on SEO called the SEO Book. It’s also one of my recommended readings but, he’s now pulled it from the markets. So, if you procrastinating in getting it–you’re out of luck.
Anyway, Aaron has a new study on the importance of Google Rankings to your business. It’s more comprehensive then reports out there for sale and he is offering his analysis for free: What is Google Ranking Worth? Aaron writes about the importance of managing your PPC campaigns. I don’t spend a lot on PPC. I feel I would be glued to my computer tracking results to make sure I’m not throwing my advertising money away.
Reading Aaron’s post re-enforces why it’s so important to have a game plan when it comes to Google rankings and PPC. It can be very intimidating for a newbie. It intimidates me and I have some experience with it. So, please–if you’re going to delve into PPC with Google Adwords–don’t do it alone. Get Perry Marshall’s course, The Definitive Guide to Adwords. You won’t regret it. And in the world of $97 e-books this great tool is under 50 bucks. It really is a no-brainier.
Tip: Opt-in to Perry Marshall’s list. His five day course is free and well worth it!
Topics: Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Internet Marketing Social Bookmarking Sites and Spam
By Alan | April 30, 2008
As Internet marketers we’re always looking for traffic for our sites. Be it for our own product like Niche Podcasting (yea shameless plug) or for products we’re promoting as affiliates. Social Bookmarking sites like Digg have long been taunted by folks in the Internet marketing community as a great way for getting traffic.
An Internet marketer whom I respect a lot, Steven Wagenheim wrote a great post on the Warrior forum titled “The Hype Of Social Bookmarking“ about his expereices with social bookmarking sites. His conclusion was it just wasn’t worth the effort for a marketing perspective. Another of my favortite Internet marketer’s, Lee McIntyre, agreed adding that sure you can get traffic but it converts very poorly. What good is a flood of traffic that doesn’t convert into traffic?
Another problem that I see with trying tap traffic from sites like Digg, is that diggers don’t dig marketers much and they’ll bury you in a second if they get a whiff of marketing.
Just recently, I wanted to digg a cool article from an Internet marketers blog (not mine) and I got this URL has been banned message: 
This guy is not a spammer. He is a well respected member of the Warrior forum and he always conducts himself with what I like to call honest/no-hype Internet marketing. Yet, I’m assuming he tried to use Digg for a promotional campaign and it got him banned.
Granted I do not know the specifics of what happened to him. But, that is why you have to be so careful when using these bookmarking sites.
So, lets see…I have to worry about getting branded a spammer by the users, if I don’t the traffic I get from these sites is crap (in terms of converting into buyers). Hmmm, I’m agreeing even more with Steve’s post about the hype of social bookmarking.
Topics: Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Guest Blogging on Web Redirection
By Alan | April 29, 2008
I’ve been following Josh Spaulding on Twitter right from the get-go. I’ve long admired his work since I first came across him over at the Warrior forum. He’s an Internet marketer that focuses on making money online via ethical marketing. No hype or B.S. My kinda marketing!
Josh sent out a tweet last week for a guest blogger to write about web redirection methods. Web redirection is a subject I know well. For those of you who have been reading my Internet marketing blog from the start, it began under a different domain (stop the internet marketing insanity). When I decided to re-brand this blog with the more positive domain: IM Nirvana–I used the 301/302 web redirection method in order to avoid being sent to Google’s sandbox and lose my ranking.
I’m also an avid believer in redirecting all affiliate links. My next e-book is all about affiliate link cloaking. So I jumped at the chance to write an article on web redirection methods for Josh’s blog. You can read that article over at his blog here:
Web Redirection Methods Explained
Topics: Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Blogging and Viral Marketing Make Yahoo’s Career List
By Alan | April 24, 2008
Word is out. Blogging can make you money. It can even–gasp– be a career. According to Yahoo’s featured article: “10 Great Careers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of“. It listed blogging as #4 on their list. Now everyone is going to want in.
Hey, now when family and friends ask what I do, I’ll just say blogging and send them the link. Easier than trying to explain Internet marketing.
Coming in at #4:
Just 10 years ago, blogging would have sounded to most like a verb relegated to video games. But now, freelance writers, marketers, Web designers, finance professionals–even tea-drinkers–can draw people from around the world to read what they’re thinking. Businesses are catching on, which is why they’ll often hire people to blog about their products, and some bloggers can actually sell ads on their personal blogs. Are your personal thoughts worth paying for? They are, especially if you have education and a unique voice. Top bloggers can make six figures, and a handful are said to make millions.
Honorable mention at #3: viral marketing. Good gig if you can get it. And I thought I didn’t like hype in marketing.
Here is how the article describes viral marketing:
They’re not marketers with colds. Remember when, in the months before The Blair Witch Project
opened in theaters, the Sci-Fi Channel documentary and accompanying Web site garnered a Witch cult following? This hype, a spectacular viral marketing campaign, led a $60,000 film pull in nearly $30 million dollars on opening weekend. Viral marketers, savvy marketing or advertising pros with multimedia design training, create “contagion” about products or services through word-of-mouth. And the more sophisticated audiences get, the more sophisticated tactics by well-trained viral marketers will be needed. In big cities, marketers average roughly $80,000
Topics: Blogging | No Comments »
WordPress Plugin Hacked by Spammers
By Alan | April 18, 2008
I was knocked out of blogging for a few days because low-life hacking spammers. Somehow one of these dirt-bags hacked this WordPress blog (the one you’re reading right now).
I was on WP 2.2 and my blog was hacked. It’s very subtle because they don’t want you to notice. They sneak in like a thief in the night and they slipped in a plugin that deactivates all my plugins. The goal being to deactivate Askimet and my other anti-spam plugins so they can post garbage spam in my comment fields.
Luckily I moderate all comments even though I use anti-spam plugins so they never were posted but I noticed I was getting a lot of spam comments that were getting through, when before then Askimet always caught them and sent them to spam hell without me even looking at them.
These are obvious spam comments, you know the ones with a 100 links to porn or rx sites.
I saw the spike of these spam comments in my moderation queue but I still didn’t put 2 and 2 together. My site was still up (it’s not like they plaster an “owned” sign on my blog). Like I said they don’t want you to know so they can spam comment your blog.
I finally caught on when I went to use my SLM plugin to add an affiliate link and it was gone. I was very confused about that- so, I went to my site and paid a close look and noticed some of the sidebar stuff (which is powered by plugins) were gone.
I went to check and sure enough all my plugins were deactivated. I re-activated them. I changed my password and sent a support ticket to my host.
Support suggested upgrading to 2.5 which he says prevents these type of hacks. During that time the hacker plugin did it’s thing again. So I had to re-activeate them again.
My host support finally found the hacker plugin. It’s not just listed on your plugin menu they hide it. So he deleted and now I’m back to normal.
Side effect is while that plugin was running I couldn’t post. Instead of publishing my post it would just save it as a draft. I also had my about page and contact page deleted but all my posts were intact and now things are back to normal.
I don’t know if v 2.5 would have prevented this but you might as well as upgrade to the latest version since they address these type of vulnerabilities. My web hosting support rep suggested upgrading to the latest version is always the best bet. I just like to wait a month or two to let any bugs be worked out and give theme and plugin designers a chance to make their stuff compatible. But I’ve now upgraded and I had no problems.
Take away from this experience is to always keep an eye on your blog and always moderate your comments even if you have anti-spam plugins activated.
Topics: Blogging | No Comments »
I’m Jumping on the Twitter Bandwagon - Come Follow Me!
By Alan | April 17, 2008
I first heard of Twitter on Leo Laporte’s TWIT podcast. Leo and Amber interviewed Twitter founder Evan Williams (who also founded Odeo and Blogger - wow). I recommend listening to that podcast.
Anyway, I’ve heard a lot of the buzz in the past year but I’ve been holding off. My main fear was getting sucked into a fun but time wasting world. Like most Internet marketers managing my time is one of issues I try to work on every day. But Lynn Terry has finally convinced me to take the Twitter plunge.
Lynn has been blogging about Twitter and there is a post on SSWT of members Twitter accounts and a similar post on the Warrior Forum. Beyond the fact that it just looks like fun to tweet with fellow forum mates, Lynn made a great case on the marketing and networking possibilities of Twitter.
I’ve only have a day under my belt but so far I’m really digging it. And yes it can be a time waster but I’m seeing it much more beneficial. The benefits I’m seeing have suprised me.
First it’s just down-right motivational. I’m following Internet marketers that I really admire like Lynn Terry, Teli Adlam, Paul Colligan, Brian Clark and many others. It’s like looking over their shoulder as they work and that just gets you pumped.
Second, it’s great to see people helping each other and networking. Doing this IM business full-time can is pretty lonesome. I work from home so I don’t have co-workers to chit-chat with so Tweeting is like hanging out at the water cooler in an office.
And third, which really suprised me…it has focused me. I found myself tweeting: “I’m now working on my e-book” and it made me zero in and work on my e-book instead of wandering off somewhere online. It’s like they could see me…”oh, look, Alan isn’t really working on his book, he’s surfing on MLB.com”.
So, although it’s only been a day I’m seeing what all the Twitter buzz is all about. Thanks Lynn. And any one want to join me on Twitter you can do so here: http://twitter.com/alanpetersen
Topics: Internet Marketing | 1 Comment »