New Launches Archives

Managing Multiple Blogs With Gmail and Posterous

Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 1:40 pm  
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Coming up on my second year of blogging and internet marketing and I find myself with dozens of domains and at least 12 blogs that I want to keep up to date with fresh content.  Until recently this had been a major challenge but I have finally come up with a process that simplifies the task.

Using only gmail, Google reader and Posterous, I can now easily post to two or three blogs each day.  

To accomplish this takes a about 30 minutes to an hour set up for each blog that you want to manage but the set-up time is time well spent as it will save you many hours in the future.  Here's the basic steps to get started with your own Blog Management System:

  1. If are not already using gmail, sign up for a gmail account to use has your master account.
  2. If don't already have an email address specifically for your niche, sign up one with gmail.
  3. Redirect your mail from this address to be redirected to your master account.  (This will allow you to view all incoming mail in one place)  To do this go to Settings: Forwarding and POP/IMAP: Add a Forwarding Address.  This is a two step process as you need to verify the address from your master account and then come back and Enable Forwarding.  You can at this time elect to Delete the mail from the original box or Archive a copy after forwarding. 
  4. The next step is to add your niche address to your master email account as a Sending From address.  This will be done from the Settings tab in the master email account.  Just pick Send From Another Email address and add your niche address.  Again this will have to be verified.
  5. The next step is to create a Posterous account for your niche, using your unique niche email address.  Add at least a half dozen sites to autopost to, including your blog in this list is optional.  Some experts believe you publish to your blog separately.
  6. Now you are set up to add content to any of your Posterous accounts directly from your master email account simply by selecting the niche address as your Sent From address when emailing a post to post@posterous.com.  
  7. You can also add your master account as a Contributor to your niche Posterous account by going to Autopost page and selecting Contributor tab, adding your master email account to each niche Poserous account.  Doing this will make it possible to post to any Posterous account (and it's related autopost pages) through the Email this options in Sharoholic or some other quick email key.  When using one of these choices you must email your post to post@nichename.posterous.com…  where nichename is replaced with your Posterous page name.    For example:  I can post this article to My Favorite Online Business Tools directly from my email account or by emailing the article to post@posterous.com from one of the email addresses listed as Contributors for that account.
Setting up my blogs to post through Posterous and Gmail allows me to use the Google Reader to research and study my niche and  and using the Email button in Google Reader I can direct a comment on a article in my Reader to any Posterous account that has my master account is listed as a contributor.

If you run into a problem following these directions, please let me know.  This is my first attempt at outlining the procedure…there may be glitches.
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Why I Am NOT Buying Affiliate Marketing 2.0

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 at 1:13 pm  
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How many emails did you receive this morning for the launch of Affiliate Marketing 2.0?  I deleted at least six before starting this post.  I read two because they came from folks I really like and have met personally which goes to show that relationships (ROI) do work.

So why am I not jumping on the Early Bird Link and signing up? 

Reason 1: If you watched the first four videos you will noticed they touched on the necessity to pick a strategy and sticking to it.  That is exactly what I am going to do.  It is not that I think Affiliate Marketing 2.0 is not an excellent program.  It looks GREAT.  It is just that I am already following a great program and I am convince that any of these wonderful programs advertised online and via email will lead to success IF a person starts at step one and follows through to the end of the program.   So that's what I am going to do, stick with the one I am currently do until I have completed the entire process.

Reason 2: Reason 1 is really the motivation of my actions but I am giving reason two for disclosure purposes just so someone doesn't call me later.  Affiliate Marketing 2.0 doesn't accept affiliate partnerships with folks like me who don't have a list of at least 5000 followers so even though you will find links to the program in this post they are one of two things, links to contest that is running along with the launch, and yes I get points if you enter the site from that link or links that will take through the affiliate link of one my favorite marketing gurus, Bill McIntosh.  So if you are not currently working through a marketing program and you decide that Affiliate Marketing 2.0 is the package that you want to buckle down and work through and you buy it through Bill's link be sure to follow up and send Bill a copy of your receipt so you will get his bonuses along with your purchase.

So that's it.  Whatever your choice, good luck on your business adventure!

ps..  Photo of AF logo was blatantly borrowed from AffiliateDotCom site, hope they don't mind .
As mentioned above, I may get contest points or brownie points for the above links and thus may receive prizes or cash as a result if you decide to purchase through one of the links.

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Missing the Mark in Mobile Marketing

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 at 6:18 pm  
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You know how it is when you watch one of those promotional videos and some guy demonstrates how he brings in thousands of dollars over night with just the drop of a hat?  You sit and think, well maybe this is finally the answer to your prayers, may this is the program that take you out of debt and over the top in this Internet marketing business.   Last week I thought just that.  I had watched the the Mobile Monopoly video through a half dozen times and it seemed like a sure thing but I still resisted the urge to jump in feet first.  It wasn't until I saw the same results demonstrated in a live broadcast done by a marketing pro I knew and trusted that I finally bought the package and set up a trial run of my own.

Not having a lot of cash to play with, I set up three different tests and my results were much less impressive.  A total investment of $100 (not counting the cost of the program) generated 55 leads in one niche and 16 in another.  This calculates to 71 cents a lead.  Not the outstanding results shown in the demos but the difference in results is likely due to my inexperience at copy writing and page design.  If I work at improving my followup emails I can see a good possibility that I will regroup my investment over the course of the next month.  Not a overnight success, but I do now have the beginnings of a niche related list and it includes people who have already demonstrated they are interesting the topic.  A step forward, however small.

My final vote on Mobile Monopoly is thumbs-up.  Even if my results are less than overwhelming, I think the program offers a great tool and educational videos on how to get started in marketing to the five billion cell phone users.  It is certainly the next move in marketing and MM is well worth the purchase price.

A couple of tips I picked up on my first efforts:

  • Your display page is critical, keep to light backgrounds and clear readable type fonts.  It is a good idea to view your landing page on a cell phone.  You can see what it looks like on a mock phone display on http://testiphone.com.
This is a preview of Missing the Mark in Mobile Marketing. Read the full post (561 words, 1 image, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Is Facebook In Your Toolbox?

Friday, August 20th, 2010 at 11:08 pm  
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The question is, how soon until Facebook takes on Google directly?

Places is the latest example of Facebook adding a feature that knocks a would-be competitor out of center stage. Foursquare, Gowalla and other location-based "check-in" services have to take a back seat to Facebook's, since most iPhone-owning Facebook members in the U.S. will automatically have access to this soon, if not already.

or so says Wilson Rothman in his latest commentary on MSNBC Facebook is the New Google

The Challenge is how do you best use Facebook as a business tool without burning out your friends and family members who have no interest in your business posts?
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No Freaking Way! (this guy makes $100k a day)

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at 12:36 pm  
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video-arrowsSome folks I know are launching this incredible program called CPA Ninja.  If you are new like me you may not know that CPA is short for Cost Per Action, not certified public accountant as I first thought.  The program consist of a series of video lessons which give step by step instructions for setting up a web site that is primed for bringing you money from products that will pay you everytime someone does something like put in there email to get more info or receive a free sample or quote or fill out a survey.  I haven’t completed the program myself yet as I am in the middle of another program but I have purchased it and it is next on my list.

This is a preview of No Freaking Way! (this guy makes $100k a day). Read the full post (143 words, 2 images, estimated 34 secs reading time)

Mass Control 2.0 – When Spending Money to Make Money Makes Sense

Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm  
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Use Free Tools First
 
My previous articles focused on using free or low cost programs to start up an internet marketing venture.  I recommended Ed Dale’s Thrity Day Challenge and Thirty Day Challenge Plus programs.  If you followed them you would have become familiar with another excellent free tool called WordPressDirect.  With just those programs I have successfully designed and published seven or eight websites and have begun to earn money through Google Adsense.
 
Get the Essentials Second
 
If you followed the steps offered in Ed’s free program you would discover that Ed does recommend you eventually purchases some lost cost tools.  To effective promote your business you are going to want to eventually host your web pages on somewhere other that WordPress.  You are going to want to collect email address and send out automated responses when your readers sign up for your newsletter or buy a program from you.  You will likely want to expedite some of the keyword and content research. 
 
All this can be done on a limited budget of less than $100 a month.  I personally opted to host my pages at Hostgater, use AWeber autoresponder service and purchased Market Samurai to help with reseach.
 
Taking the Big Leap to Success

 
I’m at a point where I’m almost confortable with blogging.  I have learned to get behind the scenes and tweak my blogs a bit.  I am still do research on keywords and I have decided on a particular niche for a product yet. So now after keeping a tightly reigned in budget. Why would I decide to take such a big leap as buying into Frank Kern’s Mass Control 2.0?  Several reasons.
 
It just seems like the timing and the price is right this time. Since retiring in December, I have the time to devote to the business now.  Frank’s programs always offer a lot of bang for the buck and this one was even priced within reach.  On top of that, Marty Rozmanith of WordPressDirect sweetened the deal with an offer that offset my cost by almost half.  Marty is offering an upgrade to a new Platinum level WPD membership at a fantastic price AND by signing up for Mass Control 2.0 though his link I am getting that Platinum membership for four months FREE.    That in itself saves me $800.  So this brings my cost of MC 2.0 to $1200.  I’m willing to give that a chance.
 
Stay Tune for Results
 

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