An Internet Marketer’s Recipe For Success

 
photo credit: 3liz4

Sometimes I like to combine my love of cooking and baking with my love for Internet marketing.  The following is my favorite recipe, including the best brands for the ingredients listed.  When followed properly, this recipe turns out wonderful! But if you leave anything out, it won't meet your expectations.

An Internet Marketer's Recipe For Success

1/2 cup boldness (Look At Me brand works, as does I'm An Expert brand)

3/4 cup humbleness (I prefer I'm Sorry, or New and Improved I'm Sorry With Let Me Make It Better Than Right)

2 cups focus (IM Focused or similar)

1 cup mentoring (Your Business Model Mentoring is my absolute favorite)

1 1/4 cup plan (Just about any kind works here except Half-A$$ed)

6 cups action (Choose carefully – Busy Work Action does not deliver, but Targeted For Results Action works great for this recipe!)

4 tablespoons networking (Lots to pick from – Twitter, Facebook, Blog Commenting, Forum Commenting are possible, depending on your tastes)

2 dashes Humor and Lightheartedness (Don't Take Yourself So Seriously brand can be found at your local market)

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Throw all the ingredients in a big mixing bowl and mix together with your bare hands.  Work it til it's thoroughly blended together and the mixture looks right.

Let it sit until it rises and bubbles. Keep in mind you won't really see what's going on with the mixture right away, but you'll know when it's ready.

Tip – When it's ready, act fast!  Get it in the oven immediately.

Bake until done. Do not take it out if it's half-baked or it will fail to rise and meet your expectations.  Share your Internet marketing manna with others to truly enjoy it yourself.  

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• That was fun.  Can you think of other ingredients you would add to this Internet marketer's recipe for success?
• Or do you know of better brands for the ingredients listed?
• Should we make soup next time?

Sam Stephens of DLGuard – My Thanks to You!

 Every so often I've just got to publically thank someone who has been such a great help in my Internet marketing journey.  Today is one of those days.

  

Sam Stephens of DLGuard - my thanks to you!

My husband is beginning to wonder why I get excited these days when I get an email from a guy named Sam.  But I've explained to him that Sam, Sam Stephens, is the guy behind my shopping cart, DLGuard.  He is also the person in charge of Support… my lifeline from my non-techy world to the… well… techy world.

I like DLGuard (aff link); it's been a good secure shopping cart and it's not at all hard to use in it's intended way.  But my needs have grown, and I've found (with help from Sam) that DLGuard can grow too.

My latest thing, which has meant many back and forth emails with Support, aka Sam, is a membership site – integrated with my JAM affiliate program – with multiple price points – and the ability to build a list of the buyers into my AWeber autoresponder.  Whew!  That was scary for me, but old hat for Sam.

My questions flew out to him and his answers started with calming words like "No worries…" (He is Australian  I'd be so annoyed with me by now, but this is his last email to me:

Hi Peggy,

Fantastic, great to hear it's going well!

I'll close this ticket off for now, but if you still need a hand then
please let me know. Just click on the "Open" link near the top
of the page to reopen this ticket, and then post a reply – I'll
keep an eye out if you need me!

Best wishes,

Sam Stephen 

Does Sam Stephens and DLGuard have my loyalty?  Yes!

So here is my thank you to Sam:

Dear Sam,

What a great feeling to know that you have
my back. This is not something I see very
often in the Internet marketing world where
product creators assume they're completely
done the moment the customer types in
their PayPal info and parts with their
hard-earned cash.

You are a great example of how customer
service should be, and I wanted to let you
know how much I appreciate that.  It does
not go unnoticed by me or your many other
customers, and is part of what makes
DLGuard the success that it is.

Thanks Sam!

Peggy

What about you?  Do you have anyone in your Internet marketing life that's gone above and beyond?

Are you a Sam Stephens groupie too?

Previous My Thanks To you Post – Randy Smith

5 Methods For Setting Up Your Social Networking System

Today I'm happy to bring you this insightful guest post from Sheila Atwood of Newbielifeline.com!…

Have you actually decided upon your social networking system? You know what I mean. Have you taken all the buzz about social networking and social media and put it to work for you?

When you lay out your social networking plan you want to consider a SMART plan for every method of social networking you do.

 

·       Specific – Do you have specific goals you want to achieve? Perhaps your goals are getting more traffic, finding like-minded people to work with, and getting affiliates to promote your products.

·       Manageable – Is your social networking manageable? Do you have the time to spend on the methods you have chosen? How about the man power? or resources? How about the organization it takes to be effective?

·       Action oriented – Can your plan be laid out to the exact step by step action you need to take on a weekly and daily basis?

·       Relevant- Just how relevant is your plan to what you want to achieve? By survey, the number one problem people face when it comes to work, home and play is time. You have heard of targeted traffic….but how about targeted social networking?

·       Trackable – Can you track and measure your actions? Can you track and measure the return on your investment (ROI), especially your investment of time?

You know all about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the forums, so let's take a look at five different ways you can set up your social networking system that does not include the big social media guys.

These 5 ways to set up your social networking is based on using your blog as your central working point.

Commenting – Create a social networking group by commenting on other sites. When you are picking sites to comment on remember to be specific about what you are wanting to achieve. Stay organize by using your RSS feed or another bookmarking system. Use commenting tools…like Peggy's commenting secret tool, Traffic Sponge.

Interviews – Interview other bloggers. These can be video interviews or audio interviews. Use your phone for a simple way to record your audio interviews.

An easy way to get started is to do email interviews. This works great for interviewing busy people. Just send them a set of questions, they answer and you write your blog post in interview fashion.

Recently Tristan Higbee of BloggingBookshelf.com did a great interview of Peggy. "The Blogger’s Guide to Writing and Selling Your Own PLR Products."

Collaboration – The added value of working with others can have huge benefits way into the future. Not only do you get double the pleasure, knowledge and production, you get their network. Finding a great online marketing partner is well worth any time and effort you put in.

Guest Posting - Yeah, yeah I know you have heard this one. But I am going to give it to you here again. Especially since this is on my social networking plan and that is what brought me here.

Peggy and I exchanged guest posts. I wanted her to post about her new book. "Become a PLR Writer" so I offered to exchange posts. This meets several of my specific goals. 

1. I get a great post to promote my affiliate link.

2. I get to promote another blogger.

3. I get the extra traffic the guest blogger brings.

4. My readers get top notch data straight from the author.

You'll find that setting rules for you guest posts is the key. A criteria for guests to your blog is a must, you might as well make it easy on yourself. If you notice, Peggy has listed her criteria right on her home page.

Most important, set a criteria for where you want to post. You want the greatest ROI you can get. Know what your purpose is and where you want to be seen on the net.

Speedlinking - Last but not least. Speedlinking is one of my favorites. Link to other blogs. Give kudos to those who are putting out some great stuff. No matter your niche, this works.

Set up a specific time in the month to link to others. Or make up a big list of your favorite bloggers…"The Best SEO Bloggers of 2010" or the "Best Up and Coming Bloggers" or "Copywriters You Must Add To Your RSS Feed".

My rule is Outflow=Inflow. The more you outflow the more you will get back. It's magic.

Bottom line, no matter what you do to get yourself out there and well known, you will need to have a SMART plan. One that works for you. One you are willing to put into action.

Sheila Atwood 

• What are your social networking goals?
• Do you use any of these methods? Have you had success?
• Have you had success using different methods of social networking? 

Sheila Atwood writes the blog Newbielifeline.com, a web resource about leveraging WordPress and its tools. She is a great resource for newbies wanting to find ways to make money online.
Follow Sheila on Twitter.