interfreenet

Are you just selling instead of helping?

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:59:28 +0000

One of my favorite email discussion used to be John Audette’s I-Sales Digest. There were many reasons for its success. One was that members of that community helped each other in their posts to the mailing list.

John says that I-Sales Digest was the major force behind his success in building a multi-million-dollar business. The digest gave him an opportunity to build credibility, respect and trust while encouraging people to help others.

John sold I-Sales Digest to someone who didn’t have John’s flair and didn’t seem to care enough about his readers. It quickly folded.

Is your website or newsletter just selling, or is it helping people learn?

Help people learn.

How do you fail in Affiliate Marketing?

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:50:54 +0000

This article reveals why some affiliate fails and explain how you can avoid yourself commit in these affiliate program promotion errors.

Affiliate marketing has been around on the Web for quite sometime now, but there are still a lot of people who doesn’t know much or even nothing about it.

Most of the people that don’t know about affiliate marketing and has just discovered it normally thinks that they can make a quick buck or two.

Well that’s not the case. To do well in affiliate marketing is not just a one-day task.

Affiliate marketing is like an on going assignment where you have to try different things out like different advertising techniques, different ways of adding affiliate banners and text links to your site, etc.

You may even have to join a number of affiliate programs just to see which ones performs the best with the other content that you already have on your site.

Another thing is that many affiliates expect to do well from just having a list of about 20 affiliated banners on one page of their site. Well that¡‹x[‚ ‘ „y„„¦‹p[‚‘„y„ˆ„ø‹h[‚‘„y„€s not exactly true as people will see your web page and won’t even bother clicking on any of the banners to go to your affiliated sites as your web page just looks like a link farm.

How people think they can make money this way, I really don’t know as affiliate marketing takes time and effort before any results can be seen. If you are adding affiliate banners or text links to your site, then the best thing to do is for you to add affiliate links or banners to your site that is on the same topic as the other information on your web page.

By doing this, you will not want to add too many affiliated banners or text links as it will just look like a page of links and will only turn your visitors away, about three affiliated links should be enough depending on how large the web page is.

Another important aspect in affiliate marketing is advertising. You can’t expect to add affiliate material to your site and expect to receive sales straight away. If you have no traffic coming to your site, then you will not get any sales.

In fact, directly advertising the affiliate links or adding the affiliate links to your website and advertising that is probably one of the most important things that you will need to do to have any chance of succeeding. This is because the more you promote your affiliate link or site that contains the affiliate links, then the more clickthru’s your affiliate links are likely to receive, which is then most likely to result in more sales.

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:45:16 +0000

It’s important to note the difference between a metaphor and its (arguably) less powerful cousin the simile. Similes are pretty easy to identify since they use ‘like’ or ‘as’ to make the comparison between two things.

To take one of the examples from the post:

Metaphor: A blanket of snow fell last night.
Simile: Last night’s snow was like a blanket covering everything.

I think the original poster gets the difference … but drops the ball in the final line with:

“… even if your vocabulary is as bad as, like, whatever.”

… which is clearly a poor simile and not an ugly metaphor.

Great post though and sorry to be picky!

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:42:43 +0000

Kathryn Fitzgerald → 05.03.07 at 3:56 pm

Great series–I’m sure your readers will greatly benefit from a succinct primer on metaphor, simile, and analogy. I did my dissertation on using it skillfully in developing the branding and communication strategies for complex, “really new” products and services. But understanding at least the basics is critical for converting casual surfers into a commited congregation of devotees–and we all know “stickiness” is make or break for long-term blogging success.
Thanks also for reminding me that I need to pick up Miller’s book to see how she’s distilled the key concepts for marketing and PR contexts.

P.S. gotta love the Chicago Trib blurb for her book–”Metaphors are communication home runs. This book shows you how to hit them.”

Your readers who are interested in more depth from one of the top academics studying metaphorical THOUGHT as opposed to just language might want to read works by George Lakoff such as More than Pure Reason or Metaphors We Live By. (They’re fairly accessible to a general audience)

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:39:01 +0000

Sonia Simone → 09.09.07 at 2:39 pm

Great topic. It’s all very good and well for David Ogilvy to claim he hated creativity–he was a stunningly good (and ground-breaking, and yes, remarkable) copywriter. I *still* want to buy things based on 40-year-old ads of his.

You can safely “shun creativity” once you’ve learned not to be awful–a lesson that I wish 99% of long form squeeze page writers would learn. And Ogilvy is quite right that cleverness or originality for its own sake, divorced from craft, has no place if you’re taking a paycheck for your writing. Then again, neither does mediocre hackwork that can only sell to people with a sub-85 IQ. (Mind you, it’s a hell of a market.)

I love the Hugh M. drawing, the perfect touch. I hope to god he puts this one in his blog card series.

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:36:21 +0000

Ray Drossaert → 09.09.07 at 4:57 pm

Ah, creativity and inspiration…!
In addition to looking in new places to find inspiration, you could also turn it around: use your present skills in new situations (like using your chainsaw to create a sculpture). Most likely you’ll end up finding new ways to use those skills in your existing work. Another variation would be to use different tools for your current work (try using a pen to write those blogposts!). You’ll get a fresh outlook on your work at least.

But in all cases, like Sonia said: you need your Craft to pull it off. Without sculpting skills, you won’t get a statue out of any block of marble and could end up hurting yourself!

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:33:01 +0000

Marty → 09.18.07 at 3:56 pm

Every person has a secret creative genius inside. Being creative is all about shedding inhibitions and seeking the lovely inner-voice which is ubiquitous to all human beings (whether they can sing or not )

The analogy holds true whether writing copy, painting pictures, sculpting marble, programming C#, crafting Cabernet, or making love. Sing at the top of your lungs! Be wrong! Make you point, be linear and non-linear at the same time, free yourself from the shackles of the self-imposed lead box.

Celebrating our indigenous creativity is the ultimate act of getting over ourselves and offers the best chance to leave something behind that survives; an idea, a thought, a poem, a child, a song…

A very famous musician pal once told me that his critical and creative successes came when he finally stopped trying to create music “like everyone else.” The secret, he whispered, is in creating art that can ONLY come from you. Then, right or wrong, you have found your voice.

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:29:59 +0000

Social SEO → 10.08.07 at 10:59 am

People don’t read, and even less read on screen. We need to engage them in all their senses and make them interact with the product.

If they are forced to do stuff, make mistakes and then get it right. If they are forced to get frustrated and then get satisfied, then we may have a chance at them completing our modules. And a chance at them remembering what we taught them a few years from now.

Excuse me, scratch “taught” and replace with “enabled them to discover”

This is the way we thought when we were developing Instructional Multimedia. This is what I believe still applies to content development.

Writing is a fast track to engaging people who already agree with us and want to read us. But what about an unmotivated audience?

This is when storytelling, audiovisual language and gaming come together to allow for engaging content.

Watch E True Hollywood Stories and Fitness Infomercials to become a better content designer.

Comments from those who know

edmoli879 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:25:57 +0000

I like screencasts. In some areas they can replace or complement an e-book.

Let me share my little experiment: I have an Excel dashboard that can be downloaded for free. If the user wants to know how it was done he can download a (paid) version. This version includes several screencasts that show how the dashboard was designed. Every step is documented, so this is almost a crash course in advanced Excel.

During the last two weeks I had almost one thousand downloads of the free version and some (not as many as I would like) of the paid version. It is not a huge success, but the blog started exactly with this post, so I can’t complain, and I am learning a lot.

The Law of Abundance (part 3)

edmoli879 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:18:27 +0000

By now, you’re probably getting the idea that what I mean by the “Tao of Abundance” is something altogether different from the Dow Jones version of abundance. The Tao of Abundance is more wholistic in its scope, addressing the entire issue of quality of life, and not simply financial goals. Because the psychological dimension is so important to our experience of abundance, it is addressed at length in The Tao of Abundance. The eight Taoist principles discussed in the book provide powerful keys to embracing and integrating a psychology of abundance. The first two chapters lay a groundwork for overcoming the sense of alienation and separation that are the underpinnings of a psychology of lack.

For most of us, the feeling of lack is not a result of a lack of things or material stuff. It is a sense of struggle and a lack of ease; a lack of energy; a feeling of powerlessness and blocked expression; a lack of harmony and connection in relationship; a lack of time to be, grow, and relate; and a lack of opportunity to fully appreciate and celebrate the beauty in life—that give a sense of deficiency to our existence. Each of these “lacks” are considered respectively in chapters 3-8, both in terms of understanding their causes, and in terms of practical suggestions for creating greater abundance in each of these areas. The exercises at the end of the book will help you to integrate and apply the information you encounter in the text.

Law Of Abundance – The Road to Total Abundance

There are three primary tasks for us on the journey to a life of total abundance. The first is to recognize the inner and outer forces that conspire to make us believe in scarcity and thus to feel lack. Awareness of these factors will help us to overcome their influence over us. The second task is to cultivate a spirit of abundance in our lives, celebrating the gift of life with joy and thanksgiving. As we focus in our thoughts and actions on things that bring a feeling a connection with all life, we begin to move with the flow of the Tao. In this way, we allow blessings to come to us as a part of the “overflow” of an abundant spirit—not as things we crave and struggle for from a sense of lack or desperation. To come from lack can only bring lack, even when we get what we think we need. On the other hand, when we come from the spirit of abundance, we attract ever greater abundance.

Finally, as we move in the world from the spirit of abundance, we become a liberating and empowering force in the lives of those with whom we interact. We help them see, not by preaching, but by example, that we all live in an abundant world and that they as well can free themselves from lack consciousness. Together, we can unite in a spirit of abundance and create new patterns of community and social organization, new lifestyles, and new ways of relating, based on cooperation rather than competition. As envy, greed, and competition flow from lack, so compassion, service, and cooperation flow from a spirit of abundance. It is this spirit of abundance that will be our guide as we embark on the journey to creating total abundance in our lives.

The principles of of the law of abundance are stated in English. The corresponding Chinese term is often not, nor is it intended to be, a direct translation of the principle as expressed in English. Rather, the Chinese terms give the essence or active ingredient of the principle. For example, when I use yin/yang in correspondence with the harmony of abundance, I do not mean that yin/yang literally translates as “harmony.” Rather, I mean that an awareness and understanding of yin/yang dynamics will help us to find greater harmony in our own lives.

Throughout the book ‘Tao Of Abundance’, a contrast will be made between the Way of the Tao and the Way of the Ego.

1. The Unity of the Nameless Tao The Separation of the Ego
(lack of connection, alienation)
2. The Nature/Receptivity of the Tao The Attachments of the Ego
(lack of spontaneity and inspiration)
3. The Ease of the Tao The Struggle of the Ego
(lack of ease, tension, stress)
4. The Flow/Joy of the Tao The Resentment of the Ego
(lack of energy and zest for life)
5. The Power/Dignity of the Tao The Craving for Approval of the Ego
(lack of power and inner direction)
6. The Harmony of the Tao The Competitive Hostility (Envy) of the Ego
(lack of inner and outer peace and harmony)
7. The Leisure of the Tao The Greed of the Ego
(lack of time and rest)
8. The Beauty of the Tao The Chaos of the Ego
(lack of meaning, nihilism)

Authors Details: Laurence G. Boldt, author of Tao of Abundance