How To Make Money Online

How To Make Money Online

For the busy, time-crunched person

- Featuring Web 2.0:  The future is now -

Last update:  MON, 24 March '08
Since this site is updated regularly, there is
no pdf version for download.  So check back
regularly to ensure you have the latest info.


How To Make Money Online
- by Charles Brown:  A non-guru
you can trust.


                           Welcome!


Are You Ready?

 
           Prepare Yourself...You Are Now Entering...

                                (drum-roll, please)


-----------------No Hype Allowed Below this Line---------------
                               The Hype Free Zone


You are now privy to:


           The Dry Facts: 
    Immediately Usable Information 
  Right Here On This Page on...

                        How To Make Money Online

                             Let's jump right in...

There are exactly 14 (Fourteen) Primary Ingredients That You Must Have To Be Successful.  They are listed in the order of priority--and the order in which the actions associated with each item should be done...

The Fourteen Primary Ingredients Are:

1.  The Right Attitude
2.  Money to Live On
3.  Computer
4.  Internet Access
5.  Keyword Research Program and Strategy
6.  Customers
7.  Products
8.  Action Plan
9.  Copywriting Skills (learn it or outsource)
10. Website-building Software
11. Domain Name
12. Web Host for Your Domain
13. Method for Taking Payments
14. Growing
Don't worry, each step is easily doable if and only if:

a. You have or are willing to acquire, the right attitude.
b. You follow the instructions here to the "T."

Each item is broken down in detail below...

Important Instructions:   
I highly recommend that you first read straight thru this guide once, without clicking on any links.  Take your time.  If you're in a hurry, wait until you can relax and read with an open mind--so that you can absorb the "big picture."

Sleep on the information (with no more than 2 drinks in you if you're a drinker;) and go back to "How To Make Money Online" the very next day.
This is proven to help your retention and understanding.  Your brain sorts things out while you sleep.

Start from the beginning and re-read the guide...

Then click on the links, as need be. But when you do click on a link that takes you away from the "How To Make Money Online" guide, make sure you eventually return to the exact spot where you left off...

Otherwise you'll get sidetracked, confused and be stricken with Information Overload--an often fatal illness that strikes most people who attempt to
make money online.  Fatal because it's a big reason most people quit.

By following this guide and these instructions you will have the greatest chance at success...  


        A couple administrative notes:
        - At the end of each section and scattered throughout the guide, you'll see 

          Return to Menu .  Clicking this will bring you right back to the menu below.

        - External links open in a new window; So to return here to the "How To
          Make Money Online" guide, simply click the "  X  " for that page; no need 
          to hit the "back arrow."

          If you're using tabbed browsing, be sure to click closed only the tab for               that page...
         
          (I mention this because I know how maddening it can be when you think
          you're closing only the page that's showing on your monitor, but you end
          up closing out your entire web browser.)


1:
  The Right Attitude*
      
- Why people quit
         a. Only want money
           b. Lazy, GRQ opportunity
           c. Perfectionists, Afraid of failure

     - Productivity Slayers
         a. Procrastination
           b. Pride of authorship
           c. Paralysis by Analysis

     - Productivity Boosters
         a. Outsourcing
           b. Exercise
           c. Google Calendar

     - Conclusion to "The Right Attitude"



     - The Big Picture
     - Gary Halbert's Quiz
      - Demand THEN Supply


6:  Customers


7:  Product(s)


8.   Action Plans     
       Article Marketing: Fastrack to Success   
           - Article Marketing Tutorial
           - Bum Marketing Method
           - The Ultimate Funnel
           - Affiliate Programs
           - Google Adsense
           - Google Adwords
           - Your Own Product
           - Your Own Mini-Net
           - Your Own Newsletter
           - Offline Advertising
      - Important Note
      - Maintaining Focus








1. The Right Attitude* - Statistically, this is by far the #1 failure point for internet marketers.  So it definitely warrants the top spot on the list of necessary ingredients, as well as justifying further scrutiny.                  

Make no mistake about it--the technical stuff and marketing knowledge can be learned almost on the fly, but it's having the right mindset that will be the difference in "succeeding" or "failing" (which are code words for "not giving up" and "giving up.")

It's a fact¹ that over 90% of folks who try their hand at internet marketing don't make it. But they "fail" only because they quit; NOT because the market won't bear any more internet marketers!


    Failure is a temporary situation.  It's giving up that makes it permanent.


¹To be honest, I have not read anything that supports this claim.  However, this statistic is claimed
as a "fact" on so many publications that I'm merely assuming it's true.  

 
But knowing exactly WHY 90% of people quit is important!

That way when you get discouraged--as you probably will--and the temptation to give up is at its strongest, you'll be able to do whatever's necessary (if you want) to break free and succeed.  

Because, after all, the first step in fixing a problem is recognizing the problem.  Better still--is if you can identify a trend and fix it before it becomes a problem!

In any case, I've identified 3 main categories of people who end up quitting before they've made enough money to live on.  Each one is expanded on with some suggestions to help you overcome them.  

- Because if you don't cover these topics now, it will be too late when the temptation to quit is the greatest. -

a. Folks not willing to put in the needed effort because they're bored with internet marketing--they're only interested in the money. 

b. Folks not willing to put in the needed effort because either they're basically lazy, or looking for a real GRQ opportunity--or both.

c. Perfectionists and other people who are afraid of failure.

[I can personally relate to all 3 of these categories.  But #1 and #3 applied most to me.  Eventually I became truly fascinated with internet marketing.  But even today, I struggle with perfectionism--which is paralyzing--but I go into both of these in a little more detail below, in case it helps you.]
                                                                                             
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...So let's start with the first one...

a. Folks not willing to put in the needed effort because they're bored with       internet marketing--they're only interested in the money.            

I have a hunch that this is a big chunk of the "over 90%" who don't make it. Because I've personally quit off and on.  It wasn't until I started becoming genuinely fascinated with internet marketing and some of the tasks it entails that

I started making money.  

If money is your only motivation, it may be tougher to "stay the course" for long--especially if you aren't having fun.  Because then it would be no different than going to a job everyday that you disliked--but you trudged ahead anyway because it paid the bills.
                                       
We're Not Lazy, We Just Wanted the Money

Many of the 'newbies' who say, "Just tell me exactly how to make money online" are the ones who will give up.  Not that they're all slackers; it's just that they weren't expecting to have to work so hard for success in online marketing...  

Many of them are outstanding successes in other areas of their lives. And being smart, they're alert to new opportunities and simply see internet marketing as a possible way to easy money...can't blame them there...

But when it becomes obvious just how much effort is required to actually make good money online, they give it up.  They were only going to pursue internet marketing if it proved to be as quick and easy as advertised.  

So just because they "gave up" on internet marketing, doesn't mean they're fundamentally lazy people.  It also doesn't mean that IM is extremely hard, either.

This is why that statistic is so lopsided; it doesn't mean over 90% of people find internet marketing to be truly too difficult; it's just takes more dedication than many folks are willing to put into it!

Great News For You & Me

But this is great news for you!  Because if you really want to make money online,
you can.  But like anything worthwhile, it takes some work.  In my opinion, however, the work required to be successful online beats the heck out of construction work, for example...

Not to mention the other benefits, like not having to commute, wake up to an alarm...the list is quite long.

Yep, to me the effort and time required is well worth it.  It's all about freedom, baby!                                                                                      Return to Menu


        "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of
        strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will."  - Vince Lombardi



b. Folks not willing to put in the needed effort because either they're basically lazy, or looking for a real GRQ opportunity--or both.

This really doesn't need much more explanation.  But you may find the article,
"Internet Marketing: Hoping for Quick and Easy Money"  illuminating.                                                                                                                   Return to Menu

  "Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted."      
                                                                                                                 - David Bly



c. Perfectionists and other people who are afraid of failure. 

I can relate to being a perfectionist and also a person who hates to fail.  But the important point is that I recognize that I'm prone to perfectionism.  

Perfectionism is the most inefficient way to work and very time-consuming.  

Even now as I type this, I find myself editing the text as I type instead of just typing away and then going back to edit as I should...but because I realize my propensity to do this, I'll stop and correct myself...  

It's all about self-awareness, knowing yourself and working around your weaknesses...and reading this is a good start!

          "Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing."

                                                                                                  - Harriet Braiker 



Being afraid of failure is closely related to perfectionism (my opinion). In any case, this is another thing that I had to overcome.  At least with internet marketing:  My first website had to be perfect...there was always something else to do to it, some other feature or article or color scheme that I wanted to integrate into it.  Every detail had to be just right...  


     
           “Most people fail in life because they major in minor things.”   - Anthony Robbins



In the meantime, I was wasting weeks when I could have been doing search engine optimization while I fine-tuned my website. After all, when a website first goes up there won't be any traffic to it anyway; no one will see your 'embarrassing' website until you've done some SEO.  

So you can fine tune your website on the fly--don't fine tune it first.

You need to get over the fact that some of your efforts in internet marketing will not succeed.  So it becomes a game of numbers:  Produce websites so fast that by the time you realize your first website isn't making you any money, your second and third ones are making money.*



"Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted.  Just because
what you're doing does not seem to be working doesn't mean it won't work. It just
means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would
be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity."
                                                                                                 - Bob Parsons

*This is why I recommend SiteSell over anything else out there for new folks.  Because it is highly unlikely that you will produce even one website that doesn't work good with their system.                                                         

Each one IS a masterpiece because the system won't let you fail if you faithfully follow their guide.  The only downside is that you can't produce more than 1 or 2 profitable websites a year...but each one should make you money for many years and keep getting better.

Fail Faster for Success

There is a popular IM book entitled, "Fail As Fast As Possible and Other Contrarian Business Success Secrets" by Dave Vallieres.  (Link goes to the "Downloads for the Success-Minded" page on HonestySellsBest.com.) It's no secret that in order to be successful--especially super-successful--you've gotta be willing to just start running with your project, your idea, your website...willing to fail, willing to risk "failure."

     
            “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.”  - Anthony Robbins



So you've just gotta get enough websites out there so that the odds are in yourfavor; so if some of them "fail" (as they will), then you'll have enough websites that are profitable.  But if you wait until each one is "perfect" before you launch it, you'll go bankrupt.  
                                                                                                            

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"I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once.  I have succeeded
in proving that those 700 
ways will not work. When I have eliminated
the 
ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work."                
                                                                                         - Thomas Edison




- Productivity Slayers 
and how to overcome them

a. Procrastination 

We all procrastinate, some more than others.  But Perfectionists can be the worst procrastinators because we don't want to attempt a task unless we have the time and energy to do a perfect job.  So the added pressure that's always attached to an upcoming task makes the thought of that task unpleasant, so it often gets put off.



"Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy."   - Dr. Wayne Dyer




Working Hard At Procrastinating:  "Busy Work"


You're probably familiar with doing "busy work" to avoid facing an unpleasant task. Example:  The deadline for your taxes is approaching.  You really should do them today.  But suddenly that magazine article on stamp collecting becomes fascinating to you, when you'd ordinarily be bored out of your skull with something like that...

Next thing you know, you're reading a book that you haven't picked up in months...


 
         "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." 
                                                                                                             - Abe Lincoln
           


You get the point.  But that's exactly how you can waste time with IM, too.  By focusing on tasks that don't really do anything for you...

Like, for example, spending hours on a graphic header for your website (like I've done) because you enjoy working with the pretty graphics.  In the meantime, far more important tasks are getting neglected...

Tasks like SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or other boring tasks.

(By the way, after you complete a couple sites the "right" way--doing the required SEO--you'll find that all this SEO stuff is really easy and not to be dreaded :)

Hot Tips for Getting Things Done

One way to minimize the "busy work trap" is to tape a note somewhere on your computer monitor that says something like, "Does this action bring you closer to your desired target today?"  Or, "Will this project add anything to your bottom line profit?"

But here's a tip related to taping up this note that you won't read anywhere else:

Make it a habit to rip down this note each and every week, and replace it with a new one--handwritten. Otherwise, it WILL become invisible within a few weeks. By changing it, you're subconsciously and consciously reaffirming it.


A great interactive resource for getting things done efficiently and effectively, and eliminating procrastination is Mark Joyner's 100% Free "Simpleology 101, The "Simple Science of Getting What You Want."

It's a self-paced course that's changed many lives for the better.  
Here's the Simpleology 101 Review .                                                                Return to Menu


b. "Pride of Authorship"

Here's another potential 'show stopper.'

"Pride of Authorship" simply refers to having too much pride in your article, website, or graphic for your website to be able to let it go and start quickly to work on a replacement (if the evidence shows that you should).

Like stubbornly hanging on to an Adwords Ad while your bank account drains dry.
 
You may have spent hours perfecting the "perfect" sales letter, for instance.  But right off the bat, you need to accept that it may be necessary (it WILL be necessary) to scrap your prized sales letter that you've been working on for hours or even days...  

You need to be able to let it go without hesitation, without regret and start anew on a replacement article or webpage if the evidence shows that you should.

Your "Masterpiece" is not 

It's hard at first to trash a sales page that you worked on for days--one that you felt was a "masterpiece."  But that's where you would've gone wrong in the first place--by judging your own work, and especially by thinking it was a "masterpiece." 

You should never, ever accept your own opinion of your work--especially at the beginning.  Always get several opinions of people whose opinions you know are unbiased.  (You don't want a family member or friend who always praises everything you do, or someone who is apathetic, to give you their opinion.)

Better still, get the surfing public to judge your ad or your website.  Test it with a quick, cheap Google Adwords campaign.  These numbers don't lie.  The best quick Adwords strategy guide I've read (and I've read many) is by Michael Campbell, called "Clickin' It Rich Action Plan." (You'll see the link to it later.)  For more in-depth, proven Adwords strategies you must get "Beating Adwords."  But don't concern yourself with those right yet; one step at a time.                     Return to Menu


c. Paralysis by Analysis

Everyone is afflicted by this malady to some degree early in their internet marketing career.

And if you're somewhat of a Perfectionist and/or have an overriding Fear of Failure, you may be extra prone to "Paralysis by Analysis."  

This common illness is triggered by Information Overload...

Because Lord knows, there's enough information on "how to make money online" out there to cause not only paralysis--but death!



"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good that we oft may win, by fearing to attempt."                                                                                                         - William Shakespeare



 
I wrote an entire article big enough to be an e-book that's practically dedicated to this common illness titled,
"How to Escape The Internet Marketing Money-Suck Vortex From Hell While Avoiding Paralysis by Analysis Caused by Information Overload."                  
                                                                                                 
Anyone with a computer and internet access can whip up a "how to make money online" guide (like this one--only not near as good ;). So you are confronted with more ads and information than you can shake a stick at from--quite literally--all over the world...

What to choose!!  This one seems good...but--hold on a minute here--now this one really speaks to me...but let's not totally disregard this guy...I'll just get all three...hmmmm...I'll just reorganize my desktop here (busy work) while I get prepared to get ready...



“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what
 they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.”    - Anthony Robbins 

                                                                                                       


It's just not humanly possible to sort thru the gobs and gigabytes of "how to make money online" guides without getting dizzy...  

If you try to figure out which guide or which guru's program to go with, you end up feeling like you do when you ponder cosmic questions like, "is outer space infinite?"

...You can easily end up doing nothing but getting a headache.  And getting broker by the minute as you purchase good-sounding offers while optimistically thinking, "this one's different." 


The Answer?

If you're brand new, you should go with the program with the best track record...the most graduates.  When I say "graduates," I mean people with profitable websites.  And there's only one that fits that bill:  
Dr. Ken Evoy's Site Sell.  It's the perfect cure for Paralysis by Analysis.

If you're not new or you just want to piece together your own program
from scratch, simply follow this "How to Make Money Online" guide
religiously.      
                                                                         
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- Productivity Boosters 

a. Outsourcing

After you've created a successful website or two, you'll have a feel for your own strengths and weaknesses.  Because nobody is Superman or Wonderwoman; there's not one human on this planet that's good at everything.  

For example, you may be good at Photoshop but bad at writing articles fast.  Do the things you're good at and outsource the things you're not-so-good at. Everything's cheap on the internet, including website services for hire.

So don't worry about having to write:  There are literally  thousands of people out there who will bid on your work online for $5.00 - $15.00 per article--not bad, especially if your website starts making just $5.00 per day. That's $150 a month "forever" for a small investment!

          Two good resources for getting work done for you cheap are:

RentACoder.com - Describe what you want a script (software) to do and they'll code it for you.  Now you can sell "your own" software for whatever price you want!  Software is always in demand and people are always willing to spend more on software than on an e-book.  You'll be surprised how cheap you can get very good software designed for.

Elance.com - Put anything out for them to bid on--articles you want written, software you want designed, website design, etc.  Basically, anything that can be done remotely on another computer for you to download can be outsourced here.

Another option is to subscribe to a PLR ("Private Label Rights) article subscription service that sends you 400-500 articles per month for around $50-97 per month.
Just do a Google search for "PLR articles."  

Note 1: The less people that a PLR article membership site allows, the better.  
I've seen them range from 200 members to 1000.  Obviously 200 is a lot better than 1000...Regardless, you should change at least one or two things in each article to avoid posting duplicate content to the web.

Note 2:  There are many more outsourcing 'sources' than Rentacoder and Elance. But they're 2 of the most popular and a place for you to start.

                                                                                             
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b. Exercise


Be aware of the fact that regular exercise--especially cardiovascular--will speed your progress along.  Why?  Because you will be much more energetic and your head will be clearer than if you didn't do any cardio.  And this isn't just me claiming this...just ask anyone who does regular cardiovascular exercise.

Being in good cardiovascular condition does wonders for your attitude, which in turn, does wonders for your business.                                

If you are thinking, "Yea, but I don't have time to exercise," please realize that nobody has time to exercise--except maybe the elderly retired.  You have to make time.  But it's always time well spent.


Alright, I won't drone on (anymore :) about exercise.  But suffice to say it's very important--even if just from an efficiency standpoint.  Because when you do work, you will be much more efficient.  Even if every other day you might only get 5.5 hours of sleep instead of 7.  It's a fact.



"If you're not willing to take the time
to be healthy, you have to be willing to
 take the time to be sick."                        - Joe Polish (Piranha Marketing)




c. Google Calendar

I don't have to tell you the importance of keeping your busy life organized with an event calendar, whether that calendar is on a PDA or hanging on the wall with notes scribbled on it.

But there is an awesome free tool that Google has for you to quickly and easily use.  It's the Google calendar.  Just take a moment to create a free account with Google if you don't already have one, then set up your calendar in about 2 minutes...

I stumbled upon the Google calendar only because I was comparing the features of several downloadable organizers that cost between $9.95 and $79.95. Thank goodness I didn't buy any of those because the Google calendar is hands-down the easiest and best I've ever seen...

It will even text message your phone a pre-determined amount of time (that you set) prior to the event you typed into a time slot on the calendar!  (I now use this feature for everything from grocery reminders to dentisit appointments, in addition to internet marketing notes...like "teleseminar at 5:00.")

The sky's the limit on what you can do with this--it's perfect for putting deadlines on tasks that you come up with when you're designing your Action Plan...

Example:

You type in an overall goal for a week, like "Design my first website and start putting in the keyword-optimized articles."

...Then you pre-load more detailed tasks into each day's slot, for example:

Monday: "Download XSitePro, start doing the onscreen tutorial."
Tuesday: "Finish XSitePro tutorial, select or create a Header for my webpage."
Wednesday: "Create the left and right sides and the footer for my website."
Thursday:  "Install my first article."
Friday: "Install articles 2-5 and sign up for Google Adsense."
Saturday: "Place Adsense ads on my site."  
              "Take my kids to the park."

...You get the picture.  Each task can have a specific time assigned as fast as you can type.  You can get as detailed as you want.  And when you're designing your Action Plan, you should get very detailed.

You really should check this out:  The Google calendar.                    Return to Menu


              

                   And finally, the conclusion of #1, "The Right Attitude"

Just the fact that you're reading this says good things about your attitude and your potential to succeed based solely on your attitude.  After all, it's not the technical expertise that successful internet marketers possess that make them successful.  Neither is it their business knowledge.  Their success is determined by their attitude.

Here's a link to the article, appropriately named,  "The Right Attitude to Make Money Online."  Another article on topic, "How to Think Like a Guru."

Kill Two Birds With One CD

I won't bore you with my choice of self-help books (there's hundreds, out there, as you know).  But in today's hectic world, if you can get your book on tape or CD, it opens up a huge amount of time--time that would otherwise be wasted while driving your car or truck.  

Here's a link to the audio version of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People."  Armand Morin said this book would change your life overnight.  I thought he was nuts to say something like that about a book. But after listening to it, I realized he was right. (It's reviewed here as well.)  

Remember that audio books do wonders for you because you'll actually listen to them; if you have to read them, they'll likely sit for months until you can "find the time."  But no more:  Now you've "found the time."  And it was there all along--waiting patiently for you to use in your vehicle!

With the right attitude, your success is virtually guaranteed.  But a "success attitude" is a learned skill.  Most people disregard this one critical component to their success.  This is why most quit before achieving success.         Return to Menu


2.  Money to live on - This would normally 'go without saying,' but I felt it necessary to include it for people new to internet marketing.  You'd be surprised at the unrealistic expectations many folks have when just starting out...

Usually an internet biz-op ("business opportunity") woos them into believing they'll be able to quit their regular job in a few weeks or so. This wishful thinking is thanks to unscrupulous internet marketers who tell bold-faced lies in their headlines and ad copy.  (See "The Internet Marketing Money-Suck Vortex From Hell" article later if you haven't already read it.)

Living Alone

If you're living alone, the ideal situation would be if you had a part-time job that paid the bills.  This would maximize the time you could devote to your internet marketing efforts.  But if you live alone and work full-time, don't worry

If You're Lucky

Otherwise, the ideal situation would be if you didn't have to work at all at a 'regular' job--whether this was due to a working spouse or you just had money from another source.

If You Don't Have Squat for Time

If you have to work full-time or if you have other responsibilities like raising kids, don't worry.  What happens is you will automatically be much more efficient in your internet marketing efforts than if you had all day to devote to it...  

I'm not kidding, this is absolutely true:  You may have noticed that when you really need to get something done--like when you're facing a deadline--you can get far more done than you can when you have all day to do something. 

So don't worry about not having all day to devote to your web business. Just like exercise, the most important thing is to make sure that your efforts are regular; even if that time is only an hour here and there.  This keeps you from forgetting information as fast as you're learning it, and it keeps you moving forward. 

Tighten your belt and do the best you can with the time you have.

Take one step at a time but don't stop stepping!                            Return to Menu



Now that you're able to take a realistic approach to this internet marketing thing...

Here's the Technical Nitty-Gritty, the "Nuts 'n Bolts" Ingredients You'll Need to Assemble Your Money-Making Website(s)

NOTE:  Building a quality deck for your backyard, you'd want to use only quality materials like pressure-treated lumber and stainless-steel hardware. 

You want to use only quality materials for the construction of your websites, too.  Especially for your websites since--unlike your deck--your websites are supposed to MAKE you money!

Only the best (but not necessarily the most expensive), top-notch "Nuts 'n Bolts" Ingredients will be recommended for
 construction of your websites.
         


3. Computer - If you already have a fast computer, great.  But if your current computer is slow or outdated in any way, you stand to save gobs of time by investing in a faster computer.  And in this business, TIME IS MONEY.  The difference will mean getting profitable websites up weeks or months quicker. Ideally, you'd have a desktop AND a laptop. But if you could only have one, go for the desktop.  The reason is that a desktop will last longer and be faster for the same money you'd need to invest in a laptop.

Believe me, laptops fail when used everyday, all day.  Ordinarily, weathering a computer or hard drive failure just means extreme inconvenience.  But if you're an internet marketer, your livelihood is at stake.  The problem with laptops is the heat buildup; even the 2008 versions are more failure prone than a desktop.

There was move afoot to produce a "gel-cooled" laptop, but so far the price point would be above what the market would bear.  So the compromise is that you can buy "gel pad" coolers--where you buy 2 and rotate them in and out of the frig, placing your laptop on top of the chilled gel pad.  But there's also aftermarket multi-fan coolers that do the same thing (sort of) by circulating air underneath the laptop.  (All laptops come with their own fan-cooling system, but it's never enough.)

                           If you're in the market for a new computer

As far as computer brands, I've heard only good things from friends about DELL and HP. I've heard a couple "thumbs down" for Gateway. But whatever brand computer you get, the faster, the better.  And this means MULTI-CORE Processor: Whatever you do, don't fall for one of the low-priced SINGLE core processor computers. They may have every conceivable state-of-the-art component in them--but if they don't have a multi-core processor, you're wasting your money!

By the time you read this, there might not even be used single-core processor computers available anymore.  Which would be a good thing.

Desktop and/or laptop: Buy the fastest computer that you can afford!!

                                                                                             Return to Menu 


4.  Internet Access - The faster the connection, the better. Cable is generally the fastest as of 2008.  Followed by DSL, then WIFI or satellite.  I honestly don't know if it's even possible to be an internet marketer with a dialup connection.  

It's probably doable, but it just might add months to your time 'til success.  Every second, every minute you save quickly adds up to hours saved--especially when you're doing this for a living.   When fiber optic comes out, be the first in line.  It will pay you back in spades. 

Buy the fastest connection money can buy.                                   Return to Menu


5. Keyword $$Research$$ Program & Strategy - O.K., slow down and take your time here.  This is a long section for a good reason.  This will make or break your IM business, plain and simple.  Smart keyword research is part of a sound strategy.  And a sound strategy becomes your "action plan."

...And the more fine-tuned your keyword research, the more detailed your action plan which = a high probability of a profitable website. 

The best research software?  Probably NicheBot. It uses the important keyword databases: WordTracker's, Keyword Discovery, and Overture (which is really Yahoo, but still carries the Overture name.  But Overture's free keyword tool has become unreliable and it looks like it may be phased out.)  But there are other keyword research tools, as you'll see.

LSI-enhanced Keyword Research Tool!

But now, NicheBot has an exclusive tool that uses LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing)

to return keywords from a Google query...if you don't know what LSI is, then go to NicheBot and find out.  If you DO know what LSI is, then I don't have to tell you how powerful a keyword research tool like this can be.

Even without the LSI tool, NicheBot returns a comprehensive list of keywords for a given word or phrase like nothing else out there.  And you only pay for what you need.  

Other Keyword Research Software

I'd just bought a one-year subscription to Wordtracker when I found Nichebot. Since you get (limited) access to the Wordtracker keywords with Nichebot, I basically wasted money on the Wordtracker subscription.  And NicheBot also includes Keyword  Discovery--which is more expensive than Wordtracker because it has a much, much bigger database.

Keyword Elite is a great tool, but by itself it only queries Wordtracker's free version of its tool.  But Keyword Elite does give you the option of also using Wordtracker's more comprehensive paid version and/or Keyword Discovery--but you'll need to subscribe to them first and then give Keyword Elite your login info for those services.  But Keyword Elite does have other unique features that are pretty cool that make it a favorite of many marketers. 

Adwords Analyzer is helpful for doing Wordtracker's free version queries because it's very fast and gives you the CPC (cost per click) at the same time.  But I use this only sporadically now for quick initial research.  

Because now that NicheBot is out, there's no need for having to subscribe to multiple services and having to buy several pieces of software.  NicheBot does it all for a fraction of the price.  And does it in one neat, easy interface that works from the NicheBot servers so you don't have to use your own computer's resources; nothing to download & configure!                                         Return to Menu


                              

- The