Unfortunate things happen with your online business and you have to make the most out of it. Yesterday was a very busy day for me. My computer crashed. Arrrrghhhhh….

First thing which is I found fortunate was, I had backups. None of my data was missing. I mean NONE AT ALL. I think I’ll be crying if the stuff I had were gone.

Second thing which I find fortunate was I have a laptop. As soon as I know my computer crashed and I did some basic troubleshooting, I immediately rebuilt my PC.

For those of you that have gone through this process, it takes an average (for me anyway) 5 hours to get everything back to normal. This includes updating all the patches and Windows updates, all software programs and settings.

During this time of rebuild, you don’t need to spend the time attending your PC. Therefore, I multi-tasked. I got my laptop and started to write.

I wrote three articles which I’ve spell checked and ready to submit and also 4 blog posts which also spell checked, tagged, and ready to post ahead for the week.

Basically the downtime of my unfortunate incident was kept to a minimum.

I was damn pleased with myself and managed not to get too pissed about the PC crashing.

If you have time today, please make sure you have backed up all your data and have a plan for reinstalling your PC if needed.

I have a checklist which I go through in such disasters. It includes things like: run Windows update, install FireFox, install Roboform, restore Roboform data from D:\Backups, install openoffice.org etc… I’m so glad I had this disaster recovery plan. Remember, spending the time now will save you tons more in future.

At the start of this year, I’ve been pestered by people many times on whether I’ve used social marketing. My answer was no, because I couldn’t see the benefit and it was something fashionable that wasn’t for internet marketers.

It was only until Willie Crawford started to pester me on whether I was working on social news sites, bookmarking, squidoo etc… that I started to suspect I was being unfashionable. I did not keep up with the internet marketing fashion.

Then John Reese started to invite people on his Facebook and Twitter. That did it for me.

I found one of the best membership sites to join for social marketing. Jack Humphrey’s Authority Site Center. After going through the training in the members’ area for a month, including setting up my new blog, understanding what social marketing is, etc… (there’s bloody tons to learn) and then actually applying the techniques… I was starting to increase web traffic in just 2 days after using the techniques.

It was an eye-opener for me. Good job I have an open mind. My problem in this case was, I didn’t have time to learn about social marketing. But now after going full-time this year, I finally got my chance.

I’ll be updating my progress on using the Authority Site Center and hope you’ll see the benefit of joining the membership site as well. It’s the best membership site I have joined. Yes, please quote me with that last sentence.

Jump on social marketing now. It’s the internet marketing fashion that you should embrace. I remember Bjorn Borg used to be the king of tennis. That guy dominated all his components. Then he went downhill.

One of the major reasons mentioned by his critics was that he did not use the new bigger, better tennis rackets which gave every other player an advantage. He did not keep up with fashion.

Internet Marketing is a fashion as well. Keep up with it. Otherwise your business will be out of service and not out of date.

Fresh Email Lead services are companies that will provide you with emails that they have generated from their own websites or other websites

The list includes emails, first name and ip address of the person who signed up, and the date they signed up from.

You can purchase these [tag-tec]fresh email leads[/tag-tec] from companies that have signed up to receive more information on a certain niche. Of course, your web site or business will also have in the same niche.
Otherwise the people on the co-reg lists will unsubscribe from you straight away.

So how do you know what fresh email lead service to use?

Fresh Email Lead Service checklist:

1. The people who signed up for the co-reg list service should be double opted in.

2. The co-reg list should list reasonable rates for their lists.
eg. under 50 cents for double opted in subscribers

3. The email leads should be fresh. eg. under 24 hours or immediately if possible.

4. You need to test the quality of the email leads using tools such as Google Analytics or MyBlogLog tools.
See which co-reg list service provides you with the most responsive leads.

5. See which [tag-tec]co-reg list[/tag-tec] service has the least unsubscribes and use them again.

You need to test which fresh email lead service is more responsive for your niche. Don’t take anyone’s word for it. Test it for yourself.

Getting natural one-way links to your website is the single best way to improve your search engine rankings.  It can also get you a lot of traffic that comes through those links if they are posted on relevant webpages. 

The difficult part about acquiring these links, however, is the fact that many people are not simply willing to give them away.  That is, of course, unless you understand the secret to acquiring these one-way links naturally and without even asking.

Once you understand the principles behind this, you would be surprised at how quickly these links start to multiply.

The first thing that you’re going to have to do is to put something on your website that is worth linking to.  This is typically referred to as link fodder and is simply a method that requires you to post something on your website that would attract enough attention that people would be willing to share it with their own website’s visitors.

This link fodder can take several different forms and if you choose one that is appropriate for the theme of your website, it can be the magic bullet that will get you a ton of incoming links.

One of the most popular forms of link fodder is a controversial article.  This works well in many cases and if your website is themed properly, you should be able to write something of controversy fairly easily.  You can pick a news item or perhaps something that people are very passionate about that relates to your particular niche.

It won’t take long for people to pick up on the fact that you wrote something of interest and they will naturally want to invite other people to go see it, either because they agree or because they disagree.

Of course, controversy is not the only type of link fodder that works well.  It may be that your website lends itself more to a humorous type of fodder or perhaps one that is more of a serious nature.  The main thing that you need to do, however, is put something on your website that people will be interested in, interested enough to give you a link.

Once you figure out exactly how to do this, it almost becomes addicting and you’ll find yourself placing this fodder on your website again and again in order to acquire more links.

Ever wondered why copywriters get paid a lot? Every successful internet marketer pays a lot for a copywriter to write their salespages for their products. And they get paid in thousands of dollars.

It’s because words are powerful. If you know how to use them, you can affect them deeply. In many cases words affect us a lifetime, mentally.

I came across an excellent video that was recommended by Michel Fortin, a famous we copywriter. The post I am talking about is here http://www.michelfortin.com/the-lines-that-divide-us/

Watch the powerful video and pass it on to others. Save other people from being hurt.

Quite a few readers have commented that they treat the book Article Marketing Strategies like an encyclopedia when writing articles. This has made so proud. Article marketing has been my expertise for the past few years.

As most of you know, Willie Crawford, one of my mentors who taught me article marketing has even given me the mother of all testimonials for the book.  Read his feedback here…  http://www.williecrawford.com/blog/archives/001983.html

Well here are some more killer article marketing information to whet your appetite.

1. Here is one of my recent articles on how get ideas on what to write about.  This is one of the areas where people get stuck on and give up on article marketing.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Article-Marketing—Getting-A-Surge-Of-Ideas-On-To-Write-About&id=1093378

2.  One of my most respected blogger Yaro Starak, wrote an excellent piece on whether article marketing is worth your time.  This was written more than 2 years ago, but still killer stuff.

http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/377/ariticle-marketing-ezinearticles-review/

3. Here is a famous post on how to create a resource box by Christopher Knight. Chris is from EzineArticles, the king of of all article directories. I think he’s pretty qualified to talk about article marketing.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Article-Marketing-101:-The-Perfect-Author-Resource-Box&id=17172

I have much, much more great resources however the the above 3 links should keep you busy for a while with article marketing.

To increase web traffic, is on the top priority list of most online marketers. After all traffic = money. The more traffic your web site is receiving means the more successful your online business is wrong. This is a myth.

The statement will turn quite a few heads with [tag-tec]internet marketers[/tag-tec]. After all, who the hell would disagree that traffic does not equal success?

Well read the following 5 reasons and then think about the statement again. You may run your online business differently.

Increase Web Traffic Is Useless

1. You have created your website and blog and are now concentrating on generating targeted traffic to it. Have you made sure that you have enough information on your site to make the visitor stick around and return looking for more information?

If not then your [tag-tec]increased web traffic[/tag-tec] is wasted.

2. You have created enough information for the visitors to stay around and find your site interesting. Have you got any social proof that you can be trusted? Do you have testimonials? Do you sound like an authority on your niche?

If not then your targeted traffic is wasted. No one will buy from you. They are just browsing. Maybe click on a few ads.

3. Do you have a leading product that you are giving away to build a list? An email list is crucial to make money online with your web site. With emails, you can ask the visitor to visit your site again and to recommend products.

If you don’t have an email capturing process implemented, why begin to increase web traffic?

4. Are you giving your visitors a chance to buy from your web site with the content they are reading? Are you recommending a particular product that they should be interested in?

You should concentrate on selling one product only on your site which will build a customer list for you. Always keep in mind the purpose of sending targeted visitors to your web site.

5. And finally, do you have a business model of how you will profit from the prospects visiting your web site. For example, are you selling a value for money product for a great discount, while you are making money from your backend sales?

Backend sales are products that your buyers will purchase that will give you the most profit. The lead selling product is to get them on your buyers’ list and to gain their trust.

There should be many opportunities for your buyers to buy more from you. This process should be implemented before you can concentrate on increasing targeted web traffic.

So When Does Increased Web Traffic Start?

You should start concentrating on generating as much web traffic as you possibly can, after the above 5 are implemented. At the beginning you can start using Adwords or other pay per clicks to generate traffic to test your sales process.

Once your sales process is refined and implemented, increase web traffic is no longer useless. It becomes the oxygen of the heart of your business.

Still trying to pull myself together after yesterday’s crash. Can’t seem to focus as much as I want at the moment. But still striving forward.

At the moment I’m reading a book called “The Richest Man Who Ever Lived” by Steven K. Scott.

A very good read. Interesting stuff, where it talks about diligence.  It’s the second time I’ve read this book and it seems I learn more the second time round.

I would recommend you to get a copy and read it. Contains very wise advice that you can apply to your [tag-tec]online business[/tag-tec] and personal life. It’s written very well so you won’t fall asleep.

Talk to you tomorrow when I hope I have a clearer head.

I just had a car crash this morning with my wife.

After dropping off my daughter to school and on the way to drop off my wife, a huge truck  with a long container switched changed lanes and hit my car’s rear right.

My car spun around in a circle, smashed against a wall, spun around again and ran on toward the bushes on the other side.

I was alright with small bruises and cuts to my arms. My wife had cuts to her eye lid and big bruises on her cheek.

This happened at the highway at 100 km/h. I am very glad to be alive.  Had there been cars coming behind while I was spinning, I would have been dea.

The first things that raced across my mind was holy shit, am I going to die, what’s going to happen to my kids, I still haven’t achieved what I want yet.

After this incident, I promised to myself that I’ll spend more time with my family, reach my online business goals as fast as I can, and waste less of my time.

There are several things which I have put off from doing. Mainly due to reasons such as I’ll do it when I have time, I’m not sure what other people will think etc…

I take this as a wakening call. Life is too short to waste. Make the most of it everyday. God bless all the casualties in China and Burma.

Internet marketing businesses have daily tasks? I thought it was a set and forget system. That’s what auto pilot income means right. You’ve read it in most internet marketers’ books and sales letters.

That version of the [tag-tec]internet marketing[/tag-tec] story, sells.  The true version stinks. The truth is it requires work. If you spend the time on the work, it will pay you back later on.

I had a shower this morning and realized that I haven’t been to the gym for over a year now. Last year I promised to go every lunch time for half an hour. But till this day now, I haven’t been once.

If I had stuck to my own promise, and went for the past year, I’m sure I would have a leaner body by now.  I can start today or tomorrow, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s been a year wasted already.

Looking back, I could have spent that half an hour at the gym, no problem.

That’s the thing with everyone. We look back and say to ourself we could have done it, but for some reason we just didn’t do it at the time.

For today, ask yourself what internet marketing tasks can you do to improve your business. Let’s say that you really have no mood to do anything today and only have 10 minutes to spare. Pick one of the following to do:

- Go to someone’s blog and make a decent comment pointing back to your website

- Write an article for 10 mins. You can go back to it tomorrow. At least you started off writing a new article

- Go to several websites and ask if you can be a guest blogger. You can schedule your  guest post later on.

- Go to your old blog postings and see if you can make a comment to an external blog and do a trackback for it. Using TrackBoost is a good idea.

- Go to a forum and make one or more helpful postings.

- Read up on SEO and mark down anything you can use to improve your SEO

- Go to your PPC campaigns and change something to beat your control

- Browse on the internet for 10 mins and note down any ideas you have which you can use later on. eg. videos, articles, products etc…

The main point is, you can do something using just 10 mins of your time. These tasks add up in time. You’ll also make yourself feel better because you’ve worked on your business. Internet marketing has many daily tasks. It doesn’t mean you have to deal with all of them. Just do something today.

Sometimes after working for 10 mins, you’ll get in the mood for working and may continue for an extra hour. I’ve done this loads of time.