Twitter Updates for 2008-09-29

September 29, 2008 by John Dilbeck · 6 Comments
Filed under: Twitter

I just updated my Squidoo page: Site Build It, a revolution in website design, hosting, and promotion / http://tinyurl.com/4324sx #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-27

September 27, 2008 by John Dilbeck · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Twitter

I just updated my Squidoo page: John Dilbeck / http://tinyurl.com/5k9a5f #
I just updated my Squidoo page: Social Networking at Ning.com / http://tinyurl.com/3hk4k9 #

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Are you getting the most from your Squidoo lensmasters profile page?

September 26, 2008 by John Dilbeck · 2 Comments
Filed under: Promote Yourself, Social Networking, Squidoo Lenses, Squidoo Marketing, Twitter

Did you know that Squidoo made a big change in August 2008 when they greatly expanded what you can show on your lensmasters profile page?

Have you updated your profile to take advantage of the new features?

As an example, take a look at my lensmasters profile page. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

There is a lot more information there than what you would have seen a couple of months ago and much of it can be customized by you.

Depending upon what you choose to show, your profile may show more or less than mine.

Some of the content is automatically generated by Squidoo, however.

Basic information, such as a list of your lenses and the number of lenses you have created, favorited, and ranked, and the members of your fan club, is shown automatically on your profile.

You can add additional information such as your bio, lenses you want to feature, and links to your blogs, other websites, and social networking sites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. Other links can include your CafePress shop, eBay store, and more.

That’s a lot of information that can be shown on one page, and Squidoo even creates an RSS feed for your lenses, although there seems to be a problem with the correct link right now. When I clicked the RSS icon in my browser’s URL box, it took me to an invalid feed, but there really is an RSS feed of all my lenses that can be read in a newsreader and/or syndicated on other sites.

If you haven’t updated your Squidoo profile, what are you waiting for?

That’s an important page. It is already linked to from each of your lenses and from any lenses you’ve favorited. You should be linking to your Squidoo profile from your other sites and blogs, too.

I didn’t really like it the first time I saw it, but after reading Megan Casey’s SquidBlog post, New lensmaster bio page, live now!, I realized there was much more than what I was seeing initially.

Somewhat later, I found her lens, How to rock your lensmaster bio page, and learned how to make my profile page even better.

More sites, including Squidoo, are helping you link to your Twitter profile so you can grow your list of followers and also notify them when you’ve updated a lens or are reading one you want to recommend.

With some extra work on your part, you can include these updates using tools provided by sites such as FriendFeed.com or MyBlogLog.com.

With the use of RSS feeds and tools like Twitter, it is becoming easier to write once and publish (or promote) your content on multiple sites.

Even if you don’t add all the bells and whistles to your profile page, you should be promoting it wherever you can to get more exposure to your lenses.

But, why stop there? It will only take a few minutes to customize your profile and bio and get much more use from the page that Squidoo has provided us.

Act on your dream!

Tags: lensmaster, new, profile, Squidoo

Disclosures, Disclaimers, and Ethics of Affiliate Marketing

September 25, 2008 by John Dilbeck · 2 Comments
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing

I’ve been offline for the last week or so and I’m happy to be feeling a little better today.

Normally, in the fall, I suffer from allergies for about six weeks and apparently there is an abundant crop of ragweed this fall here in the mountains of western North Carolina. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sneezing, coughing, and wheezing and just haven’t felt like doing anything, even blogging – which I love doing.

I love fall and I’m looking forward to the beautiful leaves in this part of the world. We’re already seeing some nice orange and red leaves on the sumac plants and sassafras trees. They are the harbingers of much more beauty that will soon surround us.

So, I suffer through the allergies until frost kills the ragweed and enjoy the beauty of nature when the leaves turn. Autumn is a season I dread and love at the same time.

Today I was going to try to catch up on my email, but I got sidetracked by an article that CT Moore wrote about Ethics of Affiliate Blogging.

In that article, he talks about the importance of creating a disclosures page that explains to your readers about affiliate marketing and the companies you promote and from which you earn commissions.

Now, on a blog like this, I think it’s pretty obvious that most (but not all) of the links are affiliate links and that I earn a commission when you purchase as a result of following one of my links.

But, what about your blog or website? Do your readers know that you may have more than one reason for linking to a product or site? Do you get paid to promote something?

In some areas, affiliate marketing or any other form of commercial activity is not welcome. In fact, a few short years ago, it was illegal to do any kind of commercial activity on the Internet. So, there is still residual ill will towards people who market online in some parts of the Web.

If your blog is not obviously about affiliate marketing, do you need to create a disclosures page to explain to your readers that you get paid for promoting certain products and services?

That’s an interesting question.

At first, I thought that I didn’t need a disclosures or disclaimers page for this blog, but the more I think about it, I’m starting to think it may be a good idea for at least two reasons:

1. It makes what I’m doing more transparent to you, the reader, so that there is no confusion about the fact that I earn 100% of my income from affiliate marketing.

2. It would make a good page to list all the companies I promote, with an affiliate link to their sites and maybe a short paragraph explaining why I promote their products and services. For two-tier and multi-tier programs, it would also be a good way to link to where you can join their affiliate program.

Disclosures or Disclaimers?

So, assuming that maybe this is a good idea, I’m wondering whether I need to create a disclosures or disclaimers page, or both.

In journalism, a reporter is expected, and sometimes required, to disclose anything that may show links between a story and the writer. For instance, when reporting on a financial story, he or she may be required to disclose the ownership of stock in a company in the story.

Wikipedia says that full disclosure “in media refers to disclosing the interests of the writer which may bear on the subject being written about…”

So, let’s say you have a passion for beekeeping and that’s what you write about. Do you need to disclose to your readers that you may earn income by recommending books about bees and you use affiliate links to promote certain brands of beekeeping equipment and supplies?

If you blog about politics, do your readers have a reasonable expectation that you earn income by promoting some sites or products?

I think it really depends upon your niche and your readers.

If you report news, then I think there should be a separation between editorial and advertising content, as is required by (most) newspapers and magazines.

If you are an authority on a subject and your choice of topics to write about may be influenced by financial interests, then I think disclosure of the facts is a good idea.

What about a disclaimers page?

Wikipedia says, “A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally-recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative language, the term ‘disclaimer’ usually implies situations that involve some level of uncertainty, waiver, or risk.”

When applied to affiliate marketing, some disclaimers are probably a good thing. It is a subject I need to explore some more.

Most affiliate programs disclaim earnings potential statements, and some earnings claims are illegal. The FTC requires all claims to be factual, not misleading, and that you be able to back them up with proof.

On my Act On Your Dreams! site, I have a page about Home Business Information and link to some FTC pages about claims and advertising that may be useful to you.

An example of a disclaimer can be seen on Shawn Collins’ Affiliate Marketing Blog. For instance, in his article, Top Affiliate Programs – August 2008, you’ll find the disclaimer: “Disclaimer: While we attempt to include only legitimate programs in this directory, no warranties are made. Please research each company carefully to arrive at your own conclusions. If you experience difficulties with any of the programs listed, contact us, so that we may investigate them.”

This disclaimer is used to reduce risk by disclaiming any warranties that may be expected from listing what he considers the top ten affiliate programs for the month.

He recommends that you perform your own due diligence in investigating the company so that you arrive at your own conclusions instead of relying on his recommendation.

Finally, he offers to investigate programs with which his readers may have experienced problems.

Another example can be found on The Affiliate Marketing Edge Disclaimer Page, which has a lengthy legal document that looks like it may have been professionally prepared by an attorney.

Darren Rowse has a different kind of disclaimer page, ProBlogger Disclaimer, where he talks about what he gets from his blog and what it costs him.

In the current design of his blog’s theme, he links to the disclaimer page from the very bottom right corner of his blog.

Allan Gardyne has a page called Legal Stuff where he makes some common-sense disclaimers and disclosures.

You can find many other examples by searching on Google for terms such as “affiliate marketing disclaimer” and similar phrases.

What to do?

After spending a couple hours thinking about this and looking at other sites, many of which I didn’t mention here, I’ve decided that I need to add a page for this site’s policies and another for disclosures. I’m thinking that I can combine privacy policies and disclaimers on one page, and use the disclosures page to talk about the affiliate programs I promote and why.

What do you think?

Are you actively promoting affiliate programs on your sites, blogs or elsewhere?

Have you considered the importance of creating disclosures, disclaimers, and/or policies pages for your sites?

I’m very interested in your thoughts about these topics.

Disclaimer: I’m not an attorney, don’t want to become one, and have never played one on TV or elsewhere. I’m not offering any legal advice here.

Act on your dream!

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, ethics

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-17

September 17, 2008 by John Dilbeck · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Twitter

Through all my coughing, sneezing, and teary eyes, I’m trying to find something to appreciate about ragweed. Lack of success, so far! #
Reading this: http://www.squidoo.com/8treasuretea #
@patinkc Good morning, Pat. I just read your blog and your 8 Treasure Tea lens. It looks interesting. Thanks for the kind words. #

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Twitter Updates for 2008-09-16

September 16, 2008 by John Dilbeck · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Twitter

@jenniferbarthe You’re welcome. Joel’s book offers an inspiring view into the pioneers of online marketing. Act on your dream! JD #

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Click Here to Order – Stories of the World’s Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs by Joel Comm

September 16, 2008 by John Dilbeck · 3 Comments
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Amazon, Books, Marketing, Self-Publishing, Sitesell and Site Build It, Success and Failure

Last month, Joel Comm’s newest book, Click Here to Order – Stories of the World’s Most Successful Internet Marketing Entrepreneurs, was released and currently ranks #2230 in sales out of all books sold by Amazon.com.

This is not a step-by-step how-to book for new Internet marketers. If that’s what you are looking for, you should probably look elsewhere.

Click Here To Order tells the stories of some of the earliest Internet marketing entrepreneurs who succeeded beyond their dreams. You may know some of their names, already.

In fact, if affiliate marketing is part of your business revenue model, you may even promote products that some of the people in this book created.

From the product description:

While the general public is familiar with the larger Internet companies such as Yahoo!, Google, eBay and Amazon, very few are aware that small business is thriving online like never before, especially in the realm of information products. Click Here creates an entertaining and instructive narrative that provides an in-depth look at the unintentionally underground movement known as Infoproduct marketing, and the people who have profited and succeeded in the industry.

This edition of Click Here to Order is a 300-page paperback book. The list price is $17.95 and, as you probably know, is offered at a significant discount by Amazon.com.

Marketing on the Internet can be a very lonely business since we spend lots of hours in front of our keyboards and sometimes lose sight of what we want to accomplish because we get so bogged down in the details of what we’re doing.

Sometimes, it’s good to get away from the details and learn about the pioneers in this business. Who are they? What did they do? How did they do it? Why did they become so successful?

You’ll find some of these answers in Joel’s new book.

If you are interested in the history of the Internet marketing pioneers, and you want to learn more about how some of the best copywriters made their first dollars with online marketing, you’ll probably enjoy this book.

This is just one of the books about Internet marketing that I recommend in my Amazon.com bookstore.

Do you want to learn about Infoproducts and how to create them?

You can download, for free, Monique Harris and Ken Evoy’s excellent ebook, Make Your Knowledge Sell!.

While it won’t do the work for you, you’ll learn how to create an infoproduct of your own.

They provide great information about picking good ideas, writing to persuade, packaging your infoproduct, marketing it, and making sales.

Make Your Knowledge Sell! sold thousands of copies over the last few years, and now you can get it free. What are you waiting for?

Who knows, maybe you’ll be one of the people who’ll be featured in some future book about successful Internet marketers!

Read Click Here to Order for background knowledge of the business and how it has developed. Get inspired to do more by reading about the people who blazed the trails some of us are following.

Study Make Your Knowledge Sell! to learn many of the details and skills you’ll have to master to create your own infoproducts.

You can get started by learning affiliate marketing before you create your own products

Perhaps you’re not yet ready to create and sell your own infoproduct or service.

One of the best ways to get started in online marketing is to become an affiliate for a company with top-selling, high-quality products and services and then earn commissions by recommending them.

That’s my preferred business model, as you can tell from the name of this site.

I highly recommend Ken Evoy’s Affiliate Masters Course, and you can download a free copy here from my site.

Even if you choose to create your own products and sell them, you’ll want to know more about affiliate marketing. After all, you may create a great product and want to have affiliates helping you sell it.

Act on your dream!

Tags: Affiliate Marketing, copywriters, copywriting, entrepreneurs, infoproducts, Internet marketing, Joel Comm, Ken Evoy, Marketing, Monique Harris, success stories, successful

Amazon Introduces Video On Demand

September 16, 2008 by John Dilbeck · 6 Comments
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Amazon, Movies, TV

In early September, Amazon announced the availability of Amazon Video On Demand.

Now, you can instantly watch movies and television shows commercial-free on Macs or PCs.

You can enjoy instant playback of hit Hollywood movies and the latest TV shows.

This new movie and TV streaming service offers a wide range of movies, TV seasons, and individual TV episodes.

Of course, to take full advantage of this service, you’ll need a broadband connection to the Internet.

To make it even easier for you to decide to rent or purchase a movie or TV show, the first two minutes of videos automatically play at no charge when you visit the detail page for that video. At any time during this 2-minute viewing period, you can choose to purchase or rent the video to watch it in its entirety.

If you are an Amazon.com affiliate, you can earn up to 10% referral fees on movie and television show purchases. Amazon makes it easy to link to the Video On Demand section of their massive store and you can link to individual videos using standard product links or the versatile movie and TV show preview widget.

NetFlix – an alternative to Amazon

I live in an area where high-speed broadband access to the Internet is not available. So, video on demand, no matter how reasonably priced and convenient, is simply not an option.

I have been a very satisfied NetFlix customer for several years and enjoy watching movies and TV shows by selecting them on the NetFlix website and then receiving the DVDs in the mail. After I’m done watching the video, and re-watching the best, it’s a simple matter of inserting the DVD in the postage-paid envelope and dropping it into the mailbox. A few days later, the next video in the list of shows I have selected is automatically sent to me. There are no late fees and you can keep a DVD until you have the time to watch it and are ready to return it.

Lately, I’ve been watching entire TV shows in order, episode by episode, year by year.

Currently, I’m on season 3 of Star Trek Enterprise, and last month I watched season 3 of Stargate Atlantis and the Stargate Continuum movie.

I’m getting a chance to watch shows I never had time to watch, before.

Netflix lets you rent, watch and return DVDs from home – Try free for 2 weeks

In addition to renting videos on DVD, some are available for instant viewing, so NetFlix may be a convenient alternative to Amazon.

One advantage that NetFlix has is a fixed price. I subscribe to the plan where I can have up to 3 DVDs out at any one time and pay less than $20 per month. Most months, I can watch about 15 DVDs, and some have four to six TV episodes on them.

Today, for instance, I’m supposed to receive the next two DVDs of Star Trek Enterprise season 3, and that will include four episodes per disc, for a total of eight episodes.

I live on a strange schedule and work whenever I feel like it – an advantage of working at home – so I may watch a video during the day, evening, or even the middle of the night. It’s completely up to me. I can watch the good shows more than once, if I want.

Last month, when I rented Stargate Continuum from NetFlix, I watched it three times before returning it.

I mainly watch science fiction, but over the last few months, I rented the first three seasons of Little House on the Prairie, and Mom loved watching shows that she understood and enjoyed much better than the sci-fi flicks I love.

Currently, I have over 100 DVDs in my NetFlix queue, including the first two seasons of Boston Legal, and I’m considering watching the entire production of The West Wing.

It is convenient and cost-effective to watch videos in your own home. For the price of one or two movies at the theater, you can watch a dozen or more in your home. And, both Amazon and Netflix have many thousands of videos from which to choose.

Plus, for people like me – and possibly you – they both have an affiliate program and you can earn nice commissions for referring people to their services.

All work and no play…

I enjoy working, but there is also a lot to say for entertainment.

I am 100% satisfied with my multi-year experiences with Amazon and NetFlix. I am happy to recommend them to you.

Take a break. Watch a video today. Enjoy yourself.

Act on your dream!

Tags: Amazon, buy, Movies, NetFlix, rent, TV, Video, Video on Demand

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-08

September 8, 2008 by John Dilbeck · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Twitter

I just updated my Squidoo page: Promotional Products / http://tinyurl.com/5tj723 #
@KEvoy Thanks for tweeting your forum posts. I’m able to read them faster than I can with RSS feeds. #
@try4imprint thank you. I just subscribed to your company’s blog. Looking forward to reading those 12 case studies. #

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Wrong and right ways to participate in social networking

September 8, 2008 by John Dilbeck · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Business Networking, Social Networking

I enjoy reading Lynn Terry’s blog, because I almost always learn something new or find something that makes me think a bit deeper about affiliate marketing, social networking, blogging, running a home business, and other topics she writes about.

I’m thinking about her right now because she just wrote a couple of excellent posts on her blog about the wrong and right ways to engage in social networking.

Social Media Marketing (A Warning)

How to Use Social Media… Successfully

I cringe a bit every time I see someone suggesting creating multiple profiles on social networking sites and using software to automate friend requests and posting links. Please don’t do this.

Lynn addresses these types of issues in her warnings about the wrong way to use social media.

She offers ten tips on the right way to participate in her second article about how to use social media successfully.

If you are interested in business networking, social networking, and using social media correctly, you should take the time to read both of her articles.

She promises that a case study on using social media is forthcoming and I’m looking forward to it.

Thanks, Lynn.

Act on your dream!

Tags: Business Networking, Lynn Terry, social media, Social Networking