Actionable Items

Thinking about that Subject heading ("Actionable Items") makes me laugh; if you've been paying attention, just about everything I post is 'actionable' meaning 'act now and good things will happen later' in your life and business.

Where to get a great logo...

The first thing I wanted to share with you today is a great and inexpensive resource for creating logos. GotLogos.com is run by a guy named Daniel; I've used his talents for several of my websites' logos. You can get a killer professionally designed logo for $25. Great value, try them out (someday I may ask him to offer a discount for webmasters who visit Cool Site of the Day...stay tuned).

Affiliate Marketing Recommendation...

I ran into Gary McNelley of MarketHealth at the Search Engine Strategies Trade Show last week. Gary's a great guy and his company, MarketHealth, sells natural, herbal health and wellness products (yeah, that's a mouthful but all you need to know is that there's a HUGE market for organic health and beauty products). Anyway, I've been a Super Affiliate of MarketHealth (ever since 2006 when I started generating over $30,000 in monthly commissions as an affiliate of MarketHealth products).

Here's the good news: MarketHealth has created a turn-key affiliate program for people who want to sell their products but don't have the time or talent to start from scratch. All you have to do is visit HerbalBiz and signup to create your own unique storefront (and then use WMC to drive traffic to it ;)

Here are just a few reasons why it makes sense to work with MarketHealth (and, no, this has nothing to do with multi-level marketing or MLM):

• Make 50% of the purchase price
• No Online Experience Required
• No Customer Service
• No Warehouse or Inventory
• Sell over 50 well known Health and Beauty Products
• Unlimited Income Potential
• Work from Anywhere
• Set Your Own Hours

I don't know about you but those are all the reasons that led me to build an online business. And like most people, I wanted to deal with a good and honest program that offers the greatest odds of making money. Well, MarketHealth and their HerbalBiz package is about as good as it gets (in the coming weeks I'll be sharing with you the rest of my highest rated affiliate opportunities). If you have any questions after visiting HerbalBiz, shoot me an e-mail--I'll be happy to help in any way that I can.

One Smart Guy...

I'm saving the best for last but this is quite good also: somehow I tripped over Ian Lurie's web site yesterday, Conversation Marketing. First off, Ian is the kind of guy I'd like to work with someday but, in the meantime, Ian is going to teach me (and you) quite a few things that are essential to building and marketing web sites intelligently. Just check out his list of 59 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren't. Truly great thinking and a list worth reviewing once a week.

Search Engine Traffic. Are You Paying Attention?

Finally, for those of you who took me up on my offer to set up your Web Marketing Concepts account, smart move! I couldn't handle all the requests that came in but you'll be happy to know that whether you use my services or go it alone, the results are worth it.

Here are two screen shots of our traffic stats from cpanel. In this image you can see the number of unique visitors shooting up in the second month of indexing (from 1,672 to 2,740 unique visitors). I gotta tell you, on average, I value a web site visitor at $.25 so that traffic is worth close to $700 to me. What is the cost of a Web Marketing Concepts membership? $49.94 per month (just increased from $29.95 as I said it would. Still a sick deal.). Who's smiling now?


This screen shot shows how many times the pages in this account have been indexed. I know it's hard to see but Yahoo's spider has hit the site over 2,000 times and the Googlebot has visited almost 1,000 times...and we're just getting started. Remember the WMC system builds up to 5,500 content pages per account so when the spiders start indexing all those pages it's 'HELLO TRAFFIC!'


If you haven't signed up for a WMC account yet you're doing yourself a big hurt. I'm putting the finishing touches on my WMC mindmap (explains in detail how to get the most from WMC). If you've opened an account and are ready to fly, send me an e-mail and I'll be happy to send you a free copy.

Sign up today before Jim raises the price again or, as he's suggested, removes WMC from public access.

That's all for today.

Mike

P.S. Some of you have been inquiring about my "Get Google Traffic Risk Free" offer. Visit this page and e-mail me if you're ready for some VIP treatment ;)

Free Publicity.

A quick note to share something very cool that I just discovered...

I came upon AmericanTowns.com and realized that I could promote my online activities for FREE in their 'Community Corner' section.

As it turns out, you can either pay for a business listing (only $139.99 to start) or do what I did and essentially post a free press release. But here's the best part: you can choose to have your press release distributed to MANY print media outlets in your community (I selected at least 100 print publications).

Registration is free. Enter your zip code and you're on your way!

Anyway, here's the link to my press release. I'll let you know if it gets picked up by any print editors.

Mike Corso

Search Engine Strategies Expo

Big day yesterday. I was interviewed at the Search Engine Strategies trade show in New York City (see clip below). Also, tune into WebmasterRadio.fm for an interview I did with them at SES as well (not sure what time it will air but I think they'll be broadcasting yesterday's interviews throughout the day).

Worth Waiting for....

Today (OK, tonight—yeah, I had to work out a few things before putting this post together) is a very important day in our lives; important for you because I’m bringing you one GIANT step closer to realizing your dreams of online success. Important for me because I am about to extend a hand to you in a way I’ve never done before.

Here’s the story: over a year ago I was contacted by Jim MacKinley (‘nirvana man’) about a system he was working on that would make link exchanging easy to do (in case you don’t know, getting links to your site makes the search engines happy but it is also a pain to accomplish).

In any event, Jim came up with the right piece of software so I was excited to get started. Unfortunately, for me, the process of setting up his system to work with my website seemed too complicated and not worth the effort. Well, many months passed and I always had Jim on my radar because I knew he was always doing something to improve his system.

Good for me. Very good for you.

I finally reached out to Jim in January and had a great conversation with him and his partner, Steve. Both Steve and Jim got me up to speed on all the wonderful traffic generating tools they built into their product. It didn’t take long for me to commit some time and start kicking the tires at Web Marketing Concepts. For the past several weeks I have devoured everything about WMC and can honestly say that nothing in the Web marketing world has excited me as much as WMC.

Why? How?

In a nutshell, the WMC system will automatically create up to 5,000 unique search engine-friendly content pages (seen only by the search engines). Because your website will have so much content (which the search engines love to see), your site will rank very high (page one or two of search results) which will cause a flood of traffic.

In my last post, I hinted that pricing was still an issue and that I was trying to figure out how I could support you once you decided to buy the service. Well, I have answers to both those questions (and, by the way, you will buy the service—big budget/small budget, big business/small business, this is a no-brainer. This is, hands down, the most cost effective traffic building tool you will find. The only question is whether you will act in time to take advantage of my offer of personal support).

Okay, now let’s get down to business….

As I said previously, last year I spent $100,000 on pay per click advertising for ONE product and made almost $150,000. I would’ve happily paid Jim $75,000 for his traffic dream machine.

But guess what?

Jim is holding to his introductory pricing until he reaches 500 members.

I’m almost embarrassed to say but the price of WMC is just $29.95 per month. You’ve heard the phrase “it won’t last”? Well, this price won’t last…for two reasons: 1) Jim has huge bandwidth costs that he has to cover; and 2) once you (and everyone else) find out about WMC

Again, once WMC is out of beta (when Jim reaches only 500 memberships) the price is going to skyrocket...and early adopters, like you and me, will pay it gladly.

Truth be told, WMC has a bit of a learning curve attached to it. And that’s where my personal support comes in. I’m so committed to your success that, at this time, I’m willing to setup and install your account for no charge. Consider it a favor. Truthfully, this is the kind of offer you’re not likely to come across again for a very long time.

But here’s a problem….time. I don’t have a lot of it. So, my offer is good for the first 15 people who order WMC from this link and e-mail a copy of their order confirmation to me.

Listen, there’s a lot more for me to post about regarding WMC but I’ve got to be considerate of your time (and I’m about to fall asleep at the keyboard). Over the next couple of days I will be sharing with you my own step-by-step map to mastering WMC.

If you have any questions, e-mail me or hit the ‘Call Me’ button in the right panel ----→

To your success,

Mike Corso
Cool Site of the Day TM
On the Web Since 1994. Over 4,000 Sites Served!

Jim will be able to charge whatever he wants. It’s that good.P.S. If you combine WMC with SBI, you'll be sitting pretty in a matter of months. If you don't know what I mean, you need to e-mail or call me (see the 'Call Me' button in the right panel ---->).

Cool Site's Super Search Tuesday

I try not to post any messages on the weekend but I woke up at 4 AM this morning with my head buzzing about Tuesday. You know that feeling when you're onto something really big and you can't wait to tell the whole world?

Anyway, I had a conversation with the developer of the search traffic generator (let's call it 'nirvana') that I'll be revealing on Tuesday. If I didn't know for myself, I'd think this guy is crazy (and, in fact, he is one of those 'obsessed' geniuses). The search traffic that his system is generating is mind boggling (I'm currently either testing or setting up 20 accounts for MYSELF in twenty different product categories). What's even more insane is the pricing that he's thinking of.

Worth $100,000 a year?

We won't know until Tuesday what the pricing will be but I can tell you this: last year I spent $100,000 on pay per click advertising for ONE product and made almost $150,000. Well, from the sounds of what 'nirvana man' is telling me, I will be paying a small fraction of that to get even MORE traffic.

I can't say anymore about pricing now because 'nirvana man' is struggling with the idea of making this system affordable for EVERYONE (he doesn't want to leave the small business owner out). On the other hand, he's starting to incur HUGE bandwidth costs (I'll explain why on Tuesday) which his current pricing barely covers. Since 'nirvana' is still in beta, 'nirvana man' has only charged his early testers a pittance of what the system is worth. Lucky for me.

Once 'nirvana' is out of beta (when he reaches only 500 memberships) the price is going to skyrocket...and members, like me, will pay it gladly. Thing is, no one knows what that price is going to be; I'm hearing anywhere from $997 to $4,997 per year (a sick bargain).

Just one warning: 'nirvana' is not a simple setup; I didn't jump aboard until a year after I was initially contacted by 'nirvana man' because the process seemed so daunting. When I finally realized that 'nirvana' had to be the #1 choice in my traffic tool kit, I spent 3 weeks learning it inside and out. I mention this because I may offer to setup 'nirvana' accounts at no cost for my Cool Site subscribers. I've got to think this through a little bit more before Tuesday.

OK, I'm off on a road trip until tomorrow night.

Have a great weekend wherever you are.

Regards,

Mike Corso
Cool Site of the Day TM
On the Web Since 1994. Over 4,000 Sites Served!

The All-In-One Solution...

As promised, today I’m going to share with you the industry’s absolute best “out-of-the-box” web building and traffic generating package. Sounds like hype, doesn’t it? It’s not.

Listen, I was once in your shoes; totally overwhelmed by all of the so-called Internet marketing gurus and their “guaranteed” quick and easy online money-making tools and ideas.

Know this: there is nothing about being successful online that is quick and easy.

Fact is, there are hundreds of resources and sites available to gather information about building successful web projects and most of this vast wealth of knowledge is great to use, but the big question is still always there. How do I decipher all this information and tailor it my needs?

The real answer to this question is not a simple one and there is no "secret sauce" that will make you millions. To be truly successful online you have to have, or develop, certain traits. Some of these traits are: persistence, patience, a thirst for knowledge, willingness to take a few risks, and the ability to learn from failure. Then, there are four things that reign supreme when it comes to building a successful website:

1. Pick a topic/subject/product that you are very passionate about and begin a blog or website that you update regularly.
2. Attract targeted traffic to your content
3. Pre-sell those visitors with honest, authoritative articles and reviews
4. Monetize your pre-sold traffic

Fortunately, one man was able to grasp all of the above and was willing to share his gifts with the rest of us.

I've been online since 1986, and I built my first income-generating website in 1994 (when Cool Site of the Day was born). Most of the money I've earned in my life has come from my online businesses. But my approach has been virtually unteachable. Until now.

In the past, if I were to spell-out how to build a high-traffic web site or how to make money from your blog, 9 out of 10 of you would fail. There were just too many programs to master and too many steps involved.

Starting a blog is dead simple these days. Creating a highly profitable, high-traffic website from scratch is very, very hard if you've never done it before.

An Unexpected Solution

The reason I'm writing this article is that I finally found a practical solution for people who want to build a successful online business without getting lost in a sea of technical details, using essentially the same business model I used to generate over $800,000 in affiliate revenue.

I'll explain the details in a moment.

When I started www.coolsite.com, I'd already been running a previous online business full-time for nearly a decade. www.coolsite.com didn't succeed because I was lucky or brilliant. It succeeded because I'd already invested thousands of hours and thousands of dollars in an earlier business. I paid my dues the hard way.

Fast forward to my introduction to Ken Evoy. Ken founded an interesting business called Site Build It!, a fascinating service that helps people build income-generating web sites. They provide complete hosting as well as an extensive suite of tools to help you build traffic and generate meaningful income.

This guy is really passionate about helping people build businesses online, and he found a way to succeed where few have. Ken realized just as I did that the technological complexity required to build a successful online business is just way too high for most people.

At first he tried to teach people how to do it -- even writing a book on the subject (it sold over 100,000 copies, so he knew what he was doing) -- but he ran into the same frustrating problems I did. No matter how clearly you explain it, it's just really hard for people to grasp the details, so they always screw it up. But instead of trying to teach people how to handle every little technical detail, Ken decided to build a service that would do it for them, automating as much as of the process as humanly possible. Ten years later Ken's vision is a huge success, with thousands of "raving fan" customers who've built real income-generating websites via Site Build It!

Ken is an incredibly hands-on entrepreneur with a rare level of dedication to his customers. He's extremely active in the Site Build It! members-only forums, with more than 4,700 posts of his own. Ken makes a tremendous personal effort to help people succeed, and from reading his posts, I could tell that his interest in people is authentic. Ken isn't alone though -- there are lots of highly active members in their forums who are passionate about helping each other. This definitely isn't a take-your-money-and-run operation.

How to Build a Profitable Online Business

Site Build It! is designed around a simple formula, which they refer to as CTPM. This stands for Content -> Traffic -> Presell -> Monetize.



You may recognize that this is precisely the model I refered to above. When done correctly this "content is king" approach can generate tons of traffic, in my case hundreds of thousands of page views per month. Preselling is the process of building a relationship with visitors, which essentially means treating visitors like human beings instead of sales targets. People visit this site looking for ideas to improve their lives, so that's what I focus on providing. The final monetization step occurs when people click on ads or buy affiliated products that happen to be of interest to them.

The major limiting step in this formula is building traffic. If you can't build decent traffic, you won't succeed. But the overall formula is sound, and it works if you do it correctly. It just happens to be very difficult for human beings to apply it without screwing it up. The advantage of Site Build It! is that it provides technical solutions to help reduce your chances of making mistakes. Where it cannot provide a technical solution, it provides clear instructions and education to help you succeed.

Even with Site Build It!, there's still no guarantee of success. This isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. It will still take commitment and effort to build a successful online business. But this robust suite of tools will definitely put the odds of success in your favor. You don't have to become a technology expert to earn enough to quit your day job.

The key benefit of Site Build It! is that it provides tools, guidance, and coaching to help you stay focused on the correct actions. This begins with providing easy-to-use research tools to help you figure out what kind of site to create in the first place. A lot of people fail because they create sites that were doomed from the very beginning. It really saddens me when a blogger emails me to say that s/he is still getting no traffic even after writing 100+ articles. I don't like telling people that they made their biggest mistake before the site was even launched by choosing a topic with virtually no demand... or one that's oversaturated with entrenched competition. Site Build It! can help you avoid soul-crushing problems like this.

Why Use Site Build It?

If you already run a successful online business that generates thousands of dollars a month in income for you, you don't necessarily need Site Build It! But if that's your situation, I highly recommend you join their affiliate program, which will give you an extra passive income stream. (To learn more about their affiliate program, scroll to the bottom of this post, or visit their Affiliate Center directly.)

However, if you're new to online business, or if you've tried and failed, or if you're stuck trying to build traffic and generate income, then you should definitely take a look at Site Build It!

With Site Build It! you don't have to build your web pages from scratch using HTML and CSS. They provide point-and-click tools and templates to generate your pages quickly and easily, including images. This allows you to focus on writing your content instead of wrestling with the underlying technology. Of course, if you're already comfortable with tools like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash, knock yourself out. Site Build It! is compatible with other HTML editors, so you're always free to fall back on your own tools if that's your preference. This gives you maximum flexibility to create the look and feel you want.

All the Tools, Training, and Support You Need to Build Your Own Income-Generating Website

Site Build It! includes an extensive suite of tools to help you build a successful online business every step of the way, including:

• domain name registration
• web site hosting
• point-and-click page creation
• content management
• blogging
• market research
• traffic stats
• search engine optimization
• auto-responders
• form builder
• graphic manager
• customizable templates
• sitemaps
• RSS feeds
• web mail
• newsletter management

Seriously, this is only a small fraction of the tools they include. Many functions are completely automated, and some tools work for you in the background even when you aren't aware of them. For example, if you update a page on your website, Site Build It! will automatically regenerate your Google and Yahoo sitemaps. If you don't know what a sitemap is, with Site Build It! you don't even need to worry about it. The technology will handle it for you. This means you can focus on creating content instead of worry about getting all the technical details right. Site Build It! will even suggest new topics you should write about to increase your traffic, based on its analysis of your current search traffic patterns.

Site Build It! provides unlimited customer support as well as private discussion forums where thousands of members share tips and advice. I browsed their forums myself and saw a lot of enthusiastic members helping each other. It's an extremely active community with hundreds of thousands of posts. They also have a team of moderators and in-house editorial staff who glean the best pearls from their forums and turn them into articles -- on everything from brainstorming to monetizing.

Their near weekly newsletter keeps you up to date on the current best practices as well as additions and updates to their "Info HQ" knowledge base. They track what's happening in the world of e-business (over 100 feeds, blogs, e-zines), so you don't have to. This makes it easy for you to focus on your business without worrying that you're missing important opportunities.

Site Build It! is basically an all-in-one solution for building a successful online business. They continue to add new tools and refine their existing tools to keep the service state-of-the-art.

Getting Started

I encourage you to look into Site Build It! to see if it makes sense for you. I recommend you start with the Site Build It! home page, watch the 2-1/2 minute video there, and follow whichever links interest you. The 30-minute video tour is a must -- it will really clarify everything for you. The video tour starts out mostly motivational in tone (i.e. benefits of working from home), but later on it dives into the details of how the tools and monetization strategies work, using real web sites as examples. I think you'll find it educational even if you have only a minor interest in making money online.

If what you see arouses your interest, but you're skeptical about what to expect, you'll definitely want to read my upcoming step-by-step Site Build It! walkthrough next. It explains exactly what to expect during the first 10 days, from the time you sign up until your new money-making website is online.

If you really want to do your homework, I suggest checking out some of the success story videos submitted by their customers as well as their in-depth case studies. If you have any questions about Site Build It!, you can submit them via the questions form, and you'll get an answer from a real Site Build It! owner/user.

Of course Site Build It! comes with a money-back guarantee, so there's no risk to try it for yourself. You can test drive it for 30 days and get a full refund if you don't like it. If you register a domain name through Site Build It!, you can even keep your new domain for free if you later decide to quit. That's a better than money-back guarantee, since you get a free domain name no matter what. Also, if you decide to quit after 30 days, you can get a pro-rated refund for the unused portion of your subscription... and of course still keep your new domain name too.

Become a Site Build It! Affiliate

Site Build It! has a very generous affiliate program, so if you already have a website and are looking for new income sources, this one is very solid for several reasons. First, you continue to earn residual commissions when each referral you generate renews their annual subscription, so the earnings are ongoing. Secondly, Site Build It! has a two-tier affiliate program, meaning that you also earn commissions on sales generated by affiliates you refer. Thirdly, unlike some stingy programs, they have an extremely robust tracking system to make sure you're fairly credited for your referrals. And fourthly, they support their affiliates with their 5 Pillar Club newsletter, detailed tracking tools, ad generators, members-only forums, and more. These people are serious about seeing their affiliates succeed.

Site Build It! not only has a great affiliate program, but they back it up with a truly valuable service that actually works for those who work it. I'd have no qualms about recommending Site Build It! to my own family members. I joined their affiliate program myself because Site Build It! solves a key problem for me and many of my visitors. I finally have a place to refer people for the tools and practical education necessary to create their own online businesses.

You can become a Site Build It! affiliate even if you never purchase a Site Build It! subscription for yourself. This is great for people who already have a successful online business. And again, you also benefit from each new affiliate who joins from your affiliate links. Due to the generous commission structure, some affiliates earn more than $20,000 per month.

If you're interested in learning more about the Site Build It! affiliate program, visit their Affiliate Center, and check out the commission structure. It's free to sign-up as an affiliate.

If I hadn't already learned how to build an online business the hard way, I'd use Site Build It! to get there much faster. It would have shaved years off my learning curve if this had been available when I created my first income-generating site back in 1994. I strongly recommend you look into Site Build It! if you want to successfully generate income online.

To your online success!

Mike Corso
Cool Site of the Day TM
On the Web Since 1994. Over 4,000 Sites Served!

Survey Results + 2 Great Tips

Thanks to everyone for completing the survey that I posted last week (“Just One Question”). And welcome to all the new members on this list—we’re up to 3,019 and climbing fast!

The results of the survey are clear; I asked you to tell me what you would like to learn first and the most popular category was “Getting Search Engine Traffic” (selected by 71% of you). A close second was “A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Building Profitable Web Sites” (selected by 63%). Going down the list, I see “Finding Keywords” at 31%, “Being More Productive Overall” at 30%, “Choosing Affiliate Networks” at 28%, and “Choosing Products to Market” at 28%.

This is great news because the system that I’m going to reveal on March 11th is focused on doing ONE thing: Getting Search Engine Traffic. When you get your hands on this tool you’re going to feel a little sorry for the rest of the webmaster universe (I’ve been testing it out for weeks and I still have feelings of guilt).

Anyway, remember March 11th—that’s the day everything changes for you.

Now, as for “A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Building Profitable Web Sites”, the timing couldn’t be better; I’ve scheduled my next message to cover the industry’s absolute best “out-of-the-box” web building and traffic generating package. That’s coming this Thursday.

As for today, I’ve got two things to share with you: a book and a Windows productivity tool. Both have transformed my life in numerous ways.

First the book; it’s David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

The book is only $9 at Amazon and is a must read for anyone (like I was) who feels overwhelmed by all the information being thrown at them today. I will summarize my biggest takeaway from this excellent book; when reviewing your pile of e-mail or things to read or whatever, categorize each piece as follows:

1. If you can deal with it in 2 minutes or less, do it (thereby you get rid of it)

2. If it relates to information that could be useful in the future, file it under ‘Reference’ (I now have an e-mail folder that contains all sorts of documents that I MAY refer to in the future….but NOT NOW)

3. If it’s a business idea or proposal but it’s not ESSENTIAL to your high priority, focused task(s) file it under ‘Someday’ (just like my ‘Reference’ folder, my ‘Someday’ folder is a storage tank for things I MAY consider in the future but NOT NOW).

4. If it’s related to a task that will take more than 2 minutes, then place it in your ‘Action’ folder and/or delegate the task to someone else. This is the folder that you will check at least once a week and it’s the most critical folder for your short-term success.

That’s just a snippet from this extraordinary book by David Allen. I don’t care what you do with your life (personal or business), this book will help you to breathe, think, and act in ways you’ve never been able to do so previously. Find it here.

As for the Windows productivity tool, all I can say is that I’m shocked this little gem isn’t on every Windows computer in existence. It’s called Activewords and it enables you to assign one or two keystrokes to a task that would otherwise take several keystrokes. That is a gross simplification but, trust me, you must get Activewords and see for yourself how unbelievably powerful it is. There’s no need to search for files or websites any longer, just assign a keystroke or word to those files or sites that you repeatedly use and Activewords will bring it to you. No searching, no frustration. Activewords is currently available as a fully loaded 60-day free trial. Get it now, you’ll thank them later. Don't wait on this one, click here.


That’s all for today. Look out for my post on Thursday. You're in for a treat.

Regards,

Mike Corso
Cool Site of the Day TM
On the Web Since 1994. Over 4,000 Sites Served!

P.S. PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS. If you have any questions about this post or blog (in general) or would simply like to share a cool online business tool that you've discovered, post it here.