The Official Roll Call..

First time in a LONG time that I looked at the Roll Call after a House of Reps vote.  Strange days.  We'll be OK.

Mike

Why are RSS Feeds so complicated?

This post comes from Andy Sernovitz' Damn I Wish blog...

RSS Feeds....those of us in the social media business have done an awful job explaining them. We make it worse with a mishmash of terms for the exact same thing (RSS, XML, syndicate.) I think we should set an industry standard to just call them "feeds" and drop all the other terms, and use this symbol

I had an really painful flight recently listening to a software engineer try to explain them to very nice, patient, and interested couple for 2 hours. (It didn't help he was trying to show them how it worked on his computer that was offline because we were on a plane. Grrr.)

The next day my dad asked me about them.

Here's my attempt at a clear answer to: "What are RSS Feeds?"

1. Many web sites publish updates whenever they have a new post or story. This is the "feed."
2. You can use a program called a "feed reader" to automatically collect all those stories so you can read them in one place. Think of it as an inbox for news.
3. It's quite handy--all your favorite stories come to you, instead of you having to go check a bunch of sites all the time looking for new stories. When there's something new, it shows up in your reader automatically.
4. There are also feeds for things like eBay searches or Craigslist posts. You could have your feed reader automatically track any new eBay listing for a particular item you are looking for.
5. You know if a web page has a feed if you see this icon: . It might also be near the top of your browser.
6. If you see these terms, they are all the same thing: RSS, XML, Syndicate This Site.

To get started:

1. Get a feed reader. My favorite is the free Google Reader. http://reader.google.com/
2. When you see the icon, click it to subscribe.
3. Start reading.

Technorati Tags: rss, internet marketing, cool site

Free tools for your website, as discussed yesterday...

Yesterday was another great Cool Talk webcast. If you were on the call, you heard us talk about perhaps the best place to get free, easy-to-install CGI scripts to make your website shine...

There's over $8,000 of auto-installing web software at your fingertips at John Saya's CGI Connection.

CGI Connection has a unique feature called an Auto-Installer, which automatically installs and configures software to your web site. So no programming knowledge is required.

Some of his auto-installing software includes:

• Membership Management
• Chat Rooms
• Banners and Graphics Creation
• Survey Makers
• Form Development
• Video Streaming
• Many other Advertising and Promotional Tools

You can login here. (Believe me, the free stuff alone is worth the trip...especially this tool which makes sure your e-mails are getting through to your web site visitors and newsletter subscribers)

Your opinion is very important to me and everyone who visits this blog so please come back here and let us know about your experiences with CGI Connection

Have a great weekend,

Mike

Affiliate Summit

Join my in NYC a week from Sunday!


Stay tuned to this blog for my report on Affiliat Summit's Social Media Conference in NYC. I'll have a lot of very valuable information to share.

Mike

Tell Your Friends!

Test, test, test...in a multivariate kind of way.

Our friend , Ian Lurie was published in dmnews; check out his article on Multivariate Testing and bring your questions to next week's webcast  of Cool Talk.

Multivariate testing has made it into the mainstream: tools like Google Website Optimizer and Widemile's Page Opti­mizer make sophisticated tests relatively simple.

But it causes many search marketers to focus on landing pages and to mistakenly ignore their ads. Many other search marketers treat the ads as a separate test. That's a mistake, too.

For the best results, include the ads and the landing pages in the same multivariate test (MVT, for short) matrix. Why bother? Creating an MVT matrix is already a pain in the rear. After their first month or so working with me, most clients flinch when I mention one. So why add yet another variable? .....continued.

Responsiveness to consumers?

I happen to be a big Hydrox fan and a student of marketing so this article was, uh, interesting.  Doesn't every company introduce products as a response to consumers?  To fill a 'need'?  And if they don't sell, the product is pulled.  How is this different?

Dunk 'em while you can, folks. Hydrox are back—but for a limited time only.

Hydrox, the cookies that the Kellogg company drowned as a brand in 2003, will be hitting shelves once more, the Wall Street Journal reports, as the company bows "to more than 1,300 phone inquiries, an online petition with more than 1,000 signatures, and Internet chat sites lamenting the demise of the snack."

But don't get too happy, Hydrox hounds. First, the comeback may only be temporary. "Kellogg's move is more about marketing and showing its responsiveness to consumers," the Journal says, "than about a permanent product reintroduction: The cookie will be sold nationally starting in August, but only for a limited time." (If reception is positive, the company may go permanent with the comeback.) Second, the recipe may be different, a company spokesman said—no trans fats, for one.

I'll be buying a box tomorrow.

Mike

Rich Schefren is doing it again...

If you've been following this blog, you know I'm a big fan of Rich Schefren and his Internet Business Manifesto.

When Rich released his Manifesto, it was like I was standing in a dark room, stumbling around in the inky blackness...and someone turned the light on.

THAT's how effective it was for me. So effective, in fact, that I reread it a few times a year when I feel like I need a kick in the pants.

When I read the Manifesto, I finally had a clue about why my business was struggling...and what I could do to not only fix it, but make it profitable beyond my wildest dreams.

And I wasn't the only one.

Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs downloaded the Manifesto and applied Rich's cutting edge principles to their business. And today, some of them are among the most wealthy marketers and business owners in the world (while I, by no means, put myself in that category, I'm quite pleased with the path on which Rich has put me).

Since the Manifesto, Rich has released a series of reports that rocked the Internet Marketing community to its very core with their shocking predictions and amazing insights.

And now, he's doing it all over again.

Rich has released a new report titled The Uncertainty Syndrome. And from all
indications, this one's going to blow the others away...

Inside, Rich gets down to the nitty gritty about what's holding you back from success and how you can easily overcome those constraints to build a wildly profitable web-based business.

I can tell you this much--if this newest report has even HALF of the powerful strategies, tactics, and techniques that his others have, then you MUST get a copy immediately.

And there's simply nothing to stop you--because, like the Manifesto, it's absolutely FREE.

Rich is known as the "guru to the gurus" because of his incredible ability to take mid-level marketers and turn them into household names (and multi-millionaires) VERY quickly...

And with this report, he'll help you crush the roadblocks that are keeping you from your dreams and finally achieve the wealth, freedom, and success you so rightly deserve.

This one's a no-brainer folks...don't miss out.

Let's talk about it Thursday on Cool Talk ;)

Cheers,

Mike

P.S. Don't miss out on your chance to get this monumental report--get your copy NOW...

Learn SEO from the biggest, baddest group on the planet

Hey

Have you gotten your F'REE copy of "Stomping the Search Engines
2" yet?

http://www.cnotes.com/r/stompernet_stse1.html

Even though they had some problems at launch, they're up now
and people are LOVING this deal.

You need to see it for yourself - the video on that page
explains the whole thing - $500 worth of StomperNet material
for F'REE.

http://www.cnotes.com/r/stompernet_stse1.html

Learn SEO from the biggest, baddest group on the planet, and
don't pay one cent for it. (Okay, TINY S&H charge - but that's
it!)

Go check it out now.

Mike

P.S. They're SERIOUS about getting a copy to everyone who wants
it - they have a phone number AND email address on the cart and
are going strong all day long. Don't miss out.

http://www.cnotes.com/r/stompernet_stse1.html

On Monday, join me for a special call

You know who Rich Schefren is, right?

A few years ago, he came storming onto the scene with a landmark document called the Internet Business Manifesto. And it shook the internet marketing community to the core.

Just like that, Rich became an instant overnight sensation. Top names in the IM world heralded him as their coach (prompting the nickname "guru to the gurus") and revealed that his strategies had generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.

But that was 2 years ago--practically a lifetime in our business. What we really want to know is, what has he done for them LATELY?

Are those strategies and tactics still legit?

Has the Internet business model changed completely?

What's the future hold? Are we heading towards record profits...or record disaster?

Well, get ready. Because on Monday the 8th, Rich Schefren is going to shake the internet marketing world once again.

And you're invited.

http://www.cnotes.com/r/schefren.html

In this special call, Rich will gather some of his most famous students for a "family reunion" of sorts, I'm talking TOP GURUs, to discuss the current state of our business...and what's to come.

He's still trying to whittle the guest list down (since Rich's coaching clients read like a who's who of online marketing), but some of his more high-profile students include:

• Mike Filsaime
• Joel Comm
• Jim Edwards
• Ryan Deiss
• Jeff Walker
• Brad Fallon
• John Carlton
• Jeff Walker

And MANY more.

During the call, a handful of these big-time gurus will be revealing which of Rich's breakthrough strategies still work today--and which ones don't.

Plus, you'll have an opportunity to look into Rich's crystal ball and take a peek at what he sees for the future of your business.

Talk about a MASSIVE value in itself...

http://www.cnotes.com/r/schefren.html

If you want to see your internet profits go blasting through the roof (just like so many others have with Rich's teachings) this is one call you simply cannot miss.

Reserve your spot NOW.

http://www.cnotes.com/r/schefren.html

I'll see you there...

Mike


P.S. If you're new to the business and you're not familiar with Rich, that's okay...

Because during the call, he'll feature a special link where you can instantly download his groundbreaking Internet Business Manifesto and see what all the fuss is about.

This is the same document that changed the way we do business forever...and helped make hundreds of people into multi-millionaires.

Are you next?

http://www.cnotes.com/r/schefren.html

Affiliat Summit Social Media in NYC Oct 5th

Just got my press credentials to cover Affiliat Summit's Social Media Conference in NYC on October 5th. Looking forward to a great conference and sharing everything with you.

There's only room for 300 attendees; if you can make it to New York on October 5th I highly recommend this conference. You'll never approach Myspace, Facebook, DIGG, and Technorati the same....

More info here: Affiliate Summit

Problem with 'too much information'...what do you think?

After a great summer in New York I'm back to share my latest tips and tools to help make your Internet marketing efforts pay off in the fourth quarter.

After laying low for the past few weeks I am forced to overwhelm you with 'too much information'.

Yeah, you'll hear me say that you need to focus on only the important things in order to be successful online (getting traffic, converting traffic, and publishing great content). And yet, today, I've got so much damn good information to share with you that I just can't help myself.

Forgive me, I'm going to 'free associate' for a moment...

Many of you have already taken me up on my offer to evaluate your site from a design AND seo standpoint. Thanks for all the positive comments. For those of you who are on the fence, know this: my site evaluations come with a one-on-one phone consultation that is worth many times more than the $297 fee. Jump in; I won't bite.

Of course, even though I'm very proud of the SEO reports that we produce for you, some of you are very happy with your search engine optimization and I'm happy to share your comments like this one from C. Jones:

"Thank you but I already have an excellent search engine optimization company that markets my website. Check them out! www.seochampion.com"

And while we're talking SEO, here's a fine tip from Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing:

"Write a high-quality meta description tag for each page of your site. That may not affect ranking but it'll get more folks to click on your search listing."

Must Have Tool for Affiliate Marketers

You'll notice I have a section in the right panel called 'Affiliate Opportunities'. If you're looking for good offers to promote and make money from, go no further. Except for this place....

Out of the hundreds of affiliate networks in existence, I'm pretty active with at least a dozen of them. You can imagine how much time it takes me to manage my affiliate marketing activities (finding offers, getting the links/copy/creative, promoting the offers, and, most importantly, tracking results).

Well, I think I'm about to significantly cut down on the time it takes for me to find the best offers out there. Affspy is now in 'public beta' so I recommend you register with them to start your search for the best affiliate opportunities (other than the ones I feature ;)

And while we're talking affiliate programs, check out inboxdollars (I'm making over $.30 per click with them and you can find them at Azoogle)


Capturing Attention

If you sell or market a product or service from your website, I want you to checkout Adimpact.com

Adimpact combines a floating layer technology to getting your popups noticed. I added it to this site because it helps to build my e-mail list (almost 22,000 strong!). If you need to get your message seen, try it out for a month and let me know what you think (add a comment at the end of this post).


Publicity for Your Web Site

Online press releases (creating inbound links) are good for your search engine marketing efforts. Here are three services you must consider:



...plus, PRWizard, and Eric Ward's URLWire.


Goodbye, dialup

My monthly stats show that 4.19% of Cool Site of the Day visitors arrived via dialup while only 2.19% of my coolsite.com visitors (a more 'business' focused audience) are using yesterday's technology.


Do You Blog? Do You Firefox or Flock?

Fire up your blogging with Scribefire


Find Great Domain Names

Domain Lookup is a Firefox extension that helps you discover valuable generic domain names while surfing the web.

Just select the text you wish to check and hit the shortcut key. Domain Lookup checks availability at your favorite registrar in a heartbeat.

Try it for a few days -- you'll be hooked too. It's free forever and takes just sixty seconds to install.

And yet another great Firefox Add-On (for sharing your web pages and blog posts with the most important social media sites): Shareaholic.


Start Your Web Building from Scratch the Easy Way

Looking for an all-in-one, site-brainstorming-and-building-and-hosting-and-marketing, step-by-step system of software tools that delivers thriving, profitable business? Check out SBI!


More Stuff...

QuickRibbon is a completely free Web2.0 tool, a website ribbon generator which lets you create a custom ribbon, insert a link in it and place it in the top right corner of your website (you can see it in action on Cool Site of the Day). It will take you less than 5 minutes to generate your own website ribbon with this trendy widget. I recommend using the QuickRibbon tool to attract your site's visitors attention to new features, announcements, sales, etc.

Finally, thanks to one of my loyal readers, Bob P (he sells candles) who alerted me about Network Solutions and their questionable business practices. If you have any domains registered with Network Solutions, please read this short article including the link to another article (even more offensive) entitled 'front running'.

To your success!

Mike