Mid Life Marketer’s Kick Start

Way back when I started out in this marketing maelstrom, I knew I would need to invest some of my hard earned cash and probably a good chunk of my savings in tools, education and software in other words; essential business resources, to have any chance of succeeding, without burning myself to a frazzle as I did in my “previous life”.

Like most people who are new(ish) to this way of working for a living, I would log on and be “eyeball smacked” by a dozen different must have, UTTERLY ESSENTIAL, you’re a dork if you haven’t got this piece of myxomatosis, … tools tweaks or widgets.

Even for a marketing resistant mutant like me it was all too much and I now find myself with a rack of gear and software that frankly I don’t really know where to start with. There are some great tools: and for keyword research Nichebot has turned out to be an absolutely brilliant piece of kit. This gives you access to a whole raft of complementary keyword information sources at a far lower cost (it does cost though) than if you were to try and access these services on your own. This ranges from simple scans by Word Tracker right through to the Google Keyword Cruncher. Need a 100 keyword list? No problem with Nichebot. The training videos within the site are absolutely excellent. Chris really knows what he’s talking about and keeps it at a shop floor level that is understandable: even if you’re not a “Google Geek”.

Now marketing Big Boy, Mike Filsaime has released a report that summarises all the software and tools that he uses.

If you are wondering, “What do I need to get myself going?” This free “RESOURCE REPORT” is a good guide to what 1 multi millionaire thinks is the essential package. Don’t be naive though, of course he is trying to sell you something, but the free report is definitely worth the read. If you are about to invest in your E Office, the resource package he is offering on the other side might just be the most cost effective purchase you ever make. I wish it had been on offer before I set out on the last 6 months of spending.

You can get your copy here it is a very informative read, giving the thinking behind each tool.

I guess, you still want to chase away the Monday blues! Dream of turning Mondays into a high day?

A project born of the inventive minds of Paul Ward, Greg McKenzie, and the Simons Tofield and Marriot; first hit the streets last November. In February, it evolved into a full on monetized powerhouse to nurture new starters into the online marketing world.

NOW; ahead of European requirements, Prosperizer is Metamorphosing.

Mondays will never be the same. Keep your eyes open and your ear to the electronic earth.

PROJECT MONDAY PAYDAY is coming!
You will be the affiliate making money on a Monday EVERY Monday!

Prosperizer is set to become the UK’s business building club with the mostest. With Lift Off planned for Monday, the UKs sharpest marketers, are preparing for a revolution in the way money is earned on the Internet. This goes way beyond the usual free ebooks about abundance and prosperity.

Have a look at the latest extract from Simon’s Secret Diary
diary3.pdf

Sometimes we dive in so deep with projects we’re pursuing that we miss the most obvious first steps and waste our best efforts. Last time I posted, I said I was going to let you know how I had got on with Craigslist. I had put a big effort into setting up an advertising programme on that portal, following the steps in Mike Dillard’s Building on a Budget (BoaB) course. Sadly every single one of my ads was ghosted. My original plan for a 2 day hit and everlasting automation - and zillions of leads … became a 2 and a half week marathon of unique ad writing and organising followed by crushing defeat!! Additionally I had neglected a lot of other work in trying to apply the lessons from BoaB. Well I haven’t steeled myself for the return match with Craigslist yet, but I have been catching up on my other neglected areas of work.

I decided that I really ought to check what I was displaying in the traffic exchanges and check out the hits and misses - so to speak. I got a shock when I started checking the contents of the “My Web Sites” sections of the accounts I hold. Outdated links, links with typos, Web sites not enabled … I could go on but the list just gets more embarrassing. Like I said at the start, I had dived in and got involved at too deep a level in too many programme’s at once, completely failing to check whether I had set up my accounts properly. The up side of that, was that I did at least have thousands of credits sitting “in the bank” ready to be unleashed. So I have had a day and a half of solid graft, up until my ex-wife brought the kids back from their holiday, to get my accounts in order. I am looking forward to some better responses over the next few weeks.

The advice we are given, by the experienced marketers we look to for tips and tricks, is to constantly check and recheck our ads responses. Slowly I am beginning to understand just what that means, but a couple of interesting patterns did emerge. Despite the poor set up of my accounts, I was still getting some traffic and there were some TXs which were clearly more responsive to my ads. At present my top 3 would have to be:

CosmicRay’s Top Three Traffic Programs

Stan’s the MAN - he has set up a very responsive site with (even better) hungry users.

Paul Kinder has obviously learned his business from the top eggs!! Traffic Splash is giving me the second best response rate.

Matthew will give you lots of insider info with his exchange; Web Biz Insider.

These 3 are the ones that have been working best for me personally. What I have used as a kind of umbrella to organise my surfing activities is a programme called Vital Viral. Effectively this provides a programme where you can promote all your traffic Exchange affiliations at one fell swoop. If a member signs up in vital viral and subsequently joins any of the other exchanges below you they are added to your downline instead of some other promoter’s downline. There is also a very helpful support section which gives great advice about how to organise your surfing sessions; particularly - how to use multi tabbed browsing to use your time more efficiently - and importantly - how to give other advertisers at least a few seconds of your time so that the whole Traffic Exchange phenomena is a REAL benefit and remains a 2 way street.

While I was setting up my websites in HitSafari I chanced to look through their forum and found that it had a very well set out series of tips. I’m not entirely sure why, but the information here is much more accessible to us normal “non-geekers” than the info in most of the other forums I’ve checked recently. if you are new to TXs this is particularly helpful. Although I’ve only recently reactivated my HitSafari account, it is apparently well up the rankings at present and getting good responses. And - it does have the free option so you can’t really lose.

Well I hope that you newer traffickers will find the information helpful - remember, these are just my impressions - warts and all. CYA next time.

As a climber, of the rock and ice, rather than social persuasion and a bloke who was in an ivory tower, believing he was completely immunised against the influence of marketing; I still wake up some days and wonder what I’m doing following the on-line marketing path. When I started climbing, I didn’t have a lot of cash - frequently I had none. I used to make my climbing “breeks” from chopped off army surplus trousers and a touch of needle and thread. I was always a bit cautious about the contents of my cranium and I used to lug an old motor cycle helmet around the hills, I certainly looked a state and I certainly wasn’t pulling like some of my smooth talking mates. But the freedom, adventure and the feeling of escape from my hometown where nothing happened apart from the Country and Western Dance on a Saturday night and the after hours punch up on the way home; that feeling was indescribable. Scruffiness almost became my badge of rebellion - I was such a compliant “good boy” back then! What has all that got to do with our marketing businesses? I suppose it’s about looking past the veneer of first impressions when we are trying to crystallise our WHY!

When I look at the image so many people like to project; of the sports cars, luxury yachts and sunny beach lifestyle, I find it grates - at first. I sometimes think many people (myself included all too frequently) miss the real point of all the hard work we do, to have our own businesses. It goes much deeper than the material manifestations of wealth. Time freedom and the ability to be there for the ones you love are the key things for me. And … eventually, I am sure, financial freedom! To me those kinds of freedoms are worth far more than the big house, the Merc or the yacht. And then, when I wind my inverted snobbery down a notch or two and look carefully at the message that the “flash car photo” entrepreneurs are putting out; it’s actually the same as mine. We’ve all got dreams of an ideal lifestyle and we project a picture to catch people’s attention. It doesn’t necessarily define our values.

When I left my job and was able to see my kids out to school regularly, I knew I had found the start of my own road forward. I was looking at a pretty scary fall from high power assistant headteacher to unemployed and broken down ex teacher. I was ready for the change though and the initial “poverty” has been very “motivating”.

You might be amused by my tag of CosmicRay and it might surprise you to know that there isn’t a shred of hippy in me! It’s all the fault of a friend from York 25 years ago, who spotted me strung out on the crux of a hardish rock climb in the Lake District, when I was an aspiring hard(?!)man. “Blood*@ hell,” he shouted up in his wry way, “You’ve got better! You must be getting cosmic Ray!” He was shocked to see I’d progressed onto scary routes. Not too helpful at that precise moment, as I was looking at the prospect of taking a big fall, because I couldn’t work out the sequence to get around a steep nose of rock. When he realised I was in trouble, he quietly told me about the “secret” hold around the corner - I breathed again and an eighty footer onto a ledge was avoided (in contrast to a lad from our club the previous weekend, who had missed the hold). Fortunately he was young and bouncy and got over his battering in a couple of weeks.

This marketing game is a bit like trying to tackle a climb that’s harder than you have previously attempted at the sharp end. Jumping off the career carousel was just as scary in its own way because more was at stake - it wasn’t just me any more, I now had children in a disintegrating marriage to look out for. But now, as then, the quiet word(s) from a friend (and a competitor of sorts) was enough to see me on the road to success and safety. It’s turning out to be a rerun of that same tale, as people give me little pointers and go out of their way to steer me round some of the more obvious pitfalls. I have been amazed at the constant help that is available - we only have to ask. It is very difficult for a person upline of you to know whether your lack of success is due to inaction or a misunderstanding of a new technique you’ve been trying. At the moment I am trying to get to grips with advertising on Craigslist and I am running into all the problems that are mentioned, a bit too quietly in that new course you bought!! BUT I will succeed, I will put into action all the tips that I hadn’t absorbed from my course materials and the new information I am turning up in various blogs. In my next posting, I will try and explain how I have gotten around the difficulties of using Craigslist, without hopefully having broken the rules or misused the resource.

My measures of success may be different to yours, but whatever it may be I am here to help you achieve it, no matter how material or “Cosmic” it may be. What I can’t answer myself, I can soon point you towards an answer, because that’s the way we become successful - by networking and building up relationships with each other. It’s a relationship game! Just like the day when a pal who was very competitive about his climbing realised there was a real problem and was there with a ready answer, a “secret” key that those in the know had access to. If you are looking for a business where help is constantly available from myself and many more experienced folk, I’ve listed some character sketches of my main focus. I’m sure there will be one of these busineses that suits your individual approach.

CosmicRay and the NorthernView bring you a range of opportunities from fast money start ups for beginners to high commitment, serious long term earners.

Prosperizer - a great opportunity with all your tools in one place. Join a superb community populated by individuals who are committed to helping and guiding you to success

eLottery - the ultimate system for playing the UK lottery and EuroMillions. With a little effort you even play them for FREE. If you are looking for a more sensible way to have a flutter, with a business that has an extremely low initial investment then this could be the one.

Plug in to Profits with NorthernViewWealth this is one of many turn key full on solutions. It is almost the legendary “business in a box” that many people need.

uVme - this is going to be the standard by which all on-line skill game web sites are judged. Pure fun and games with a built in business plan, which avoids any gambling connections. :wink

Join me in any of these ventures and we will build strong supportive teams that last.

Many people, new to the Internet Marketplace, buy a series of poorly understood products and fritter away their hard earned cash, believing naively that the promises of rapid wealth creation are somehow more real or believable than the cruel world of traditional business. Not surprisingly, to those of us who have come through initial disappointments and disasters, newcomers fail by the shed-load! Prosperizer is a new kid on the block from a well established stable. It seeks to take the hype out of high income potential and set newcomers up with a realistic game plan for financial independence. MASSIVE plans for the future of Prosperizer are rolling out so that the new affiliate need not go out and waste a ton of money on yet more impulse “must haves”. The most significant enhancements to member benefits are: the implementation of the VIP club and RIS; the Residual Income Systems. Other changes to increase the value for paid members include: the end of the free trial; members only access to the community forum and redesigned squeeze pages to attract more visitors and improve conversion rates!

Prosperizer is the brainchild of a team of entrepreneurs from the UK who are all successful in their own right, but who want to improve the embarrassing drop out rate of around 95% among new Internet marketers. Following launch in January, members are already seeing increased numbers of sign ups and growing streams of income. The great thing about Prosperizer is the attention to detail, in the systems being developed for newbies, to get their businesses off to a solid start. There is a tremendous community within the Prosperizer organisation, which reflects the ethos of the guys and girls who put this project together. They realised that the dropout rate was high because in most programmes there is a gap in the support available to new entrepreneurs; between the point where they have got to the end of the auto responder series that comes with their initial purchase and that point where they feel confident enough to approach their upline. Everybody in this project is approachable and looking out for you! The Prosperizer team has recently developed important upgrades to the system, to increase its value to members.

The most significant enhancement for ALL members, is the Residual Income Systems squeeze page - with FREE Report. Prospects signing up here receive access to a concise report explaining frequently misunderstood concepts around building a residual income from the start. (Something the author wishes he had understood better in his early days). The member benefit here, is that the prospect is automatically directed to the member’s personal autoresponder so that the member’s own list grows. For the prospect, there is a multi-part email course that is relayed to them over the period of a fortnight. The content is basic, clear, concise and generic, making it highly relevant to developing Prosperizer or any business system.

The second major upgrade to member’s benefits is the launch of the Prosperizer VIP club. This is effectively an advertising co-op. Members subscribe to 1 or more shares in the co-op each month. The revenue is then used to buy advertising and leads from sources that the founders have used successfully over the years themselves. The first national media advertising appeared in the Daily Express and the Daily Mirror in the UK this week. The leads generated by the co-op are then directed to the individual affiliates squeeze pages according to their share investment. The focus is on helping new marketers to monetize their businesses at an early stage, using the clout and leverage of established marketer’s contacts. The signs are already good, with the Prosperizer forum buzzing!

On the 25th of February, the 7 Day FREE Trial with Prosperizer was terminated. Now; people who are interested, are required to show a little more commitment to building their financial future with Prosperizer. There is still a 7 day trial period which costs £19.99, effectively the initial set up fee. After a week, if the new recruit wants to continue, because they find the content valuable - and like me, they will - they start paying their regular monthly fee of £39.95. For the referring member, there is a commission of 50% on all fees paid by new affiliates. The membership gives affiliates access to some superb training materials in a variety of media. The training is cleverly differentiated for the member, so that materials can be accessed at a comfortable level. It is under the member’s control when they move themselves up to the next level. Another well thought out feature of the training materials in Prosperizer, is the way that fresh material is unlocked at different times. This allows members, particularly new starters, to take action on the basic steps before they are swamped with more tips and instructions. The emphasis is always on encouraging people to TAKE ACTION to build their Prosperizer business and any other business with which they are involved. Greg McKenzie’s technical training videos are also superb, in the way they explain unfamiliar concepts such as; pre-loading auto-responders and redirecting URLs: they could be destined for greatness as training gems - with a quality Scottish accent ;0). Great work Greg! Additionally there is a marketplace section where affiliates have access to a series of hot ebooks with PLR rights and affiliate marketer’s tools that will shorten the learning curve significantly.

Other improvements include the redesign of the squeeze pages by graphics and copywriting maestro Simon Tofield and the closure of the Prosperizer Forum to non members. Why do this you might ask? Because we feel, a freely accessible public forum devalues everything that we are trying to achieve with Prosperizer. And that is to create an Exclusive Wealth Building Club! We are taking the hard and fast approach. If you’re not in you’re out! However, the investment required for this scheme is superb value for starting up a business, with such life changing potential! Prosperizer is also intimately linked to - and provides a springboard, for some of the rising stars of the online marketing world: UVME, eLottery and GDI. Membership includes squeeze pages for these opportunities and the developers are determined to give all entrepreneurs the tools and the skills to develop a stable financial base within Prosperizer and then branch out into the other superb opportunities or build any other business of their choosing. The extra pages are:

1. uVme squeeze page that’s exclusive to each Prosperizer Membership. This will help members build their uVme online games business if they so choose. (See http://viralurl.com/Cosmicray/UVME for access to the games site and http://viralurl.com/Cosmicray/uVmeBiz to examine the business opportunity video)

2. E-Lottery DVD site - this is a funded proposal where members keep the £4.95 that is charged for the excellent quality DVD, promoting this well established, rock solid business. (eLottery has been in existence for nearly 6 years and is a market leader in on-line entertainment businesses. The parent company, Virtual World Direct, is also responsible for launching uVme)
3. Residual Income Systems - with FREE Report as described above.

These three squeeze pages alone would cost people in excess of £1500 if you were to hire web or graphic designers of the calibre of John McNiven and Simon Tofield. In fact, it would cost you nearly the price of your membership just to host these fantastic, high quality sites…. And finally not forgetting to mention the member’s existing Prosperizer squeeze page. And don’t forget there is a re-brandable Freedomizer magazine and The Prosperizer Report! There are more training materials in video and pdf form. There is real time marketing of E-lottery rollover mini-sites. And … much, much more….as the development team steadily ramp up the available resources.
Believe me when I tell you……people will be kicking themselves right this very minute that they never had the foresight to take the 7 Day Free Trial while they had the chance. That’s great news for the members who took the leap of faith and joined early. Prosperizer still represents a tremendous investment in yourself, if you are serious about starting your online marketing career. For the more experienced marketer, the team have some established best sellers and are also developing further novel projects that should whet the appetite of any marketer. The time to get involved is now so that you are in on the ground floor of an opportunity that is causing a frenzy amongst those who understand its supportive philosophy and its very strength within the founding group of entrepreneurs.

Are YOU ready to Power Up Your Income?

CosmicRay at The Northern View. http://viralurl.com/Cosmicray/Residual

This is virtually the text of an article I wrote about the Prosperizer opportunity for press releases and article directories which have gone online over the last few days. I am a newcomer to the delights of press releases and article marketing and despite basing this article on a ready made solo ad within the Prosperizer resources, It has needed several tweaks and additions, in order to suit the 3 basic writing styles required by the different text types found in: this blog, an article or a press release. An additional time eater was the learning curve involved in getting used to the different layouts of the various publishing portals. The real killer though, was when the Free Press Release site went down just before I copied the text of the article body into a notepad file … Coyses!!! This was a little ironic as I had just given my daughter a stern lecture on the importance of saving her work regularly if she was working at my computer!! Poetic justice!

What I have learned over the last couple of days has been very useful. I won’t profess to know a great deal about great copywriting yet, but there are a few little pointers for anyone who is venturing into the world of articles and press releases.

I used a very good FREE services to send out my press release about the changes to Prosperizer. Free Press Release.com is my first venture into online press releases. I found their site a wee bit tricky at first, but after a couple of visits, setting up my basic free account was very simple and once I had clicked around a couple of times I discovered excellent guidance on article writing and bashed away editing and redrafting my basic text to suit the sections of:

HEADLINE
SUMMARY
BODY
CONTACT DETAILS
KEYWORDS

Shortly after completing this article, I realised that I needed to do something to get my article higher in the rankings. I then took notice of the paid options and decided to cough up the initial $50 payment as there was a better value than paying the bare minimum. I converted my writing to a premium article for 1$. I was pleased to see my article on the homepage shortly afterwards, but I was way down the page in about 80th position. My next discovery was the article promotion section. It took me a few minutes to work out how this worked, but by bidding $20 my article was raised to 16th on the page and within half an hour I had noticed about 115 hits. Traffic is the whole point of Press releases and on first appearances that piece of hard work is beginning to have the desired effect. So from my initial experience I would highly recommend Free Press Release- and I don’t even get a commission!!

In my next post I will recount my entertainments when I tried to publish this work as an article. If you found this worth reading, many thanks for sticking around and all the best in your endeavours.
CosmicRay

My Big Why

I was reading another of the many ebooks that I have downloaded over the past several months and this one, for a change, really grabbed my attention. Something clicked and I started scribbling on the shopping list pad like a mad man. Success in 10 Steps, by Michael Dlouhy, resonated with my feelings about marketing in a way that hasn’t happened since I started this journey towards rebuilding my life and self esteem. The author, Michael, pointed out that you have to have a damn good reason for wanting success in our line of business if you want to get through the difficulties that crop up in any new venture. This industry has an appalling failure rate currently running around the 95% mark. Doesn’t exactly sound like the best arena for the Mid Life Marketer’s Kickstart! Well, Dlouhy’s comments flicked a switch and the writing poured out. As you can see.

My next posting here will tell you how I slowly gave myself the reasons for making this kind of work a success…