TECHNOTES #1 Favicons Break Out!

Since the advent of internet browsers,
the term bookmark has taken on new
meaning with a few nuances associated
with it’s use.

The wikipidia definition of ‘bookmarking’ is:  (hold onto your brains)

In genetics and epigenetics, bookmarking is a biological phenomenon believed to function as an epigenetic mechanism for transmitting
cellular memory of the pattern of gene expression in a cell, throughout mitosis, to its daughter cells.

Whew, and I thought it was the act of pushing the bookmark button
on the menu bar of my browser or sliding a piece of paper
between the pages of a book. All genetic bookmarks aside
let’s look at the ones below for all intents and purposes.

First, there’s URL bookmarking that we’ve all
come to know as the ‘bookmark’ button on our browser menu
bar, or CTRL D on the keyboard, or the right-click drop down
menu selection ‘bookmark this page’.

Secondly, as a subset of basic bookmarking there’s also the common
practice known as social bookmarking whereby we share our favorite
URL bookmarks with the world at large through social bookmarking sites
like Delicious, Digg, Stumbleupon, and many others.

Sharing, promoting, and saving URL bookmarks has become something that I do routinely, and so much so that my browser’s bookmark menu has become ‘too big to manage’.  Has your bookmark menu outgrown it’s habitat to?

I knew there was something to make bookmarking easier.
Why can’t I do a simple drag n’ drop style bookmarking?

I decided to make the browser window smaller so that I could see
my desktop at the same time as the browser window and then the trick
came to me.  I found it by staring just a little longer than usual at my
browser’s address window and that little square called a favicon
that seemed to change all the time.  I grabbed hold of it with
a left click and dragged it right off it’s usual spot and onto my desktop.
Voila, a simple one click drag n’ drop bookmark!

I then made a LINKS folder on my desktop and proceeded to drag n’ drop
links directly into it.  Soon I began to see the dominant or distinct categories
of links and then made a folder for each within the LINKS folder.

This favicon bookmarking style gives you a granular sense of the sites
you like or that you like enough to share with others – and all without
having to clog up your browser’s bookmark menu.

The technique saves me loads of time because I can manage,
organize, and access all my bookmarks without going online.
It also saves time because I don’t have to wait for or wade through
my browser’s long bookmark menu every time I want to bookmark
a specific type of website.

I still use my browser’s bookmark menu feature to access the sites I visit
on a regular basis but not for all the other types of sites that I want
to save or share.

Finally, you may need the text url in order to share it in emails or elsewhere.  Simply right-click on the shortcut link itself and select properties and within the properties window is the text url.   Right-click, copy and paste into any document you wish.

Enjoy all the time and many websites
you’ll save and share as a favicon bookie. 

Aweber Is A Commercial Conduit

It becomes very clear in so many ebooks and courses on the market that
list building is the same as business building for most internet marketers.

That’s still an understatement.

List building is vital and especially so for the internet marketing community today!

However, contrary to what I read so often online,
list building does not start… with list building!?!

It starts with something much more important – a business,
a reason to have a prospects list.

List building starts with creating an online business
that your subscribers and customers will come to know
and trust in time.

I know.  That’s obvious to most,
but there is… a caveat.

If you begin to build a list with nothing more than a front end squeeze page and you haven’t developed a back end salespage then you’ll be playing catch-up from day one.

Why?  It’s because building a list with an 
email autoresponder service like
Aweber or Get-Response isn’t free.
There’s a recurring fee.  If you can
sustain 6 to 12 months of funding for a
paid autoresponder service then I’d say
go for it but you’ll be starting behind the eight ball instead of leading it.

If you don’t have long term funding, then here again it’s even better still to wait and build your front end (opt-in pages and blogs) and then a solid back end (your follow-up email series including your offers) before investing in a commercial conduit like Aweber.

When your front and back end are both in position then you’re ready to join a paid autoresponder service and start doing ‘real’ business in ‘real time’.

The following analogy, somewhat modified, seems appropriate:

The front end is your ‘cart’ (opt-in pages and blogs)
The back end is/are your wheels (your email follow-up series, sales pages & offers)

You’ll need both before you buy the horse (Aweber),
hitch up the business, climb on board, and say ‘Giddy-up’.

That’s how, if the wagon’s got wheels, a wagon master rolls

Don’t forget to ‘broadcast’ emails with some sort of consistency or your list will shrink or not respond.    

I Wish You A Happy, Healthy, Successful  Summer!

p.s.  Coming up next I’ll post a screen caputre video that covers:
- sign-up
- set-up
- follow-up series
- and broadcasting
- using Aweber.com’s service.

Download Page Protection Techniques

It may be hard to imagine that there’s someone with nothing better to do than to scavenge the internet for unprotected product files and folders.  Still, it is just so.

There are certain search engines that will ferret out these products very easily.  I won’t reveal which ones because I’d rather not encourage anyone in this way.

However, I would like to share a simple technique that I’ve recently learned. It’s called ‘change permissions’ or CHMOD.  I found it in a short report from Mieke Jannsens called Stopping Snoopers.

The process begins with logging into your cpanel and going to your File Manager.  Once you’re inside the File Manager, open your public_html folder in the left pane and then all of your folders will appear in the right pane.  You’ll see a check box next to each folder.  Select the folder you’d like to protect by checking the box next to that folder.  Then look up at your File Manager Menu and you’ll see a function called ‘change permissions’ or CHMOD.  Select that function and a small window will appear that allows you to customize the type of access that will be allowed for the folder or file that you’ve selected.  The default access for folders is typically 755 which means anyone can access that folder.  If you untick the ‘world’ box it will create a CHMOD of 751 and thereby prevent access to that folder.

This technique is generally used to protect the folders or sub-folders that contain your thankyou.html or thankyou.php download pages.  If, for example, someone types yoursite.com/gifts into their address window your host will return a 403 Forbidden page to the searcher thus preventing access.

However, this technique does not prevent access when someone types in yoursite.com/gifts/thankyou.html or yoursite.com/gifts/thankyou.php.

It requires page protector software in order to protect the thank you page itself and the ubiquitous Louis Alport has provided us with the remedy.  It’s aptly named Download Page Protector.

I’ve included the link to the free download of DLP and it’s on the bottom of the page of Video 3 below this article.

When I tested the security for my giveaway gifts page I found only one weakness yet to be solved.  You’ll see what I mean when viewing the video below.  I suspect that it may require additional software to fully secure your products from professional scavengers.

Video 3, Parts 1, and 2 cover the completion of our thank you page template as well as the security measures mentioned above.  Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have about the videos or any suggestions or personal recommendations you may have as regards product protections and security software.

Though “from ashes to ashes and dust to dust”
We so often stipulate;
It’s from the light and towards the light
We grow and gravitate.

Please click on the graphic below to view Video 3, parts 1 and 2

The Many Benefits of Becoming an Event Contributor

1 – You’re Prepared.

The benefits of becoming a contributor to a giveaway revolve around
a special set of skills.  Each skill builds on the last until you’re in the
cozy position of having a dozen or more quality gifts with matching
squeeze pages already loaded up on your server and ready for traffic!

That’s an achievable goal that makes the next key benefit even better!

2 – Your List Is Building.

List building information, tactics, and strategies are all in abundance on-line.
Most internet marketers can’t wait to add another list building strategy
to their business.  A giveaway event is only one of many strategies but
it’s tried & true and it produces results.

3 – Influential Event Promoters Are Sending You High Volume & Targeted Traffic.

Are all giveaway events equal?  No, not by a long shot.
If the event host or any one contributor promotes the event to a huge responsive list then all of the contributors benefit from the resulting traffic.
I’ve already seen members stats as high as 2,800 and as few as 150.

4 – You’re Creating A Spectacular Business Profile.

Every event is an opportunity to gain more experience and skill as an internet marketer.  No details are too small to overlook when you’re putting your pages together.  A signature and a photo or a logo on your thank you page are very nice touches that help to make a firm impression.

5 – You’ll Find All Of The  Quality Products On Your HD.

This is not only the fun part but it’s the most challenging and productive part of getting serious about your opt-in pages and gifts.

The challenge comes when you find something just right for your market and in the process of going through the product folder you discover that there isn’t any graphics or sale’s page to work from.   Then, at that point I’ll check inside the PDF to see if there’s a graphic on page one of the eBook and if there’s a table of contents.  If there is a graphic then I’ll copy it using screen capture software and if there’s a TOC I’ll get all the bullet points from it.

It’s more work but if the product is good it’ll be worth the effort to you and your subscribers to.

6 – You’re Commited.

When your giveaway system is up and running you’re on
a new level of commitment.  You’re committed to adding
value to your subscribers lives with no expectations
other than being a subscriber.

You’re also committed to creating products or
finding products that your reader’s can appreciate.

7 – You’re Not In Kansas Anymore.

It’s cybertown,  public domain, …where progress is a peach and to digress is the pit, where you work smartly countless hours to get your business
into position, the zone, where you’re ready to put your special offer with your unique sales proposition into the pipeline and makin’ paper (meaning: earning a living from home or “livin’ in a van by the river”) …where you’re on fire and saying “what’s next?”,  and where you decide… to eat a peach and sow the pit.  You’re on The Next Level.  I promise to elaborate in the next article.

Screen capture Video 2 in this series is below and it covers 3 of the basic parts of our squeeze page template – the headline, the graphics, and the bullets.

Enjoy – there’s more JV List Building to come!

Please click on the graphic below to access the video.

Giveaway Event = Online Trade Show

One of my earliest experiences with internet marketing was through becoming a member of Harris Felman’s Santa Sal Giveaway on an invitation from Stephanie Mulac over 2 years ago.

I was a newbie for sure,  so everything on the giveaway menu looked like something I needed to know or have.  I opted in to almost 20 marketing lists and my inbox hasn’t been empty since.  I didn’t really mind getting so many emails after that.  I was hungry to learn and I bought quite a few programs through various email promotions I received.  That’s the way of things for a beginner and the marketer who’s able to be there at the right time with the right offers.

About 6 months ago I finally had enough time and knowledge along with
my own blog and auto-responder account, to join  my first giveaway event as a contributor.  I joined as a free contributor and I was able to show one gift.  I got about 20 new subscribers and I was elated.  Now I have over 200 and counting.  It may not seem like many but it’s over 200 more than I had 6 months ago.

The giveaway trend shows no signs of slowing down and if anything it’s
becoming more sophisticated as well as competitive.

That’s why I’m taking the time to develop my high speed giveaway system.
I want to save as much time as possible so that I can put more efforts into
the quality and value of the gifts and bonuses that I’m offering and not into
endless repetitive tasks.

Today, I’m offering a start and a part of my on going work to my visitors,
subscribers, and friends.  I designed a giveaway system framework that is free to download on the page where I published a 17 minute video
introducing the system.  It’s not complicated.  It actually simplifies everything.

I used my new system in the last giveaway event and it took me less than
30 minutes to complete 3 gifts and one offer.  That saved me enough time to
actually choose and prepare the best gifts, bonuses, and offers before
spending the 30 minutes to enter all of the above.

The best part is that any time I may save allows me to concentrate on
improving the relationship I have with my new audience of subscribers.
That’s what list building is really all about .  The size of a list is an indication
of efforts and growth but building trust and value is the only way to have
any influence in your market, big list or small.

I hope you find the video and system framework to be of value to you.
Please add questions or comments if you’d like.

Hallelujah! Spring is upon us!  I feel like spending the entire season outside.
Oh yes, except perhaps during the coming April showers.

Please click on the graphic below to access the video.

What Do All Online Marketing Systems Have In Common…?

Yes, that’s right, it’s called The Front End.  It may be  a squeeze page, a lead capture page, a splash page, an opt-in page, a lead magnet landing page or any page that is designed to attract visitors,  subscribers, prospects, and buyers.
Whatever it’s called, the name doesn’t matter as much as the page itself.

It’s simply the front end. It’s the first thing your visitors see and if it’s done well and it provides exactly what’s offered then your new visitors will be new subscribers.

Squeeze page types and designs are a larger topic and something fit for the subject of another article.  It doesn’t need to be complicated though.  It just needs to work properly.

Creating, uploading, and testing my own list building squeeze pages are some of the most useful skills I’ve learned as an internet marketer.  Attracting many visitors to view my new squeeze page is the only way to test those skills.
That’s what giveaway events are all about. If event members view your gift listing and click on it they’ll arrive at your opt-in page commonly referred to as a squeeze page.   You now have one click of interest in your favor.  Your squeeze page needs to turn that one click of interest into a successfully confirmed subscriber.

I’m almost done preparing a short video on how to quickly edit and create good squeeze & thank you pages using a template.  I’ll be adding download links for special pre-formatted squeeze and thank you page templates that you can customize yourself once you see the video(s) I’ll soon be publishing.

The best way to really see how your pages are looking to a browser is to use an amazing little web page editor called notepad ++.

Notepad ++ Link to Download Page Here
It’s free and I couldn’t live without it now.  I’ll show you why it’s so valuable in my next video.

Stay tuned, there’s more JV List Building Giveaway Spotlight to come!