Today I went to a site to sign up as an affiliate for a new product they’re offering, and saw the huge red sign of death when I attempted to go to the site.

Now it’s not really the sign of death, well, it could be.

It reminded me of last year when I went to one of MY sites and saw the very same image. I was FREAKING out!! At the time I was using the basic wp-backup plugin for backups. While I got these lovely notices every week that my site was backed up, I had NO IDEA what to do with the backups or even how to access them. When I tried to open one it just looked like a bunch of gobbeldy gook.

I frantically called my hosting company, praying they would be able to help me. Luckily, at that time I was JUST BARELY below the threshold on my account where they continue to make backups for you, and just happened to call right before the next backup was scheduled to happen… so… they were able to go to the last backup and reinstall a clean version of my site.

But did you notice how many “just happened” were in that sentence. This is my business and I’d definitely left myself wide open to lose everything by not having a better quality backup system in place.

Here’s the other reason this it’s imperative to have a total backup system… wordpress upgrades.

Way back in the beginning, I didn’t think anything of hitting the “upgrade wordpress” button. I didn’t even KNOW things could go wrong. I worked under the assumption people knew what they were doing (because I didn’t necessarily) and if they provided me with a button I’d be A-OK to hit it.

Well… we all know that’s not the truth. As more and more upgrade horror stories rolled in I started to become almost paranoid of that stupid upgrade your wordpress button. In fact, I just wouldn’t hit it. I just left my sites on old versions of wordpress.

Until one day I went to access my sites and got a nice little message from my hosting company that said. UH uh. no way. Get your ass in here and upgrade your wordpress installs.

So I did. I took my sites in my hands and upgraded with no problems. However, as my sites grew, and my business grew, I added elements and things got a little more complicated than just a basic wordpress upgrade. I still didn’t have a good system in place for backing up my sites.

I did (and do) have a great tech person who I would pay each and every time to just do the backing up and upgrading for me so I didn’t have to stress my little head about it. This was a great solution for me. I hate all that tech stuff, and the anxiety of disappearing my site.. but it gets a bit expensive when they start coming out with a new wordpress version every other week and well, you know I’ve got a lot of sites.

So I finally added up the numbers and realized I was being an idiot. As much as I love not dealing with it, I could easily have purchased the same exact system my amazing tech person was using many times over and just done it myself in about a second.

I decided to go ahead and just get Backup Buddy. I started with the 2 site license ~ to cover my two main sites, and after seeing how easy it is, and how simple it will be if anything ever goes wrong I’m going to upgrade to the unlimited license to cover all my sites. With the level of simplicity Backup Buddy gives you, and the level of security ~ both on your site and in your mind ~ it’s totally worth it.

The thing is… I know you all probably use the free plugin, and think that’s good enough. Let me ask you this… if your site ever started showing a big red sign of death like the one above ~ you would only have your database backed up. That’s not your whole site. I didn’t understand this, and it’s a HUGE difference.

I know you think it will never happen to you… you’re just a small fry in the big bad internet, why would someone target your little site to completely mess with?

It’s not like that… it’s computers sent out to do this. Computers running on a program, to find a hole where they can get in. They don’t care if your site is big and has a lot of traffic, or if you haven’t even earned your first 5 bucks online yet. The program doesn’t care… it’s just out there searching, searching searching. So YES, it can even happen to you.

Don’t wait until the red sign of death shows up on your site before you have a quality back up in place. I could literally have lost 6 years of my hard work if not by the grace of someone more powerful than I. It didn’t have to be that way. I could have listened (way back then) to my magnificent tech person who kept telling me… you need a better backup system… you need a better backup system. I could have been completely protected, and been able to fix my site with literally the click of a couple buttons.

That’s the key to a great backup system, not only do they back up everything, but they make it super easy to restore your site back to its original state should something go wrong.

Don’t wait any longer ~ don’t leave your site open to being lost. Get backup buddy ~ it’s a simple plugin, that does amazing work. You simply install it, just like any other plugin, and then tick a couple boxes to get it working for you. It’s definitely worth it.

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I broke down, and decided I would pay someone to do one for me for the 2 Hour Blog Profit Blueprint report I give away from this site. I asked on twitter for recommendations and contacted a few people. I was quoted between 45 and 75 dollars for 1 ebook cover, which is actually a pretty fair price ~ but I’m a cheapskate and I had a few I wanted done, and just couldn’t get myself to hit the buy button.

I started looking around for a way to do them myself. What I stumbled upon was Ecover Creator. I read the sales page probably 4 times. There was a little phrase in there that made me hesitant to buy. It said I had to install the script on my server ~ which sounded really technical to me. They said it was easy, but I wasn’t sure. I was really determined to get this done, so I bought it, and figured if nothing else I’d find someone to install it for me if I couldn’t figure it out.

Turns out… you no longer have to install it on your server. They give you a unique url and you log in and use it from their server. Worry gone.

Then I got to playing around. This thing is AWESOME.

They have made it so simple. It’s truly point and click to create really good looking 3D ecovers. To get started you launch the editor ~ this is where you create the image that will be turned into your ecover.  There are 4 styles to choose from when you start ~ they offer different graphics, fonts and layout elements to choose from. I find myself using the Classic style most often.

Once you choose your template you are brought to a page where you can start creating. It’s so simple. You simply click on an element and it shows up on your image. This makes it really quick and easy to try different things and see how they will look, and figure out what you like best.

Once you’ve created an ecover image you’re happy with you save the image. You will be taken back to the dashboard where you can then choose to create the 3d ebook cover. This process is just as simple as creating the image. You choose the image you want to use for your cover. Choose a size ~ small or large. The small size is great for using in opt in boxes, or popup opt in boxes and squeeze pages. The large size is perfect to use on the front page of your ebook itself.  After you’ve chosen the size you want you have a variety of choices for your 3d image. You can click on each one and see which one you like best ~ there’s no changing or editing to see the different options ~ just click and they show up in the area provided.

Once you’ve decided on the 3d image you like just click save. Ecover Creator will save your image on their server. They’ll give you a link to the image. You can use that link or you can download the image to your desktop and upload it to your server to use from there. This is the option I generally use. I like to have control over my images, but it’s great that they have a backup copy of my images in case of an emergency of some sort I won’t lose my work.

This video shows me walking through the process of creating an ebook cover with Ecover Creator.

As you can see the process is very simple, it doesn’t take any special graphic skills, and doesn’t use photoshop or any other complicated graphic software. If you can point and click you can create a really nice looking 3D ecover.

Here’s a couple of the ecovers I’ve created so far, and I must say it’s making me want to create more stuff, so I can create more ecovers.

Who is this software not for:

1. People who have a knack for graphics.

2. People who have someone to do their graphics for them.

3. People who don’t want to take the time to do their own graphics and don’t mind paying someone else to do it. .

So who is this ebook cover software for?

1. If you are have no idea how to use a graphics program this is perfect.

2. If you’re on a budget and want quality ebook covers.

3. You want to portray a more professional look for your opt in area.

4. You want to have a quality product image to use on your sales page.

All in all I am loving this software. I love the simplicity of it, that they give you a link right to your image or you can download it yourself. I love that it’s all saved on their server, I don’t have to install anything on my end, just log in and go.

If you have a free report, or a paid product I highly recommend that you get a product cover for it. If you want to do it yourself, I highly recommend Ecover Creator 3D.

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I ended up buying his book called What’s Holding You Back ~ and it too was a huge game changer for me.

Well, he’s at it again! Dave has a new product coming out next week and he’s upped his game and has come out with some amazing ~ really amazing ~ new videos and workbooks for his prelaunch.

$1000 Phone Call

The first video and workbook he’s offering is a fantastic idea that anyone can implement to not only get personal mentoring for free, but also get more traffic to your website. He lays it out in simple steps in the video (which is also transcribed in the workbook for those who don’t like video ~ myself included), and then provides an action step based workbook to help you actually implement the stuff he shows you in the video.

$10,000 Hour

The second video in the series is the ten thousand dollar hour. This video walks you through a very interesting process to jump ahead in your business 6 to 18 months by putting in some very specific actions for 1 hour. I haven’t done this ~ and I should be, and I will. It definitely is an easy thing you can do to really ramp up your business and jump ahead more quickly. He also provides a workbook you can use to complete the steps he outlines for your hour.

There are no affiliate links or hype in these books and videos ~ just plain old content that will move you forward if you take action on it. So take advantage of the pre launch generosity and grab them while they’re still up.

If you end up loving Dave’s stuff (which I’m pretty sure you will) take a look at his other workbooks. (You now have to opt in for them ~ but it’s worth it) They really made a huge difference for me ~ and one is all about creating your own product in 72 hours or less. (It’s what I used to create the Squidoo Christmas Cash Video Series)

It’s time to look at your business, figure out what you want, and create a clear and focused plan to get there. These books will help you do that.

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What is Daily Niche Idea?

Daily Niche Idea is a site that will provide you with a weekly affiliate niche idea. Each week you will get a “niche idea”. Within that niche each day you will be provided with 7 more ideas.  The details may change over the weeks, but you are generally given a keyword ~ with the estimated traffic for the keyword, the PPC ad price, and a product you could promote for the keyword (as well as what it pays).

In addition to the keywords, and products you’re also provided with PLR related to the niche that you can use. The PLR may be articles or it may be an ebook for you to modify and give away or sell.  The content changes week to week, but is always there.  Sometimes your PLR is an entire niche website and product you can upload to your hosting and begin selling the product right away.

As well as providing you with the niche idea, the keywords, the products and the content Daily Niche Ideas also provides you with a step by step plan to follow for the week. This plan is pretty basic ~ and may not be perfect for beginners but it will get you started and moving in the right direction.

How do I use Daily Niche Ideas?

I have to say ~ coming up with ideas isn’t really a problem for me. I often forget about this resource, but sometimes when I’m feeling stuck I’ll stop over and see what the idea is for the week.

Here’s what I usually do with it.

Take the main idea ~ and go to Micro Niche Finder. I try to find a more specific micro niche or a long tail keyword I can target to easily rank in the niche.

From there ~ depending on the PLR I was given I will create a Squidoo lens for the keyword or if I’ve been given a whole website I’ll put the website up. I’ve done this with a couple websites they’ve provided and they did pretty well, and  continue to make money. (of course I built links and followed the regular process to get ranked in Google for the long tail keyword I targeted)

There has also been times I was given a niche with a website and a report regarding the niche. I set up an autoresponder series and sent people to the sign up page. Built a list related to the topic. This didn’t work as well… but I didn’t work at it very much. I probably would have done better to build a list on a wider more general topic, and then offered the product I got from them via an email to the list. That probably would have worked better.

Daily Niche Idea would work in conjunction fantastically with the 5 Bucks a Day process. You would have ideas each week, and would just have to decide what kind of technique you’re going to use to create your project of the week.

All in all, if you have trouble coming up with ideas, or knowing where to start Daily Niche Idea is a great resource. You’ll get new ideas, keywords, content (sometimes even websites) to use each week.

Just remember ~ just because someone gives you a keyword doesn’t mean it’s a “good” keyword and you’ll be able to rank for it. I suggest you try to find something that has  low competition ~ with some search volume ~ in the niche to make the process a little easier on yourself. If you rank for the low competition keyword and start turning a profit you can always add more difficult keywords later/over time.

Note ~ you will get a lot of email from Cindy. I just checked my inbox and have 9 emails so far this month from her. Some of the things she offers are good, but just know you’re going to get email ~ of course you can always unsubscribe.

Also know you will be hit with one time offers and such when you go to login.  She provides some great deals on some things, but a great deal isn’t a good enough reason for me to buy something. It has to be something that will help move me forward with what I’m currently doing. I just wanted you to be aware before you got there though.

Overall Daily Niche Idea can be a great resource, and definitely worth checking out. If you have questions ask in the comments and I’ll do what I can.

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Desktop Application:

Micro Niche Finder opens on your desktop, so you can open it and keep it minimized in your taskbar through the day as you’re working.

Is it upgraded to keep up with Google Changes?

It has been upgraded each and every time Google does something new.

Let’s do an Example!

Let’s run through an example. Let’s say I’m looking for some keywords about dog training. I’m going to put dog training in the search box of MNF and then hit go.

You can see there are a lot of options you can choose from ~ ignore some data, exclude certain data. I generally use the default settings as you see here.

Once you click the search button this is where it starts to get interesting.  Instead of just showing you keywords that have the actual words “dog training” in them you will receive a list of keywords with those keywords, but also with a bunch of related keywords that don’t necessarily have the words “dog training” in them.

This is awesome because sometimes what you think people are searching for isn’t exactly it ~ by having the related search words you may find a keyword that is much better than the one you initially went in looking for. This happens a LOT for me.

It’s also fantastic if you’re doing micro niche research. You may go in looking for a specific product or a keyword related to a specific product, but see that a different product is doing much better in the searches than the one you started with. You never would have seen that if it wasn’t for the related search terms MNF provides.

Let’s see what came up for dog training:

You can see the keywords come up in alphabetical order by default, but you can make them order themselves by any data column ~ search volume, competition, ad cost ~ any of the columns can be used to order your search.

A little further down the page you’ll find a bunch of keywords related specifically to dog training.

This is only a small part of the keywords that came back for this search. Depending on the size of the niche and the popularity the number of keywords returned with vary ~ but there is generally ~ even for really small niches plenty of keywords coming back.

Let’s take one keywords and check out all the things MNF will tell us.  We’re going with the keyword electric dog training collar. (mind you … dog training is not a niche I’m familiar with ~ it’s generally very competitive and I don’t dabble in it so let’s just see what happens.)

Domain Availability

The first column you’ll see in MNF is the domain column. If you click the icon in this column it will tell you if the .com, .org and .net domain names are available for this specific keyword.

As you can see the .com and .org are taken, but the .net is available. Let’s keep looking to see if this is going to be a “good keyword”.

Search Volume:

The next 2 columns are search volume ~ both local and global. I always use global search volume when looking for keywords.

So the global search volume for this keyword is 1000 ~ that’s not bad. (Remember, search volume requirements vary depending on what you’re going to use the keyword for)

Keyword Trends:

The next column tells us the trend for the keyword. Over the last year you can see how often (in a bar graph) it was searched in each month. Some keywords will have definite spikes in their trends graph. This means they are probably seasonal keywords and you can expect to make more sales during the months of the spikes than the months of the low spots.

This trends graph is pretty steady across the year. This means *about* the same number of people search it every month. This could mean consistent sales across the year.

Exact Phrase Count:

The next column is “exact phrase count”. This is the number you would get if you went to Google and put your keyword in the search box in quotes. Now you can do it from this one page.

Well that’s a little shocking. I didn’t think we’d find a keyword in this niche with such a small amount of competing pages.  This is a piece of data that every internet marketer uses differently. If you asked 10 “gurus” what number you should look for you would probably get 10 different answers and they would be staggeringly different, like from 30K to a million.

This piece of data tells you other pages on the internet that use the exact phrase “electric dog training collar” on their site. I don’t find it the best indicator of competition ~ but I do use it just as a double check while I’m MNF. Sometimes the “competition number” (we’re getting to it) will be low, but this number will be super high. I shy away from those pages ~ and that’s just me.

Ad Cost:

The next piece of information we get is the ad cost. This tells us how much an advertiser would pay to have their ad displayed on the search page for this keyword. This is NOT what you’ll make if someone clicks an ad on your site for this keyword.  I generally count about half the ad spend for my part if someone clicks an ad on my site.  Personally a keyword with an ad cost of over 1.00 is good in my book. (also kind of depends on what kind of site I’m doing, but over a dollar is good. Ad costs of 25 cents not so much)

This looks like it’s turning out to be a really nice little keyword ~ who knew.

Online Commercial Intent:

The next column will be OCI ~ this is “online commercial intent” which tells you likelihood of someone buying from the page if they have searched that keyword.  This is a biggie ~ this helps you get those awesome keywords that are at the end of the “buying cycle” and stay away from the informational type keywords. If you’re struggling with conversion on your keywords OCI is probably part of the problem.

As you can see here, there is a 93% chance if someone is searching for electronic dog training collar they are ready to purchase. This makes for a good keyword.  There is only a couple things we have to look at now~ and it’s shaping up quite nicely.

Measure of Backlinks:

The next element in MNF is MOB ~ or measure of backlinks. This number is the average number of backlinks for the top 10 sites in the google search results for this keywords. The lower the better.  This will give you an indication of how many backlinks you will need to beat the competition for this keyword.

32! You can easily build 32 decent backlinks to rank for this keyword.  It would take quite a bit of time to go to google, use a tool like SEOQuake and go through each site to find the number of links for the keyword. With the MOB you have it here on the same page, no need to leave and go to google. Micro Niche Finder does it for you.

Strength of Competition:

The last piece of data ~ and the one I use the most in MNF is SOC ~ Strength of Competition. This piece of data takes into consideration a bunch of different factors and then tells you how difficult it will be to rank for this keyword.  The factors it uses are all things you can do yourself at Google. They are:

inanchor ~ which means how many sites are using this exact keyword phrase in the anchor text of a link.

intitle ~ which is how many sites use this exact keyword in the title (h1) tag of their site

inurl ~ this is how many sites use this exact keyword in the url (domain name) of their site

I generally look for an SOC of less than 30. What you’re seeing here is that marketers are going after this keyword. It’s not just Joe Shmoe blogger talking about this. There’s a low of exact phrase match ~ but the pages that are using it are using it in just the way you probably planned to use it.

For Giggles let’s say I’ve decided to go ahead with this keyword.  Now what would I do?

Check for products:

I would want to see what kind of products are available for this keyword and what price range they are in. I can do this from MNF as well. Go back to the keyword column and click on the keyword. You’ll get a bunch more options, and under other search options you’ll see links to check clickbank, ebay and amazon for products for this keyword.

I’m going to check amazon ~ because that’s what I like to use to monetize my sites/lenses.

I am taken to Amazon where search results for that specific keyword show up. There isn’t much for this one. At this point I would probably drop this keyword and check something else. There just isn’t a very specific product that is completely related to this keyword.

But let’s see what else we can do with MNF for this keyword.

Narrow Dig:

You can also do more searches that are more specific to this keyword. I use this sometimes when I come across a keyword that isn’t really related to the one I originally searched on. It’s like following a rabbit down the hole ~ you can go narrow search on that keyword and it will be like starting a new search with that keyword. Which can lead you to a whole new thread of search.

Save Keywords:

Once you find a keyword you want to keep you can check the box in front of the keyword and then click the “add checked to project”. You can create product folders for anything/everything. I have projects for squidoo ideas, specific niches, sites I’m working on or want to work on and more. Anytime I find a keyword that I think might make a good lens I add it to that project so I can stay on track with what I am working on but still be able to come back and find it later.

What I don’t like about MNF:

I love so many things about Micro Niche Finder ~ but there are a couple things that can be frustrating.

When you’re checking different things that pull information from Google you can start getting captcha boxes. It can be a pain ~ but you get the same thing if you do fast keyword research on Google itself.

Well I guess that’s really the only frustrating thing. I get in research mode and it can be annoying to keep filling out captchas every time I want an SOC.

So who is Micro Niche Finder for?

If you are building niche sites, squidoo lenses, micro niche sites it is perfect. It will save you time every time you use it. Everything you need is all on one page, in really easy to understand numbers. No math ~ it’s all done for you. You have more information to weigh and consider. It is a much better option to just using the PR for the top 10 sites.

Who is Micro Niche Finder NOT for?

If you are building one authority blog, building a community, building a tribe of followers and only working on that one thing I’d say you probably don’t need Micro Niche Finder. You’ll find your traffic comes from other avenues (primarily) than Google, so you don’t need to focus so much on keywords. I’d spend my time working on building my community than finding great keywords.

All in all… Micro Niche Finder is the one tool that I use the most often. I literally use it at least 3 or 4 times a week. I can’t really say that about anything else I’ve bought. It saves me time, and has given me more confidence in my keyword research. When I choose a keyword now I pretty much know it’s going to work (if I do the work). That’s something that is well worth the one time fee for Micro Niche Finder.

If you’re ready to take your affiliate marketing business to the next level I highly recommend Micro Niche Finder. If you’re not sure how you will use this in YOUR business I highly recommend you check out the videos they offer. You’ll get 5 or 6 videos that will show different ways you can use Micro Niche Finder to make money. (They are great videos and can really spark some ideas!)

If you have questions you need answered to help make the decision, please feel free to ask them in the comments section.

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This is the ebook that changed everything for me ~ it completely changed the way I think about my affiliate marketing business. Yep ~ big statement ~ but it’s true.

When I started out, I thought I have to have this one big hit. The one keyword, the one website that’s going to make me a million dollars. (well not really a million ~ but set me up with a full time income). The problem is those kind of keywords and those kind of websites are FEW and FAR BETWEEN. I’d start something and get it going and realize it just wasn’t going to be what I expected, thought I needed, so I would just abandon it.

(That’s one reason I have so many sites laying around to use with WP Robot lol)

It was this book that turned me onto the idea that I could create a lot of little streams of income and as they grew and the numbers built they would equal what I had been trying to do with one site.

So instead of looking at each new project as something that’s going to make me thousands of dollars I started looking at it from the viewpoint of “will it make me 5 dollars a day?”. This was a huge pivot for me, and it’s when things really started to rock and roll for me.

Dennis Becker is the author and he does a really good job of really outlining this line of thinking ~ gives you some examples ~ and gives you the steps to really put this plan into action.

Who’s this book for?

If you find it difficult to stick to a project long term ~ this is perfect for you. It’s based on building something and moving on.

If you like to work on a bunch of different internet marketing strategies this is for you. You can switch up strategies for each project ~ or do the same thing over and over.

If you want ideas on how to make 5 bucks a day given to you ~ the full version of this book will be perfect for you.

Let’s talk about that:

There are two versions of this book. The jr. version ~ which is just the book and outlines the whole ideology and gives you ideas.

There is also the “sr” version which provides you with ongoing strategies, and business plans to help you continue building your 5 buck a day enterprise. These will come via email, so you have to sign up to get them ~ but they are part of the product.

Both are one time payments ~ and the “sr” version isn’t that much more than the jr ~ so the additional and ongoing information makes it worth the additional expense.

Who is this book not for:

I’d say if you have finally found focus and you’re working on a strategy that is working for you I wouldn’t pick this up. There’s no sense in messing with something that’s working.

If you are super new and don’t have a lot of information or know how about different methods to make money I’d say the Jr. version isn’t for you. A big part of the strategy is coming up with ideas for 5 buck a day projects ~ so if you are really new and still don’t know a lot of ways to make money online the jr version which is mostly theory behind the strategy won’t be right for you. However ~ the sr. version would be great because it comes with ongoing information and strategies for you to use.

What I love about the book:

I love the fact that it is a totally different way of looking at internet marketing.

I love that it helped me let go of  the “homerun” concept in my business.

I love that it really works ~ and is really doable.

What I didn’t love about this book:

A lot of his examples are based on using PPC ~ which is a strategy I myself don’t use.  With that said, it’s just the examples and you can take the content and apply it to anything that you can do and like to do ~ it’s just easier for me to see something in my mind if the examples are something I can better related to.

Overall ~ for the minimal price ~ and the overhaul it gave my mentality around my business I definitely recommend this one.

Buy the Jr. Version Here

Buy the Sr. Version Here

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I looked at the website ~ and realized there were quite a few more for sale as well. These sites were gorgeous. They were filled with content. Filled with products for sale. Looked fantastic. I never in my whole life would have guessed they were sold from a plr site. Never.

I started looking at the way they were made, the things they were selling and I was sold. No I didn’t buy one of the PLR store sites ~ I figured out how to make my own. I found a plugin that would create sites exactly like the ones I had found ~ automatically.

Let me just say right here, right now ~ I have never been a fan of “autoblogging”. In fact, someone talked to me about this plugin a few months ago and I completely blew it off as spam crap. Boy was I wrong. I never would have given this plugin a second look if I hadn’t seen the sites at the plr store.  If I hadn’t seen what “real” sites could be created I never would have thought it was possible. Honest to God.

These days I try not to buy stuff to jump into something new. I have some sites ~ a christmas site, some deal blogs that I use to link back to my “money sites”. You all know that. These poor sites sit around and do a bunch of nothing a lot of the time. There are times when I’m working on something else and just don’t use them much. However… I got to thinking ~ last year my Christmas site did quite well. Not from product related keywords ~ but holiday and gift related keywords. Once people clicked through on those keywords they looked at what I had published on the blog and bought. This was with just a few items on the site that I had added to link back to my product lenses on Squidoo.

It dawned on me… what if I had more products to choose from and a great selection of gifts for people to choose from when they come looking for gifts. Oh yeah.

That’s where my thought process started. Then I started thinking about some of my old, defunct adsense sites I had built a few years back. The keywords all related to products ~ and at some point I’d thought of building out the sites and had done plenty of keyword research. I had a whole list of great targeted keywords and just hadn’t taken the time to write, publish and promote.

What if WP Robot could do it for me? Hmm…

I started making a list of all the product related domain names and sites I had. It came out to somewhere in the 20s. What if I could get these sites up and running. What if they each just started making $10 a day?  25 X 10 = $250.  250 dollars a day from stuff I had just sitting around collecting dust right now.

I thought it was definitely worth the investment since most of the process would be hands off and taken care of by the plugin.

When it comes to buying WP Robot they’ve got it set up really nicely. You have a bunch of options and can create a plugin that fits your needs.

It starts with the core module ~ that’s the WP Robot part. It has multiple levels depending on what you want to do. You can get a basic  free version which allows you to create 3 campaigns on 20 sites ~ you can get the advanced version which allows you to use it on 40 sites, or you can get the Elite version which allows unlimited campaigns on unlimited sites. 

I picked up the elite robot module. I didn’t really understand exactly how the campaigns and all that worked when I picked it up. Now that I have a better understanding I realize I could have probably gone with the advanced level instead of the elite ~ but hey.

Once you’ve made your core choice you can add more modules. These modules are where your content is going to come from. There are 15 modules to choose from that will help you create content from places like Amazon, article directories, clickbank, shopzilla to flickr and more.

Before you go adding modules I suggest you get a clear picture in your head of what you want your site to look like and/or do for you.

I wanted a site that would feature products sold at amazon and I also wanted some articles for content thrown in. It thought it would also be cool to have some price comparison from shopzilla (which is a free module btw) as well. I also thought it would be great to have some video on my pages as well.

With this in mind I looked at the modules it would take me to create this kind of site and I picked up the Amazon module and the article module. I wanted, but didn’t get the youtube module because I wanted to see if I the investment was going to pay off before I spent too much money. I can always upgrade the youtube module later.

When you create your own package and bundle different modules together you save money. It can be a pretty good savings when you pick up a couple modules at the same time.

Here’s my strategy:

I don’t want you to grab a premium plugin ~ and pay good money ~ without having a plan. Here’s my plan.

I picked one of my old adsense (that no longer runs adsense) sites to get started on. I had already done the  keyword research a while back when I’d thought of changing the site to an affiliate site.

I added the keywords to WP Robot ~ and asked it to pull different products from Amazon related to those keywords. I set up the keywords as categories on the site ~ so each related post went into the respective category. I did this because it would be impossible to promote all the posts individually. I am instead going to promote (build links to) the category pages as they will stay stable over time, and end up with more and more options to buy as time goes on.

I set the plugin to post once every 12 hours ~ it randomly grabs one of the keywords in the list and picks a product (it won’t duplicate products) from Amazon. It posts the image, the product description, some product features, creates a great buy now button ~ all of which link back to amazon with your affiliate id ~ and this is my favorite thing ~ pulls reviews out and adds them as comments to the post. It then places the post in the right category.

I have also added the article module to the site so every once in a while an article will be posted as well ~ so the whole site isn’t just amazon products. You can alter the settings in the plugin very easily to have more or less of anything. This is a personal choice and it’s really just what you want your site to do. There are links to other people’s sites on those articles and I think that’s ok ~ it looks less like an affiliate site that way.

Speaking of affiliate links ~ the amazon module can also cloak all your affiliate links for you.

I started that first site a few weeks ago. I added all the category links to Traffic Bug and I did all the regular linking I do for them all. I’m getting traffic from Google already ~ not much for the main keywords, but for long tail keywords related to new posts.

Here’s the rub:

As I continue to build links to the homepage, and the category pages it will create “authority” for the whole site. This authority will help each new post rank better as well and drive more traffic from long tail keywords in addition to the targeted keywords.

I have started this process on my Christmas Blog, as well as my deal blogs. Now those sites are getting traffic for related long tail keywords as well and I’m already seeing click throughs to Amazon. This has all happened in the last couple weeks.

I see this as a long term endeavor ~ I didn’t do it to make money in a week, but to create new income streams of 5 or 10 bucks a day over time. I think it’s going to work. I can already see the process happening. The blogs look great. They look like real sites and I’m really pleased with how they’re doing so far.

Once I’ve done the initial linking ~ and Traffic Bug is going to do most of the work on that it’s a hands off process. I’ll keep you up to date on how they’re doing ~ but as of right now I’m super pleased with this plugin and would highly recommend it to people who want to get started and are having trouble coming up with content ~ messing with links ~ and getting a site put together. It’s also great for those of you who, like me, have tons of unfinished sites sitting around, or domain names sitting around doing nothing.

It’s not autopilot millions ~ but it’s definitely a viable option for new income streams.

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I don’t buy too many things anymore, but there are times I pull out my wallet. I want to share with you what goes through my head before I plunk down my debit card.

1.  Is this something that will assist me with what I’m currently doing?

At this point I’m generally buying software and not really ebooks or courses. I have a grip on my online marketing strategy, and I’m not trying to get distracted by another shining thing with all its shiny promises of riches. In fact, most days I don’t even click through to sales pages (because they are generally so well written I would be very tempted lol).  However, there is a lot of “stuff” I have to do in my business and I’m finally realizing there are things out there that can help me get it done.

So… if I find a tool that can help me do something I’m already doing, save me time, and energy then I will at least look at it.

2. Who’s recommending the product?

About a month or so ago while I was in 3 step ads I saw an ad for SEO LinkVine. Now I use 3 step ads on a pretty regular basis, but I don’t know who runs this site, I don’t know anything about them. I looked at SEO linkvine and the sales page was great ~ of course. But that’s what people pay the big bucks for ~ great sales copy.  I went looking around to find some “real” information about this service.

Of course the first thing that popped up in a google search was a warrior forum thread.  I do not trust warrior forum threads at all. Here’s why. I don’t know these people from Adam.  What I tend to see is a bunch of beginners who haven’t made a dime, but are throwing their money at everything they can trying to make it and bitching about how it didn’t work for them and how someone scammed them out of their money, and most likely it’s because they didn’t use the product correctly or jumped ship to the next shiny thing before it ever had a chance to work.

I always look for the opinions of people who are successful in this business, who know what they’re doing, who have really used the product/service (in the way it was supposed to be used!). I can’t guarantee that from the warrior forum, and in most cases I highly DOUBT it is possible to get that kind of information from that resource.

I did eventually find a website from someone who did nothing but test out these linking services with some really good backup data. That helped me make my decision.

I don’t buy from any Tom Dick or Harry who says something’s great. I buy from people I know and trust online ~ people who are doing what I am doing, who I know I can trust and have had success with things they’ve recommended in the past.

I have a few people online that are like that for me. Yaro Starak, Ed Dale, Gideon Shalwick, Brian Johnson, Jonathon Leger. Who are the people you buy from? Do you know? I found once I started listening to mentors, I started spending a lot less money lol.

3. How much does it cost?

This is still important to me. It doesn’t matter how much a tool will rock my world, if it’s going to screw up my budget it’s a no go ~ or a save up money until you can afford it type thing.  I do not spend money I do not have. Period.

I recently got an email from a reader, and it’s very sad. They recently got some bad news about their health. They didn’t have health insurance because they decided to spend the $97 a month it would have cost on books/websites/services online to help them make money ~ thinking they would make money first and then get health insurance. Now they’re screwed.

I’m not going to get into a health care debate, and I’m in no way judging people with no health care (as I’m one of them) but I’m just saying… take care of yourself and your family first… then spend money on your business. There is nothing you can buy online that will serve you better than food or rent.

So back to Traffic Bug. Here’s why I bought it.

1. It does the linking I’m doing and MORE.

It submits my sites to RSS directories, website directories, pings them and bookmarks them, as well as submits them to search engines ~ over time ~ just as I would do it.  (It also has new features in the works)

This is all stuff I would be doing if I wasn’t so lazy. So it is submitting to RSS directories (which I do do) as well as a bunch of things that I wish I was doing. Right now. In my business ~ it takes about an hour or two a day out of my schedule.

2. It was recommended by Ed Dale.

Ed Dale runs the annual “challenge” to make your first dollar online. I’ve done the challenge a few times, and I trust Ed Dale implicitly. The first Challenge I did with him he recommended Market Samurai which was in Beta at the time. Brand new, not even completely finished. I think we all know how that turned out.  He has since rolled out many many tools for the challenge and they have all been amazing. I trust his recommendation even for a product that is brand new and in beta.

3. The price was super low

Ed always gives a great deal. Even without Ed’s deal the price was less than half what the next closest tool would have cost me each month.  So far it’s been a dream to use ~ customer service has been excellent (yes, I’ve sent emails and they’ve been replied to multiple times ), and I’ve seen quick indexing thus far, and since it will take time for the links to go out I’ve documented where all my sites are now that I’m using with it so I can see my own results.  Traffic Bug is helping me, saving me time, doing work I hate, and helping my sites in multiple ways, so it was a purchase that was a no brainer for me.

Those are the things I think about before I purchase something for my business. I know in the beginning it was really easy to get caught up in a long thread at the warrior forum, but now, for me,  it’s not worth the time it takes to read it. I stick with recommendations from people I trust, and things that will work for my business. These are my three questions… what do you ask yourself before you whip out your card? I’d love to hear… tell me in the comments section.

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I have been actively seeking a solution to this problem.

Here’s what I WANTED. I wanted a gorgeous lightbox, that I could customize, I could easily add my own content, maybe a checklist to. I wanted it to be super easy ~ like a plugin or something ~ upload and go, no messing in the code. I wanted it to work the way I wanted it to work ~ show up once, and not again.

Well, last week I found it. Not even launched yet, but I found it.

Friday I got my hands on it and over the weekend I loaded it on my blog.

I immediately saw my subscriber numbers DOUBLE!! Which is really amazing because my numbers had already jumped greatly just with the ugly get response lightbox. So needless to say I was pretty excited!

So what did I find?

PopUp Domination.

PopUp Domination is a plugin for wordpress. You simply upload it (just like any other plugin) and then go through the 5  simple steps to set it up.

Step 1.  Look and Feel

Choose the color options you want to use to best match your site. You can pick from a lot of different colors for the box itself, but also the color of the button. You also choose the template you want to use in this step.

There are currently 4 template options. They are all awesome and one will probably just “speak” to you. You’ll know which one you like best. Choose the number and on to the next step.

Step 2.  Email code

This step is where you insert your email code. All you have to do is go grab the html code from a box you’ve created for your site at your autoresponder. Then just paste the code in the box provided. Make sure you grab the html and not the script code.

Step 3. Template Fields

This is where you start filling in your content for the opt in box.  You choose the headline, the words to use your name/email field, what you want to say on the submit button.

It’s super easy, and the developer has even outlined the typical length that each of these things should be.

(after each step you can hit the “preview” button and see what the changes you’ve made look like.)

Step 4: List points

This is where you add your bullet point content (if the template you’ve chosen has them).  Pull your biggest reasons/benefits for people to opt in (think what’s in it for them) and just add them right there.

Step 5. Schedule

Here’s where you tell the lightbox how often to pop up. You schedule by the day. So if you want it to pop up every 7 days you just put 7 in the box.  It’s completely up to you ~ and another thing you can test and see what works best for your site and your audience.

That’s it. Preview, and then turn it on. You’re all set.

Here’s a quick video of my PopUp Domination review. You can see just how easy it is as I create a popup box for my Squidoo blog.

This process literally took me 5 minutes to create the new lightbox for this site. Opt ins are on the rise already. If you aren’t using any kind of lightbox on your site then your opt in increase could be huge. Testimonials are coming in for over 304% increase in opt ins ~ that’s huge. That kind of increase in your list can mean infinitely more connections and lead to a huge increase in sales.

Who is Popup Domination for?

If you have a blog, and you are building a list ~ you need popup domination.

If you have niche sites ~ you should be building lists and popup domination would be perfect!

Who is it not for?

If you’re building micro niche sites I don’t think you will need popup domination.

If you’re building lenses you do not need popup domination.

With that said, it’s time to take your list to the next level. Grab your copy of  PopUp Domination. Go ahead and head over now ~ there’s a great video on the sales page. Take a couple minutes and watch it and then get the plugin. It’s totally worth it, and will pay for itself.

If you purchase through my link (yes, that’s an affiliate link in there) I will be glad to help you if you run into any problems getting your light box up and running.

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I’m really excited about it, and there are some big changes you might notice.

1. The navigation has moved from the sidebar to the top of the page.  You’ll find all the categories, and access to all past posts via the KISS IM link.

2. New options for personal consultations are now available as well. There’s 2 new options (and a third to be revealed on Monday)

KISS Consult ~ this is a 30 minute consultation to get you unstuck, and moving forward. Together we’ll create an actionable plan that will work for you.

KISS Keyword Consult ~ if you’re working on niche sites, or a niche blog and need some help with finding the perfect keywords to drive traffic to your site I’ll be glad to help you do that. We’ll start a keyword list on our call, and you’ll leave with a lot more ideas on how you can mine even more great keywords.

The KISS Club will be taking new members on Monday ~ so stop by for more information on that after a fabulous holiday weekend.

3. The theme I’ve chosen is from Elegant Themes. I can’t tell you how happy I am with them. It’s an annual membership, and less than $20 a year. They keep coming out with new themes every month. This is a relatively new theme, and it’s created to work quite well with wordpress 3.0. Support has been fantastic, they helped me so many times to create the tweaks I needed to make the site look just the way I wanted to. I highly recommend them for cool and unusual wordpress themes.

Speaking of wordpress 3.0 I have to say a HUGE thank you to my Tech Goddess Michelle. She updated  wordpress and all my plugins for me (in addition to all the fantastic work she’s been doing to get the KISS Club all set up and ready to rock and roll).

4. Wendy Wood of GetEcovers.com ROCKED the header for me. She got it done in a day, and it was exactly what I wanted the very first time. Very easy to work with, and her prices are sooo affordable! She does a wide range of graphics so check her out if you need something done.

We’ve talked over the last couple months about getting clarity around your message, who you are, and who your target audience is. I’ve worked to get really clear about it, and I think now my site actually shows it. I am trying to focus on working more closely with individuals ~ which doesn’t mean much will change here. There will always be fantastic free content on the blog, but I’m ready to really start diving in with people, and helping them get moving. There’s half the year left, more than enough time to make this the best year yet!

I look forward to working with you soon, enjoy the site and let me know if you run into anything funky. I’m pretty sure it’s been tested, but… you never know!

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