Ok, finally ClickBank has made a lot of people happy, me too, because it now offers this service.
You can see more about it here:
https://www.clickbank.com/recurring_billing.html
George Has.
June 19, 2007
Google Finally Pwned!
After Google has been lowering the AdSense payments, and got a lot of people in trouble, when they needed the most, that money from the clicks, here comes this E-Book about a secret google loophole.
I think many people at Google will be mad about it. Here’s more about it, just skip the hype and focus on the important stuff:
George Has.
June 18, 2007
Hosting + Domain = $0,02
Do you want to have your own domain and host it? Many new people on the Internet would want that, but they are having trouble deciding where, and how much to pay.
Well, for my readers I will show you a way, to get a domain for one year, and hosting for 1 month, for the sum of $0,02, yes, that is right 2 cents, for everything. You will get a domain name, a .info, not a .com unfortunately, and a very good hosting account for 1 whole month.
Just go to dynonames.com, and register a .info domain, for 1 year, and you will pay $0,01. That is how you will get your own domain, and for the hosting, go to hostgator.com, sign up for Shared Hosting, and chose the Baby plan. This is $9,95/mo but, if you put in the coupon field “iceishot” you will get a $9,94 discount, and you will end up paying $0,01 for the hosting the first month.
Thanks,
George Has.
May 22, 2007
ClickBank Winds Of Change
Recently, there was a meeting in London, where four of their executives met with their clients, respectively their affiliates and their publishers.
In this meeting there were a lot of things discussed, but the following I found interesting:
- multi lingual order form;
- improving client communications;
- other payment options; (for affiliates and publishers);
- affiliate contact with the customers;
The first one, respectively, the multi lingual order form, would be a great idea, because it will make it easier for people who are not so familiar with the English language to purchase products.
Improving client communications, has been a problem for a long time now, because many people complained that their e-mails were not answered.
Other payment options, well, this is the best thing I think was discussed there, and PayPal was considered as an option. Imagine to stop waiting for those checks each month, then cashing them in, and receiving payments by PayPal almost instantly. No more paperwork, a lot of time saved, and a great deal of comfort for the publishers and affiliates.
The affiliate contact with the customers, is considered to be restricted, because as we know, the affiliates are able to see the e-mails of the clients in their accounts, and some of them are using this as a technique to build their lists.
You can see more about it, and other things that were discussed here.
George Has.
May 14, 2007
Are The Web Sites You Trust Really Safe?
Now many of you think, that if you load a web site once, you load it twice, when you load it the third time and so on, it is a safe web site. There are also some security software options, and even browser options to add a web site to the so called “safe list”, which would mean anything from it will be trusted from then on.
I always thought that also, but strangely after uncovering some tracks, and finding some resources, I found out that is not really true. But what does this have to do with Internet Marketing? Well…
As we all know, Google Adsense is a very popular advertising tool, probably the most, and the nice thing about it, is that you can get paid per click, which means the more people click on the ads displayed on your web site, the more money you make.
Abusing the service is pretty hard normally, because they catch on very fast, and will ban you from using it. Many people have tried this, in hope to make some easy money, by clicking on the ads displayed on their web sites, or asking their friends to do it.
That is not new, what is new is, that some very clever individuals use another method, to get clicks, and it is extremely hard to detect the abuse. The method does the following:
Web hosting companies, usually have many domains on one computer, a Linux server, on which all the web site content is located, it depends now on how big the company is, as how many domains you can find on a machine. It could be from 10, to 10,000 or even more. These machines, as all computers on the Internet, some times have security flaws, and these flaws are exploited by hackers, and then sold.
After being sold to the right people, a Trojan is also bought by them. This little piece of software is sold in the Underground from $600 to $1000, or even more. What it does is, infect the unsuspecting persons computer, and start clicking from time to time, on Google ads. This is done randomly, and at different time intervals, so nothing will look suspicious.
After buying these two items, a special code is placed in the software of the exploited machine, or in each of the headers of the domains that are on it. What this code does, is download the Trojan, and install it. This will provide clicks on different ads, from normal people, without them knowing about it.
So basically, even if you loaded a domain for 1 year, you can not consider it safe. Relying on an anti-virus or anti spyware tool is not a solution either, because anti-virus updates are also offered from the Trojan merchants, so it will be undetectable.
The best way to protect yourself, is to run a root-kit scan on your computer, using what I think is the best root-kit scanner for Windows:
http://lightb.wordpress.com/gmer
It is free, and very useful in such cases. Think good before loading another web site you think is safe again.
George Has
May 12, 2007
Marketing In Style: How Unique Is Your Web Site?
In this article, I will share my opinions about the marketing web sites, how
they look, how they are made, and how this affects your sales.
Basically, I am surfing daily, and clicking on a lot of ads, I load a lot of web sites, and I check them out, from curiosity. This article goes out to all of those who imitate others, I know imitation is the greatest form of flattery but I think exaggerating this affects your sales, and also your reputation in the Internet Marketing World.
A web site, is all you have, when you are an Internet marketer, it is the thing you use to promote your products, and how that looks, or is made affects directly everything: your sales, your rankings, your traffic.
I am writing this because, for example, 99% of the web sites I have loaded offering digital products look the same, and I think we all know what “the same” means, a sales letter written in large font text, which is I am sorry to say, but exaggerated, excessive red is used for the quotes, it is very long, so you need to scroll down two pages to get to the link where you can buy the product.
On some it will take you directly to the payment page, on others it will take you to an OTO (One Time Offer) page and then to the payment page. Sincerely I am bored of them, and I think many customers are. Looking at the same things, just different texts just makes you lose interest in the product, and it makes the owner look like a door-to-door salesman.
Another thing you should think about is that many scan artists out there, and I know for a fact most of them, are using the same format, because it is logical they do not care about the web site they make, as they do not care about the product they sell. Their interest is o get the web site ready as quickly as possible, so that it can be on-line, and start stealing money.
What if a customer loads a scam page, pays for the product, gets scammed, and then loads your web site. What will he think? Well, I will tell you, he will think you are offering a scam also. If you change some text, and some pictures, it does not make your web site look different.
You may say at this point, it is too much time to waste, because I know that many of you have not one but many web sites, and it will be very difficult to design them all, but how about making your web sites unique? Yes, you have more than one web site, but all of your web sites will look different from the other bulk web sites, and if you offer quality products when the customer will see your web site style, in his mind, he will think he can shop safely, also you are at the same time branding your web sites.
This can be simply done by using a web site template, they are offered for free some times, but the best is to buy one, one is around $30-$60, and you can modify it to fit all your needs, if you have more than one web site. What I recommend is a combination of flash and html, it will make your web site look amazing, and it will also be SEO friendly.
You don’t know HTML? Well, HTML is very easy, and you can modify your web sites using the NVU editor, which is absolutelly free. And Flash, well when I started my first flash web site I was very nervous, thinking it will be hard, but actually I found that flash is actually a lot more simpler than it looks.
Here is a place where you can find info on purchasing a web template, they offer, HTML, Flash and Os-Commerce templates, at very good prices:
http://lightb.wordpress.com/web-design-templates/
Just my thoughts,
George Has.
P.S. Another advice, I would like to give, is to pick what you think others will not. For example my blog. I picked as a template, the classic, the last one that was available, and why? Because I thought everybody will pick the new ones, but how many do you think have web sites that look the same? Mine is more unique than most of them now.
May 11, 2007
New Marketers: Save Yourself From The Guru!
In this article, I want to share my opinion on the Internet Guru, who they are and what they actually do.
Remember, I am not affiliated with any of them directly, nor do I know any of them, but after reading several eBooks from them, I formed an opinion about them.
The “Wonder” e-Book
Most gurus on the Internet will sell you their program, as I have seen they also sell it live, to people who would like to learn about e-commerce. Usually the program is presented in one, or several eBooks, made in PDF. These eBooks are supposed to teach you how to make large amounts of money over the Internet BUT:
What does the e-Book actually contain?
Remember, I have read plenty of e-Books from the gurus, paid ones, not free previews, and sneak peaks they offer before you actually buy it, I actually bought them and read them.
The SECRET is, they basically contain the same thing, just explained in other words, and sold over and over again: HOW TO SELL PRODUCTS ON CLICK BANK. They are selling two basic methods to gain huge money amounts over the Internet:
1. The Affiliate Program – You pick a product from Click Bank, PayDotCom or another web site similar and then you sell it.
2. The Right to Sell – You purchase the sales rights over a product, and then you sell it.
THE CATCH: Both methods are actually manipulating your mind, as you don’t realize it. What the guru do is, SHOW how easy it is to become an affiliate, or buy seller rights, while offering the same thing, to become THEIR affiliate or buy seller rights from them. They offer you the product, right on the table, their product., and the way to sell it, in order to make money for them.
THE SECOND CATCH: Mostly they recommend only their product, and the place they sell it, ClickBank, trying to make you their affiliate, or sell rights buyer, they show you how to sell their product, they provide you with banners, keywords for google, etc. Also most of the time, they recomend their friends products, but WHY? Once you buy it, the guru get a 75% commission from the sale.
CONCLUSION: You think you are gaining access to a quick money making solution over the Internet, but actually what the guru is trying to do is convince you to become a seller of his products. They sell the same thing over, and over again.
THE PYRAMIDS: It is all in a pyramid shape, at the top is the Internet Guru who created the product, at the next level are the people that have bought it and are now trying to sell it, and at the base level are the potential buyers of the product which the people who have bought it are trying to convince to sell.
THE SCAM: The Internet Guru actually creates a nice looking product, which is actually nothing, just the same thing all over again, with some differences, usually Internet Marketing tips, you can easily get that from Google, after he creates it, he puts it up usually on ClickBank and starts to get affiliates. He is doing nothing after, maybe some extra follow up e-mails to sell more products to the people in the second level of the pyramid, and gets the cash basically using YOUR marketing skills, your time, and your money!
THE WEB SITES: They all look the same, a long web site, red flashy text, containing the following:
1. Pictures of Expensive Cars and Money.
2. Pictures of nice looking Books or CD’s that do not really exist.
3. Testimonials of people that have made it big in the Internet World.
4. A flashy message telling you you get bonuses and it is a limited time offer.
5. A picture of the GURU.
What are all this for? It is all part of a big pshichological game they play with your mind, all the symbols here have meaning for your mind in order to make it believe this can be done:
-cars and money – the thing you wanted all your life;
-pictures of CDs/Books – to make the product look attractive and neat;
-testimonials – to make it sound real; they forget to mention the ones that did not make it, only the good ones are there;
-limited time offer – to make you think you can miss your opportunity to become rich;
-a picture of him and maybe others – they choose the pictures so the people in them appear honest and happy, and also to show you he is someone who is not hiding his face to make you trust him;
GURU FRIENDS: I have noticed, the guru often recommend each other, WHY? “If you cant beat them, join them!”, they sell each others products, recommending each other as being honest, they build credibility and more people trust them.
CONCLUSION: DO NOT become a guru slave. DO NOT waste your time, money, resources and skills to make the guru cash, this is the way the became rich, by turning people into their moneymakers.
WHAT TO DO:
1. You will have the same marketing skills as the guru if you read some e-commerce articles, or you can be better than them.
2. If you want to actually sell their product just do it, do not fall into buying more products from them.
WHY DO WE CARE: If you are an honest affiliate for example on Click Bank, you WILL, and believe me you WILL lose some of the potential clients, WHY? They get to be used by the guru, or they get scamed by them, the guru use the Click Bank name, you use the ClickBank name, if the client will become to think Click Bank is not reliable, when it will see it it will avoid it, and YOU, the honest seller will lose your clients.
THE KEY: is creating your OWN product, this way you relax at home and your affiliates do the work.
The product is not good? Create another maybe that one will be good until you find a good one, it is very easy to create an e-Book, it does not have to be about making money, it can be about anything, everything sells. That is one thing the guru never encourage you to do, why? If you create your own product, you become their competition.
To be continued…
May 10, 2007
PayPal Now Accepts Tons Of New Countries
Yesterday, it seems PayPal has modified it’s customer allowance policy. Now tons of new countries are accepted for creating a PayPal account.
The bad thing about it, is that those countries are only allowed to Send money to other PayPal accounts and not receive money yet, but it is a start.
Here you can find the country list:
George Has.
May 9, 2007
Think Good Before Using MoneyBookers!
I made a MoneyBookers account recently, I was happy as hell, because I could recieve money from all over the world, even from the jungle (joking). The service is pretty ok, and pretty fast, you can not pay in many places, but it is used in the USA mostly to pay for On-line Poker accounts, since many accept that.
So as I was saying, I was all happy, until 2 weeks ago, I received an e-mail from them that my account is locked, because they need to verify my identity, and I should send them a copy of my passport. All was OK, I said, that is fair, so I faxed it, black and white, and in 2 days my account was unlocked.
After using it a bit, I received some money from a friend, about $300, and I cashed it at my bank I was surprised to see that my account got locked again, asking me to provide my passport copy again.
I immediately e-mailed them asking if I need to “verify” each month, because I sent the copy of my passport just two weeks before. They have replied that “the copy I have sent is not of good quality” and they need from me another piece of identification like a copy of my drivers license. I will send that today or tomorrow by fax, but I wonder, what if that is not of good quality either? I am running out of identification documents!
Part Two: A friend of mine, is a freelance web designer, he is not from the United States, so basically he needed to use MoneyBookers to receive his money. After he opened an account, and received money from 5 customers of his, his account got locked also, and he was told to provide proper identification.
After doing so, surprise! He got an e-mail back saying that all the people that sent him money need to send proper identification also, and until that is not done, he will not be able to use the account anymore. So he has got his $1600 or so stuck in his MoneyBookers account for some time now, because he has tried to explain that those were customers and he can not ask them to verify their accounts, because nobody is going to send passport copies/driver licences when they can just forget about the service, receiving the same answer!
It seems it is something about the Patriot Act which MoneyBookers follows, but I mean, some times they should be reasonable.
George Has.
Microsoft/Yahoo Merge
It seems the news on-line lately shows that Microsoft and Yahoo will merge. That is good for some, and bad for others, especially Google, who dislikes the idea.
In my opinion this is a good thing, because finally someone is trying to do something about the Google domination, I mean Google is expanding everywhere and is buying site after site in hope that it will dominate the Internet.
I am not saying that Google services are not good, they are of very good quality, but imagine if they acquire more web sites, and will start to become a monopole, what will happen to the prices they will charge, what the prices for example on AdWords will be, and how much will you have to pay to get in the Google search.
Just my thoughts,
George Has.
