RSS Mashing… More Tools For Your RSS Arsenal
I came across this unique site and had to share it with you. The site, xFruits, exposes many tools to help you do more with your RSS feeds.
You can set up email alerts from RSS feeds, turn xFruits email messages into an RSS feed, publish RSS feed content to your blog, turn your RSS feeds into podcast output and much more.
I’m not affiliated with this site in any way, but am always on the lookout for useful tools like this dealing with RSS. Have some fun with it, and let me know what you think.
Facing Your Fears - I Can’t Decide What To Do!
Up next in the Facing Your Fears series is the topic of choosing a path and sticking to it. Many newcomers get overwhelmed at the sea of possibilities online, and end up not doing anything simply because they can’t decide.
Isn’t it SO easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of information at our fingertips? We surround ourselves with people telling us left and right how to make money online.
Here, follow this plan! While you’re at it, check out this guide! Oh don’t do that, that won’t make you any money. This is the BEST way to make money online. And so on and so on.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed. And when people get overwhelmed, they naturally shut down in a sense. It’s tough to take action when you feel like there are a million decisions to make. How are you supposed to know where to start?
What I’m talking about here is deciding what business model to adapt, or what plan of action to pursue. Some examples include creating your own product, affiliate marketing, CPA (which is a form of affiliate marketing), content sites with advertising (such as Adsense), content sites to build a list for future monetization, etc. etc.
Even when you get past this point, choosing one of these plans brings up more questions. For example, what KIND of product will you create? An ebook? A physical course? How about audio or video?
ARGGGGH I can’t decide what to do!!
When I start to feel like this, the best thing that helps me is to write steps out in my own words. When I initially start looking into a niche, and get stuck with the thought “I can’t decide what to do”, I review these steps:
What do I know about my target market? Where can I find out more about them?
Sometimes, this helps me figure out what TYPE of plan I want to pursue in this niche. For example, let’s say my niche is digital music. Are there PROBLEMS that my target market faces, that I can SOLVE? If so, I can create a product. I can also create a content site. The point is, I know I’ll want to deliver the SOLUTION in some way. My market might not have a problem requiring solving, but still may be a profitable niche. For example, a good plan might be to create a content site about mp3 players, and monetize either with advertising or affiliate marketing to physical products.
What am I more comfortable doing in this niche?
I might not have a lot of knowledge in this niche, so therefore creating a product (if I’m not outsourcing it) would be a less desirable option. That narrows down my choices. Perhaps now I might look into creating a content site.
What are the demographics of your target market?
Do you know if they love to watch videos online? Do you know if they are big into the social networks like Facebook etc? Do they have the ability to SPEND MONEY? What do you KNOW about your market? This is crucial to helping you figure out WHAT and HOW to present content to your market.
Those points will definitely help you but you are still faced with DECIDING how to attack a niche. This is truly a fear of taking action. If you know the basics like the back of your hand, and you’re STILL not taking any action, then it’s a serious fear to own up to.
You will only succeed if you are willing to put yourself out there and allow yourself to fail.
Facing Your Fears - I Still Have A Lot To Learn
The fourth post in the Facing Your Fears series discusses an overwhelming feeling that many newcomers experience. So many people struggling to create an online business never seem to get anything off the ground. Many people simply feel like they must learn more before they can start applying what they already know.
I still have a lot to learn before I can begin making money online.
I’ve felt this way before, and see this revealed in a lot of newcomer marketers. Some people feel that they can never start something until they’ve learned every nugget of information they need to be successful from start to finish.
In Internet Marketing, this will take you a LIFETIME.
Why? Because every single day there are new techniques to learn, and new technologies arising to help you. How in the world will you ever get started if you keep waiting? There is definitely a necessary learning phase for anyone newly entering internet marketing. Nobody can really dispute that. But at what point have you learned enough to start applying and taking action? Of course, only you can answer that. But this little fear can sneak up on you and you won’t even realize it until so much time has passed. It’s an obsessive thing, learning about Internet Marketing. It’s so easy to get sucked deeper and deeper into the web.
This is where you need some DISCIPLINE. You need to be serious about your business. Set aside official times for creativity and learning, and official times for WORKING. The bottom line is you need to organize your time, create goals, and focus focus focus.
Goal setting will help tremendously with many of your fears. Search online for topics like this. There are many great sites about goal setting, organizing and how to stay focused. If this is an area where you feel you‘re weak in, then create a plan to conquer this fear. Be organized about it. Give yourself a fixed amount of time to research and learn about this advice that will help you get out of your learning slump. Then use the knowledge you’ve gained, and put together a plan of action.
It doesn’t have to be a huge plan!
Even a small plan with a few minor steps will help you move away from “obsessive learning” to “organized planning, working, and learning”.
REVIEW:
- You don’t need to master every single technique known to man to get started
- You should organize your time effectively, to include the things you want such as building your business, seeking out new marketing techniques, building a new product, etc.
- Goal setting, organizing your time, and learning how to focus are key tools that will help you succeed
Facing Your Fears - Fear Of Failure
Third entry in the “Facing Your Fears” series, dealing with the commonly held fear of failure. We’ve all been there! Some of us learn how to overcome it, while unfortunately others let it bog them down.
I’m too scared to invest the time or money into a project, only to end up failing.
Fear of failure stops many people in their tracks. You‘ve likely either experienced or seen this happen in the offline world just as much as the online world. I‘ll go back to what I stressed earlier in the series.
Until you‘re able and willing to take risks, you won‘t get very far.
What does failure mean to you? If you perceive failure as a bad thing, you‘re not off to a very good start. You control how you think and feel about anything. Nobody else controls YOU. You might think failure is bad, because it means “not succeeding”. How in the world are you supposed to change that perception?
First, take a close look at what you can learn when you fail. If you can learn anything from your failures, you’ve already changed your perception. Because learning from your failures is a POSITIVE thing. You’ve just gained something positive, from something you perceived as negative.
Always try to learn from your failures. Don’t agonize and spend forever pouring over your failures, but do pay attention to elements that factored in. Tweak and test your methods while you continue to TAKE ACTION. Record what worked and what didn’t work. Set aside time to consistently review this.
If you’re investing money, you might view it as a bigger risk than investing time. This may or may not be true, depending on how you prioritize money versus your time. I’m not advising anyone to go broke just to assume risks. You have to put some thought into it. Find out what your able to invest into your business without sacrificing necessities.
Virtually everything to do with online marketing can be done with a) more time invested or b) more money invested. It’s your choice what to invest, but either way you must be willing to assume the risks. If you’re paralyzed because you’re scared to invest “xx” hours of time into a project without knowing if it will be successful or not, how will you move forward?
You won‘t!
There you go. Continue fearing this investment, and you‘ll simply stand still.
The only way to get over this fear IS to take action. It’s ironic. You fear taking action, yet you must take action to get over the fear. But people can’t convince you of this with a few words online. Only you can convince yourself and make yourself BELIEVE. The truth of it is, once you start taking action, it gets EASIER to continue taking action.
REVIEW:
- You must be willing to assume RISKS
- You must be willing to invest time or money or both
- You must BELIEVE in yourself in order to start taking action
- The more action you take, the easier it gets to TAKE ACTION
Facing Your Fears - How In The World Can I Compete?
This is the second post in a series of posts about facing your fears in the world of Internet Marketing. A common fear that a lot of new people cling to is that they fear their project, site, product etc. won’t be different enough to stand out.
Everyone and their dog puts up blogs and content sites, why would mine be successful and how can I compete?
I get stuck in this frame of mind sometimes. For example, I‘ll get this great idea to put up a content site on a certain niche. I‘ll do some brainstorming and initial analysis, only to find out that I‘ve easily discovered 10 sites doing the exact same thing.
I hate when this stops me in my tracks. My logical side says, “this is good, you KNOW this means this niche is likely profitable”. But then there‘s that niggling feeling that I MUST do something unique, in order to stand out in the crowd and be successful.
This is where I give myself a serious “talking to”. I know others have stated similar view points, but think it‘s important to reiterate. We are NOT all going to create the next Amazon, Ebay, Google etc. Yes it‘s important to learn about USP, branding, style etc.
But it shouldn‘t STOP you from taking action.
Don‘t sit around paralyzed trying to dream up something that‘s never been done before. Get the BALL ROLLING. Get the gears greased. Get the content out there. THEN, once your base is established, start adding your style and flair. THEN start working on your unique selling point. Now some may disagree if you apply this to big product launches for example. That‘s quite true. Certain projects are going to require more time in the planning phase. These are just my opinions when it comes to getting started making money online.
Many many successful marketers have said it over and over again.
Competition is a GOOD THING.
The other thing to keep in mind is how VAST the internet really is. There are thousands (if not more!?) of sites making money in saturated niches such as making money and weight loss.
How are so many sites able to create an income? Because the size of the market is SO HUGE. Millions of people are online, and still new people are entering the web every single day. You don‘t need the kind of traffic the big sites (Google etc) get to be successful.
You just need SOME OF THE PIE.
So if you have an idea and you have a plan of action, don‘t let competition SCARE you away. Remember earlier?
You must be willing to take RISKS.
REVIEW:
- Competition is good, because it means that people are profiting in that niche
- You must be willing to assume RISKS
- You don‘t need to capture the entire target market, only a PIECE OF THE PIE
- Don‘t wait until you dream up something that nobody has ever created
- You don‘t have to be a leader in everything you do to be successful
Ghostwriting? Some Tips And What To Expect
I’ll share my experience when I first offered ghostwriting services. I’ll even show you the specific sales pitch I used. What I did was launch a Warrior Special Offer (WSO) over at the Warrior forum. If you’re not a member at this community yet, you can join for free. To post a special offer, you pay $20 through an automated system, and your offer shows in the market place for approximately 3-4 weeks.
Another site, WarriorPlus, archives past Warrior Special Offers. This is great, because I can show you exactly what my offer looked like, plus you can read any replies etc.
At a drop bottom price of $97, I sold out on the 10 spots very very quickly. Little did I realize initially, that this extremely low price was indeed a bargain. Let’s just say with the amount of hours put into each client’s order, I didn’t make much per hour! But the entire goal of that offer wasn’t to make me rich - it was to a) get my name known, b) receive feedback and testimonials, and c) get my feet wet.
I knew I could write well, as I’ve done a lot of research and writing during my career. What I didn’t know was what these potential clients would be looking for. I was very nervous. Questions such as, “What kinds of topics will they ask me to write about?”, “Will they provide me with any skeleton chapters and/or ideas?”, “Will they LIKE my writing??”.
It’s tough starting out when you’re brand new to any field. What can help is to chat with someone who’s more experienced in the same field. Not only can they help answer your myriad of questions, but they can likely provide some good advice at how to get started.
If you launch a similar offer, be prepared to sell out FAST. That pricing is way beneath the going rate, so people will eat it up like there’s no tomorrow. So don’t make an offer like this unless the goal behind it is to establish yourself as a quality writer. In other words, don’t go this route hoping that the quick income doesn’t result in hard work. I spent several hours PER client to complete each order. In many cases I over delivered, offering extra bits here and there. I wasn’t in a “money making” frame of mind. I was in a “how can I best help my client?” frame of mind. I even received a couple of bonuses, and one was more than the original cost of the offer!
How Connected Are You? Open Communication Is Important
A piece of advice I want to extend is to make sure you are readily available. You should be available through the variety of messenger services used today such as MSN, AIM, and Skype. You should also check your private messages at the Warrior forum, and your emails, on a consistent basis. Note that that doesn’t mean every 5 minutes! The point is - don’t make it difficult for clients to reach you. Do everything you can to keep the communication channels open.
Don’t Be Afraid To Over Deliver
Secondly, don’t be afraid to go above and beyond. If the client asks for specific things, and you feel you have something extra to contribute, speak up! The worst that can happen is the client decides to go with their original plans. At least it shows you are thinking about their business, and their success (as you should be).
Not All Clients Are Created Equal
Thirdly, don’t expect everyone to be cordial and easy to communicate with. Some clients can be downright nasty, although I can’t say I’ve ever had such a client. But there are those that are great at communicating throughout the lifetime of a project, and then there are others who talk to you initially, and don’t want to hear from you again until the project is done. Each client is different, and you’ll need to adapt your methods accordingly. But if you end up dealing with someone who is extremely difficult to work with, it’s well within your rights to sever that relationship and refund them their money.
Sometimes the answer is to just walk away. Other times though, if you are able, give a client some time to get back to you. I had one client who was terrible at communicating with me. Come to find out - her husband was undergoing an operation and was very sick, which kept her focused on a real life situation. I was so grateful that I didn’t sever that relationship, and in the end it all worked out great.
Don’t Underestimate Your Worth
Finally, be confident and understand your worth. When you move on to providing additional ghostwriting services, consider raising your prices so that eventually you can charge at market level. Do not underestimate your own worth. Getting feedback and testimonials from past clients can really help boost your confidence and “go get em” attitude. By maintaining open communication whenever possible, you’ll greatly increase the odds of getting honest and detailed feedback.
Dynamic Polls That Look Great
I just stumbled (literally, with StumbleUpon) a site named BuzzDash. Here, you can quickly and easily create a poll and publish it to your blog. I’ve thrown up a poll (in the sidebar) to try it out. This can be a great tool to find out more information about your customers. I like it because it’s dynamic - your visitors simply has to click on one of the provided answers and the poll updates automatically. Sweet!
Slinkset - like Reddit? Your Own Social News Network
This is an interesting site I recently came across, thanks to Twine that is. Are you familiar with the site Reddit? One of the unique features of Reddit is the ability for users to vote up or down specific items. Slinkset lets you build your own social news site, with the same functionality. I’ve just created my own Slinkset site and imported RSS feeds for this site as well as my writing/research site www.kazpro.com. Slinkset seems to take awhile to populate with the feed items, so my review is still pending.
Another feature I like about Slinkset is the ability to have your Slinkset url forward to your own domain name. Visitors can vote items on your Slinkset page up or down, causing the item to shift it’s place on the page (very similar to Reddit). You can even allow visitors to post their own content, thus turning your site into a social network. This could be a very useful platform for specific niches - I may have to play around with it some more.
While Slinkset seems to be a relatively new site, I think I’ll be monitoring it for awhile. A lot of new social sites are evolving lately, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
UPDATE:
In the time it took me to write this post, my feeds at my Slinkset site started showing up. I’ll give a thumbs up then for speed, since that’s relatively quick to populate. Although I read on their help forums that feeds are only refreshed every few hours.
Facing Your Fears - What Niche Do I Choose?
This is the first post in a series of posts that discusses how your fears could be holding you back from succeeding. I’m writing this from my own experiences, because I think a lot of people may be able to relate. There’s always been a lot of talk in the Internet Marketing communities about taking action and being “stuck” in the learning phase. Several people say things such as “just do it”, “it doesn’t have to be perfect”, “stop learning and start acting”, “taking action is key”.
I firmly believe that you will NOT get out of your “learning paralysis” until you identify and conquer your fears.
There are communities online in the Internet Marketing field that are goldmines. Free places where experienced marketers lay out blueprints for you to jump in with both feet. Some even give unbelievable details. For those of you who haven’t taken any action yet, do you ever stop to ask yourself WHY?
I urge you to think about this. Close your browser, turn off your Skype, MSN, AIM and whatnot. Get out a piece of paper and write down your answers. Why haven’t you chosen an idea and taken action yet? What is stopping you?
In this first post, I wanted to discuss a very common fear many people have when they’re first starting out in Internet Marketing. It’s the dreaded topic of choosing a niche.
I’m sooo %¿aj!34a@@# frustrated!! Someone PLEASE tell me how to find a profitable niche!
I think this is one of the major concerns most newbies have. Choosing a niche has become such a HUGE endeavor it appears. I don’t think it’s such a huge endeavor, but it certainly gets blown into one sometimes. There are entire books dedicated to choosing a niche, some 50 pages long or more. So one must think that choosing a niche requires a high learning curve to learn the ropes. I think a lot of people get stuck here. They don’t feel as if they have adequate experience or knowledge to properly select a niche.
But again, there are many great posts and even free books out there guiding you on how to choose a profitable niche. What stops people from simply following advice of their fellow marketers?
Here’s an interesting question for you. Let’s say your neighbor is a highly successful Internet Marketer. They’ve been making a comfortable income for a few years now, are are in many niche markets. They aren’t rich, but living quite comfortably.
One day you’re sitting having a coffee with your neighbor, and she tells you step by step how she goes about choosing profitable niches. I bet you in a heartbeat you’d be hanging on to every word. You’d probably take notes and are much more likely to take action versus if you read it in a book or on a post in some forum. Do you agree?
This is where BELIEF comes into play. You BELIEVE your neighbor’s strategies are well worth trying, because you can clearly SEE how well she is living, and how successful she is. You BELIEVE that her strategies work. The word “hype” doesn’t even enter your mind. A lot of doubts are removed, aren’t they? The only doubt that might remain is the inevitable question: Can YOU do what SHE does? But before we get to that…
The problem with the many books, posts, and other content we find online that tell us various ways to make money, is a lot of us have trouble weeding out the crap from the gems. How do we know who’s just trying to make a fast buck? How can we tell who’s providing HONEST and experience-based knowledge?
This is where you must be willing to take RISKS. Every time you take someone’s advice and take action, you’re taking a risk. The simple truth of it is you have to be WILLING to take risks, period. There’s no way around that.
For example, I write some PLR material and although I’m taking action, I’m also taking risks. I have to choose what I think will be a profitable niche to sell in. I can’t know for absolute certain what niche material other marketers will buy. So I put in hours of work into a PLR package, which might sell like hotcakes or idle away into oblivion. It can be frustrating when something doesn’t go as I planned, but I learn what I can from it and move on. I’m satisfied that I took action, feel good about allowing myself to take risks, and at the same time I’m learning more about my target market.
Now back to the fear uncovered earlier: “Can YOU do what SHE does?”. Not only do we struggle to believe the advice we’re given, but we struggle to believe in ourselves. I say “we” in a generic sense. This could apply to newbies or experienced marketers.
Until you BELIEVE that you can succeed, you will be forever paralyzed.
Believing in yourself will stem from your own self esteem. If this is a crucial stopping point for you, it may well be worth your time to nurture and develop that self esteem.
REVIEW:
- You need to learn the basics of choosing a niche from some sources that you find BELIEVABLE and TRUSTWORTHY
- You need to be willing to assume RISKS
- You need to BELIEVE in yourself
- This goes without saying, but you need to take ACTION
