Home Business Today Quote of the Week...

Home Business Today Quote of the Week:

"He was always late on principle, his principle being that punctuality is the thief of time."

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

How Much Money Can AGLOCO Make You?

With all the buzz on the web regarding AGLOCO, and with my own AGLOCO network growing so quickly, I feel it's important to share some of the information I've come across regarding the common question, "How much money I can make with AGLOCO?"

To answer that, below is some information from John Chow. John is a self-proclaimed Dot Com Mogul and owner of The Tech Zone, one of the largest hardware tech sites on the Internet. He explains the Simmons Report, a detailed analysis of the amount of money a person could make with AGLOCO.

John is a very well-known individual when it comes to things dealing with the Internet. And as he quickly realized the great money-making potential of AGLOCO, he joined as well.

So you can bet your boots that you don't want to wait on this one. Start your own AGLOCO network right away. It's completely free. You surf the Internet anyway, so why not get paid some good bucks for doing just that!

"The Simmons Report valuations are based on AGLOCO getting 2 million users in two years. Now the first question a new member may have is how can the Simmons Report based its number on 2 million in 2 years when AGLOCO themselves have stated their goal is to get 10 million members by July 1st, 2007. The answer is quite simple. The Simmons Report is based on ACTIVE USERS. When you sign up with AGOLCO, you become a member even if you don’t do anything. And when something doesn't cost anything, it’s pretty easy to do nothing. The fact of the matter is 80% of the membership will never sign up another person. This was how it was with the old AllAdvantage and I don’t expect it to change with AGLOCO. In a way, this is good for me because I have less competition. So how much can you make with AGLOCO? The Simmons Report came up with the following data.

• A user who has no referrals should receive ownership in AGLOCO worth about $150 plus monthly cash distributions.
• The average value of an AGLOCO user’s referral network should be $30 each in ownership shares plus the referrer’s share of monthly cash distribution.
• The average AGLOCO direct referral should be worth in excess of $3,000 each.
• The monthly cash distributions should be between $5 and $15 a month per user.

All the above is based on 2 million active users. We know that 80% of the membership won’t be active in signing people up so based on that we can assume 10 million total members. AGLOCO plans to be at 10 million members in the next six months, not two years. So if anything, the Simmons Report is being very conservative.

A member who signs up nobody but just surf the maximum five hours per month should make $5 to $15 per month. The number will depend on the size of the user base and state of the Internet advertising market. The question this brings up is would people surf the Net with a toolbar for $5 to $15 per month? Well, millions of people surf the Internet right now with a Google or Alexa toolbar for $0 per month. Imagine what they would do if they got paid for it."
Bottom line, you don't want to miss out on this one. Sign up with AGLOCO (totally free) and start building your own AGLOCO network. Get paid to surf the Internet just like you always have. It's that easy.

Bohemian Rhapsody by Edgar Cruz...

If you need definitive proof that "sticking with something" eventually yields great results, then you need look no further than this video of Edgar Cruz playing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" on classical guitar.

I play guitar myself (all self-taught), but this is quite out of my league as far as current abilities go. So, even though I totally hate Edgar for his talent (that by far exceeds mine), I do really like the guy as well.

Not only is he extremely talented, he seems very personable, kind and down-to-earth. Methinks the world would do very well having more guys like him - even if he does make me look like a total chimp on guitar. Bastard! :P

Edgar Cruz - Bohemian Rhapsody

Young@Heart Chorus Sings Coldplay...

This is really, really cool. Members of the Young@Heart Chorus sing a rendition of "Fix You" by the popular rock band Coldplay.

It's sung (beautifully) by Fred Knittle, who was born in 1925. The Young@Heart Chorus itself is made up of performers who's ages range from 73 to 92 years young. Yeah, rock on!

Some of these great folks have prior professional theater or music experience, while other Young@Heart members have performed extensively on the amateur level. Some of them have never even been on a stage before turning 80!

As for Fred Knittle, he no longer travels with the Young@Heart Chorus due to his breathing problems, but will accept an occasional opportunity to sing with the group at a special event. He and his wife, Barbara, have been married for over 55 years. He says that their marriage is based on faith and trust. She has no faith in him and he doesn't trust her. :P

Young@Heart Sings Coldplay's "Fix You"

How To Handle Every MLM Objection...

It's important to know how to handle objections when dealing with prospects for your MLM business opportunity. Knowing how to handle objections can be the difference between earning $50 a month and $10,000 a month. And that's quite a huge difference.

But more importantly, your ability to properly handle objections will actually help your prospects - it will help them overcome whatever it is that's stopping them from achieving what they want in life. And isn't that the main purpose of Network Marketing and MLM to begin with - to help make people's lives better!

But just in case overcoming a prospect's objections in your MLM business isn't a breeze for you, here are some really great tips from Network Marketing guru Tim Sales that will truly help you.

How To Handle Every Objection...

To be great at handling objections it's quite helpful to know and understand the individual parts that make up the subject.

What's an objection?
Let's break down exactly what an "objection" is. An objection means that a prospect is "opposed" to something. Opposed means to be in conflict with or be resistant to. A couple of examples are: A person is opposed to war - meaning based on their belief that there shouldn't be war; they are against (in conflict with) war. A person is opposed to divorce - based on their religious beliefs they believe something bad will happen to them later if they get a divorce. A person is opposed to eating sweet potatoes (are resistant to eating them).

An example related to MLM is a person being opposed to network marketing - they've heard some false things in the newspaper about network marketing and believe it to be unethical. Another example is a person is opposed to selling (in general) - earlier in her life she was trying to sell Girl Scout cookies and didn't like the feeling of being told "no." So she made up her mind that "she was not good at selling"; therefore now she is apposed to it.

The distinction between being "in conflict with" versus "resistant to" is how strong of a position do they take against that which they are apposed to. If they easily shrug if off - they were resistant to it...but if they're willing to die for it - they are definitely in conflict with it!

Two main types of objections.
There are those objections that are expressed (meaning the prospect tells you exactly what they are opposed to) and there are objections that are unexpressed (meaning the prospect has an objection but won't tell you what it is).

The objection, "I'm not interested" (without any other explanation) is a great example of an unexpressed objection. An unreturned phone call is another example of an unexpressed objection. Unexpressed objections are normally the end of working with that particular prospect.

Examples of expressed objections would be when the prospects says, "That's one of those pyramids." Or, "I don't like sales."

Where do objections come from?
An objection can come because of misunderstandings from things they've read or heard. An objection can also come from an experience - as in they've been in MLM before or have looked at MLM prior and have decided against it.

Also, an objection can (and most often does) come because the prospect has doubts whether they can succeed at network marketing.

I group questions and objections into one category only because how you handle them is similar. But you should be aware that whether the prospect states something as a question or an objection it's a good idea to measure their degree of opposition. This will tell you how much assertiveness to use in handling the question or objection.

What's the purpose in handling objections?
The purpose (and the only purpose) of handling an objection is to help your prospect get past what is currently stopping them from achieving what they need, want or don't want.

The wrong purpose in handling objections is to get the person into your business. What's the difference? EVERYTHING! The moment your prospect gets the idea that your answers ARE FOR YOUR GAIN - they withdraw and very often every objection becomes an unexpressed objection! I visualize a turtle's head withdrawing into its shell - it is very difficult to get them to come back out and when they do they are very skeptical.

Of course you want them in your business...but the entire time you are with your prospect you must be interested in helping them get what they want, not what you want. Getting them into your business is only valuable IF THEY DECIDE that it will serve them to do so. It does you no good to convince them to join you as you'll have to keep convincing them.

So your purpose in handling their objections is simply to help them past what's stopping them - keep this as your purpose and you'll always say the right thing and you will be amazed at how easy it is to handle objections.

Here are the steps of exactly how to handle questions and objections:

Listen completely through the question/objection.

Confirm understanding.

Make the question or objection valid to the prospect.

Handle or facilitate handling questions and/or objections.

Complete the handling and return to the previous step of the Inviting formula.

Home Business Today Quote of the Week...

Home Business Today Quote of the Week:

"False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness."
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)

AGLOCO Official Update #2

A Global Community

Owned By Its Members

Here's another awesome update from AGLOCO - which, by the way, is really taking off now. If you haven't already signed up, you probably don't want to wait another minute.

"AGLOCO is eight weeks old and growing quickly.

We opened up the AGLOCO Membership prior to launching the service so that many of you could reap the rewards of being the real founders and builders of the AGLOCO Economic Network.

Over 30,000 of you have already recruited a least one new Member to AGLOCO (and some of you have recruited referral networks of more than 10,000).

This recruiting effort has been going on around the globe. Google results for “AGLOCO” now include many different languages (75,000 pages in Chinese - even 150 pages in Lithuanian).

During AGLOCO’s pre-launch phase, we have been improving the functionality and information on the AGLOCO website (with much still to do) and we have been working on the central communication piece of the network, the Viewbar software (still a few weeks away)."

Want to know more about AGLOCO? Here are some helpful AGLOCO-specific posts:

AGLOCO - The Internet's First Economic Network

Special AGLOCO Money Calculator

AGLOCO - How Does AGLOCO Work?

Home Business Today On New Blogger...

In his Decisions...Decisions post, Dave Stone of MLM Today recently asked the question of whether or not any Blogger bloggers had switched their blogs over to the New Blogger system.

Of course, what Dave is referring to is the recent Blogger update from Google - the one that updates Blogger blogs from what is now known as, "Old Blogger" to the new-and-improved version called, "New Blogger."

The HBT Blog Update

As for me, I actually updated the Home Business Today Blog about three days ago, if memory serves correct. However, the question still remains - Is New Blogger better?

Well, to give you an idea of what I, myself, think about New Blogger, here's the comment I left on Dave Stone's MLM Today blog...

"Actually, I just made the switch this very week. And overall, I really like the new version - though I haven't had a ton of time in which to test it thoroughly.

Publishing and republishing is definitely a whole lot quicker. Plus, I'm really liking the fact that you can label (tag) each post categorically! I've been wanting that option since day one.

Now, I've not yet "upgraded" my actual template since I don't like the idea of losing all of my previous HTML changes and additions, so I'm waiting until I have a TON of time on hand so that I can go through that tedious process.

But once I do, I'm quite sure I'll enjoy the new widgets and page elements they offer - as well as the ease of reordering them, etc.

Yeah, so to answer your question...

So far, I really, really like New Blogger. And though I was initially very, very hesitant to switch over, it certainly seems to be a great improvement. I'm quite impressed, pleased and happy with it."

What Is A Ponzi Scam?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I see a lot of questions online from people asking, "What is a pyramid scam?" But there are also plenty of people asking the question, "What is a Ponzi scam?"

So in the same spirit, here's some updated information explaining Ponzi scams, as well as some tips to help you avoid being scammed by one.

What is a Ponzi Scam?

A Ponzi scam (technically called a "Ponzi scheme") is essentially an investment fraud wherein the operator promises high financial returns or dividends that are not available through traditional investments. Instead of investing victims' funds, the operator pays "dividends" to initial investors using the principle amounts "invested" by subsequent investors.

The Ponzi scam generally falls apart when the operator flees with all of the proceeds, or when a sufficient number of new investors cannot be found in order to allow the continued payment of "dividends."

Charles Ponzi's Mug Shot

The Ponzi scheme is named after Charles Ponzi of Boston, Massachusetts. Charles Ponzi once operated an extremely attractive investment scheme in which he "guaranteed" his investors a 50% return on their investment in postal coupons.

Although he was actually able to pay his initial investors, his scheme ultimately dissolved when he was unable to pay the investors who entered the scheme later on.

Tips for Avoiding Ponzi Scams

• As with all investments, exercise your due diligence in selecting investments and the people with whom you invest your money.
• Make sure you fully understand the investment before you invest any of your money.

Related Blog Posts

• What Is A Pyramid Scam?
• How To Avoid Pyramid Scams And Ponzi Scams
  

What Is A Pyramid Scam?

I see a lot of questions online from people wondering what pyramid scams are and how they can avoid being taken by one.

So with that in mind, here's some updated information on pyramid scams, as well as some tips to help you avoid being scammed by one.

What is a Pyramid Scam?

A pyramid scam (technically called a "Pyramid scheme") is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme - usually without any product or service being delivered.

Pyramid scams, which are also referred to as franchise fraud, or chain referral schemes, are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product.

The real profit is earned NOT by the sale of the product, but by the sale of NEW distributorships. Emphasis on selling distributorships or franchises, rather than the product or service, eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses, causing everyone to lose their money.

At the heart of each pyramid scam there's typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by introducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Unfortunately, promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to achieve since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments, and then drop out.

Basic Pyramid Scam Criteria

Basically, under the law, a business opportunity or business model that meets the following criteria is an illegal pyramid scam:

• You must make an investment to get the right to recruit.
• When you recruit another person into the program, you receive what the law calls "consideration". That usually means money, but can be anything else of value.
• Your new recruits must make an investment to get the right to recruit, and they also receive something of value for getting other people to join.

Note: Most Network Marketing and MLM (Multi-level Marketing) companies are NOT illegal pyramid scams. Though their actual structure, when diagrammed or drawn out, may have the "shape" of a pyramid, they are fully legitimate and legal businesses.

In fact, companies like Coca-Cola, Colgate, MCI, Microsoft, Toyota and Xerox, to name a few, now distribute some or all of their products and services by utilizing a Network Marketing business model.

Tips for Avoiding Pyramid Scams

• Be wary of "business opportunities" to invest your money in franchises, distributorships or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
• Independently verify the legitimacy of any company or business opportunity before you invest your money!

Related Blog Posts

• What Is a Ponzi Scam?
• How To Avoid Pyramid Scams And Ponzi Scams

Professional Inviter by Tim Sales - Say the Right Thing

Professional Inviter...

Say the "Right Thing" to Every Prospect!

Tim Sales is definitely well-known for his MLMBrilliance website - which is home to the acclaimed Brilliant Compensation video. However, Tim has yet another foolproof way to help you succeed. It's called Professional Inviter - and there's absolutely NO doubt that this is one of the best MLM/Network Marketing products out there, period!

So...how good is it? Well, rather than post a long, drawn-out description of all of its accolades, here's what Master Network Marketer John Milton Fogg, author of The Greatest Networker in the World, had to say about Tim Sales' Professional Inviter...

"We featured Tim in the First Issue, October 2005, of The Network Marketing Magazine. All about Professional Inviter, plus a review of the product. And Tim made us a 12-minute tutorial audio clip of a prospecting call, just like in the Professional Inviter package. It is superb!

In my 20 years in this bus', I think Professional Inviter is one of the top five training products I have ever heard... ever! Brilliant (as in Compensation). I and we highly recommend it." - John Fogg

So there you have it! Even one of the best-known Network Marketers in the Network Marketing Industry highly recommends Professional Inviter! So this is definitely good stuff.

Want actual audio sample? Here's a sample of an actual call between Tim Sales and a real live prospect. This is just a taste of some of the many things Professional Inviter will teach you to master.

Home Business Today Quote of the Week...

Home Business Today Quote of the Week:

"Exuberance is beauty."
H.G. Wells (1866-1946)

Is Selling "The Dream" Ethical?

Kim Klaver of Network Marketing Central had a fairly interesting post on her Network Marketing blog today. It brought forth the question of whether or not selling "the dream" is "unethical" in a Network Marketing home business.

Ethical? Unethical? Good question. Aaron likey.

You see, those who've known me over the years know that I've always been very big on ethics. Heck, even when I was in college I took an extremely demanding course in Medical Ethics simply for the fun of it! And though my major was actually Sociology, the Medical Ethics course proved to be quite irresistible to me.

So, naturally, any question regarding the ethics of promoting a Network Marketing home business opportunity should easily catch my interest. And so, I share my comment. My opinion is at the end of this post. But much more importantly...

What's YOUR Opinion?

Do you think that selling "the dream" in a Network Marketing home business is ethical? Do you think that selling "the dream" in a Network Marketing home business is unethical? Please share your thoughts and opinions on the subject!

As for me, here are my little thoughts...

It's very important to share the truth and to give full disclosure when selling or marketing anything - whether it be a business opportunity, a service or a product.

I think we've all heard more than enough hype, lies and rhetoric to last us a lifetime. So, as far as I'm concerned, sneaky sales tactics and only partial disclosure of the facts have no place whatsoever in Network Marketing or home business opportunities.

The dream is nice, but if one cannot share it honestly, responsibly and ethically, then in essence, it becomes not a dream - It is merely an inflated sales pitch designed for which to deceive.

And that is NOT the characteristic of a business positioned to succeed in the long run. No, not all all.

Shine on,
Aaron

For more useful tidbits on proper home business marketing and such, check out these popular HBT posts:

• What To Know About Multi-level Marketing
• What's Legal & What's Not

"Secret Santa" Larry Stewart Dies of Cancer

"Secret Santa" Larry Stewart

(1948-2007)

A great man who will be missed by many. We are all saddened by the death of our friend and Secret Santa, Larry Stewart. Larry passed away Friday, January 12th at 1:45 pm.

You can sign the online condolence book and share your thoughts on Larry Stewart's official Secret Santa website.

AOL News:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Jan. 13) - Larry Stewart, a millionaire who became known as Secret Santa for his habit of roaming the streets each December and anonymously handing money to people, died Friday. He was 58.

Stewart died from complications from esophageal cancer, said Jackson County Sheriff Tom Phillips, a longtime friend.

Stewart, who spent 26 years giving a total $1.3 million, gained international attention in November when he revealed himself as Secret Santa. He was diagnosed in April with cancer, and said he wanted to use his celebrity to inspire other people to take random kindness seriously.

"That's what we're here for," Stewart said in a November interview, "to help other people out."

Stewart, from the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit, made his millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service.

His private holiday giving started in December 1979 when he was at a drive-in restaurant nursing his wounds from having been fired. It was the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas.

"It was cold and this carhop didn't have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, `I think I got it bad. She's out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,"' he said. He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change.

After that, Stewart hit the streets each December, handing out money, often $100 bills, sometimes two and three at a time. He also gave money to community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Miss.

Larry The Secret Santa In Action

Here's a photo of Larry doing what he loved best - handing out money to strangers in need. Until recently, he kept his identity completely under wraps and was known only as "Secret Santa."

Over the years he gave away approximately $1.3 million. We need more people like this in our world. We need more philanthropists and less greedmongers. That's what I think!

Blow The Scam Objection Out Of The Water...

Blow The Scam Objection

Right Out Of The Water

If you'd like to know how you can easily handle objections from your prospects - especially the "scam" objection, here are some really great tips from Network Marketing legend Tim Sales.

Ever wondered whether or not the people "at the top" make all the money in Network Marketing and MLM? And how does this actually compare to other industries like real estate and the stock market?

You might just be surprised by the answers...

Blow The Scam Objection Out Of The Water

I keep getting the objection, "Network Marketing is a scam because only a few people at the top who get in at the beginning are making most of the money off the people who come in later." How do I handle this objection? I don't think I'm very good at answering this because when I look at my company - that's exactly what I see. Help!

This is a great question, here is the way I handle this objection.

First, every time you handle an objection you must follow the Objection Handling Remedy as outlined in Professional Inviter.

• Listen completely through the question/objection.
• Confirm understanding.
• Make the question or objection valid to the prospect.
• Handle or facilitate handling Questions and/or Objections.
• Complete the handling and return to the previous step of the Inviting formula.

In step #4 of the Objection Handling Remedy is where you handle or facilitate handling the objection. It's best to handle the objection by comparing it to something the person knows. Engage the prospect to contribute to the conversation as much as possible - remember: If you say it, it can be argued, if the prospect says it, IT MUST BE TRUE.

If I don't know enough about the person, I'll explain the "all the money is made at the top" objection compared to the stock market and the real estate market - but will make sure I explain everything in detail just in case they don't know about either industry. Here's my explanation:

Let's say you bought a stock for $1.00 ten years ago. Today it's worth $20. Are you making more money because you got in at the beginning? Yes you are. Every person who buys the stock after you is driving the share price up; this is actually THE ONLY WAY YOU MAKE A PROFIT.

When you do sell your shares of stock - who are you selling them to? You're selling them to someone who is going to pay more for it than you paid. You got in early and are making money off the people who come into the "scheme" later.

Let's say you bought a beachfront house 20 years ago for $100,000 and that it's worth $5,000,000 today. Are you making more money because you got in at the beginning? Yes you are. Every person who bought real estate in that area after you did drove up the cost of your property.

When you sell your real estate, who do you sell it to? Someone who comes into the "scheme" later. So the profit you make is from people who come in later.

The truth is - in real estate and the stock market people who get in earlier do make more money because they got in at the beginning (if the stock and real estate market go up of course).

Also true is - in network marketing people who get in earlier can (notice the difference between "can" and "do" from previous paragraph) make more money.

There are many people who come into network marketing who make more money than the people above them. This is the case in my downline. There are 3 people in my downline who make more money than me.

So, to directly answer your question - every business in the world operates as this objection states...except network marketing! For an investment to be an investment, requires that someone has to come along later and pay more for it; otherwise it's not an investment.

When a person buys a pair of shoes, they're buying them from someone who got in earlier - therefore making the people who own the shoe company rich!

A person who buys a painting is buying it from someone who bought the painting earlier - therefore making them rich!

When you go to work for someone, you're going to work for someone who got in earlier and they're getting rich off of you!

Isn't it odd that the entire business world operates under the principle of getting in early and making money off the people who come in later...yet the network marketing industry is often shunned for it! Yet, network marketing can point to thousands of people who make more money than the people who brought them into the business.

Network marketing...when done right and ethically is the fairest business on the planet - build your business with enthusiasm!!

Plutoed - 2006 Word of the Year?

"Plutoed" Chosen as

2006 Word of the Year

Yahoo! News:

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Pluto is finally getting some respect - not from astronomers, but from wordsmiths.

"Plutoed" was chosen 2006's Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society at its annual meeting Friday.

To "pluto" is "to demote or devalue someone or something," much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto didn't meet its definition of a planet.

"Our members believe the great emotional reaction of the public to the demotion of Pluto shows the importance of Pluto as a name," said society president Cleveland Evans. "We may no longer believe in the Roman god Pluto, but we still have a sense of personal connection with the former planet."

"Plutoed" won in a runoff against "climate canary," defined as "an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon."

Venetia Burney

The girl who named Pluto

Home Business Today Quote of the Week...

Home Business Today Quote of the Week:

"A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes."
Mark Twain (1835-1910)


Note: This quote has been attributed to Mark Twain, but it's never been verified as actually originating from him. It may have originated from Charles Haddon Spurgeon who attributed it to an old proverb in a sermon delivered on Sunday morning, April 1, 1855.

Spurgeon was a celebrated English fundamentalist Baptist preacher and his words were: "A lie will go 'round the world while truth is pulling its boots on."

In addition, this quote has also been attributed to Winston Churchill.

FeedBlitz Experiences 760% Growth In 2006...

760% Growth for FeedBlitz in 2006

FeedBlitz News:

With this first post of the new year, instead of the usual monthly update, here's a look back at all of 2006 and how FeedBlitz, the leading RSS to email service, changed during the year.

The Metrics

Looking back at December 2005's update, FeedBlitz had an active circulation of 154,621. As 2007 started, we had an active circulation of over 1,331,600 - that's over 8.6 times larger than a year ago, for an annual circulation growth rate of over 760%.

At the end of 2005, this blog, FeedBlitz News, had 4,600 subscribers. There are now over 45,000. Back in 2005, feedblitz.com saw 64,000 visits and 277,000 page views in December. By contrast, December 2006 saw over 410,000 visits and nearly a million page views (things got pretty quiet between Christmas and New Year, with site traffic running at around 20% less than a typical week; this kept both metrics slightly lower than expected). Still, December's 2006 circulation rose just under 15% from November's 1,160,000. That leap of over 170,000 new readers means that in December 2006 FeedBlitz grew by more in one month than it did in all of 2005. For 2006 as a whole, feedblitz.com saw 3.2 million visits and 9.4 million page views.

The Market

FeedBlitz achieved these numbers, in a dynamic business environment, with new competitors arriving (and some leaving). Competition is good - it keeps us focused, spurs innovation, and it demonstrates a healthy market. We raised capital in May, strengthening the company's management as well as its balance sheet. Thank you, Tom.

So we've been successful in 2006 - why? There are several reasons (in no particular order) why I believe FeedBlitz continues to excel as the leader in the RSS and blog to email space.

• Business Models Matter. Ours is real, using the freemium approach, easily understood, easily used, easily justified. We keep it simple and effective.
• Email Matters. Email is so, what, Web 0.2? Yet it's the only reliable, resilient, relevant way to get your messages to any reader anywhere, any time. And email can dramatically boost circulation.
• It's not about RSS. Heresy? Maybe, maybe not. RSS is an enabling technology, maybe the enabling technology of the moment. FeedBlitz succeeds not because of RSS, but because of our application of RSS - and the value we add in the process - to simplifying newsletter generation.
• Focus. Message delivery is what we do, and we try to do it the best. From simple things, such as the automatic table of contents in every email and self-categorizing updates, to the complex, such as having the industry's only integration API, we try to make everything we do go further than you expect.

The Meat and Potatoes of Affiliate Marketing...

Pancakes? Nooo, Not Pancakes!

The Meat & Potatoes of Affiliate Marketing!

As we know, affiliate marketing can sometimes be a tad tricky. Yet, it can also be a well-oiled machine that cranks out new affiliate sales for you left and right.

But the question is - How do you succeed in getting those affiliate sales? Well, here are some highly-regarded affiliate marketing tips that'll help you do just that...

Banner Ads

Think of the banner ads you place on your blog or website as the "spice" in your affiliate diet. Just sprinkle them around and don't overdo it. Too many banner ads will not only frustrate your visitors, they'll also subtract from your site's content and quality. So use them sparingly.

Also, remember to move your banner ads around on your website from time to time in order to avoid "ad blindness" and to keep things looking fresh and new.

More Affiliate Sales

For a bigger helping of affiliate sales, you're definitely going to need to utilize something much more productive than just banner ads themselves. You're going to need to give your visitors a longer and more descriptive pre-sales text - one that'll interest them and get them to make a purchase.

But How?

Revamp your affiliate marketing with these simple steps:

• Pull the Reader In
• Introduce the Product
• Explain the Product's Significance
• Tell the Reader to Make a Purchase
  

Pull the Reader In

In order to prove to your visitors that your sales text is worth reading, make your first sentence very interesting. Make a bold statement! Say something seemingly ridiculous - or appeal to your prospect's emotional side. Then, tie this "grabber line" in with the rest of your sales copy.

Introduce Your Product

What product are you advertising? What does your product do? Give a brief explanation of your product, keeping the explanation as short as possible. This should still be a very short section of your sales text. It should make your visitors want to learn more about your product so that they'll want to continue reading what you have to say.

Explain Its Significance

What will it do for them?

By writing your own ad copy, you can directly target your market. So make the most of this opportunity. Take the time to explain (very clearly) how your visitors will "benefit" from your product - how it will improve their lives or their health, etc.

Tell Them to Make a Purchase

You've come this far. You've laid out precisely what the product is and how it'll benefit them. So seal the deal - tell them to purchase it.

Now, this step may seem odd, but it's necessary. Many times people hear about something and are quite interested in it, yet they fail to actually buy it. A clear "call to action" will increase your affiliate sales. Two examples of a clear call to action could be something like:

"Click here to order today." Or, "Click here to sign up now!"

Increase Sales With Long Copy

If you don't feel ready to write long sales copy yourself, just ask your affiliate program manager for some help. Many companies provide pre-written ads, articles, flyers, emails, etc., that you can reprint for free to use in your own affiliate marketing. Do take advantage of this as it's generally very helpful.

Happy New Year from Home Business Today...

Happy, Happy New Year!

I'd like to take this time to wish everyone an abundance of joy and success for all of 2007 - and beyond.

And as Henri Martin Didon once said, "Citius, Altius, Fortius."

Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Shine on,
Aaron

2007 New Year's Fireworks