Internet Business Guide

For First-Class Progress

Category: Tutorials

Very Cool $100+ Internet Business Signup Gift

I’ve just finished assembling a pretty cool Internet business related gift for my subscribers — a multimedia course that could easily sell for $100 or more.

It’s a webinar with my friend Aaron Brandon in which we share our Internet Business Cliff Notes with more than six years of experience on how to start an online business including our 6-Step Process To Online Success.

Snatch the course before I change my mind and charge for it instead of giving it away for free.

Oh, and this is no marketing mumbo jumbo… in fact I am still debating over selling this course instead of giving it away for free. So…

In order to sign up for my blog announcement list, simply enter your name and email address into the form just below:

—Marcus

P.S. My hope is that watching this course and applying the strategies and techniques we share, will help grow your online business.

May 28, 2011
How To Save 2 Hours Per Day
We all need more time in the day, but short of waving a magic wand to stop time or creating more hours in the day, the only thing we can do is run around in a mad rush to get everything done, right? Wrong.

It is possible to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time – and all with less stress! It only takes discipline, focus and learning to say “no.”

Discipline: to eliminate (or outsource) internet “surfing” —
Focus: to tackle tasks with efficiency — and
No: to extra things with no value that add to an already crazy schedule.

Without further ado, here are 10 tips on how to save two hours per day (while regaining your sanity)…
1. Check e-mail only at specific times — Of all the time consuming tasks each day, this one has to take the cake. As I’m living prove, you can easily save 2 hours per day just on this one task by implementing a two rules: 1. Save the personal e-mails for off-work hours. 2. Establish set times to check e-mails, preferably twice a day max.
  Even better yet, hire assistants and have them filter your e-mail messages, only forwarding the essentials.
2. Use a daily planner — This can take a little getting used to, but it’s worth it. Include everything in your daily planner… appointments, “to-do’s,” and phone calls. Be sure to add travel times and an extra 15 minutes on the end of everything for a buffer. You’ll be surprised when you have time left over at the end of the day.
3. Focus, Focus, Focus — It’s easy to get stuck in the trap of multi-tasking only to spend the entire day scrambling. Concentrate on completing the tasks at hand until it’s done, and then move on to the next, again, until it’s done.
4. Avoid personal phone calls during work hours — We all love our friends, but we have to make a living. At the end of the day, our friends don’t pay our bills, so reserve working hours for Internet business only and call friends after work.
5. Learn to wrangle in “needless conversation” — We’ve all been victim to the occasional rambling co-worker or employee. Be tactful and courteous, while gently leading the conversation to its purpose and conclusion.
6. Consider different working hours — These days, people sit in traffic every day all around the world. In case you still have and need to get to a day job, consider alternative times when getting to and going home from the office will not be spent in traffic. Did you know the average person spends 38 hours per year in traffic? Glad that excludes me!
7. Consider telecommuting from home — More and more people are working from home either full-time or part-time. Eliminating the drive to the office just one day a week could save time and money.
8. Give up the TiVo — I talked about this a few times already… The tube is everyone’s friend : – ) but it also takes up valuable time. Reducing time spent in front of the TV allows for the time to do so many other things—like building your Internet business!
9. Switch it up — Try a new routine. Talk to friends, co-workers, business associates—or better yet, a Mentor. Ask them how they save time and balance life with a demanding schedule; they might just provide a gem of a tip.
10. Plan the next day the night before — Before going to bed, go over your daily planner for the next day. The mind is amazing at accomplishing goals, and while you’re sleeping it will be working everything out to save even more time and increase productivity. This 10th tip is well worth a separate post as it can give you another 2 hours per day. So stay tuned!
There you have it.

Now, the goal is to pick the one that you like most and implement it. Don’t play with all 10 by “trying” here and there a bit. Instead, choose the one tip that you think brings the most rewards in terms of saving two hours per day and act upon it to its fullest.

Then and only then pick another one with the aforementioned approach.

—Marcus Hochstadt
March 17, 2008
Is It For Real?

When my wife and yours truly got to know each other on the Internet in 2006, I spontaneously invited her to come to Germany. (I paid the flight and all, of course.) It was her first time ever traveling by airplane and to another country.

Until the very last minute before the flight, her entire family tried to convince her she would be stupid traveling to me. They tried everything to hold her back from her plans, confidently screaming at her she would end up in prostitution if she would go to Germany.

Instead of listening to others she listened to her own heart, traveled to Germany, and today we are happily married.

When I saw James’ offer of $3,000 three months ago for spending an entire day with him in Costa Rica, I could have asked other people what I should do about it… They could have told me how stupid I would be paying $3,000 to a stranger I never had personal contact with. If I would be that kind of a person who let other people take lead of my own life, I probably would not sit in Costa Rica right now and would not have had lunch with James Brausch today once again, letting me in on a lot more Internet business secrets.

Though, because I principally listen to my own heart (instead of that of others,) the decision to pay the $3,000 (plus another $3,000 for tickets & hotel, plus another $2,000 for camcorder, mic, meal, tours, etc etc.), this decision took me five seconds max.

Oh boy, am I glad I did! Furthermore, from this visit, I already received a lot more than expected. We even extended out trip to stay one more week!

Now, take a look at a couple recent comments here on my blog. Most are positive and exciting, a couple of the more recent ones are skeptic, even childish.

I don’t care about the latter.

Sure, there exist folks that think it would be a smart idea to ask AWeber whether it would be possible importing a list without re-verification. Sure enough, they are going to tell you that it is NOT possible no matter what. They have good reasons for behaving this way in an official environment.

Strangely though, I did it myself twice already, and once together with Tom Schreiter (ask him if you dare,) although AWeber officially claims it would not work whatsoever. Funny, isn’t it? :-)

If you think you are better off asking for an official statement rather than following my proven step-by-step plan, well, your choice not mine.

Perhaps you even think it would be a good idea to give them the URL of my blog, stating Marcus Hochstadt said it would work so why the heck do they say it doesn’t. (Is there such a statement in my step-by-step plan? Not that I know of…)

Geez… some folks just crack me up! Some think they would be smarter than those showing you how something works.

Again, either you want to fail in life or you want to succeed.

Your choice.

Wanna know how to fail? Listen to those people who tell you that something would not work. It’s a great way of forming a clique full of guess work and failures.

Wanna succeed? Follow a proven plan, step-by-step, of those that walk the talk and show you how something works.

It’s up to you. :-)

—Marcus Hochstadt

March 14, 2008
AWeber Secret

Do you have an AWeber list? Or are you about to transfer a verified list from “XYZ” to AWeber? If so, then you’ve probably been told by AWeber that you cannot simply transfer your double opt-in list to AWeber without asking them to re-subscribe (i.e., re-confirm their subscription.)

This is kind of strange considering they already subscribed per double opt-in long time ago. Not until now, because I know The Secret…

Note: I’m not talking about a list of leads you bought from somewhere, nor about those co-registration services nor anything like that. What I mean is a list of subscribers who previously confirmed their subscription per double opt-in, hence the terms RE-confirmation or RE-verification.

Do you want to know how to transfer your list into AWeber without losing a single subscriber? Do you know what it means losing half (or more!) of your entire list, which will happen when you don’t know the secret technique?

I know the secret step-by-step plan.

If you don’t know what AWeber and “the power is in the list” means, then this offer is not for you. If you do know what it means and are about to transfer a list to AWeber, then order the Secret for $100 here…

http://kunaki.com/sales.asp?PID=PX00Z2JYCP

You’ll get the exact step-by-step plan on how to transfer your list of subscribers (no matter whether you have a couple hundreds or tens of thousands) from wherever they are to the highly reliable service called AWeber.

Also, in case you think to know the secret, just one tiny step done wrong and the entire plan is worthless. In other words, follow each and every step of my plan and you will succeed. :-)

I’ll have to go now to get my Costa Rican driver license. (That’s another secret!) Once we are back I or my assistant will send you my step-by-step plan to your PayPal e-mail address.

By the way, just recently I gave this secret plan to Tom “Big Al” Schreiter. Yes, that Tom of fortunenow.com fame. He confirmed the successful transfer. Don’t know how many subscribers he has, though he told me that once he followed my plan, AWeber finally allowed him to transfer 2,000 addresses per day. So I assume his list has a size of tens of thousands.

Talk to you soon!

—Marcus Hochstadt

P.S. Just in case you don’t know what AWeber or how powerful it is, visit http://quicktour.aweber.com for a quick test drive.

March 13, 2008
Small Business Time Management
This is the second time I invited someone to write a guest post for my blog. This time it is Leisa Watkins, a passionated teacher, home-business expert and self-improvement coach. I encourage you to read and bookmark her post. It’s an excellent tutorial on small business time management.

Time is precious. Time is scarce. Time is money. One of the biggest challenges facing today’s internet professional and small business owner is time management. Online time management in particular.

Perhaps, like many small business owners and internet marketers, you waste valuable time on the internet in the name of business.

Many small business owners and internet marketers love the fact that we have a world of information at our fingertips. We love the fact that we can gain a world of business knowledge twenty-four hours a day in the comfort of our own home.

We search and study, looking for that edge, that trick, that tidbit of information that will help us drive traffic, monetize our website, and allow us to “have more time.” And we spend our time learning the tricks of effective time management.

For the small business time management means freedom. Freedom to do what we want when we want to. We love the fact that our time is not held hostage to a set work schedule and that we have control of our time, as we should.

But there in lies the problem. By combining our intense desire for time freedom and our sensuous appetite for information we become painfully aware of how much we don’t know.

We buy into the fear that what we know isn’t good enough. We fear that we will fail because we are missing that one piece of vital information that will make all the difference in the world.

So we try to eliminate the fear with more knowledge. After all we don’t fear what we understand, and we understand what we know. We believe the more information we have the more profitable our business will be. And the more profitable we are, the more time we will have.

It’s ironic, because in the end we’ve usually wasted the time. It’s wasted because we don’t take the time to quickly implement what it is that we learned. Perhaps it’s because we “lack the time” we just wasted away. Perhaps we gained more knowledge than we can act upon and now reside in a state of confusion.

It’s our actions that determine our success, not the information itself that determines our success. Success doesn’t come from a vast amount of information. Success comes from gaining some knowledge, comparing it to our experiences, and taking action.

Ask Yourself:

Are you attempting to become business wise by studying the same thing over and over again?

Are you spending to much time looking for that magic traffic bullet, and missing out on actually taking the action steps to drive the traffic?

Or are you the type of person who can quickly filter the information, and then act on what needs to be done?

With an action plan, your thirst for knowledge and the desire for freedom can fit into your daily life. The key is to decide on a daily course of action and stick to it.

Here Are Some Time Management Tips For Online Entrepreneurs:
- Select a couple of business mentors you really like. Visit their sites daily, check what’s new and then move on to the next task.
- Select a couple of forums to work. Limit the amount of time spent in them each time you visit. Keep a tally sheet. Once you’ve made a set number of comments, perhaps five, get out of that forum. Do the same thing on some blogs.
- Resist the urge to check your email fifteen times a day. Set a specific time, or two, to check your email each day. Quickly handle what needs handled and dump the rest.
- Stick to a couple of online business networking sites. Limit the amount of time you spend there and then move on.
- To satisfy your curiosity set a time limit on the amount of time you’ll spend surfing the web, and discovering new sites. Set a timer. Quit once the timer buzzes.
About the Author

Owning her own business at age 16, Leisa Watkins knows the ins and outs of developing a home-based business. Being known for her ability to teach in a fun, exciting, and easy to understand way, Leisa receives great satisfaction from helping others create and begin to recognize within themselves some of the creativity she believes everyone possesses. Visit her blog at http://blog.LeisaWatkins.com for more inspiring and captivating advice.
March 10, 2008
Google AdSense Video Tutorial

Are you an AdSense publisher? Do you run Google AdSense ads on your site? Ever wished you knew how to get the most out of the Google AdSense program and turn ad-cents into dollars?

Yes, yes, and yes? Well, then I have something for you…

I just finished a new video for SiteSell. You can watch it over here…

UPDATE 2011: Sorry! The Google AdSense video tutorial is not available to the public anymore. Only SBI! members (called SBIers) have access to it.

However, here’s where you can learn more about SBI! and Google AdSense.

Really sorry!

—Marcus Hochstadt

February 19, 2008
How To Get New Clients Using E-mail

This is the first time I invited someone to write a guest post for my blog. Theda K. Rogers is a professional writer. I encourage you to read and bookmark her post. It’s an excellent tutorial on how to get new clients using e-mail.

As a work-at-home-mom, I’ve found it particularly challenging to market my freelance writing business. Cold calling is a tried and true method for getting new clients, but when you have a toddler at home, talking on the phone (and sounding professional) isn’t the easiest thing in the world.

So I’ve had to be a little creative when it came to marketing my Internet business.

Since I have a website and a blog, I thought it only natural that I use the Internet to also find new clients. Instead of cold calling, I started cold emailing.

My philosophy is that people are busy, so a quick, to-the-point email saves them time. More important, it gives me a more professional way of making contact for a relatively low amount of money. Direct mail would work in a similar manner, but it definitely costs more. Also, I can cold email anytime of the day or night.

Here’s how to get new clients using my cold emailing technique. First, I identify my target market. Then I begin looking at local and nearby chamber of commerce sites to find the web addresses of potential customers. Even if an email address is listed on the chamber of commerce site, I always go to the company’s website. This way I can find out the name of the appropriate contact person, and I can find out a bit about the business.

When I’ve located an email address, I then begin my cold email text.

The most important thing is to have a contact name so you can personalize the email properly. I never say “Dear Sir or Madam,” or “To Whom It May Concern.” If I can’t find a contact person, I generally don’t send a cold email. When I get a free moment I simply call that company and ask for the name of the person in charge of marketing.

The next most important part of a cold email message is the subject line. So that I’m not violating the CAN-SPAM Act, I make sure that my subject line isn’t deceptive. Since I’m looking for information about their need for copywriting, and since I’m offering that service, my subject line usually reads, “Copywriting services information request”.

Okay, let’s get to the meat of the message.

My email truly is a request for information, so I make sure to keep true to my subject line. I tell the contact person why I’m writing, who I am, and what I offer. I also ask if they use my type of service, and request information about how I can be informed when they have such a need. The beauty of the cold email is that I can include a link to my portfolio, so there’s no need for the prospect to ask me for samples.

Here’s an example:

Dear Mr. Smith,

I am a professional business writer, and I’m contacting real estate companies to determine whether you have an occasional or ongoing need for a great freelance writer.

I help companies write web and blog content, press releases, newsletters, and other marketing collateral. You can find samples of my work in the portfolio on my website.

How can I be informed about freelance writing opportunities with [company name]?

Sincerely,

[my name, company name, phone number, web address, blog address]

If their website is particularly interesting, I also try to mention how I like it, or how I noticed their Internet business doesn’t have a blog, or something else to make it more personal.

Now, before you start sending mass cold emails, be sure that you’ve read the Federal Trade Commission’s CAN SPAM Act, so you understand the rules and the risks.

I don’t include an opt-out message, though the Act requires it, because I never email them again if I’ve received no response. I’m not sending an e-newsletter or anything else on a continual basis. I’m simply looking for information.

Also, I don’t include a physical street address because I work from home. When I get a post office box I’m sure I’ll include that, but I don’t think it’s necessary, despite the rules. That’s a risk I’m willing to take, and so far I’ve received no complaints.

How has cold emailing worked for my Internet business? Most of the well-paying clients I’ve had have been a direct result of cold emailing. I usually caught them at a time when they needed my services, and my email was well-received. I’ve also gotten a lot of, “Not right now, but I’ll keep your information on file,” and “Not now, but contact us later” replies. I add those to my “warm leads” list, and I will later use those email addresses or physical addresses for future campaigns.

Cold emailing has definitely worked for me. Have you tried it, or do you prefer cold calling? How do you get new clients? What other methods have you used to market your Internet business when you just started out, or when you have a busy lifestyle?

About the Author

Theda has been a professional business copywriter and editor since 2002. Her company, Theda K. Communications, has helped businesses create website and blog content, brochures, newsletters, press releases, articles, sales letters, internal communications, and other information vehicles. Her services also include proofreading and editing services. Theda’s website is www.ThedaKCommunications.com, and her personal blog is at www.CrayonWriter.com.

February 18, 2008
Getting Your Pages Indexed In A Matter Of Hours
I regularly see folks putting up Web sites but don’t know how to get the pages indexed by the Search Engines. Some think the SEs will somehow magically find all of them somewhere someday.

I haven’t come across that magic yet.

Still, there are several methods available for getting your pages indexed in a matter of hours. Today, I’m going to talk about one of them…

Sitemap files

Although they might have heard of them somehow somewhere, there are still lots of Webmasters out there that don not implement an XML Sitemap file to their sites. It’s a pity because Search Engines LOVE them.

I’m not talking about a Sitemap for your human visitors; I’m talking about one created particularly for the SEs, in a predefined format. For more details see www.sitemaps.org.

Google initially created this concept, then worked with Yahoo!, Ask and Microsoft to make it a standard protocol that all four Search Engines can use.

Now, when you run your Internet business with content rich Web sites, there are tools available online which create a Sitemap file for you. Just go to Google and enter “sitemaps generator” or something similar and you’ll find plenty.

If you own a blog there is a WordPress Google Sitemaps plugin available that I personally use and recommend. It updates your Sitemap file automatically whenever you update an old or publish a new post or page. Very neat.

Once you’ve set everything up you are ready to submit your Sitemap file(s) to the four big SEs. Since this is a very helpful step for your Internet business, I took the time and compiled the below how-to guide for you. These are the exact same steps I follow myself in order to get my sites and pages indexed in a matter of hours.

Alright, here we go…

Google
1. Sign up to Google Webmaster Tools and/or go straight to Google Sitemaps Login.
2. Submit you Site URL by adding your domain name(s) to the Webmaster Tools Dashboard.
3. Optional: If you want to take advantage of Google’s comprehensive statistics and crawl reports, go ahead and “Verify your site.” (A yellow “Next Step” box shall appear near the top at this moment.)
4. Next, click on the “Sitemaps” link in the NavBar on left hand side, then on “Add Sitemap.”
5. In the drop-down that appears, choose “Add General Web Sitemap.”
6. Enter the Sitemap’s URL into the box that says “My Sitemap URL is:” (though without the domain name and the http:// prefix since it’s already there.)
7. If you have more than one Web site to manage and Sitemap file to submit, click on the “Dashboard” link on top to submit and manage your other sites.
Yahoo!
1. Go to the Yahoo! Site Explorer and submit your home page (first field, where it says “Submit a Website”)
2. When you’re done, go back to the Yahoo! Site Explorer and submit your Sitemap file (second field, where it says “Submit Site Feed”)
3. Click on the green “Authenticate” button in the upper right to certify ownership. Whether you added a META tag or uploaded a file, remember to keep either version active for as long as you manage the site. Who knows… If you remove it, Yahoo! might simply go ahead and dismiss your site from their index. Not a good thing, is it.. ;-)
4. If you have more than one site to manage and Sitemap file to submit, click on the “Site Explorer Home” link on top to submit and manage your other sites.
5. Optional: Check back after a day or two to see the status of the authentification; hence whether there are any issues.
Live
1. Go to the Live Search Webmaster Central. If you don’t have an MSN or Live account yet, create one and then sign in.
2. Click on the “Add a Site” button.
3. Enter the full URL of the site you’re about to manage, and below that enter the full URL of the respective Sitemap file.
4. Choose which method you’re going to use for ownership verification. (More details are going to appear once you clicked on the “Submit” button.)
5. Enter your contact info. (Don’t know if this is obligatory, but I entered it anyway; maybe kind of verification v.2 ;-)
6. Now you get to see details for the verification method you chose a step before. Once you’ve uploaded the XML file or put the META tag to your site’s home page, click “OK”. Again, keep the file or the META tag active for as long as you own or manage that site.
7. Want to add more sites? Click on the “Add a Site” button. If you don’t see that button, click on the “See all your websites” link on right hand side and it shall appear.
Ask

Unfortunately, Ask does not provide a “Webmaster Central” kind of thing (yet) so you cannot control whether they captured your Sitemap file(s) or to have other neat little tools. They provide a foolproof 10-second method though. Here we go…

1) Copy and paste the following URL into a plain text editor (ex., NotePad, TextEdit)…

http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=http%3A//

2) See that http%3A// at its end? Put the Sitemap file’s URL after it but without the http://

So the final URL should look like this…

http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=http%3A//www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml

(I used “sitemap.xml” as the example file name. Though, I recommend you use another file name, one that can not be easily guessed; ex., 3KLfu54.xml.)

3) Now paste that line into your browser’s address bar and hit enter. Ask will then confirm the success of your Sitemap submission. If not, check the correctness of the URL again. (Ex., are there any spaces before, between, or at the end; any line breaks, etc.)

—

Phew; that’s it!

You’ve now successfully submitted your Sitemap file(s) to the four big Search Engines Boys! This shall help pumping up your Internet business substantially. Again, these four cover 95% of all searches performed online.

NOTE: Submitting your Sitemap file to the SEs does not warrant high rankings, nor does it guarantee to get all pages indexed in “5 minutes.” Still, it does help getting indexed much faster and a lot more pages though. ;-)

Let me know how it goes?

—Marcus Hochstadt
January 25, 2008