Category Archives: Interview

Interview

How Can You Prosper Through Publicity?

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Talk about an interesting issue, at least to me.

This year I’ve probably been a part of more interviews than ever before. Some have been online live interviews. Some have been in magazines. Some have been articles I’ve written. No matter; I’ve been out there, working things as I had hoped I could.

However, when all is said and done, I’ve gotten some publicity, but haven’t figured out how to fully capitalize on it. That’s not quite true; I haven’t figured out how to capitalize on any of it. I think that’s a major issue, as I’ve been getting publicity for years and haven’t yet capitalized on it.

Part of my problem is that I haven’t fully directed myself into one arena, which makes it hard for people to figure out just what it is I do. One wouldn’t think it would matter, but it probably does. My health care crowd has no idea what social media is, just as most of you who visit this blog have no idea what a revenue cycle consultant does. Throw in leadership and SEO and some other things and one might consider themselves as being renaissance, but others might not have a clue what to think.

Even with all of that, I think it’s been interesting over all this time to learn that publicity on its own doesn’t mean anything. Yeah, you get a minute or two of a bounce from some quarters. A newspaper article I was in back in May is on the wall of one of my favorite breakfast restaurants, which is very nice. I also got a free meal out of it at a local steakhouse; loved that as well. But business; none.

In any case, this was a pretty good year, and I’d like to share the links to some of the things I did this year as far as interviews or publicity went, since some of what I did isn’t producible. I wonder how most of you would have found a way to use any of these things to generate new income; I’d love to hear your thoughts.

My most recent magazine interview, though my participation is short, in Oswego County Magazine.

A radio interview I did on a subject called Men Have Issues Too.

A radio interview I did on the subject of Reinventing Yourself.

This is only a link to my business blog talking about my first national podcast on a diversity topic, Celebrating Differences.

An interview I did that ended up on a blog called Ramama’s Musings, where I talked a lot about dealing with diabetes.

A radio interview I did on the subject of blogging.

A radio interview I did on the subjects of social media and SEO.

A newspaper interview with my picture (in my red room) on Staying Positive.

An interview I did with Murray Newlands on affiliate marketing and business in general.

A health care interview I was a part of on Persuasive Compassion.

Finally, I’m listed as one of the top Baby Boomer Men of 2010 by Boomer Diva Nation.

So, did I put myself out there enough in 2009? Nope; I need to do even better in 2010!

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Interview

An Interview With Jim Turner

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I met Jim Turner on Twitter, just as I met the last person I interviewed, Diane Walker. He’s an internet marketer who’s done really well over the past 10 years, and since, for many folks, this is still a make money online blog at times, and because I’ve gotten to enjoy meeting Jim, I asked him to participate in my little interview series here. I hope you enjoy it; show him some love by commenting after you read what he has to say:

jim_turner-150

1. How long did it take you to make your first $10,000 via internet marketing?

That’s a pretty tough question to answer. My first attempts at marketing online were to attract my target market and begin building relationships. That s over 10 years ago, long before social networking was created. So, the money part was not at the top of my mind. But based upon the price of the item I was selling, a small marketing ebook, it could’ve been around 6 months.

2. When you first began, what kind of mistakes did you make that impeded you?

It was real popular to buy email addresses when I got started online back in 1998. So I wasted a lot of time with those purchased email addresses before I learned that it was best to build my own list through people who were interested in what I had to offer.

3. For someone brand new who has a product to sell, whether it’s their own or not, what are the first three steps they need to do to drive traffic to their product, or is that the most important thing to begin with in the first place?

Wow, I was ahead myself when I answered your first question. Creating sales should not be your primary goal from the beginning. In today’s climate, people are extremely skeptical. They’ve seen ALL the sales messages and angles. They are bombarded by sales messages throughout the day and night. So the first step should be to build relationships. The vast majority of the people I do business with are folks who I’ve become connected with online through social networking

4. What’s your general opinion on trying to make money selling affiliate products through companies like Clickbank, Commission Junction, etc?

It’s fine to have those as supplementary products and/or services. Many marketers have made a ton of money taking that route only. Those marketers are heavy into Pay Per Click advertising to drive traffic to your site. It can be done but just don’t think it’s a walk in the park!

5. Do you believe an autoresponder is important even for those who don’t have much traffic at the beginning?

Any targeted prospect you can capture is valuable, no matter if you’re a beginner or a veteran. The best time to start using an autoresponder is before you get a lot of subscribers.

6. Do you believe that most people have the opportunity to make good money via their blogs, or do you believe it’s best to have a website, then possibly direct traffic through a blog to the websites?

I view blogs as credibility enhancers. Unless you have a very unique niche it is extremely difficult to build heavy traffic volume to a blog. Use the blog to demonstrate your knowledge & expertise in the eyes of potential clients or business partners.

7. What do you think of programs like Jeff Paul’s Internet Millions that bring a lot of people into internet marketing that don’t really know what the internet is to begin with?

Not that familiar with his program. I’ve seen Jeff’s mail order programs before. Many times those programs are purchased by “dream chasers” and people looking to get something for nothing. There is a market segment out there who jumps on every ‘hot’ thing that comes onto the market. It’s a real market that has a need and if one can fill it – great!

8. Do you believe the market is getting too crowded, or is there room for everyone to make money online?

Have you ever seen a major intersection where you can find any and all kinds of fast food restaurants and other types of eateries? In those environments you have to distinguish yourself by doing something different than the other guys on the corner. Maybe you always get your customers order right the first time… or you don’t overcook the fries… or you make fresh coffee often. Your reputation will spread around and people will choose you over the other guys because they know what your special offering happens to be.

So you have to distinguish yourself from the crowd. There’s always room for a business that adds value at a higher level than the competition.

9. Take a moment for yourself; what are you working on now, or what would you like to promote?

During the last 18 months of marketing through social networking I picked up a lot of valuable experience. There is a method to the madness of social media marketing. I’ve put all my best practices into my social networking guide for home based business owners and entrepreneurs. It’s titled: “Social Networking: The 21st Century Way to Find New Clients!”

10. Any final words of encouragement you’d like to give to my visitors?

I like to keep it simple. Start small and shoot for the stars. Do something in your business everyday of the week, month and year.

Thanks for the opportunity to share with your visitors and hopefully they have gained something from this short message. They can follow me on Twitter at on Facebook.

I thank Jim for taking the time to talk to us. I hope y’all enjoyed the interview as much as I did.
 

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Interview

Interviewing Diane Walker, Network Marketer

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I met Diane Walker on Twitter one night and we just started to talk. Then we moved over to Facebook, where we weren’t limited to 140 characters at a time. She’s an internet marketer, but not an affiliate marketer. Instead, she’s part of the MLM (multi-level marketing) genre, mainly through a company called Send Out Cards. She calls what she does “relationship marketing.” She co-authored the book Navigating the World of Network Marketing.

1. How long did it take you to make your first $10,000 via internet marketing?

Actually about 6 or 7 years, hard to remember as it’s been so long ago.

2. When you first began, what kind of mistakes did you make that impeded you?

I had absolutely no experience at anything online or any type of sales when I started, just a desire to find a way out of corporate America and find a way to replace my income, and be free to work from anywhere so I chose the Internet. The biggest mistake I made was being too trusting. Everything I saw looked like the “right” answer, so I would join, only to find out the person I joined was not what they portrayed, or they were on to the next “BIG” thing a week later.

It made my head spin sometimes. With no experience, I had to learn from mistakes and I made a ton of them. The only thing that kept me going back then was I was too stubborn to quit, and I was very determined.

3. For someone brand new who has a product to sell, whether it’s their own or not, what are the first three steps they need to do to drive traffic to their product, or is that the most important thing to begin with in the first place?

Honestly, early on I tried it all. I think the internet has changed a LOT. I know early on everyone was trying to be first on google, but not everyone can get there.

1. Simple things anyone can do, would be have your link in your signature file wherever you go, or on business cards and flyers.

2. Use a domain name they own OR CLOAK the url so people do not take your ID Off or use something like this: http://vur.me/teach

3. YouTube videos, or blogging, if you keep that blog up. I also do a lot of networking and getting to know people. To me it’s more about long term relationships than the one time slam dunk sale.

4. What’s your general opinion on trying to make money selling affiliate products through companies like Clickbank, Commission Junction, etc?

Honestly I’ve not done a lot with any of that. I think I signed up for an account once, but to me found it more of a techie type thing. I was more interested in helping others, than trying to set up that type of sale, so I’ve not really used that.

5. Do you believe an autoresponder is important even for those who don’t have much traffic at the beginning?

Personally, I find them very annoying. These days with the spam and junk mail, I get annoyed if I requested information about a product or service and the site subscribes me to an autoresponder. I think we’ve lost the human element there. I want to physically talk to someone, ask live questions, not get slammed with ton’s of mail.

I do use an autoresponder for training messages that people want and they know it’s an autoresponder.

6. Do you believe that most people have the opportunity to make good money via their blogs, or do you believe it’s best to have a website, then possibly direct traffic through a blog to the websites?

I believe they can make money just fine whether or not they have a personal website or blog. Blogs, and websites and branding will get them known, however, I never really promote or use either of mine much. I may be the exception to the rule.

7. What do you think of programs like Jeff Paul’s Internet Millions that bring a lot of people into internet marketing that don’t really know what the internet is to begin with?

Honestly until you asked me this question I’d NEVER heard about Jeff Paul. I just googled his name and see ton’s of Google pages about him now, however, I’ve learned that most of those beautiful copy written ads bring people in and they make a sale, then the people get added to a mailing list, and get send messages like, “you bought this” so here’s something else.

I think there are a lot of very good people online that make terrific money doing sales like that, however, what most people don’t see is behind the scenes, they are out doing meetings around the country to promote and build their names, and they are constantly selling, and then selling and then selling. Over the years they BRAND themselves, so people recognize and buy because of their names.

I personally learned after many years of making an attempt to do things like that, this just was not for me. I do not think that most people can do well, as if everyone could do what these guys did, who would be buying?

8. Do you believe the market is getting too crowded, or is there room for everyone to make money online?

Depends on what they do. There are BILLIONS of people and plenty of room for everyone to make money, and ton’s of different products and services to do that with. People just have to find the right fit for themselves, then put the blinders on and go to work, and not be distracted by everything that comes along.

9. Take a moment for yourself; what are you working on now, or what would you like to promote?

I’m co author of the book “Navigating The World of Network Marketing” which is a recap of all the things I did, mistakes I made and what I learned by them. You can read a recap at http://www.legendaryventures.com.

I’ve also build a solid business. If anyone wants to know more about that, I have a info form at http://mlmblonde.net or if they want to know more about me personally my base site it http://mlmblonde.com.

I’ve got a blog as everyone does at http://mlmblonde.blogspot.com I’m not too good at keeping it up though but do post maybe once a month or so.

10. Any final words of encouragement you’d like to give to your visitor?

NO MATTER WHAT, do not give up. There is hope for everyone. If you find the right fit for you, and then go to work, give yourself time to learn and grow as you go along. If you find something you believe in, buckle down and go to work, you can make it.

If you are starting a business and it’s your first time, give yourself time to learn. It won’t happen over night, but if you allow yourself to be distracted by everything that comes along it will never happen. Also, find a good mentor and work closely with them, until you get where you want to be.

I want to thank Diane for giving us this interview. I know we all learned some good stuff from it.

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Interview

Andy Bailey Interview

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Something special for y’all today. Andy Bailey of CommentLuv fame, has agreed to an interview on CommentLuv, plugins, and business in general. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb in saying this was one of the most important plugins of 2008, in my mind, and has helped the blogging community greatly; at least those who use it. This is great stuff; I hope you enjoy it:

andy_bailey

1. Tell us about your business/businesses/websites.

The Comluv network was set up to act as a hub/portal for the 10,000+ users of the Commentluv plugin so they can register their site urls, see who clicks their links and looks at their info. It’s also a place where anyone with an internet connection can start a WordPress blog with the Commentluv plugin already installed for free.

There are lots of features on the site that are set up so new bloggers or those with limited free blogs can move to the next step of blogging. They can try out a new blog or import their old one and if they are happy with what they can do on a WordPress platform, they can carry on (for free). If they then go on to take their blogging a bit more seriously or want to make some income, they can become a supporter and get access to things like domain mapping and other awesome upgrades in the future like a global commentluv search engine or custom CMS themes and an ecommerce shop theme.

I have a number of other sites and run a web design company too. (oh and a Chinese Takeaway & delivery shop)

2. What made you think about doing CommentLuv in the first place?

It was to fulfill a need, I wanted to reward my blog readers. Not the ones who came, looked and went but the ones that took the time to comment and build a discussion around my posts. There were a few other widgets that got released at the time that were supposed to do that but I found that they only rewarded the blogs that were already popular, the more hits you got, the more links you got etc. I didn’t think was fair just to reward those who needed it the least, that didn’t make sense! so I wrote commentluv to level the field and reward every blogger who comments with a titled backlink to their site.

It was only for my own site and the first version only worked for people that commented who had wordpress blogs themselves, but as soon as it went on my blog, people started asking for a copy. The rest, as they say, is history.

3. How do you find the time to work on it?

It’s my hobby, my passion. It consumes every spare moment!

It’s harder and harder to put the time in because it’s getting more and more complex with a hundred new ideas and (sometimes) bugs to fix every day. If it was my entire job then I’d be fine but I run a Chinese takeaway and a company too so it’s even harder to find the time to go through code, answer support, write new content, make tutorials, market the site, visit bloggers, catch spam, delete spam and all the other ‘normal’ things that having an online life means.

But, after saying all that, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I luv it.

4. Have you only received positive comments about it?

The comments I receive are wonderful, I regularly get emails, phone calls and sometimes donations via paypal from happy users. It’s what keeps me going when I see someone write a long and detailed post about commentluv or start a series of posts about how to use commentluv blogs with proper comments to increase site traffic/community.

The only negative comments I get are from users who didn’t read the instructions properly or are trying to do everything too quickly without making proper backups. I can fix most problems pretty quickly because there’s only a few things that can go wrong with a script include so they normally cheer up when it starts working!

Overall, there always seems to be something positive to read about it every morning in my inbox.

5. Have you made any money from it?

Nope. Not a dime. In fact, it costs me money from my own pocket! That’s ok though, there are avenues for passive revenue like the Adsense that appears on the search page and some of my own 125×125 ads I show create a commission payment now and then which helps with the server costs.

There’s plenty of time to make money! I think I can just worry about making the site good, the features work and keep it improving and when that happens, just the sheer amount of traffic and being able to communicate with over 10,000 registered users (now) and the millions who see the comentluv badge below a comment form in an instant will surely open up monetization opportunities.

I do have ideas and code ready for when the site is fully stable as a free option and the userbase goes over 50,000. Things like a supporter option where a user can pay a small monthly fee and get more space, use their own domain name, access to a newsletter software, CMS themes and other ‘premium’ options for paid subscribers only but I think it’s important to get the free side of the site completely stable first before I start trying to make money from it.

I have implemented adverts on the main site and users of comluv can signup to be an affiliate for selling those and make 50% of the fee, maybe that can bring in some revenue to pay for the awesome server I had to upgrade to but, this is my hobby, I enjoy it and if I didn’t do it, I’d spend more on radio control helicopters or start drinking at the pub so I’m not too worried about getting-rich-quick. (unless I get completely bought out by one of the blogging/commenting platform companies!)

If I do it right and get the site and plugin popular enough and used by enough people, there wont be any need to charge anyone anything. If I can continue to find ways for people to make money from their site, all I’ll need is a tiny piece of it for providing the platform they use to make it and I’ll be set. 1% of 100 peoples effort is the same as 100% of my own. Imagine if I got 1% of a million peoples effort? No need to do the math.

6. Have you won any awards from it?

Yes, I won the WPMU plugin contest with it when it went to the new 2.0 version. I got a free WPMU premium account as part of my prize which has been instrumental to me being able to build the new network site. Best thing I have ever won from my pc (apart from a massive lottery syndicate win from my online lotto business).

7. How does one go about creating a plugin?

It’s easy peasy, I didn’t know anything about php before I got a version of wordpress installed! Everything I learnt about programming came from the web, for free. Just start simple, find some tutorials to get you started and the rest is just making the format of the file correct. Don’t try to make a new akismet or cforms straight away, try a flickr image widget or other simple get and display plugin and ask around on the wp forums or visit the squillions of wp specific blogs.

8. With everything going on, do you still have time to blog?

Blogging helps me release the words in my head that have no place elsewhere, it’s my inner-monologue on screen sometimes. It helps me remember what I’m doing if it’s down on paper/keyboard too! I wish I had more time to make the type of posts that are floating around in my head but, I can’t have commentluv and have that type of blog experience at the same time so I try to do the best I can with what time I have.

That to me is the best thing about blogging, I do it because its fun, its nice to reach out and touch people without ever leaving the comfy man-cave that is my office and there are no obligations or standards of performance quotas to reach. If you think it, you can blog it. If you don’t have time, never mind!

9. Do you have another plugin on the horizon?

I have about a billion ideas and quite a few proof of concept scripts floating around the pc. I have a cracking one in mind for twitter and some “make it so anyone can do it” plugins too but, with the popularity of commentluv and the sheer amount of effort it takes to keep a plugin and site up to date, there’s not much hope for releasing them (yet)

10. Have you achieved everything you expected or hoped for with CommentLuv?

All I wanted to do was reward my readers and provide a way for others to do the same without needing a degree in computers or an established community so I guess you could say I have achieved everything I first expected from commentluv but there is so much more to be discovered and added. I really want another day in the week, hell, even an extra hour a day would make a difference!

11. One last question; what’s up for Andy Bailey next?

I’d really like to get a good company as a partner, someone with a team of programmers, developers, designers and marketers so I could hand over the maintenance and feature updates to them and concentrate on coming up with the good ideas and seeing them through to fruition. I already have a book of notes and folders of code for what I would like to add to the site to help people with the blogging, even make them an income but as always, time (or the lack of it) and supporting the users of the existing fruits prevents me from working on them enough to share them.

The sky’s the limit though, as long as I have a keyboard and an internet connection I will always have something to do ‘next’.

As I said, great stuff from Andy. If you’re not already on CommentLuv, you should be, and if you are, let Andy know how much you enjoy it. I did.