All I can say is WOW…

This is one of the coolest “projects” I’ve ever seen.

It’s pretty obvious that the big-shot bankers on Wall Street have been getting richer and richer during this economic crisis, while your friends and family members haven’t.

Well if you’re interested in cracking open the “black-box investing strategies” of the rich, so you can see how they’re doing it, you’ve gotta check out this video Mike Dillard just posted.

Despite the fact that he’s not an investor, trader, or financial guru of any kind, he’s made a 280% return since 2008, while the rest of the world has lost 30-40% of their portfolio.

How?

Get this: He found a “map” back in 2007 that’s allowed him to basically predict the future.

Like I said…VERY COOL.

Check out this video he just posted and you’ll see how he’s doing it.

3 years after starting my first successful online e-commerce store, I was exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated and underpaid! Thanks to the original Stomping the Search Engines course, my website was ranking in the top 10 for most all of the major keywords we went after and sales were through the roof!

Unfortunately, this meant that I spent most waking hours answering the phones, e-mailing orders to vendors, and updating the website with new products and sales! This left little to no time for marketing and almost no time for sleep during our peak season. The site soon became a source of conflict, and I began to wonder if this was the entrepreneurial dream that I had signed up for!

But I have learned some tips about virtual teams and systems for your business that helped my business and they can help yours.

Out-task

One of the very first and important business tips I learned was that I needed to out-task. As long as I was answering the phones and processing orders, my business could not grow. Basically the premise is that if you can pay someone minimum wage to do a task and you choose to do that task, you are earning minimum wage. A good idea is to make a daily “To Do” list, and examine what you are spending your time on. If there are tasks on the list that are not generating income or making your business run more effectively, those tasks need to be out-tasked to someone else.

Systematize everything

If your business is dependent on you, you will never be able to take a vacation or enjoy the reasons you became a business owner in the first place. Create How To guides and manuals for each area of your business. This is a gradual process and not something that you do once only to forget about it. Set up your business processes and when there is a breakdown and an employee or contractor has to come seeking your approval or advice, update your business processes.

Set specific goals and tasks for everyone on your team

Have a weekly meeting and discuss the pending tasks and any issues that have arisen with those tasks. Always praise in public and criticize in private. Take this time to give positive feedback and to deal with any problems. Many times employees don’t bring problems to management because they think it is their responsibility to try to figure it out themselves. Such initiative is often good, but other times, there are problems that we as management have already dealt with and we can provide a simple solution in about 20 seconds!

Teach your team to out-task and supervise others

To be successful you will need a core team that supports you and can work effectively to get projects done with little to no input or guidance from you. If your team is not functioning, it’s your responsibility as the business owner to set up systems and procedures so that they can be successful. Everything does rise and fall on leadership. If you have great team member, but he or she is not able to give up some of their responsibilities and supervise others, then you cannot grow. One person can never do it all. Teach them to assign tasks to junior team members and how to effectively supervise their junior team members so that their time is freed up doing more productive things.

Have 2 people for each job

Although this may seem impossible in the beginning when finances are tight, as soon as possible, always have two people for every job. When out-tasking projects overseas, unexpected problems happen. Hurricanes (especially in the Philippines), power outages, kids get sick, and so on. By having 2 people trained for every task, you ensure that you won’t have to renege on the responsibilities you have already trained others to take over.

These are just a few tips that I have used in my business. As a mom of 7 children, a wife and a missionary, my life is busy. Your life is busy as well, so you can’t afford to not add what you can to make your business run easier and automatically.

Summary

• Out-Task.
• Systematize everything.
• Set specific goals and tasks for everyone on your team.
• Teach your team to out-task and supervise others.
• Unexpected things happen, so make certain you have 2 people for each job.

Extracted from StomperNet SEO Intelligence Report, November 18, 2011.

There are a number of different business models for making money on the Internet.

Of these, my favorite—and the one I recommend to those who want to sell information products, dietary supplements, or just about any other product online today—is the “Agora Model”.

The Agora Model is an online marketing methodology pioneered by Agora Publishing.

In a nutshell, the Agora Model says you should offer a free e-newsletter and build up a large subscriber base.

Then, you make money by e-mailing promotions to your online subscriber list.

Agora and others are making hundreds of millions of dollars in sales online with the Agora Model.

Yet when I recommend it to marketers—both experienced and novice alike—they are immediately and strongly resistant to the idea.

Why?

One reason for their reluctance is that they have read an article by some so-called Internet marketing guru telling them that e-mail marketing is dead, passé, old hat.

And that they should be focusing instead on blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, online video, mobile marketing, SEO, AdSense, or whatever the fad flavor of the month is.

The other reason marketers are reluctant to launch a new e-newsletter is a fear—reasonable but not true—that the e-zine “space” is too overcrowded.

“There are so many e-zines out there, and everyone I know says they already get too many,” an attendee at an Early to Rise Internet Marketing Conference told me. “It seems impossible that I could be successful by publishing yet another.”

If you believe this to be true, slap yourself—and listen to me as I tell you what really works in Internet marketing today…

The Agora Model really works. I use it myself to earn a 6-figure income online—”working” on my Internet
business only a couple of hours a week.

All the components of the Agora Model—e-newsletters, e-mail marketing, online ads—still work. Like gangbusters.

As an article in DM News reports: “While social media and mobile marketing continue to be hot topics, marketers are still finding e-mail newsletters relevant.”

One of the neatest things about the Agora Model is that e-newsletter subscribers are more loyal readers—because they choose to opt into your list—instead of you gathering their names and compiling your own e-list.

And despite the glut of e-mail in your prospect’s inbox, sending an e-mail is still an effective way to gain the reader’s attention:

>> A study at Loughorough University found that users take action, on average, in less than 2 minutes upon being notified that a new e-mail is waiting for them.

>> According to a report by Forrester Research, opt-in lists (such as e-newsletter subscriber lists) retain 49% of their subscribers over time—nearly double the retention rate of compiled e-lists.

>> A study from ClearContext, an e-mail management tools vendor, found that over half of users surveyed spend more than 2 hours a day in their e-mail inbox.

Another reason why marketers hesitate to launch an e-newsletter is the mistaken belief that it is time and labor-intensive to produce.

That’s not true either.

In fact, your e-newsletter doesn’t have to be elaborate, lengthy, complex, or fancy.

But it does have to deliver useful content to your subscribers—and do so on a consistent basis.

Publishing your own e-newsletter gives you 3 essential advantages when it comes to making money online…

>> First, the best way to get people to opt into your e-list is by offering them free content.

When you publish an e-newsletter, you always have new free content (your e-newsletter) to offer.

>> Second, a monthly e-newsletter ensures that your prospects hear from you—on a regular basis—at least 12 times a year.

Assuming they find your content valuable, this consistent communication helps build a relationship with your online
readers.

>> Third, when people subscribe to an online newsletter, they give you permission to e-mail them.

That means you can send them e-mail marketing messages—with product offers—whenever you wish, at minimal cost.

Repeated exposure to your e-newsletter and solo e-mail promotions gets subscribers to trust you enough to start buying products you sell or recommend.

And before you know it, you’re making money selling information or merchandise on the Internet!

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

Several elite underground marketers have just opened doors to their premium training program and offering you a free sneak peek. I wouldn’t hesitate to check it out if I were you.

* Insiders Hub *

Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

“Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?

It’s OK to bunk a few classes, score low in a couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work. Enjoy with your friends, fall in love, fight little fights with your loved ones. We are people, not programmed devices.

Chetan Bhagat writes op-ed columns for English and Hindi newspapers, including Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar, focusing on youth and issues based on national development. Bhagat is also a motivational speaker and has given talks in leading MNCs and other institutions. He quit his international investment banking career in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing.

In 2008, The New York Times called Bhagat “the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history”. Bhagat, a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, is seen more as a youth icon than as an author. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Bhagat also favoured the forming of a system similar to the Lokpal as early as January 2011 through his articles.

If you’re serious about your own financial freedom, then it’s imperative you listen closely (this is unlike anything out there today).

How would you like 2 famous, self-made millionaires to guide you to true financial freedom…in only 7 steps? What if you could get INSTANT ACCESS to the entire program, right now?

If you’re struggling with money, can’t seem to get ahead financially or simply need to know what you can do RIGHT now to turn things around, then Money Mastery is something you will thank me for.

And here’s the best part: Because of my close relationship with them, they’ve allowed me to share a secret link where you can get the entire program for a whopping 62% off! If you’re serious about your financial freedom, this is your chance to prove it!

“Use a strong guarantee” is standard advice in direct marketing.

Without a strong guarantee, your sales will slow to a trickle since buyers are hesitant to buy products over the Internet, phone, or by mail sight unseen.

But what exactly makes for a “strong” guarantee?

A strong guarantee has 5 defining characteristics and your guarantee should possess these qualities too.

First, length: as a rule of thumb, the longer the guarantee, the better.

Typical guarantee periods are 10, 15, 30, 60, 90, 180, and 365 days.

Of these, 10 days is the weakest, because it requires the prospect to act too quickly for comfort.

The buyer is afraid that, if he puts the product aside, the guarantee coverage will expire, and he’ll be stuck with a product he can’t return.

And so he doesn’t order in the first place.

30 days is a standard guarantee period, and certainly adequate.

60 and 90 days are better. All the information products I publish and sell online are guaranteed for 90 days.

I don’t like lifetime guarantees, because it creates a financial liability on the books that may be problematic when it’s time to sell your business.

6 and 12-month guarantees may be worth testing, but won’t work for some products. For instance, a 1-year guarantee doesn’t make sense for an annual directory.

The second consideration is the conditionality of the guarantee.

Meaning: are there strings attached? Or is it unconditional?

A conditional guarantee might say: return the product in saleable condition for your money back.

The buyer is concerned that you will quibble with him over “saleable condition.”

That is, you will refuse to issue a refund for a book he returned because, say, the dust jacket has a smudge on it.

Another conditional guarantee is the one used by many sellers of small business and investment home study programs.

They say: if you are not satisfied, send back the course for a refund; just “prove to us that you made some effort to follow our system”.

When you ask for a refund, they ask for more and more proof—and whatever you send, the seller counters that “you didn’t do what we said” (or do enough of it)—and denies your refund on that basis.

Much better is to offer an unconditional guarantee. Tell the customer all he has to do is return the product for a full refund—no ifs, ands, or buts—without question or quibble.

The third quality of a strong guarantee is that everything is clearly stated and spelled out.

Be careful about wording that the consumer can misinterpret.

For instance, a performance-based guarantee—”If you do not earn extra money trading options with our program, return it for a refund”—sounds good but contains a potential concern…

Does it mean that if I DO make some extra money with the product, I can’t return it? Even if I only made ten bucks?

Rewrite the guarantee so there is no condition or ambiguity stated or implied: “If you do not make extra money trading options with our program, or you are not 100% satisfied for any other reason—or for no reason at all—just return the program within 90 days for a full refund.”

Fourth, the guarantee should be graphically emphasized within the promotion.

Don’t bury it in body copy or put it in an asterisked footnote in 8-point type.

Print the guarantee in 12-point copy with a large, bold headline. Put a box or even a certificate-style border around it to make the guarantee stand out.

Fifth, how generous is the guarantee?

The best guarantees are unfair—but unfair in favor of the buyer, not the seller.

That means if the customer takes advantage of the guarantee, the seller is, in a sense, getting ripped off.

Example: for regular books sold via mail order, the guarantee is simple: return the book and we will send you your money back.

But think about the same guarantee for e-books…

Can the customer really send you the e-book back?

Do you expect them to send back the copy they printed out…or sign an affidavit that they erased the e-book from their hard drive…or shredded the print-out? (Some online marketers have done just that!)

Most information marketers skirt the issue of returning e-books in their guarantees.

They say: if you are not 100% satisfied, let us know within 90 days for a full refund.

No discussion about returning or erasing or not using the e-book takes place.

In the landing pages I write to sell the e-books I publish (see for example www.myveryfirstebook.com), I go a step further: I turn the fact that the customer does not have to return the e-book to me into a benefit.

I say: “If you are not 100% satisfied, let us know within 90 days for a full refund. And keep the e-book free, with my compliments. That way, you risk nothing.”

In a recent Internet marketing seminar, DP, who heard me talk about this point in my presentation, said that he too tells his customers to keep the e-book even if they ask for a refund.

But DP has split-tested it. And he swears that “keep the e-book free” increased his conversion rates on average by 21%.

The bottom line? Make sure your guarantee is:

1. Long—90 days is ideal for most offers.

2. Unconditional – no strings attached.

3. Clearly stated with no ambiguity or possibility of misunderstanding.

4. Highlighted with bold typography, color, and graphics so it really stands out on the screen or page.

5. Overly generous so that if the consumer exercises the guarantee, he is essentially taking almost unfair advantage of you, the seller.

The overriding principle of a strong guarantee is to take all the risk off the buyer’s shoulders and place it on the seller’s shoulders—as it should be.

Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.

Ryan Deiss is officially launching a brand new project and he’s giving everyone who joins him a copy of the following e-books:

#1. Partnering With Amazon
How To Give Amazon Permission To Sell Your Products To Their Over 275 MILLION Registered Buyers

#2. Partnering With Apple
How To Get Instant Access To Apple’s Database of More Than 300 Million Active Credit Cards On File

#3. Partnering With Facebook
7 Steps To Leveraging the Largest Site In The World For Free, Targeted Traffic

#4. Partnering With Google
How To Make Google Your Biggest Affiliate and Crush Your Competition In The Process

Normally he would sell each of these e-books for $100+, but they’re all yours free when you become a subscriber to his new project (it’s CHEAP).

Get all the details and see a really cool presentation here.

If you’ve been involved with Internet marketing for even a short amount of time, the odds are you’ve encountered the “one-time offer”.

One-time offers are commonly referred to “OTO” for short.

It’s a page that displays just once, giving you some super special discount on a product or membership.

The reason one-time offers are used by just about all the big money-earning Internet marketers is because they pull in sales like CRAZY!

The hard part is actually being able to make an OTO. Usually it requires some expensive membership software to even be able to show one that looks professional.

Luckily, Solomon Huey decided to create a service that could finally help Internet marketers create their own one-time-offers for free.

You can check out his new site here.

Solomon is a full-time marketer who really knows his stuff, and his one-time offer software is something that has been needed for a very long time.

One-time offers are one of the easiest ways to start making more sales today, so naturally this service is perfect if you’ve been looking for more ways to earn bigger profits online.

OTOs are one of the FEW methods that can truly put you on a more level-playing field with the big-time marketers who typically spend thousands of dollars developing new software.

Of course you’ll see a very cool upgrade offer when you join. If you’re serious about pulling in more sales from the Internet, you don’t want to miss it!

See why so many people are rushing in to join Solomon’s OTO software.

Painless Traffic System by Bill McRea and Mick Moore.

You wouldn’t believe they made $123,857.06 on July 26th!

That’s a 6-figure day for 2 affiliate marketers, WOW!

Find out how they did it.