Recommended Reading Material for 2012

I did a very "rough & ready" (i.e. not very scientific) test last weekend to see which of 3 new sites I'm testing for redirects is the most popular and I thought I'd share the results, such as they are.

remember this wasn't a highly accurate test as I simply listed all 3 links in the email and asked people to click on which ever one they liked the most, so I'm going to have to do a 'proper' split mailing test to check the results and see how accurate they are.

the URL I liked the most (alink.co) ended up with the worst results, being outperformed by sitelink.co by 11%

but the winner (examplesite.co) had a whopping 18% more clicks than alink.co, so I'm going to use that one for the time being, until I get the chance to do some more testing.

If you missed the email feel free to leave a comment below as to which of the 3 sites/URL's you like the most and why...  Read more... (564 words, 1 image, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)

Missing Facebook Email Messages

Did you realize you're probably mising a whole bunch of your email/messages on Facebook..?

Yup, it's true!

Sometime last year Facebook added an extra section to your messages, called "Other", which you can find the link for on the left hand of the page, just under "Messages" once you've gone to your "See All Messages" page, or any individual message.

This looks like it's been put in place as a way of dealing with unwanted "spam" messages, especially as it's very easy for anyone to send you a message using your "VanityURLName@facebook.com" email address.

The only problem is that they seem to have forgotten to tell anyone about this "other" folder, unless I (and eveyone else I've asked) totally missed it, so most people have no idea to click on the "other" link to see what's in the folder.

AND, as with most automated "anti spam" systems, there are most likely some "false positive's" in there, in other words emails & messages that you DO want to know about and to read, there certainly was in my "other" folder.  Read more... (290 words, 3 images, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

My Top 10 Productivity Tips

~ 1. Have a Daily "To Do" List

I actually keep this on a paper "Post It" pad right by my keyboard, so I can't ignore it. I found that using a spreadsheet or file on my PC for this was just too easy for me to ignore...

I always try to write up the next days "To Do" list at the end of the day, so it's ready for the next day, this also helps me "review" what I've got done in the day.

I've also found that if I can put one task that I've been "putting off" at the top of the list and get that done first, the rest of the tasks on the list tend to seem easier to get done and I get more of them done.

~ 2. Only Check Your Email at Certain Times

I've got to admit I'm far from perfect on this one, but I have found when I keep my email program closed and only check it 2 or 3 times during the day I DO get a lot more work done.  Read more... (980 words, 2 images, estimated 3:55 mins reading time)

Managing Your Bad Habits

I've had a bit of a realization over the last few days, one that has helped me to increase my productivity big time!

I've become used to listening to music while working and about a week ago I read an article (I forget exactly where) on productivity that suggested listening to music can effect some peoples ability to focus while they're working.

This was news to me and something I'd never considered before, so I thought I'd check it out myself by switching off the music for a few days...

It turns out that for me they are right, I've been more focused and got more work done since I switched off the music than I usually would!

It just goes to show how we can pick up potentially bad habits without even realizing it, hence this blog post, to remind us all we should stand back and check what we're doing in our working environment, just in case a bad habit has somehow snuck in.  Read more... (507 words, 2 images, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Hmm, going by this blog my "status" as a "professional" blogger may be under threat, as I've only made 7 posts here in the whole of 2009!

but to be fair that kinda sums up the year for me, as I didn't really get an awful lot of work done until the last few months of the year, when I finally managed to get my head straight and find the right frame of mind to move on after my divorce, mostly thanks to a couple of good friends, who know who they are, thanks guys!

so what's that got to do with getting out of my comfort zone?

easy, one of the things that I did do more of this year was go to internet marketing events, and as always, it proved to be a good thing. I've met many great new friends, people who I am already working together with on different projects.

as an example of that I've already got a great interview done with Jit Uppal (who I met at Lee McIntrye's workshop) as the giveaway in preparation for my next new product - http://adswaplistbuilding.com  Read more... (558 words, 1 image, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

One of the biggest differences to my working day over the last year or so was starting to keep a daily "To Do" task list.

Now I do have piles and piles (I can count 23 right now) of post it note pads with list after list of things that I need to do, which I've tried several times to feed in to a spread sheet for the sake of improved efficiency, but that's not what I'm actually talking about.

I have a little A5 size notebook that at the end of each day I write down the list of tomorrow's tasks that I want to get done. Admitedly most days I don't get them all done, but having the list sat in front of me helps me keep on target and remember what I most need to accomplish each day.

It also happens to be a great kick up the bum if I get totally off target (e.g. lost in warcraft for a few hours), as it's sat there staring up at me...  Read more... (801 words, 1 image, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)

I was going through some notes I'd made a little while back last night and came across a little golden nugget that was given to me by fellow marketer Simon Hodgkinson..

Simon's a pretty smart marketer with a fairly impressive array of products, which you can check out on his Hodgkinson Publishing site, as well as his own book

Simon was checking his Gmail account while we were sat at the bar and mentioned another marketer (who's name I can't remember) who had his gmail account broken in to after accessing it on an unsecured network at a hotel, and subsequantly had many of his websites, servers and other business assets attacked!

The problem is that gmail is accessed via http instead of https (secure encrypted) as a default, so if you use Gmail I recommend you take a moment and go in to your "Settings" (from the top right hands side of the page when you're logged in) and then scroll down the page to the bottom to find the option to change to logon via https as a default.  Read more... (207 words, 2 images, estimated 50 secs reading time)

"Too many emails!"

that's the most common comment I recieve from people who unsubscibe and it's not surprising.

one of my subscribers mentioned recently that he'd had more than a dozen emails about Mike Filsaime's Traffic Fusion on the launch day, which actually put him off.

I had to admit that I'd had around 3 times that many, but then I'm on just about every marketers list, including all my JV partners and adswaps partners, it helps to be able to spot the best stuff out there and find new JV/adswap partners, but it can get a bit much, even as a full time marketer who doesn't have a full time job on top.

For anyone still juggling a "job" and their new internet marketing business it can be a killer...

In fact, receiving too many emails is also the best reason for unsubscribing from peoples lists, as With so many offers for the best new thing" flying around it's very easy to get distracted and lose focus.  Read more... (470 words, 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Wow! What a weekend!

I don't make it to many internet marketing "events", but this weekend I had the chance to help out Tim Brocklehurst with one of his TheFreedomClass workshops.

The workshops are designed to get people totally up and running with their own MyViralSpiral3.com site, including a blog, their own info product and affiliate program and show them how to start getting traffic in to build their list virally.

So by the end of the weekend they've got everything in place to start building a REAL online business that will last.

I've had MVS3 for a while now as I recognised how powerful it is when I saw Tim present it at Robert Puddy's BritPack seminar last year, but hadn't had time to get to grips with it properly, so the weekend was also the ideal opportunity for me to do the same as the students, get it all up and running and building me a list virally.  Read more... (824 words, 1 image, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)

John Thornhill Offers Some Sound Advice...</p>

I read an excellent post from John Thornhill last week called Is This Why You're Failing Online

There's some cracking tips in the post to help people actually "take action" and get things done..

but the reason I'm mentioning it is because he quotes a classic "plea for help" email he received from one of his subscribers, and whilst his reply to the subscriber and the reply he got back is sadly typical, it's one of the lines in the original email that caught my attention..

"I've tried everything and I'm at a loss".

I've also tried everything and I can say from my own experience that it's not the right way of doing things if you want to be successful and build a profitable business online.

The more things you try, the less you actually get finished.

My business is far healthier since I decided to concentrate on just one or two areas of internet marketing, specifically writing information products of my own and building email/subscribers lists, although I admit I do still sometimes get sidetracked myself.