An E-Mail I Opened Was All About The Ultimate Blog Challenge.
I may not have read this message a couple of days ago when I was swamped to overflowing with e-mails. It was down to my new filtering that this was noticed. It was from one of my Favs!
What about you – how good is your filtering of e-mails.
How many e-mails do you get in your inbox in the morning?
How many are important and need your attention?
I have actually been trying to get some control over this by unsubscribing from regular messages from people who’s names are familiar. The reason that I know the names so well is because I see them daily.
BUT are they e-mails I actually read. NO! In fact I haven’t a clue in many cases what is the speciality and focus of this ‘NAME’.
I need to get a grip I thought and the pruning has begun – (well it is springtime).
Love them or Chuck them. So I have been opening to read and then to make a decision. IN or OUT!
The good guys and gals are getting promoted into their own file and the rest – well kicked out.
So a number of ‘NAMES’ are disappearing but something ELSE has happened. I discovered that the best e-mailers with interesting content also had good blogs. VERY good blogs! Most of the juicy e-mails with riveting titles link off to blogs that rock!
THIS MORNING A MESSAGE CAUGHT MY EYE
One guy in the ‘YES – MUST BE READ’ file is David Perdew and he prompted me into action.
He was writing about a Blog Challenge that is going to be run in April.
Here is a bit of David’s Message:
“Hey, I’ve never done Paul Taubman’s Ultimate Blog Challenge, although I’ve always wanted to. It’s a pretty awesome idea. 30 blog posts in 30 days… So, I’ve signed up for the April challenge (just because I thought I might have a free 15 minutes). Actually, this is one of those things I think I’ll make time for. Blogging has been really good for us. We just need to do more of it.”
I went over to my blog and – shock horror – the latest post there had ‘January in the title’. Now – here in the UK we put our clocks forward this weekend. What is happening to time and my new year intentions?
Like David – I actually know how important blogs have been for me in the past and I am letting it slip again.
There is nothing like a challenge to get you motivated again and commit to action – especially if there are other people involved.
I have heard Paul Taubman talk in a couple of webinars and I didn’t hang around. I know the blog challenge will be promoted and supported and that there will be mutual benefits for all taking part.
I signed up.
The welcome e-mail had a link to a conversation ‘Why You Need a Blog’ by Michele Scism who started the blog challenge some years ago and Danni Ackerman and Paul Taubman who have joined her to present the quarterly events.
So here it is – my first blog since January – inviting you to check out this challenge.
Invitation…
Come on Derek, Graham, Steve, Adam, Sue, Lucy, Uncle Tom Cobley and All. Why not join me? A blog a day during April.
So you know where to come in April to see me daily. I will be delighted to welcome you.
I am replying in this blog to a good question I was asked this morning.
I received an e-mail from a guy who I will call M. His message: “One question Keith – is that an affiliate link? As in you get a percentage if I buy?”
That is a fair question – and I usually put at the bottom of an article a note to indicate there may be an affiliate link in my message.
BUT what is the issue really. The thing is that it was an affiliate link and I will tell you more about that below. However let me explain the point of writing this blog. It does have a purpose.
I am going to write back to M – telling him to come and read this blog post.
Why?
I want M to get to know me. I wouldn’t put my affiliate link to anything that I didn’t know a lot about. I want M to get to know me and see that my intentions are to help him. I want M to see that I am genuine. Integrity is the most important part to make affiliate programmes work for you. Here in my blog I am exposed and bare (not a great thought). This is ME – warts and all.
HERE IS THE STORY
I have been involved with the web and internet marketing for many years. I have watched a lot of people that I know well who have made fortunes on the web – selling other peoples products as an affiliate.
The reason that they have had such success is because they have learned some skills – list building, driving large amounts of traffic to websites, making products to give away, using videos, webinars and social media – and so on – but most of all by having a presence on the web and letting people get to know them well. Self Branding.
And that is what I am doing right now.
So – we have a website where we sell self-hypnosis products – and they are evergreen products which sell well. We want nothing more than to get affiliates selling our products and giving a large commission for doing just that.
Who better to sell them? I will give you the answer – people who have used self-hypnosis products themselves in the past. They can promote them – as long as they have learned the skills as highlighted above.
AND – that is what I did this weekend.
I wrote to all of our self-hypnosis customers and asked them to put their hands in the air if they wanted to learn more about being an affiliate. I wanted to build a list of prospects who will receive the specific information about affiliate marketing.
M – was one of the responders who then got my follow up letter.
Here is that letter that M received with an affiliate link:-
Hi M*****
Thank you for clicking on the link to say that you are interested about internet marketing and selling our products as an affiliate.
I must start off with a warning though. You need someone with you. There are many people that make money – in fact a lot of money – selling other peoples products – BUT – they have learned the game. You need proper training.
I myself, am part of a mastermind group and I am keen for you to join me – I totally enjoy learning how to market online.
Now I really want you to think about all of this carefully.
I am going to write and guide you if you will take one simple action.
I am going to send you to a page where you can find out all about making money on line. It will cost you 1$ (yes is an American website) and you will get 14 days access to the very best resources available anywhere on the web. (I am a man who has been around and made some bad mistakes before I got the best advice).
Now M***** – I will be in touch with anyone that signs up for the 14 Days trial – I will be delighted to help you in every way with all the advice I can give. Just $1 to go and find out about David and NAMS.
I feel so confident that you will see the Integrity of David if you look into NAMS.
Here is the best affiliate marketing teacher I can send you to check out. I think you will soon be happily adding affiliate links in your messages in the future.
My wife has kept a diary for years. I must feature in there somewhere – well probably everywhere – dread to think.
Like all diaries it is her private corner and will probably make a good read some day for our ancestors. I am not destined to see those entries – I have never been tempted to look.
The diary is really useful though and if we are chatting away at a dinner party and bickering over the date of this or that – then the diary is consulted. In many ways I wish I had kept one – all too late to say that after the event – there you go. Is it too late to start now? I will probably just go on blogging – probably on and off.
I have dabbled with a blog over the years – not this one as you can see by the dearth of entries – and actually enjoyed my moments of putting down some thoughts. The odd smirk as I re-imagine wacky ups and downs of my life. It is however very public and you do have to hold yourself back from saying TOO much.
I came across an old blog of mine the other day – and was embarrassed. (you note – I haven’t added a link) Did I really SAY that – Did I even think THAT!! It is amazing how our experiences do update our behaviour.
OK – this is random. I am well now so what is the excuse this time for not posting more blog posts?
That is a great question even though I posed it myself. There is no answer really though except I haven’t.
So well done those who set a daily target and just do it.
One such person is Robin Ince who clearly has much more discipline than me – AND – I find his blog posts amusing and he is a great observer of the absurd.
I have just been reading a few blog posts by Robin who is an author and broadcaster (I first heard of him presenting a science radio programme with Professor Brian Cox) I found the posts very amusing. One post was about insomnia and as well as clicking that I liked it I saw a link at the top of the page that I had never seen before marked reblog. Now I am familiar with retweeting so I thought go for it!
Mistake,
How many times have I told Tom (son) Zoe (daughter) Babs (the one who is to be obeyed – the missus) not to just click things to see what happens.
What I expected to happen and what transpired – you’ve guessed it – were totally different.
I expected to be asked to login to my blog – this one you are reading now – and for it to just land on my site with all the references back from where it came.
Wrong.
After a lot of clicking about I found it on one of my clients blogs (well I did and didn’t) – it turned out that for some reason I was still logged into one of my client’s websites which I finished setting up for him about two years ago – and that is where the blog was reblogged. Huh! Sorry Shaan. Except the page was headed up with the insomnia title etc but with also a 404 message that the page couldn’t be found.
If you have just found that last paragraph confusing so did I. What is it all about – we are losing control of where our data goes.
The web has certainly turned strange since social media has developed. Now everything is linked up to each other – a whisper in Poole Dorset can end up on a Pinterest- -Instagram-Facebook-Twitter retweet on a Japanese website. It’s all out there now but not necessarily where you want it or expect it.
Maybe I am beginning to show my age.
Bah Humbug.
Yes! I’ve posted a message – NOW can I do the same tomorrow? You’ll have to come back then to find out.
Hostgator – bless them – suspended this blog – this very site – once again.
Why?
Well I have been sending phishing messages. As if I would do that from a personal blog deliberately.
Why would I? It is my blog and I care about this.
Am I being naive in thinking that Hostgator shares some responsibility for protecting me from this. I am a client, a paying client and the answer to someone attacking my site is for them to say that I am a security risk and take my site down. (more…)
