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Do Me A Favor - Don’t Back Up Your Databases…

February 26, 2008

Huh? Why would I say such a thing?

Simple really. If you don’t back up your databases of customers, subscribers, etc., then when your database becomes corrupt, or your webhost screws you and dumps your databases or whatever, then you’ll have to start all over from scratch.

And while your doing that, I will continue to market my products and services. See, you’ll be busy REbuilding, and I’ll be busy prospering. Because I took the time to back up my databases with an automated, hands-free system.

In all the years I have been operating a business on line, it still amazes me how few people take the time to properly back themselves up. People have way too much faith in technology and/or the competence of others.

Either one can let you down. In fact, odds are one or the other will. There’s no way to predict when, how, where, etc. so why take a chance? Especially these days when there are so many ways to stay backed up?

In this article I am specifically talking about databases. Not your local hard drives or not your web pages. Why?

Let’s take these one at a time…

Your hard drive on your local computer…even though not everyone backs up on a regular basis, there seems to be an endless supply of backup solutions - both free and paid - to cover this. There are also many articles and “how-to’s” on the various ways to back up your hard drive. Doing a simple Google search will reveal thousands of discussions, products and more on this topic.

Backing up your web pages…Let me ask you a question. When you build a website, do you build it entirely on line? Or do you typically use an off-line web page builder (such as Dreamweaver, Nvu, Frontpage) then upload them to your web server?

Most people build them off line. I know I do. So to me, backing up all of my web pages is already taken care of when I back up my hard drives. No sense in doing this two ways.

Databases. Now here’s the one most people either overlook or avoid. Overlook because some don’t even realize they are even USING a database (as odd as that may sound). Think about it…these days, you have CPanel hosting complete with Fantastico installer. When you set up a Wordpress blog, some may not even realize that a database is being set up in the background.

Many people also assume their webhosts automatically back up their databases. This is a BIG mistake. Good hosting services will do automatic backups. But with the popularity of cheap and free hosting, people are more attracted to the 2 GB of storage and don’t even bother to ask about backups.

Avoid - the biggest reason people don’t back up their database is because unless you know how, it’s technically challenging for the average person. Some may know how to properly back up using phpMyAdmin, but most do not. It’s intimidating for the average person.

Even those who know how to back up a database fall short in this one last area: consistency. They log in, back up, log out and that’s it. A few months may go by before they remember to back up again.

While this may be better than nothing, if you have an active business where your database of customers grows daily, than anything less than once per day is not enough.

Hope is not all lost though. There are answers out there for you. I can think of two right off the bat.

CPSiteSaver (http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/cpsitesaver/ ): This one is a Windows desktop application. It’s very reasonably priced and simple to use. It will back up your entire website and your databases. There are two “drawbacks” to this one.

1- Since it’s a desktop application, it’s not technically fully automated. You must have your computer running and the application open for backups to take place. This is not so bad if you are on your computer a lot. Just make sure the application starts up with Windows, and schedule your backups for when you know you are on line.

2- It only works with CPanel/MySQL systems. Also not the end of the world as it seems the majority of the hosting solutions out there use CPanel/

Database Backup Generator (http://www.databasebackupgenerator.com ): This one is installed on your website (server side). Also very reasonably priced. The drawback to this one:

1- If you are not familiar with installing scripts, you’ll need to hire someone.
2- Only works on CPanel/MySQL systems (see above)
3- Only backs up databases. To me, not the end of the world if you build your sites off line and you do regular backups to your system.

What I like about DBG is once you set it, it truly is hands-free, set and forget. It will continue to do automatic backups (via Cron) until you tell it to stop. It also allows you to send your backups via FTP to another server, and/or it will email you download links for your backups.

No matter what your preference is, just make it a point to back up the most important part of your business…your database. Websites are easily replacable. Your database of customers is not.

Remember - there are people out there that will gladly scoop up your customers.

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Article Copyright 2008 Central Net Enterprises, LLC and Michael Ambrosio. You may reprint as long as you leave this resource box in place.

Michael Ambrosio is an entreprenuer and online marketer. To read more marketing nuggets from Michael please visit http://www.mikeambrosio.com. Marketing For The Rest Of Us!
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    Written by Mike · Filed Under Articles 

    Five Ways to Increase Your Online Profits

    February 18, 2008

    What you will read below was inspired by Mike Filsaime. We had a meeting in the office and this is the kind of wisdom he imparts on us. People pay top dollar for this and I get it free. I’m a lucky guy…

    Anyway, just wanted to share it with you. Enjoy…
    ==============================

    Does this sound familiar to you?

    Create a product
    Grab some JV partners
    Send an email to your list
    Count your sales
    Create a new product
    Repeat process……

    Now, there’s nothing wrong with adding more products to your “arsenal”. The more profit streams the better. But one thing I have noticed, and I have been guilty of, is once that initial promotion is over, we all but abandon the product. We just leave it there for the search engines to find.

    That’s all fine, but what if you could increase the sales on your already existing products? Just by making a few simple changes, or additions. Let’s take a look at five things you can do to increase your profits.

    1 - More leads, or traffic to your sites.

    Seems obvious enough, right? But the question is, do you do this now? If not, how can you do this? Here’s a few ways to get more traffic to your sites:

    - Buy traffic (ppc, advertising, ezines, etc)
    - Borrow traffic (JV’s, email ad swaps, etc)
    - Integration (put your ads on other people’s sites, download pages, etc)
    - Create traffic
    - Viral traffic (ebooks, software, giveaway’s, etc)

    2- Increase your conversions.

    Another one that is obvious but so few people do. Increasing your conversions will increase your profits without ANY additional visitors to your sites. So just imagine if you can take your conversion from 2% to 4%. That’s double your profit. Add to this an increase in traffic and, well, now we’re really going to see a difference.

    Here’s just a few ways to increase you conversions…

    - Client Chat (such as Upselldotcom.com)
    - Exit Popups (irregardless of what you’ve heard, these DO work)
    - Videos on sales page
    - Videos on One Time Offer pages
    - Testing and revamping your site (images, copy, etc.)

    Doing any one or ALL of these things can send your conversions through the roof.

    3- Increase profits per transaction.

    What does this mean? Simply put - upsells, downsells, cross sells and bumps. The most successful and savvy marketers already know this and implement any or all of these in all of their sales processes. Even McDonalds does this:

    “Uh, give me the number 3 with a coke please”
    “Sure. Would you like to upsize your order sir?” (upsell)
    “Sure, why not?”
    “And how about a nice hot apple pie for dessert?” (cross sell)
    “Oooo, yeah!”
    “And would you like to add a second apple pie for only 50 cents?” (bump)
    “I shouldn’t…but okay!”

    Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? You see this a lot because it’s very effective. Consider doing this with ALL of your products.

    4- Reduce loss

    Simply put, lowering refunds. There’s a few things you can do here.

    - Increased customer service
    - More Help or Tutorial videos for your product
    - Offer a different product in PLACE of a refund

    Bottom line, there are ways to reduce the amount of dollars you give in refunds by taking simple measures or being creative with your customers. Of course, if your customers are insistent, give the refund…

    5- Frequency and Continuity

    Simply put, don’t forget about the customers you already have. I can’t tell you how many times I have purchased a product, got my download and never hear from the product creator again.

    Whenever I create a new product, one of the first things I do is offer it at a discount to my existing customers before I do a general launch. Reward your customers whenever you can. This not only builds loyalty. It also makes them open your emails eagerly, knowing there is a possible new product with a discount coming their way.

    Continuity - the holy grail product. Work your customers into a recurring continuity program of some sort. There’s nothing better than having several hundred or several thousand customers paying you over and over.

    Like I said - seems pretty obvious, right? If you have a handful of products out there now, and you don’t know what to create next…don’t create anything. Revisit ALL of your products and make some changes. Drive new traffic to your products. Write articles and submit them to article directories. Set up joint venture mailings, ad swaps and integration with other products.

    Doing these simple, but often overlooked things can literally double or even triple your profits.

    ================================
    Would you like to put this article on your site? Be sure to leave this resource box in tact.

    Michael Ambrosio is a successful internet marketer and product creation expert. You can learn to create your own products quickly and easily… go to: http://www.easyproductprofits.com. Follow from concept to profit as he creates and markets a simple piece of software and earns five figures in sales in two weeks time.
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      Written by Mike · Filed Under Articles 

      Crazy Valentine Weekend Special

      February 17, 2008

      musing-sm.jpgWhat’s crazy?

      I’ll get to that shortly. Before I do, I wanted to tell you to keep an eye out soon for an email from me and my partner Fabio. We want to ask you a couple of very important questions… In the next couple of days.

      Happy Valentine’s Day!

      This is the day to let those loved ones in your life know how much you love and care about them. I know I’ll be taking the day off and doing something special with my wife.

      I also have something special planned for you… and this is the crazy part I mentioned above.

      I have for you a special coupon code that will be active until this Sunday, February 17th. This code will get you 50% off of almost all of my products.

      Half off! But only for a short time.

      Here’s where your coupon code will work:

      You Cant Block This (will also work on the OTO)
      http://www.youcantblockthis.com

      Install Your Own Scripts Ebook (and the PLR/MRR OTO)
      http://www.installyourownscripts.com/special

      PLR Dominance
      http://www.plrdominance.com

      Easy Product Profits
      http://www.easyproductprofits.com

      Content Box Generator (will also work on the OTO)
      http://www.contentboxgenerator.com

      Affiliate Video Brander
      http://www.affiliatevideobrand.com

      The Web Traffic Pack
      http://www.webtrafficpack.com

      Marketing Fusion Secrets
      http://marketingfusionsecretscall.com/

      Take your pick from any of the listed products. When you order, you will come to a place to enter a coupon code. When you do, use:

      HalfOff-Limited

      Just like you see it. After you update with your code, you will magically see the price drop 50%.

      But remember…you only have until Sunday night!

      Like I said…crazy.

      To Your Success,

      Michael Ambrosio
      MrOverDeliver

      P.S. I expect awesome conversions this weekend. So I invite you to tell everyone you know about this. After you purchase, grab your affiliate link and tell as many people as you want about the half off limited time coupon. Why not make yourself a few bucks.

        Written by Mike · Filed Under Mikes Musings 

        The Top Five Questions to Ask When Hiring a SEO Expert

        February 6, 2008

        If you have had no luck driving traffic to your website, you may want to employ an expert in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

        When you start your search for an expert, there are several things you should consider:

        1. Start by interviewing the expert. Find out if their style and philosophy will suit your purpose. Give them information about what you want to accomplish and ask them WHAT THEY WILL DO to help you achieve your goals.

        Ask specifically how they will address your objectives. Are you interested in increasing website traffic, increasing brand recognition, or increasing online sales?

        Are you planning to push one product or service over another on your website? How will they help you accomplish these goals?

        2. Ask for examples of their previous work. Visit the websites they have already worked on and look at the sites. Perform searches with search engines to see where these sites rank on the search engine lists.

        Do they come up in the top ten? Look at the keywords they are using on the sample websites and compare those to the sites that come up in the first, second and third position on the search engine.

        Is the SEO expert giving the right advice to his/her clients?

        In addition to sample websites, see if you can get actual references to call. Contact names and phone numbers for clients who have already worked with the SEO expert can be quite valuable.

        How did the client feel about the SEO expert services? Were they timely in delivering their services? Did they deliver what the promised in additional traffic?

        3. Find out who will be working on YOUR project. It may not be the person who sells you the service. You want to be sure that you have a good team of people assigned to perform various tasks.

        One person isn’t going to be expert in all aspects of search engine optimization. How many projects have these team members worked on for this employer and what success stories can they tell?

        What reports will they produce?

        At minimum, their documentation should include:

        Your current web traffic results

        A list of issues they feel you should address, and what they will do to resolve these issues

        Progress reports on your project

        Post-Mortem reports to demonstrate positive results for website traffic, etc.

        4. Ask for white papers, reports and any documented processes the SEO expert has to offer. What exactly does the SEO expert do for his fee? Is his or her process logical and thorough? You may not be a search engine expert.

        Nevertheless, if you look at the sequence of their processes, and the activities listed in the SEO process, you may find that your prospective SEO expert is using poor business practices to get information.

        Or perhaps he or she is recommending unrealistic methods or unscrupulous methods to deliver good search engine ranking.

        If this is the case, your initially good search engine ranking may rapidly change to NO search engine ranking when you find yourself booted off search engine lists for bad business practices.

        Make sure you know where your prospective SEO expert firm stands on business ethics.

        You may want search engine optimization but you certainly don’t want ‘keyword stuffing’ without content or logical association to the topic that brings the customer to your website.

        You don’t want false keywords to attract clients and you don’t want cloaking or doorway pages.

        You don’t need to know all the details of how these things work; you just need to get a statement of ethics from your SEO and have a value discussion with the SEO firm and its team members.

        While it may seem that no online business practice could be THAT unethical, your business reputation and your status on search engines WILL be damaged, if your website uses artificial or misleading techniques to attract customers.

        5. What will the SEO expert charge for your project? Is it based on a fixed price project or an hourly rate? Will you have to pay travel expenses or other associated expenses?

        What is included in the price? You should get a detailed accounting in writing, so that you KNOW what you can expect.

        Don’t buy into the explanation that the price is higher, but there is a ‘guarantee’ of results.

        Even the BEST SEO firms will find it hard to guarantee rankings and results when they don’t know what your competitors are doing next and whether new keywords and action will be necessary next month to keep your rankings high.

        A guarantee of ranking and traffic can, at best, only guarantee results for a particular day or time period immediately after the project is completed, and even THEN it is unlikely the guarantee will be exact in terms of results.

        There are many other personal considerations you may have when hiring an expert in SEO.

        However, if you do nothing other than ask these five questions and get the information included in this research, you should be very pleased with the Search Engine Optimization expert you hire.

        ***********************************
        I hear you! Everyone knows there are literally
        DOZENS of ways to drive traffic to your sites.
        But what a pain looking for and buying all the
        different products out there! Web Traffic Pack
        solves that problem for you…

        ==>> http://www.webtrafficpack.com
        ***********************************

          Written by Mike · Filed Under Articles 

          Why Are You On My List Then??

          February 2, 2008

          Internet Marketing is a fun niche. Seriously, I mean that. I have met a ton of wonderful people, and have been to many awesome places. Case in point, my recent trip to New Orleans for the start of Mardi Gras courtesy of Jeff Dedrick.

          I won the trip because I finished in the top five of his affiliate contest. I had a great time. Name other niches that offer these kinds of perks…

          When I decided to try to make money in the Internet Marketing niche, there were a few things I inherently understood as part of the “game”. That is simply this:

          If I sign up to someone’s mailing list, I expect to get mail. Simple, right?

          Of course, not all lists are created equal. I try to pick newsletters that offer value in between pitches. But I still expect to be pitched.

          So it still makes me scratch my head when I receive emails from list members that complain about getting emails, and about being pitched to.

          This isn’t rocket science. On MOST of my subscribe forms, I clearly state that you are signing up to my list and will be receiving emails, which may contain offers from myself or for products I am promoting.

          Last week I wrote an email about John Reese’s one hour long IMA video - one which he touted before releasing that it would be the most important email/video you would ever receive…

          I wrote about why I did not like it. I also was clear that there was no link. It was simply a statement of my opinion. MOST of the feedback I got was positive, and in agreement with my stance.

          Yet I received an email from someone who basically said, “Hey, I signed up for your 12-part ecourse! I don’t want these other emails, so stop sending them to me!”

          I found this amusing because on THIS signup form I DO clearly state that you will receive other mailings from me.

          Normally I ignore emails like this one, but I felt compelled to do two things: Unsubscibe the person and then email him back stating that I unsubscribed them due to their obvious displeasure of being on my list.

          I don’t now, nor have I ever claimed to be perfect. Yes, I send out pure pitch emails. But yes, I also send out pure content emails. That’s how, in my view, this niche works. In my opinion, if this is something “you” don’t understand and accept, then my advice to you is to run as fast as you can from this niche. Find one that does not email so many offers.

          You MUST have a certain level of tolerance to play in the Internet Marketing niche. If you like the info, but don’t like being bombarded with so many pitch mails, here’s a very simple solution for you - and one in which I do myself.

          Go to Yahoo, or Hotmail or Gmail and open yourself a free account. When you sign up for a list because you want the free gift, sign up with this email address. Now, what I do is about once a month I log in and scan the emails.

          The lists which are 100% pitch, or the person sends me 2 or 3 pitch mails per day, I zap them. The ones which are awesome content, I forward to one of my other email addresses so I can read it.

          And in ALL cases, I try to learn something from the emails - which subject lines got me to open, how the emails are structured, etc.

          Do you have desire to simply bitch, moan and complain about these emails? If so then I ask you: “Why are you on my - or any - list then?”. You like the free stuff, right? There is ALWAYS a trade-off. Free stuff is mainly free from spending cash. You pay by allowing the marketer to email you. That’s how it works.

          Disclaimer: I am not referring to scammers, spammers, or those that lie, or trade email addresses. There are plenty of those. I am referring to legitimate marketers who work hard to build their lists.

          Remember - if you don’t like the quality of the mailings you are receiving, simply unsubscribe.

          This isn’t rocket science.

            Written by Mike · Filed Under Mikes Musings 

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