You Can Help Save a Life
September 30, 2007
If you’ve read this blog for a while - you’ll know I’m really big on the idea of giving something back.
In fact, I don’t even see the point in building a business if you’re just in the business of making money for yourself, and don’t want to help to improve the world.
And I know many of you who contribute to this blog feel the same.
My friend, Mel, over at the Foo Logs has a friend - Steve Kunitsky - who is desperately in need of your help. Steve has cancer - it went away for a while. But after discovering that his medical insurance did not cover the treatment he had already had - the cancer returned.
This is a terrible tragedy. It must be awful enough to find out that the life threatening disease you have fought has returned, without discovering that you face a massive unexpected bill for the treatment you have had.
Please try to help in any way you can. All help would be gratefully appreciated by Steve and his family. For example, you could blog about Steve’s plight, or make a small donation.
You can find further details on how you can help Steve by visiting the Save a Life section at the top of this blog, or by visiting this post at the Foo Logs.
He Can Make You Rich If………….
September 30, 2007
Paul McKenna says he can make you rich. But there’s a catch. He says it won’t work if you’re already happy with what you have. This makes sense because you’ve really got to want to succeed, if you want to improve at anything.
McKenna put in a lot of research before he wrote the book and interviewed several high achieving business people including Richard Branson, Anita Roddick and Philip Green.
And he’s managed to make himself rich too. He’s now a multi-millionaire but McKenna was a high school drop out. In fact, according to a recent interview, he performed so badly at school that his English teacher wrote in his report, “If he carries on like this, he’ll never amount to anything.†When, his first book was published he sent the teacher a copy with “F*** you†written inside the front cover.
I’ve ordered the book and I’m going to be trying it out this week. But, if you don’t want to wait for my review, you can get I Can Make You Rich
If You Do This Your Customers Will Never Trust You Again
September 29, 2007
I’ve seen this same mistake made over and over again - especially on the Internet. If you make it your customers will never trust you again.
And it’s a simple one to avoid. Don’t refer your customers to products or services that suck. Unfortunately, many people do it, just to make a quick profit, and they must a) think their customers are incredibly stupid, or b) not realise the value of a long term relationship with a customer.
This can really become a problem for affiliate marketers, because often, they recommend dozens of different products. And sometimes, they can’t afford to buy the item themselves to check out the quality, especially if they’re recommending expensive stuff.
But, there are precautions you can take to protect yourself:
1) Don’t recommend a product that sounds like it may be a rip off. Some of them are pretty obvious - like the ones that promise to turn you into a millionaire overnight. If you don’t want to sample the product yourself, and you’re unsure of the quality don’t recommend it.
2) Don’t ever deliberately rip someone off. Recently I paid for a service which ended up being way overpriced and of little value. I didn’t bother complaining because when someone is ripping you off to that extent, they know they’re doing it and they probably don’t care. The worst thing is, the same person keeps trying to refer the services of several of her friends to me. The latest was a MLM company, with overpriced products and more bad internet reviews and warnings than Amway. She must be absolutely off her rocker if she thinks I’m going to buy from any of these people. But unfortunately - some people try to push their luck and it usually backfires in a big way.
3) Never recommend something just because the commissions are high. A few months ago, on a forum, I read a post asking where it was possible to get cheap, or free photos for your website. Now there are plenty of good cheap resources, but one woman recommended a service which sells photos for $1000 plus per photo - with her affiliate link of course. I don’t know how she expected anyone to take her recommendation seriously, or any other recommendations that she made in the future. After all, someone who is looking for cheap website photos doesn’t want and probably can’t afford to pay those prices. But, obviously, the slightest chance of a big commission was more important to her than her integrity.
4) Do your homework. If you are recommending high cost products - eg furniture etc, do as much research as possible into the supplier and/or product. If there are several unfavourable reviews, don’t recommend them.
5) Never feel obliged to give a testimonial. If you get a sample of a free ebook, and it sucks, politely tell the author that you can’t endorse it. And don’t get yourself into joint ventures with people who’s products you wouldn’t honestly recommend if there was no benefit to you. Always ask yourself this question: Would I sell this product to my parents? And if the answer is no, don’t sell it to anyone else either.
Teenager Turns Down Offer Of $2.5 million For Her Business
September 28, 2007
You read lots of claims about teenagers making money online. And if you’re like me, you probably think - yeah right, what a load of bull. Maybe their parents are trying to make a fast buck using their name. Or perhaps the kid hasn’t really made a dime and just wants to sell you some worthless info product. And a lot of the time, you’d be right.
But, 17 year old Ashley Qualls is doing very nicely online. In fact, according to Fast Company Magazine, she recently turned down £1.5 million dollars and the car of her choice, for her website - Whatever Life. And the girl clearly has her head screwed on for someone so young, as she’s just turned down another offer of $2.5 million
Ashley built the site three years ago, and it attracts more than 7 million unique visitors a month. But you would be forgiven for thinking she’d had any outside help. Her parents had no business experience, and the only financial investment she received was a loan of $8 from her mother to buy a domain name.
Whateverlife offers myspace type layouts for girls. It is monetised mainly by Google Adsense and Value Click, and nets Ashley a whopping $70,000 a month.
And not only is Ashley becoming extremely rich - her business has also brought her celeb like fame. She recently appeared on CNN and she’s scheduled to appear on The View this evening. Plus she’s already signed up with a Hollywood talent agency and she’s thinking about writing a book on how she built her business.
Isn’t this a great story? Ashley really seems to have her head screwed on. And if she’s already been offered $2.5 million for her business, you can bet it’s worth a heap more. So, I think she’s smart to hang onto it. But, obviously not all teenagers could handle this type of success. Would you encourage your child to start a business so young. And what advice would you give to Ashley?
Click here to discover how you can make tons of cash online too.
