The biggest question, and hardest for me, is what kind of content to use. That’s going to vary with each individual and is worth an article on it’s own I’m sure. What I’m going to look at more today is the format of one’s content and what will keep me subscribed to your list and what will send me to the unsubscribe link.

I, like probably most people entering the Internet Marketing field, have had the misfortune of falling into the trap of subscribing to Joint Venture Giveaways and downloading loads of crap. Along with the crap comes subscriptions to a multitude of mailing lists. My experience with these Joint Venture Giveaways has led me to believe that the vast majority of contributors to these events are the laziest of Internet Marketers and possess very little knowledge of how to MARKET.

I say lazy because many seem to feel that all they need to do is join one of these events, build a list and then start spamming sales messages to it. Want me to unsubscribe from your list? Send me nothing but sales messages…I’ll be gone by the time I’ve received the second. Quite possibly after the first one.

Then we have the “My good friend ….. has this great FREE product that he’s allowed me to offer ONLY to my list members.”  (translation: I’ve never met or talked to this “good friend” but he’s a JV partner or I’m an affiliate of his and I’m hoping to make some money from you buying his upsell after you sign-up for HIS list and download some more crap). So you download another piece of garbage to go with all the other GREAT stuff you’ll never look at in that steadily growing folder of…crap. And you’re now subscribed to another mailing list to which the owner’s first message to you will probably be…”My good friend ….. has this great FREE product that he’s allowed me to offer ONLY to my list members.”

I have got to the point that I don’t even open these mailings anymore if it’s apparent in GMail’s preview what they are… or I just delete them if I find them to be of that nature. I’m also pretty much at the point of unsubscribing from anybody who uses this method of list marketing. They waste my time and provide nothing of value.

The next one high on my list of sending me to the unsubscribe link is the video marketer. I see video in the preview and I just hit delete as they’re a bigger time waster then the “opt-in marketer”. Often times they are just using video to send you to an opt-in. Videos have a time and place but, unfortunately, they’re being abused and I’m personally becoming very tired of them.

Perhaps I’ve become jaded and/or highly critical but I’ve no patience anymore for the way some people market with their lists. I’ve culled the vast majority of the lists I’ve signed up to and am very picky now to whose I will join.

What type of list will I join and remain subscribed to?

Michel Fortin‘s mailing list, in my view, is the perfect example of how to market with your list. He will send out three or so links to blog posts of his, past or present, all providing excellent content. I have no intentions of ever writing my own copy from scratch but do want to learn how to edit existing copy effectively and to understand what copywriting is all about. I’ve bookmarked every one of Michel’s posts…they’re that good. When he does market something it’s something within his niche and he doesn’t try to hide the fact he’s promoting something. He does a review and sends you to the sales page. Good content and no BS…I like that.

Another list I belong to is owned by Ian Traynor. He sends out a weekly newsletter that begins with a summary of the content. So, in a manner of a minute or two, I can decide if I want to continue reading or not. And, if I do, I already know what to scroll to that holds my interest. It’s always a mix of a free download (no opt-in baloney), a product promotion and free advice. Once a month he provides members a free package of content…usually PLR articles or something of that nature. Straightforward, no nonsense and consistent.

The others I subscribe to offer either free downloads that I can make use of, like articles I can rewrite, and/or advice mixed with non-opt-in promotions. The majority are promotion of their own products often tied in with the free downloads they offer. Value mixed with intelligent marketing.

These are my personal likes and dislikes but I hope they provide you a little incite in how to populate your autoresponder.

“Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal, not of selling a product or service.“
Brian Tracy

Which leads me to his next product, JV Auction Profits. In this eBook, John explains the technique he uses to harness the power of gaining that extra profit from eBay without the fee’s and the eBay rules. Rules which we all know change like the weather. Just to give you a little insight into the power of this technique…John has earned over $35,000 while putting in a minimal amount of effort per week.

So what is JV Auction Profits all about? Well without giving too much away this is certainly going to be the best $10 you have spent this year. It has the potential to make you thousands of dollars if you fit the criteria which is outlined below.

To qualify for the info you need:

1, An eBay account or the ability to open one.

2. A little drive to put some work in (nothing falls on your lap for free)

3. You may have to admit that you’ve wasted a lot of your life working for the wrong
person. Now it’s time to start working for the right person – YOU.

Now for this to work:

You DON’T need a product.

You DON’T have to have experience with Johns system

You DON’T need any money to set this up

John will show you how he does it using real life examples

You don’t have to write an eBook. This is NOT about writing eBooks!

John will explain fully how you can do the same as he does and take more cash to the bank.

Now this is not about selling… it is about watching and, without giving to much away, all you need to do find is find people with the same business interests as you to make this work. This can work for you, me and every other eBay seller on the planet and that’s a lot of guys to JV with.

If you are a seller, I would definitely say you have a leg up on the rest but what John teaches is so versatile we can all use it.

I am limited to what I can disclose as the info is so informative, that is why John has given everyone the opportunity to refund in full if you are not satisfied with the outcome. The returns on your investment will clearly blow the $10 spent away this I know for a fact, so invest today and put this invaluable info into action.

To purchase go here: JV Auction Profits.

John is also about to launch a new program teaching you step by step how to take PLR products and profit from them. It’s called “Profit from PLR”. I was fortunate enough to receive these videos as he was making them and they are very well done. For anyone looking for an easy, economical way to implement an income stream these videos will provide the knowledge to do so.

I have followed John for some time. He and Alex Jeffreys are from the same mold. They both over deliver and believe in giving before receiving.  I personally feel one can’t go wrong with either one of these gentlemen.

I purchased JV Auction Profits for myself and and have viewed the about to be released videos and was pleased with both… as I’m sure you will be.

To view a short video on Profiting from PLR go to Profit from PLR.

There’s no false hopes here, I don’t expect great things to happen but it’s a start. I’ve now gone through the process and surpassed the hurdles. Well, almost. Still not 100% yet but what’s left is stuff I’ve done hundreds of times before. Now that I’ve gone through the process once the second time around should be much easier.

I’ve reached the point where I need to start earning some money doing this…the wolf isn’t at the door yet but I hear him out in the woods. This won’t, I’m sure, be bringing in any large amounts of revenue but even a trickle at this stage would be nice.

My first baby step…very exciting!

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” Scott Adams

A project I`ve been working on is coming to completion. At least I hope so. I was hoping to have it out some time ago but ran into some hurdles. It`s become even more important as the benefits I`ve been receiving for my bad shoulder are about to run out so an income stream from all this is becoming much more important. I haven`t mentioned my shoulder, and how it`s largely behind me entering the Internet Marketing field, as it was going to be brought up in my “About” page which I have yet to get around to doing. (see above about planning going out the window ) Anyways, I’m an electrician by trade, have been for over thirty years, and I’m no longer able to raise my right arm above my shoulder for extended periods of times. This is due to a combination of chronic bursitis and a small tendon tear. Needless to say, I’m not of much use as an electrician with that kind of a limitation so here I am trying to do this Internet Marketing thing.

Being that I’ve fallen behind in my posting and things have kind of got out of sync in terms of what Alex has taught us, and when, I’ll be trying to do a post on each module in the near future. I’m going to give each one another listen then post on it. They may become a little spread out as there’s other things I want to post on also and projects that need my attention but I hope to get caught up fairly quickly.

I think this quote is appropriate for how things have gone in the past couple of weeks.

“The best plans of men and mice often go awry” Robert Burns

So why did I balk at using it in the online world until seeing it discussed by Alex Jeffreys when I was used to using it in the offline world? I suppose it was largely because I felt I could do the tasks cheaper myself but, as I have learned, I was fooling myself to a large extent. The biggest mistake was not viewing my online business the same as I did my offline one even though the same principles apply. Every business, be it online or not, requires a certain amount of investment both in time and money. The trick is knowing when your time is better spent doing something else.

What do you feel your time is worth? Do you feel you’re worth $10 an hour? $20? I found that to be a hard number to determine initially as I was basing it to a large extent on what I made as an electrician, more accurately, what the going rate was for one. That, of course, wasn’t going about it right as Internet Marketing is not Electrical Contracting. What I finally did was figure out my monthly expenses and base what my time is worth on that.

Once I arrived at that figure it was far easier to see where I could use outsourcing to my benefit. While outsourcing copywriting and graphics work was pretty apparent to me from the start I had a little lesson in how Web Hosting could also be something to consider. I’m pretty good at the techie stuff. I can set-up a blog in no time and am comfortable digging around in the code to make changes but is it cost beneficial for me to be doing so? I’ve come to find that putting up my own blogs makes sense but digging around in the code maybe not so much. This became apparent when I noticed that the link text was being hidden on my comments page due to the colour of my headers. After mucking around for an hour or so and not finding a solution I sent an email off to Sheryl at ProHost Management asking her if she could fix it for me. This was at midnight or so and the following morning I woke up to find that she’d found a solution and the text was now visible. Needles to say, Sheryl will be hearing from in the future should stuff like that crop up and I’ll be spending my time doing something more beneficial…or fun.

The reason I brought the trouble with my links up is to illustrate that sometimes you have to look a little deeper into where outsourcing can prove to be more beneficial. I also have hosting with Hostmonster who have provided me with quality hosting for some time, and still do. They are cheaper then ProHost but don’t provide the same level of support and there’s where I started to look at Web Hosting as a form of outsourcing. While I initially opened up an account with ProHost for their Social Traffic Hosting package I’ve come to realize that the extra support…outsourcing…will also be of great benefit to me.

So look a little deeper at the tasks you’re doing. You may find that you’re far better off to have someone else do them while you concentrate on doing things you’re more proficient at. Also look past the price and more at the services and features offered. Don’t just concentrate on the present, look to the future. While some features may not be beneficial to you at this time they may in the future. Changing services later can prove to be costly and/or inconvenient.

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” Vince Lombardi

Then my outsourcing didn’t pan out as expected. Some of it is taking longer then I’d hoped, which is fine. I’d sooner see the time being spent to put out a good finished product then rush it and get something that’s second rate. The results from the three outsourcing sites I used, ELance, GetaFreelancer and oDesk Outsourcing, for one project have left a bit to be desired. Interestingly enough, eLance has provided the smallest response of the three. Several providers have asked for a deposit and I was wondering what you folks reading this think of that. It’s nothing major, rewriting existing copywriting, so I personally feel that a deposit is unwarranted but I’m new to all this and could use the views of others.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. I’ve learned lots, and that in itself makes for a successful week, and I did get a few smaller items out of the way. One super thing that happened is I got a personal taste of the awesome support that Alex Jeffreys students are providing for everyone. I was wondering what a fair price would be for the outsourcing of a project and figured I’d see if Twitter would provide an answer. To no surprise it didn’t but one of my fellow students shot me a direct message and he is now having a look at it. I’m not going to mention his name as it involves something he’s really not interested in doing any longer but to say I appreciate this is a huge understatement. It’s kind of getting down to crunch time with me and getting this product out is pretty important. So having someone offering to help, and especially with something they’d prefer not to be doing, out of the blue like this is really awesome and so greatly appreciated.

I’ve expressed a couple of times in the forums how I think we have such a great community already but this really brings it home. While Alex Jeffreys course in itself is providing great value I really feel that the community that’s been built around the course and him may very well prove to be the biggest thing of it all. The future looks bright.

“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone … and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.” Sandra Day O’Connor

As mentioned, posting journals and having partners are great tools but they don’t mean squat if you can’t hold yourself accountable. They are aids only, accountability is only achieved through one’s own efforts. While posting journals may not be the way to go for all people everyone should be religiously keeping a journal. I can’t think of a better way then looking at your short term to-do list and your did list to account for what you’ve achieved over time. If you go back a week and most of your to-do list is still there you have problems. If it stills mostly there after a month you’d best have a long look at yourself in the mirror. This, of course, is where planning plays such a critical part. I’ve always planned but not to the degree suggested in the course and I can see where it would have helped. My planning was with a pretty broad brush and could have used a lot more finesse. I have a long ways to go in learning how to plan properly but have already seen improvements in my habits and most of all for accounting to myself. I’ve always kept track of my activities in a notepad scribbler and have found it to be invaluable. It’s all there for you to refer back on things and to check on your progress. Also, you’re not loosing or throwing out sheets like you might do with individual ones and you can’t walk away from being accountable. It’s all there for you to see, what you did and what you didn’t do. That’s been my biggest asset.

I’m in no way trying to downplay what having a partner can do for you and/or what posting your journal may achieve but I feel accountability has to start within yourself.

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable” Moliere

“Forward to Basics“. This module focuses on the basics of running a business and having it run smoothly. The core of it is planning and organization. Short term, mid-term and long term planning or, put another way, daily, weekly, monthly, quartly and yearly. By planning your tasks you enable yourself to focus more and you greatly improve your productivity. It hasn’t even been a week since the first module and I’ve seen my productivity go up greatly. This in itself may not be a new concept to some of you, although I’m guessing most of you don’t do it, but one element that’s discussed is breaking your tasks up into priorities and labeling them A, B or C. By doing this you’re focusing on the tasks that need to be done and leaving the lesser ones for later. I started with talking of putting up a new site as it illustrates how well this can work. You may plan to spend four hours to put up your new blog but easily use up the whole day and still not finish. However, by planning your tasks you have them written down and can just move everything forward until such time that you can complete them. You may even find that some of the B’s and C’s weren’t even necessary. Longer term planning helps to make sure you don’t pass over other important A tasks that can so easily be forgotten.

You may find it hard to plan far ahead, I know I certainly do, but as you progress it should become easier. Reading the forums I get the sense that some people take some things too literally, which may not be the best way to approach things. I feel you need to adapt courses like this to your own needs, abilities, goals, etc. Personally, I’m not in this business to try and make millions of dollars but to make a comfortable living with the least amount of effort. That’s not to say I’ll turn away the opportunity to make millions but I’m obviously going to approach things differently then someone who is after that kind of money. I’m also single and have no family so my plans are going to differ from those with a family. All these factors can affect the way you plan and the ease with which you can do it. I am finding that by always doing a “did sheet“, keeping track of tasks completed, and making a daily and weekly plan that I find myself thinking of things that can be done next week. I’m guessing that as I progress further that it will advance into thinking of things months ahead. The main thing is to make sure you plan at some level. At a minimum plan tomorrow today. If you can plan farther ahead all the better. “Forward to Basics” is much more then just planning and delves into other areas to prepare us for building our businesses and to say I was impressed is an understatement. I’m looking forward in anticipation to the next module.

“Attitude is everything, shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll be amongst the stars.” Authour unknown