I’m not sure how many of you may have heard of James Brausch.  To be honest with you, I hadn’t heard of him until relatively recently when a marketing friend introduced me to his blog.

I would class him as a rather eccentric marketer.  He’s a multi-millionaire who lives a rather secluded lifestyle with his wife and he basically doesn’t really much give a damn what most everyone else is doing.

His mailing list basically just tells you when he’s written a new blog post and you can check it out.  That’s it.  He’s very blunt, to-the-point, no hype, no BS and he doesn’t pull any punches.

I’m still not sure what I think of him… LOL I read his stuff regularly, sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t.  I’m quite sure he couldn’t give a damn about that either.

Anyway, he wrote an post yesterday on Joint Ventures that really got my attention.  He been through all the usual IM ups and downs in the past, subscribed to all the info overload and BS of this one and that one telling him to do this and that and in the end, after being ‘taken’ and screwed, he decided he’d do things his own way and everyone else could be damned. I LOVE IT!

James doesn’t do ‘Joint Ventures’ for a number of reasons, no doubt one of them being that he’d been screwed in the past and another being a lesson he learned from another marketer, David Frey of Marketing Best Practices.

He basically talks about the ‘law of reciprocity’ which is more of an idea than a law.

If you honestly believe in a product, offer your honest recommendation for it.  Don’t worry about affiliate links and payouts and tracking and all of that.  Perhaps, just perhaps, the marketing whose product you are recommending may do the same for you.

Now, you don’t want to do this with that expectation in mind.  You do this because you truly believe in the product and you truly want to offer something to your readers/subscribers that is honest and straightforward.

The example he used was marketer Terry Dean.  In one of Terry’s most recent newsletters he recommended one of James’ product, no affiliate links, nothing.  James was not even aware that Terry would be doing this until he read it in the newsletter.

Then James pointed out how powerful this technique was;

Let’s consider how powerful that is though.  As compared to a formal joint venture…

1. He didn’t have to call me and make arrangements.  He just did it.

2. He didn’t have to find an affiliate link.

3. His readers didn’t immediately get suspicious and ponder his motives when they saw an affiliate link.

4. He did, in fact, activate the law of reciprocity and will likely receive some kind of favor from me in the future.

5. He didn’t have to struggle with the ethics of the inherent conflict of interest between his obligations to his subscribers and his obligations to me (since he has no obligation to me).

6. The recommendation is much more powerful for me because everyone can easily see that it is simply an honest recommendation without any strings.

7. The recommendation is much more powerful for his subscribers for the same reasons.  They know it is an honest recommendation for their benefit.

8. Terry earns more trust with his subscribers for the same reasons.

9. Honesty is always the best policy.  He will never have to remember the things he has recommended for less than 100% honest reasons.  He has eliminated some stress from his life.

10. He doesn’t have to worry about my honesty and the likelihood that I will be tracking his referrals honestly and will pay him on-time and the correct amount… because there is no tracking nor any agreement that I will pay him anything.

Wow!

Why would anyone do “joint ventures” and lose all of the above advantages?

Kinda makes ya think, doesn’t it? 

Take the time to read James’ full post on Joint Ventures and see what you think.  It’s worth the time it will take to read it. Like I said, some of his stuff I like, some I don’t but he usually does make you think and that’s always a positive!

If you haven’t checked it out yest, what are you waiting for??

I hope you got Camtasia 3 the other day. What a great find and unbelievable for FREE!!.

Today I have another TechSmith FREE software download for you. This one is called SnagIt!

SnagIt is the screen capture and editing software that lets you add stunning effects - and helpful instructions - to anything you see on your PC screen.

• Immediately improve communication by capturing and illustrating your points
• Create customized visuals for handouts, PowerPoints, emails, and Web sites
• Get professional results without the hassle of a hard-to-use editor

You can download it here - http://www.oldapps.com/download.php?oldappsid=SnagIt725.exe

Then go to to TechSmith and register for your software key - http://www.techsmith.com/snagit/ukdn.asp

Enjoy!!!

PS. In case you popped in when the download link was goofed up, it’s fixed now :)  Sorry, ’bout that!

For anyone doing email marketing campaigns, and I hope that anyone doing any kind of online marketing is, spam filters are one of the banes of our existence. then we have the legalities to watch out for too.  Read on to get an informative overview and well as some tips and solutions.

Do the the past influx of unsolicited email from unscrupulous marketers, we now have to deal with CAN-SPAM legalities and spam filters which will quickly trash the email we send if we don’t do it just right and there’s also the problem of serious legal problems as well.

Here’s a bit on the CAN-Spam act of 2003 from Wikipedia:

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701, et seq., Public Law No. 108-187, was S.877 of the 108th Congress), signed into law by President Bush on December 16, 2003, establishes the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions. The acronym CAN-SPAM derives from the bill’s full name: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003. This is also a play on the usual term for unsolicited email of this type, spam. The bill was sponsored in Congress by Senators Conrad Burns and Ron Wyden.

Read the rest of this entry

I have been hunting and hunting for a really good pop-up plugin for blogs and when I found one the creator wanted $97 for it. Now, I don’t begrudge anyone making money, that’s one of the reason we’re here, right? But most every plugin is freely available for use and I knew there had to be one out there and I FOUND IT!!!

I put it on one of my blogs about an hour ago and have already gotten four sign-ups from it WoooHoooo!!

You may have seen it when you popped in and if you want it, check it out here - MaxBlogPress Unblockable Popup

It’s fully configurable from an admin panel. You can add images, HTML, subscriber boxes, anything you want. Just install, activate and configure… it’s WYSIWYG so it can’t be easier!

There’s other great plugins too… check out the DealDotCom widget on my sidebar… if you want that one just click on the bottom where it asks you if you want to add it to your site.

Check out MaxBlogPress and see what else they have. There’s also a Ping Optimizer which is a real must, unless you want to get banned.

Ok, gotta go add these to some of my other blogs!! HappyBlogging!!!

There’s probably a few of you who know that I love blogging! It is my preferred platform for many reasons and I have quite a number of blogs.

They’re easy to set up, get indexed quicker than a website and are wonderfully interactive, which people love.

Now I had heard of Alex Syseof before and wanted to check out more. To say that many marketers speak highly of him would be an understatement!

Anyway, finally tracked him down the other day when I had a few minutes and checked him out and I can see why everyone is raving about the guy! He knows blogging!

I downloaded the FREE Report - Easy Steps to Bloggin Stardom - and picked up so many great tips and such information that I wouldn’t believe he wasn’t charging for it! (you can download the report right here for FREE too - no sign ups or anything!)

Read the rest of this entry

There’s a few reasons we’re in the business we’re in but one of them is to make money. No matter how crass that may sound, it’s the bottom line and it’s the truth.

Sure, we may have other reason too. I know that I love what I do. I love being my own boss. I love being able to help people. But yes, I want to make money at what I”m doing, after all I have to eat and keep a roof over my head. ‘Fraid I’m not independently wealthy.

So, what I have for you today is two-fold; a FREE report - How to Get ‘Ready to Buy’ Customers and a viral marketing method.

So go ahead and check it out, you have nothing to lose and plenty to gain.  Besides, how often do you turn down FREE gifts?

How to Get ‘Ready to Buy’ Customers

Well, it must be something because it debuted #1 on Clickbank this morning. Did you check out the video that was all over the internet the other day about Google Payload, sort of a pre-sell, get everyone all hyped up and excited?

I watched it and to be honest, for someone who is not into PPC, I got pretty excited about it… LOL. And just today I must have gotten over half a dozen emails about it and no doubt there will be more tomorrow as more people check it out.

Here’s what some people are saying about Google Payload;

Apart from being an extremely simple method to follow… and super
profitable ($9k a day with Google), the package itself is extremely
comprehensive.

Like I say, in my opinion this should be a $500 “big box” product
based on the scale of the content. Core manual, quick start PPC
guide, introductory video AND 8 Deluxe templates, all rolled into
one. But Alex has been getting questions about this.
Here are the top questions, answered.

Q: Will I make $9k per day with the Google Payload methods?
A: Almost certainly not, at not least right away. I suggest you
start off with a goal of say, $100 a day, and build from there. And
that kind of goal is certainly doable with the methods inside
Google Payload.

Read the rest of this entry

Now I’ve been using XsitePro since shortly after it was originally released to build my websites with and I can honestly tell you that it is the easiest, most versatile site builder you can possibly use.

Why am I telling you about this now? Just got the word that XsitePro V2 will be coming out soon and you can bet there will be a heftier price-tag on it than there is for the current version. I want to give you a great tip on how you can get the new and improved and updated XsitePro V2 for FREE!!!

Here are some of the testimonials from the current version;

I already have the best but it just keeps getting better “XSitepro is the best in its class, hands down! Thats a big claim and I can back it up by telling you that I also use Dreamweaver, I’ve used Frontpage and many others. There is nothing to compare with the sheer logic behind the site building process. I am currently working on a site with over 700 pages. It’s a massive project for me and without XSitePro it would become unworkable. The speed and power of your updates are unbelievable and I stand in awe at your programming skills. I already have the best but it just keeps getting better. Thanks for having your finger on the pulse Paul.”
Pete Lauder
http://www.homebizassistant.com/

It’s like driving a Jaguar for the first
time after driving a Ford all your life

“XSitePro is just phenomenal! It’s like driving a Jaguar for the first time after driving a Ford all your life — powerful, fast, all kinds of wonderful and surprising features. I’ve used Front Page for years, and it’s fine, but XSitePro is like from a different planet — so good it’s almost unbelieveable. I’m going to re-work all my old web sites using XsitePro, plus create many new ones — because what used to take months now takes a few hours.”
Duane Shinn
http://www.playpiano.com Read the rest of this entry

As we all so well know, Giveaways and JV are great ways to build our lists and also great ways to get some great products.  I try to get into most of them and also keep my eyes open for anything new to snag by way of gifts in the download area.  If you’re not doing this, you’re really missing out!

If you’re looking for information on upcoming and ongoing Giveaways and JV, I’ve put together a page listing them for you to keep up with them.

Check it out here - Giveaways and JVs

Please feel free to let me know of any I missed too