Wolfram Alpha not a threat to Google.... YET!!!

Holy brain strain, Batman! Wolfram Alpha has just gone live!

For those of you who don't know, WolframAlpha.Com is a new, computational search engine which some have described as the first real competitor to Google. As a marketer, I try to look beyond that fluffy crap and see what's really behind the statement.

Well, my first impressions of Wolfram Alpha were exactly what I'd expect from most people.... booooooring. But that has NOTHING to do with Wolfram Alpha. It's because, like most of you, I've been conditioned to type all kinds of things into Google and get some kind of pertinent result from which I could continue my research.

Easy, right? Google has become a household word and "googling" is now an official verb. So who needs Wolfram Alpha?

LOTS OF PEOPLE!

At first, it's going to seem as if only nerdy, techy-types are going to be the ones going ga-ga over Wolfram Alpha but, MARK MY WORDS:

The more people use Wolfram Alpha the more they will discover some amazing everyday uses for people from all walks of life and the more they will create tutorials to help people learn how to use Wolfram Alpha efficiently. You'll see what I mean... watch the following video as the founder, Stephen Wolfram, demonstrates some of the power of Wolfram Alpha and it's astounding ability to take bits of information and drill down into a myriad of fascinating, fact-filled results which, if you're not careful, can become quite addictive.

Click Here and Watch the Wolfram Alpha Demonstration

Trust me, watch the video. If you just go to Wolfram Alpha and dive in with your "Google-conditioned" mind, you're apt to think Wolfram Alpha is a nerd's boring dreamworld. But, once you watch the video demonstration, you won't be able to help but realize there's a whole lot of power in them there hills!

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When I Say "Test", I Mean "TEST!"

Oh, I meant it. This was really just a test... an internet marketing experiment no, it has nothing to do with me bolidng a line. And I think I shall delete this when it's through. We shall see. ;)

Anyways, if you have any questions, please let me know in the comment section. ;)

Best wishes,
Sam

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SCHMUCK ALERT!! What's So Bad About Marketing on TWITTER?!

WTF? Someone, please pinch me. I MUST be dreaming...

It wasn't even 24hrs ago that I dared to hop on Twitter again (excuse me for a moment while I trigger BIZ STONE 's Google Alert... thank you) after a blessed couple of months away. Now, I know most of you are convinced that Twitter is the greatest things since sliced bread because a few "movers and shakers", coupled with the news-hungry media, (ignoring all possible downsides), keep pounding "the greatness" of Twitter into your vacuous skulls every chance they get (oh, how cool, I Twittered Rick Sanchez on CNN!!!). But, all Twitter is really good for is lining you all up like ducks in a row, or fish in a barrel, for some HEAVY-DUTY data mining so the REAL marketers can "slice, dice and filet" you as they wish.

I know that sounded like a lot to take in, but collect your attention and READ IT AGAIN.

So, I twitted out how disconcerting I found all the "Free CRAP!" people were giving away as inducements to their, most likely, CRAPPY products and programs -- after all, "the fish rots from the head back" so, crappy incentive comes from crappy planning likely leads to crappy products and programs -- and I got a reply from @PeteMoring telling me that I was underestimating people.

Oh Yea, Like That's Gonna Happen...

Folks, with the same unabashed confidence of the controversial Rush Limbaugh, I know greatness when I see it. And, likewise, I know crap when I see it. And the bulk of internet marketing is not about being GREAT because the masses are just so predictably ignorant and demanding. In fact, if I told you some of the stuff that the "big dogs" have said to me behind the scenes about their customers, it'd make your jaw drop.

So, anyways, I told Pete that, perhaps, he was underestimating me because, quite frankly, I don't make such observations lightly.

So Then, What's It About This Time?

Ok, as much as I might sound as if I enjoy doing this, I don't. If a marketer is attempting to over-hype something in a smart-aleck, "I think I'm clever." kind of way, I do. But when SINCERE people smog up the web with crappy marketing, I actually feel a little bad for them -- and this is one of those times.

Alright, I'm gonna cut to the chase...
(and I ain't sellin ya ANYTHING!)

One of the tweets I saw on Twitter read like this:

Please ReTweet this to your IM interested friends. JV invites to pre-launch here: (link removed) scheduled end of the month

Please ReTweet this to your friends? Is that how we market now? Is this what Seth Godin (Google Alert!) meant by "permission based marketing?" You get a whole bunch of people to follow you on Twitter, ignoring the fact that they're probably following 1,000 other people, and then you steadily drip them with mild pleas to annoy their followers who are presumably following 1000s of other people all doing the same thing to each other all the time and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...

And because some schmuck with a large following and a microphone has better reach than most people, he tells everyone that doing that is the way to go, and everyone does it and what a big ass clusterfuck it becomes where, YET AGAIN, 99% of the clueless schmucks make next to nothing and 1% get lucky enough to get the early bird and make a car payment.

And the program owner, whoever that might be, makes more money than the their followers, but it's still a pittance compared to what GREAT marketing can bring in; yet they're happy with it because they, too, were once a clueless schmuck... except the only thing that has changed since then is that they have a clue.

BUT THEY'RE STILL A SCHMUCK!

Sam
ps. CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT! What follows is the specific page that inspired this blog post. http://90percentattitude.com/index.php?action=affsignup I have no affiliation with it, whatsoever. But, if you can tell even one thing that is drastically wrong with it, I will give you a choice of helpful products for free...

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WooThemes Wordpress Club Premium Wordpress Themes Sale Is Here!! MUST SEE!!

When it comes to developing AFFORDABLE WORDPRESS THEMES, WooThemes Wordpress Theme Club continues to prove itself the undisputed Wordpress Theme Club leader. In fact, I was so stoked about WooThemes Halloween Sale that I took advantage of it then.

But now, WooThemes has done even better...! WooThemes Wordpress Themes Christmas Sale offers a WHOPPING 4-FOR-1 SALE! And I've taken advantage of it NOW, too!

Click the Picture to See for Yourself!

Yea, that's FOUR PREMIUM WORDPRESS THEMES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

Read my lips:
*** NO-BRAINER! ***

Click Here to See What 4-for-1 Costs!

I'm not one for threatening "doomsday" or "regret", but let me just say that I have a very, very, strong appreciation for an irresistible deal, and this one is, so clearly, the quintessential "no-brainer" that if, for some reason, you do not TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS NOW, you are certifiably OUT-OF-YOUR-MIND!

Even if you're not ready to start a Wordpress blog today, to have FOUR PREMIUM WORDPRESS THEMES LICENCES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE is that "perfect deal" that so many Wordpress bloggers often dream about.

Let me repeat that one more time: FOUR PREMIUM WORDPRESS THEME LICENSES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

CLICK HERE to See These Fresh Wordpress Themes Now!

And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!

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What Is Working and What Is Total Bullshit?

You have to understand, if you haven't yet subscribed to my humble little, unprofessionalized, blog, it's your own fault. Here, I dare to say things and ask questions that almost no one else will do for you -- at least not in the way that I do it.

That being said... subscribe.

Today's blog is to ask you two questions,

1. HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING THAT REALLY WORKS?

From

• Ryan Deiss', "Continuity Blueprint";
• to Alex Syseof's, "Expert Wordpress" ;
• to the Rhodes Brother's, "Traffic Drill";
• to whatever Mike Filsaime is selling this week,
• to Liz Tomey's, "I'm Giving You Everything and Won't Stop Until You Make Money" programs,;
• to John Delavera's, "Turbo HaHa You're Hooked Now!" memberships...
• to "I'm Just Copying Everyone Else But With Crappier Products" programs...
  

what, in your humble experience, has been working for you?

Which leads us to your second question,

2. HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING THAT REALLY DOESN'T WORK?

Normally, I won't say anything too disparaging about a marketer and his, or her, product/service/offer. As one (behind the scenes) myself, I completely understand just how difficult it really is to take a product from idea to launch. It ain't easy, folks. But that doesn't excuse anyone from making either false, or hyped up, claims and, as my email box shows, the claims a-still keep a-comin'....

More and more products... more and more services... day after day... week after week...

So, What's the Story Folks?

Are any of you experiencing success? Or, when a person experiences a little bit of success, do they become cult-like, zip their lips, and start blending in with all the other mediocre success stories at the sacred seminars? ...never to be heard from again...

(SERIOUSLY FOLKS, WHERE ARE YOU GONNA GET BLOG POSTS LIKE THIS?)

SUBSCRIBE!
(opens in a new window)

So, what works? what sucks? what have you got your eyeballs on? who do you think is full of shit? and who do you think should be tarred, feathered and run out of town?

Don't hold back... this is my blog... and this is your moment...

...and you have a right to be heard!

Sam

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What a Bunch of Bull Backlink Contest!

Think like an internet marketer -- as opposed to a mere consumer. The first person to correctly guess HOW I ended up watching the following video wins a month-long backlink from this site and a quick mention in my next post.

Hint: It was NOT for recreational purposes.

Rules: You only get 1 guess. And, at my discretion, I may award multiple prizes if more than one person guesses the same thing. Also, I reserve the right to reject any site I deem offensive, or just plain garbage.

So how might I, in the course of "make money online" type WORK, did I end up viewing that video? Good luck!

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Hey Dude, Where's My Fucking Candy?

Halloween is now, officially, over. We do not need to wait for Obama to win the presidency to begin, as good citizens, implementing his wondrous and generous policies. Starting now, you can teach your children all about socialism by dumping out all their Halloween candy on the bed and explaining to them that since there are poor children in the neighborhood, they have no choice but to give them a portion of their candy.

Tell them this is not a choice. You are mandating it. Explain that "sharing" is a good thing so you are forcing it on them for their own good.

Explain to your children that if they have under 10 pieces of candy, they not only get to keep it all, but they'll be the lucky ones to get extra candy from all the kids who walked around many neighborhoods and worked so hard at collecting lots of it. If that applies to your child, you just explain that it's not their fault their little legs couldn't keep up with all those bigger, more fit, children. So, their parents will be forcing them to give some of their candy with you.

If your child has over 10 pieces, but under 50, you explain that they just made it in under the wire and that their mediocre effort will be sufficient enough to prevent them from having to give more than 35% of it away to the kids in the neighborhood who suffered from Xbox addiction and were too obese to walk around the neighborhood collecting candy. This is not a choice, it's a mandate. We don't want our neighbors getting too depressed.

If your child has over 50 pieces, calmly explain that he or she is fucked. Try to use gentler terminology when doing so but, as soon as they see their hard-earned candy heading out the door to some lazy, fat fuck who didn't do a single thing for it, it won't even matter what you're saying. The tears and sobbing will drown you out and not only will they not give a damn crap about how "good" it is to share, but they'll hate the concept for the rest of their lives and they'll resent all the lazy bastards who know that by not lifting a finger, they'll end up with your child's candy.

And, soon enough, your child will become one of them.

Everyone who wants to make money online should be concerned,
Happy Halloween!

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Free SimplyPLR Article Marketing Strategies from Simply Total Donkeys

It's not often that you get such an AMAZING display of just how desperate people are for a free membership to a PLR article marketing site, but it's happening -- out in the open, in plain view of anyone who can click a mouse.

But, first, I like to think I've grown up a bit, become a tad more compassionate, than the day I first set foot into internet marketing. Back then, I'd chew anyone a new a-hole for everything from "omission marketing" (leaving out just enough info so that they're not lying yet leaving you vulnerable to a hyped-up imagination), to outright deception, to the creation of shoddy, incomplete, crap-o-matic software.

And I feel like I want to do it again...

Oh, frig, why the heck not...

Matt Callen, creator of Instant Popover and HyperVRE, is soon opening a new article marketing site, SimplyPLR. Instant Popover was junk. It was, basically, a gussied up dhtml script anyone could pick up for free at a place like "hotscripts", but with a few minor modifications to it. Essentially, it was a beautiful demonstration of how a nice website and some good ad copy could sell a bucket of crap.

Then he came out with HyperVRE which, full disclosure, I promoted... and sometimes still explore with ever-longing, hopeful curiousity. My first impression of it was that it was, yet again, a gussied up version of Larry Hall's "Traffic Hurricane" which, if any of you "old-timers" remember, originally belonged to Jeremy Burns. Now, maybe it wasn't literally from that script but it certainly strikes me as if it were.

But That's Not the Main Point

The main point is that HyperVRE started off with some promise to it... but no one in the forums ever seemed quite satisfied. Like every product I've ever seen that was SORELY missing something, people would express a muted complaint and then, either the owner or the cheerleaders, would come up with some calming response about how you're not supposed to "get rich overnight"... but, if you do something like throw up 100s of sites that make $1 per day, then, eventually, you'll be a (millionaire, billionaire, gazillionaire, trillionaire, pick one). Ok? Right? Sure...

But you know what's funny? I mean really, really funny but in a really sad way?

No One Ever Quite Says That in the Ad Copy

Who spends 100s or 1000s on ad copy in order to tell the public that they will have to struggle to comprehend what is the perfect Adsense template that won't result in Google blacklisting $1000 worth of domains? But wait.. what if they don't even tell you about the templates but then try to sell some to you later each and every month.

"Wait, you mean my original payment didn't get me everything I needed to make this thing work AWESOME right out of the box and, ultimately, get me free of my 9-to-5 job like you talked about?!"

It's just so sad...

Now, I didn't quote anyone verbatim and I'm not saying exact promises were made. We all know by now that ad copy is so cleverly written as to not actually make any claims but rather to SUGGEST things and then let your mind quietly add in the "I promise..." part, after each claim is made. But that's what happens, things get hyped to high heaven... yet people seem to end up in holy horrors. Enter....

Matt Callen's SimplyPLR

I have no idea what's going to end up crammed into it. Maybe it'll be an incredible bonanza, but judging by Instant Junkover and HypedUpVRE, one can only pray that things will be different this time. But, gauging by how things are starting out, one must pray...

...and pray hard, indeed.

You see, Matt just made a blog post offering people a chance to WIN FREE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIPS TO SIMPLYPLR. All they have to do is post a blog comment as to how they would use the PLR to get the greatest amount of traffic in the shortest amount of time. Or, let's say (tongue-in-cheek), "just water down your most cherished, guarded PLR article marketing secrets by laying them out in the comment section for everyone to see..." -- best ones win.

Is It Just Me Who Finds This Both Offensive
and Just Plain Weird?

In essence, it's saying,

"Tell EVERYONE your most cherished method of using PLR to get loads of traffic and money and then we'll give you lifetime access to the VERY SAME PLR they'll all be using with YOUR method."

I mean, give me a break...!

Yet People are Flocking to It Like Hungry Lambs on Speed!

But let's reason this out for a second (oh, btw, it's what we do here). If any of those people knew how to market articles, or had the ambition to, they wouldn't need a FREE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP TO SIMPLY PLR. In fact, they wouldn't even need a free ONE MONTH membership to SimplyPLR.

Listen, save yourself the agony, I know of a PLR membership site that is,

1. LOADED TO THE MAX WITH PLR,
   
2. COMPLETE w/SEO SITE BUILDING SOFTWARE,
   
3. PROVIDE PRIMARY KEYWORD LISTS,
   
4. PROVIDE SECONDARY KEYWORD LISTS (long tail),
   
5. INCLUDE FOLLOW-UP AUTORESPONDER ECOURSE, AND
   
6. INCLUDE AFFILIATE PRODUCT RESEARCH, and have so much more...
   

...without any hype!

And provides a HUGE value without you having to give away all your most closely guarded secrets to your competition.

Look, this PLR article marketing site even has
Continuity Blueprint's, Ryan Deiss', name on it

What more do you need to know than that? But wait...

Before you head over to the BEST content goldmine, article marketing, PLR site with all the training a person could ever need, I want you to do one thing first...

Head on over to Matt Callen's "SimplyPLR" blog NOW, before it's too late, and copy/paste ALL the text from the comments section into a text file to save on your hard drive. They contain everybody's article marketing strategies which are pretty detailed. No doubt, you will find some nuggets of wisdom within...

Then CLICK HERE and get your
REAL PLR content and article marketing training...

Oh yeah, what do you think about people giving away their strategies for free? Is that good for business?

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Sam Freedom to Twitter - We Have a Problem Here...!

I discovered a problem with Twitter a while ago. I just figured that it either wouldn't affect most people, or that it was too minor for anyone to care. Add to that, Twitter's "bug reporting" doesn't seem too readily available or easy to use.

This Problem with Twitter is as Follows:

Somehow, some way, Twitter is capping the number of followers who will appear in your DIRECT MESSAGE dropdown menu.

Normally, you would reply to a direct message by clicking on its envelope icon. But, as some of you know by now, you sometimes get a message saying,

"(So and so) must be following you in order for you to send them direct messages."

But, you're absolutely certain they ARE following you! Even the "D NAME msg" attempt yields the same result. The only workaround is to visit that individual's Twitter homepage and click on their "message" link.

Why Does This Happen? And Why Does It Matter to Me?

It probably happens due to scalability concerns. In other words, it would probably be a logistical, and resource, nightmare for Twitter to populate everyone's "direct message" dropdown box with every single one of their followers. Some people have 1000s of followers and if you multiply that times all the Twitterers a-twittering, it could be staggering.

Instead of populating the dropdown boxes with all those names, they just trust you'll have the ingenuity to find your way over to that person's homepage "message" link. Inconvenient? Yes. End of story? Probably...

So Why Does This REALLY Matter to Me?

Well, right now, this Twitter problem is nothing more than a mere inconvenience; although, across the broader spectrum, it will, initially, leave a lot of people scratching their heads. But the real problem is the potential for all kinds of "unintended consequences."

Take, for example...

Many Twitter users now appreciate the value of Tweetlater. It gives them the opportunity to do things like "autofollow" and send "welcome messages" to new followers. It gives the option to send a welcome message privately. Twitterers use this option for several reasons:

1. They don't want to seem obnoxious sending multiple public auto-tweet welcomes;
2. It gives some of the more ambitious users an added way of directly inviting new followers to their blogs and sites;

So, one can be under the impression that all the new followers are getting private welcome messages but if the cap on the "direct message dropdown" box has been reached, are they getting those messages?

Currently, the answer is yes. Maybe, and this only a guess, because Tweetlater sends the private message via the "message link from the follower's homepage" pathway and not the "D Name msg" pathway from our private message area. But, that is only a guess.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, as stated before, the inability to tweet direct messages to new Twitter users past a certain, unknown, amount, seems, currently, to be nothing more than a minor nuisance. But as more and more 3rd party applications, and all their clever users, come into play, what "unintended consequences" might there be?

For the average person, perhaps none other than a chronic case of mild confusion. But, to the business owners, corporations, political candidates, conglomerates, and, so on (e.g. CNN, Barack Obama, McCain, etc), it could result in serious loss of potential.

Take a look at this list of 3rd party Twitter applications and see if you can envision any problems this "minor inconvenience" potentially presents.

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Find Free Stuff on Twitter!

All kinds of Free Stuff on Twitter can be had if'n ya just know how to locate it. These 12 links will help give you a good start (all links open in a new window):

1. Free SEO on Twitter
2. Free Stuff on Twitter
3. Free Info on Twitter
4. Free Tips on Twitter
   
5. Free Hosting on Twitter
6. Free Software on Twitter
7. Free Download on Twitter
8. Free Advice on Twitter
9. Free Report on Twitter
10. Free Sample on Twitter
11. Free Bonus on Twitter
12. Free Guide on Twitter
13. Bonus Mystery Search!

If you think this would be a fun, interesting starter list for friends, a dig, stumble, sphinn or tweet would be genuinely appreciated. Thanks!

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Flood Yourself with Website Traffic in Record Time with Traffic Drill

In all the history of internet marketing, the fastest way to flood your websites with fresh, new laser-targeted traffic has been the joint venture. But as the honeymoon wears off, the average, struggling, work-at-home wannabe soon realizes that none of the big dogs are going to be helping them out any time soon. But that's just changed... and, in a big way:

The Rhodes brothers have just opened the doors to their new venture, Traffic Drill (opens in a new window), where they not only share a lot of their genuinely secret, little-known methods for generating 100s of new, valid, search-engine lovin' backlinks in the blink of an eye, but they also provide a venue where marketers of all skill levels come, specifically, to help one another out -- whether that be with cutting edge information, a joint venture, or any of a number of creative solutions, it's in there -- and they're doin' it RIGHT NOW!

If you can be honest and admit that you're in serious need of a boost to your online business, then you really need to check out Traffic Drill right now!

Sam
ps. By the way, I have PERSONALLY watched some of the Rhodes brothers' videos already and even the very first one showed me how to increase website traffic to my sites IMMEDIATELY.

pps. Wait, one more thing, the Rhodes brothers are actually accessible and helping out members with tips for which most guru "big dogs" overcharge...

Click here to learn how to flood your sites with fresh, new targeted traffic, capture it and convert it into SALES...!

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Frumplegoozrumpl - A Twitter Love Story by Sam Freedom

Frumplegoozrumpl - just another crazy word.... or is it? After all, a few quick searches for "Frumplegoozrumpl", on the major search engines, yield the following results:

Frumplegoozrumpl on Google;
Frumplegoozrumpl on Yahoo; and
Frumplegoozrumpl on MSN...

Not very impressive, is it? So, what's the point? Well, I'm always searching for new and interesting (read unorthodox, unexpected, unintended and, sometimes, unpopular) ways of taking the "road less traveled, and Twitter, with a little, "Frumplegoozrumpl", is just another one of those new and interesting things.

Actually, Frumplegoozrumpl is just a secret code word, and this whole post and all it's tweeting about Twitter is just a secret message for my growing cadre of disciples.

Can you figure it out?

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6 Likely Causes for the Long, Slow, Predictable Death of Sphinn

I took a spin around Sphinn for the first time in, like, 6 months just to sphinn what I thought was a worthy article ("13 Wordpress plugins you don't use but probably should") and just to see what was kickin and I wasn't surprised at what I found:

Sphinn's Alexa ranking had plummeted from a fairly decent 15,000 in October, 2007 into a virtual abyss of 190,383 just a year later. Here, I've enumerated 6 possible causes for this corkscrew nosedive:

1. Cliques - the oh-so-typical clique nonsense was tolerated from the outset. It's a hard bone for any community-based site to resist chomping on because these cliques provide an initial boost; but, inevitably, it's a bane to the kind of diversity that causes communities to flourish. Such cliques really just allow otherwise quirky people a (false) sense of refuge from the harsh realities of life -- at the expense of the community they parasite.
2. Inbreeding - As per the above, these cliquers, intentionally or not, breed only with one another which, eventually, leads to distortion. See my piece of satire (which is actually serious), titled, "Controversy at the Semmys - A Scene Out of Deliverance" (opens in a new window).
   

   Essentially, the SAMMYs are almost the exact same as "the SEMMYs" except each category includes one of MY articles that should have belonged in there in the first place. As I'd told Matt McGee, if a certain percentage of fresh, new faces from OUTSIDE the community were included, it might have the effect of enriching the community as opposed to, once again, publicizing all the same old names we see day-in and day-out in the Sphinn Zone..."

3. Insincere Sphinns - I've seen some of the absolute crappiest, non-nutritive articles sphunn through the roof for bunk reasons that should have been obvious to everyone (e.g. certain lustful males continually sphinning their favorite females, and vice-a-versa). Also, people often Sphinn up their friends without even reading what was Sphunn for reasons that have nothing to do with integrity or building an inclusive, quality-based community. But is it REALLY about community building anyways? See next point...
   
4. Lack of Allegiance - Don't ever kid yourself. As the saying goes, "There's no honor amongst thieves." People initially approach such services as Sphinn to increase their rankings. So what if there's that core group of cliquester geeks who try to turn their latest fascination into their own virtual water cooler -- no matter how charming a few individuals, and the surroundings, might be, the majority of people are just interested increasing their rankings. So, if the cliquishness, and inbreeding, are too fierce, a lot of otherwise good writers, with plenty to contribute, are going to find it a turn-off and move to greener pastures. And, not realizing they're part of the problem, the cliquesters and inbreeders will, eventually, follow suit and ditch their once-cherished "virtual coffee shop."
5. Hypocrisy - This could fall under insincere Sphinns, but insincere sphinning is just a component of this... which is far more sinister. Whilst the core geeksters of the Sphinn community openly frown upon such things as anyone forming "Sphinn Brigades" (coalitions of users who game the system by agreeing to mutual support regardless of content), they participate in their own "quietly accepted" version of it. If the insincere Sphinns aren't bad enough, it's the frowning upon those who openly engage in similar behavior due to it being their only (perceived) means of competing with such hypocritical, entrenched, parasitic, inbreeding cliques.
   
6. Pissing Off Good Power Users - When good, solid users, like Andy Beard, whom I consider virtually "beyond reproach" in character; both friendly, and inclusive; and who actively contributed quality material to the Sphinn community, take off, then not only is something really wrong, but also lot of others are going to follow him out of respect. To my surprise, while writing this post, I found that Andy had left Sphinn behind 10 months ago with his post, "Sphinn All UnSphunn."
   

   "Having evaluated Sphinn over the last 6 months, I have come to the conclusion that Sphinn is not my target audience. In many ways it is an "unfriendly environment" for many of my target audience, thus encouraging my readers to use Sphinn isn't proactive.

   The bias is there in the moderation, quite possibly because the bias is there within the users, and moderators take action based at least partially on user requests."

Maybe some of you pseudo-elite Sphinners can feign objectivity and try to explain to me how, or why, I'm simply mistaken. But, for now, I, too, am removing the Sphinn button -- not out of a sense of spite, and not that it will affect Sphinn at all, but because I just see no value in it anymore.

And, For that Matter Neither Does Alexa...

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Idiot Report - StumbleUpon vs. ImpNerd - Who's to Blame?

Call me sick but as long as no one's really getting hurt, I just love a good drama. And, please, don't even dare to tell me that you don't, too...!

So, in one corner, weighing in at 38lbs soaking wet, we have ImpNerd, a blogger who really lives up to his moniker. Just recently, he found that not only was his StumbleUpon account frozen but also the accounts of all those he invited to join him in a StumbleUpon Love-In, or, as some might also call it, "StumbleLove" - not for mutual Stumble exchanges but, as he insists,

"A love-in is to create a 'group' of like minded people. Even StumbleUpon has groups in their forums which they actively promote."

It all seems to have started here in his (now updated) post, "Entrecard Community StumbleUpon Love-In".

In the other corner, we have StumbleUpon, "a Web 1.0 multinational conglomerate" as one person joked, which, though it has many fine and friendly users, is known for also having a very sick, and demented, core of social media whores, aka Stumble Trolls, who take both themselves, and their "stumbling" very seriously -- in fact, a little TOO seriously: "Justice Reigns - Stumble Troll Banned by SU."

Because StumbleUpon fears that Stumble Love-Ins have the potential to water down the Stumble community with mutual stumble exchanges of potentially useless crap, StumbleUpon frowns upon it. In fact, forbids it. YET, as ImpNerd argues, Problogger, owned by renowned blogger Darren Rowse, has a Stumble group of about 300+...and wonders, should they not suffer the same fate as he and his tiny little attempt at a 3rd-party Stumble group?

"I wonder why exactly they targeted my blog. A far better way to go would be to target Probloggers list of 300+ SU members or the many others who have hundreds."

So, my question to the reader is, "Is this a case of ImpNerd, and similar, getting what they deserved because 'ignorance of the rules is no excuse and/or they should have taken greater care to check the TOS first' or 'Is StumbleUpon being a typical entity that has grown so big that it hasn't the resources to deal with the public in a more intelligent and considerate manner than snap-banning someone and just firing off an irritating, irrelevant form letter explaining TOS?"

Keep in mind, as Chris Brogan, a social media celebrity likes to insist upon, "... it's all about the conversation." Well, did StumbleUpon give ImpNerd the opportunity to have that conversation?

It seems not. But, lo and behold... The Great Flagship Entrecard did! You can see the whole thing unfolding at that link.

ps. Here's another article on the matter.

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Consolidating Multiple Google Gmail Accounts for Greater Power and Efficiency

Anyone who knows of, and uses, Google's Gmail, has more than likely created multiple gmail accounts. Why? Because they're easy to use, easy to keep organized, and, best of all, they're FREE. Eventually, however, some of us end up with a disease best referred to as "GMAILITIS" - inflammation of our Google Gmail experience.

Personally, I have about 10 Gmail accounts. That really isn't that much but, still, keeping track of all of them (and remembering to check in) really does get out of control. So, here's what I've done to simplify EVERYTHING so that I can control them all from ONE Gmail account.

1. Create a Gmail catchall account. Name it anything you want but it's probably best if you include some reference to "catchall" or "total" or anything relevant to its purpose in the name (do not worry, the account name will never be used in replies.)
2. Set Each Gmail Acct to Forward to the New Catchall. Simple enough. In each Gmail accounts settings, click the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab and the first section allows you to set your forwarding details. It's up to you whether or not you want to leave a copy of the forwarded email in the original Gmail acct. Personally, I don't and I'll show you why in a second.
3. Create a Filter & Label for Each Gmail Acct In Your Catchall Account. In your new catchall account, find the link that says "create filter" and, in "filter creation" mode, fill the "TO" section with the email address of one of your forwarding Gmail accounts. After clicking "NEXT STEP", you'll have the option of creating and assigning a "LABEL" to the forwarded emails you'll be filtering. In each case, you should probably name the filter something that would remind you of the place from which it came. So, if, for example, you are receiving an email forwarded from abc123@gmail.com, you'll probably want to assign the label abc123 to it.
4. Create a Reply-to for Each Forwarded Acct In Your New Catchall Account. After you have all your gmail accts forwarding to your new catchall account -- and, after you have a filter set to label each incoming email forwarded to your new catchall, you'll want to create a "reply-to" for each gmail acct so that if you want to reply to any of the forwarded emails, you can do so with the "reply-to" address of the corresponding gmail account. So, when you reply to forwarded email abc123@gmail.com, you can reply AS IF you are writing FROM abc123@gmail.com even though you are writing from within the catchall account. This option is set by clicking the "Account" tab in Gmail settings and following the "reply-to" instructions.

If this doesn't make sense, then comment below with any questions you might have. But if it does make sense, then you've got one pretty powerful setup for widespread communication requiring multiple Gmail accounts.

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3 Cool Startups at the Babson Forum for Entrepreneurs

Ok, I can't say I was terribly impressed with what I saw from 6p-9p at the Babson Forum for Entrepreneurs. But I was slightly impressed by a couple things, three to be exact.

The first was Canditto.com, the winner of the Business Plan contest, who received $30k for an event-centric, digital media kiosk.

It allowed everyone taking digital photographs at an event (wedding, anniversary, birthday, etc), to upload their digital media to a photograph storage website while AT the event and you will receive all the pictures on memory stick or CD before the night is over. It solves the problem of having friends and family taking great pictures that one might, otherwise, never see. This way, people can get their pictures to one main site immediately rather than bring them home to lazily fumble with them or forget about them. Impressed mostly by the simplicity and ease-of-use in solving a very common problem.

The second was a company called IdeaBlob.com.

I'll let "them" explain what it is they do but in a nutshell, you give away one of those dusty, unfulfilled, genius ideas you've been carrying around in your head for far too long in exchange for both a chance to win $10,000 towards fulfilling it and to get advice from IdeaBlob community members:

ideablob.com is where entrepreneurs and small business owners can share and grow their business ideas – and have a chance to win $10,000 towards fulfilling them.

Great ideas are generated every day by people all across the country, and now these ideas have a place to live and grow. Eligible individuals can submit their business idea to ideablob.com, and based on votes from the ideablob.com online community – which includes other innovators as well as friends, family, colleagues, associates, teachers and mentors – one idea every month will win $10,000.

Personally, I just have a problem with giving my ideas away like that. It reeks of desperation, however, for some people, that's all they have... and, some people are going to win, so choose wisely. Don't give away your golden idea if you really feel you have a shot of making it happen without telling the world first.

The third startup was Flameup.com, which holds a special place in my heart:

At first glance, it APPEARS to be "just another site trying to do the Digg thing" but, in actuality, it's a site that invites you to speak your mind about pretty much anything without fear of censorship -- it just use a Digg like voting system which is perfectly fine. To be clear, Flameup.com doesn't allow disgustingly, blatant nonsense such as racism and hate speech, but if you want to bitch or even get into a flame war with someone, your chance of being censored are slim to none -- which, all free speech advocates know leads to some of the best, heated, passionate, interesting exchanges to be found anywhere.

Have something crazy to say and hate it when lesser beings censor you? Then FlameUp!

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Expert Wordpress by Alex Sysoef Rocks the Blogging for Money Community!

Question...

Do you have 4 minutes to install a fully customized and Web 2.0 enabled WordPress blog? And it even comes with a professional, search engine optimized Niche theme.

Just watch this video to see what I mean...

Blogs are the most direct way to communicate to your customer. And they are also most favored by search engines. In fact it is not uncommon for a properly optimized blog post to appear in search engine results on front page within MINUTES after publishing!

The key is... "properly optimized"!

Blogs are one of the best ways to earn from sharing what you know and love and do it in the most natural way - by communicating to your target audience. But first you need to know your target audience and how to monetize your blog without annoying them.

A task 90% of bloggers fails at miserably! Are you one of the 10%? Did you say no or not sure?

Than you simply got to see this site

What perhaps is even better - you don't have to pawn off your car to get the benefits of all above. Alex and his partner Dmitriy have just released a package that completely changes how blogging is done from now on. And since they are nearly giving it away, response was dramatic.

They're increasing the price every 50 customers so go see this now before it goes up again...!

Click Here to See Expert Wordpress

To your success,
Sam

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Elephantiasis Outbreak Strikes the Entrecard Blogger Community!

The Entrecard blogging community has suffered it's first ever epidemic of Elephantiasis. For those of you who yet have no clue, elephantiasis is a disease where you grow some REALLY big balls.

Yes, the picture to the left is a ball - a testicle ball. And an abnormal amount of Entrecarders have grown them to such an abnormal size that it actually caused "The Good Ship Entrecard" to list to one side.

Make no bones about it, a good set of balls is both healthy and integral to the functioning of life. But once they grow past a certain size, they become weighty - no longer perfectly suspended and floating freely - and just plain cumbersome on what should otherwise be an idyllic march towards progress.

So, to their credit, these ballsy Entrecarders, loaded their weighty vesicles into weighty vessels and set sail for "groaner" pastures. After a tempestuous journey across deep and pensive internet seas, they found safe harbor in the VERY shallow waters of the Superficial Gallery...

(don't get your hopes up - it lives up to its name)

If you want to visit this leper-style colony, it is advised that you possess an advanced understanding of infectious diseases and do so at your own risk.

However, if you just can't get your fill of elephantiasized Entrebabies, you can find a milder, slightly witty and much safer reportage from the nearby island of...


Entrecard has been stablized and is now steadily recovering.

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Make Money Online - Should You Take Weekends Off?

Look, it's no secret to experienced site owners that there comes a sharp drop in website traffic from late Friday evening to sometime Monday morning. Sure, sure... you're off spending time with your loved ones; or, perhaps, you are deep in prayer all weekend, meditating on gratitude and world peace. Maybe you take a limo to the Poconos, or fly your private jet to Macau for some high stakes poker... or maybe you take your million dollar yacht to Belize.

It's more likely that you stay in, walk around in your underwear scratching your nether regions and eating pints of Ben & Jerry ice cream. Maybe you mow the lawn, or take the kids to the mall, or lie out on the porch after a night of sucking down 30 margaritas. Whatever... just fill in the blank.

But what's clear, is that a HUGE majority of you don't surf the web, or visit your favorite informative websites or blogs and that leads me to believe that you're not serious about making money online. Notice I didn't say, "that leads me to believe you don't THINK you're serious about making money online" for, obviously, you believe you are.

Ok, if your religion orders you to take a weekend day off each week, fine, but both? And, just how long does it take to check on your favorite sites? How long does it take to quickly peruse sites/blogs that have been most helpful to you? What if you logged on Saturday morning for 30 minutes and read your favorite blogs? You'd have the rest of Saturday and Sunday for your mind to consider the new possibilities of any good advice given you?

Do you understand? Just because you are given a day off doesn't mean you have to take it. But it doesn't mean you have to bust your tail that whole day either. Seeing as no site exists in a vacuum, we know that most of the time we sit down to surf the web, a simple 30 minute excursion can easily turn into a 3-5 hour journey so, naturally, many of us would be hesitant to do any surfing on weekends.... even if it were just to take 30-45 minutes to skim through our favorite blogs.

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Do, Monkey See...

So, you set yourself into a pattern whereby you are missing some golden nuggets of information just because you grew up in a society that takes a weekend vacation. And if you continue to BE like the masses, you will continue to LIVE like the masses, always thinking it is "something else" that is keeping you from living your dreams.

Or, if you're just oh-so-brilliant and think you're really on top of the game, perhaps you'll excuse your weekends-off by explaining how you have things set up so neatly that you definitely make sure you'll receive all the excellent weekend nuggets on Monday.... AS IF there's absolutely no cost, or downside, to cramming 3 days worth of information into 1 day's worth of attention.

Look closely, even though I KNOW the vast majority of the work-at-home-wannabe masses don't show up on weekends, I still posted on both weekend days anyways. Why? For one, because the masses don't. For two, because there ARE some people who don't see weekends as a time to completely turn their brains off. And for three, because it keeps me in shape.

So, What About You?

What do you do with your weekends? How much of your weekend is still devoted to your ongoing financial/online marketing/blogging education and how much do you give to the devil?

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I've Done You a Great Favor These Past 2 Months (poll)

When I tell you what it is, it might not seem like much of a favor, but it really is... it's one of those favors that generally isn't appreciated right away but somewhere down the road, after reality further imposes itself on your fantastic hallucinations, some of you will sit down on that quintessential "big rock" and, with head in your hands, say something remotely like,

"Hey, that guy really understood me."

Or maybe you won't... but some of you definitely will. So, what is that great favor?

I've Kept Silent

I've told you before that just about everything the "Probloggers" tell you was sound advice... THREE YEARS AGO. They used that information to build big followings and because they have big followings, newcomers think they MUST be an authority on what they're talking about. But what they're generally doing is milking the masses, getting whomever will listen to buy their latest, greatest reconstitution and repackaging of old information....

...or, in the very least, get you to click on an ad.

Speak Not, Unless You Can Improve Upon the Silence
(Which Is a Very Difficult Thing to Do...)

So, I noted the situation and took the appropriate course of action: I let you be for a while. Are there not enough "authorities" trying to tell you what works or doesn't work? Are you wealthy yet? Or maybe you really don't even care because your motivation is something like "the wish to belong" rather than "the wish to profit."

Such People Are Referred to As...

"Program Junkies"

So what are you: a marketing blogger, a blogging marketer, or a PROGRAM JUNKIE?

And, most importantly, what have you REALLY learned today about increasing your profit/influence? Or even this week? Or how about this month?

Or Are You Just LONELY and Living Vicariously
Through Others Who DO Make Money Online?

Technorati Tags: internet marketing problogger problogging blogging marketing network marketing

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