Cloaking Links – My Dumb Mistake

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Bill (LoneWolf) Nickerson

I hope that you’ll get a kick out of this. I do now (but I didn’t on Friday 8=)

The Setup

Last Friday I decided that I wanted to promote a new product as an affiliate (you can probably guess which one if you try hard enough). I went and built a cloaked link using Pretty Link [I’ll be writing more about Pretty Link down the road].

It is pretty easy and I had a link running in no time.

First thing to do — Tweet it! Then set up a couple blog posts and an email to the list. By the time I get back to check the stats PL is telling me I’ve had 25 hits! Fantastic!

The Screwup

But then, I notice the link I’ve created. I’ve made a dumb, newbie mistake. The uncloaked version has this big, huge “CLICKBANKID” in the middle. The humanity!

I can’t believe I forgot to put my id in the url before sending it out. D’oh! There’s 25 hits I’ll never get credit for.

The Fixup

But the nice thing is that with Pretty Link I can correct the link so that any future hits will end up with the correct url. Not that I expect too many from Twitter posts that are more than an hour old.

And I didn’t have to go back to my posts or emails to change the link.

Cloaking Links is Important

My little mistake could have been more costly. But because I’m cloaking my links for affiliate programs I am able to fix the backend of a link without affecting the places where I’ve submitted it already.

I don’t have to mess with articles submitted to an article directory. I don’t need to re-email the “fixed link” (although it wouldn’t hurt if the original was out there for a long time).

Anywhere that the cloaked url is in use will automatically redirect to the proper place from now on.

And it can be great if you want to change the place where a link ends up down the road. Use them in articles in case you want to have a different landing page without having to change them (an affiliate program closes or you create a new landing page that you want to test).

Are You Cloaking Links?

Tell me, are you cloaking your links? It doesn’t need to be hard. You can get some decent software to do it for you and install it on a domain that people associate with you (I use lonewolfmuskoka.ca). If you’ve got WordPress installed there, it is as simple as getting a plugin to do the job.

I’m very pleased with Pretty Link (you’ll notice the link is actually cloaked using Pretty Link). There is a basic version which I recommend that you try first. Then, once you’ve seen what it can do you can choose to upgrade to Pretty Link Pro.

So, before you jump down to the comment section to tell me your linking horror story, make sure you check out Pretty Link or some other link cloaking software. You’ll be glad you did.

Oh yeah, don’t forget to share your story below!

How to Overcome ANYTHING That is Keeping You From Making Money

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Guest

By Jimmy D. Brown

It’s frustrating.

Seems like everywhere you look – from business forums to Facebook – someone is sharing their story of amazing business success.

Their businesses are growing as quickly as weeds in July. And no doubt their bank accounts are growing just as fast.

But you feel stuck…

You feel like you’re being held back. You feel like you just don’t have the same advantages of those with the mega-success stories.

Those guys have big lists. They have lots of traffic. Some of them have amazing technical skills that allow them to get ahead faster.

Sound familiar?

If so, then I have some great news: You see, you too can overcome any obstacle, grow your business quickly and easily, and level the playing field with the “big dogs” in your niche.

How?

By outsourcing!

You can outsource virtually any task in your business. This frees you to focus on the most important “high value” tasks. And it allows you to grow your business quickly and virtually hands free!

Let me give you a few examples of common obstacles:

No list. The money is in the list – but you don’t have one! The solution is simple: Outsource this task! You can hire someone to manage the entire process, from creating your subscription page to writing your newsletter content to driving traffic to your newsletter landing page!

No traffic. You can hire a variety of freelancers to handle many of the most common and most effective traffic-generation strategies, including: recruiting an affiliate team, search engine optimization, pay per click marketing, content marketing… and many more!

No time. This is huge – many people can’t get their businesses off the ground simply because they don’t have the time. Maybe you’re already working full time, and you can’t quit your job to focus on your business. Or maybe you have a lot of family responsibilities. Whatever the reason, you’re constantly crunched for time, meaning you probably can only carve out an hour or two here and there. Here’s the good news: Once you start outsourcing, all you need are a few hours per week – and your business will grow faster than you ever thought possible!

No skills. Everyone says you need content to succeed, but you can’t write. Others say copywriting is the money-maker, but your sales letters couldn’t even sell lemonade to a thirsty crowd. Listen, whatever skills you’re lacking, there are freelancers standing by to pick up the slack. And they’ll do the job faster and better than you ever could!

Point is, you too can run with the big dogs in your niche. You can grow your business. You can enjoy more free time. And you’ll enjoy all of these benefits and more once you start outsourcing.

But one word of warning: You need to know what you’re doing before you start outsourcing, otherwise you could find yourself walking an expensive, time-consuming and frustrating path.

That’s why I suggest you click here now to pick up your copy of the H.A.N.D.S. Free Formula guide – it’s the quickest and easiest way I know to discover the secrets of getting more done in less time and overcoming ALL your money-making obstacles!

All the details are at:

http://lonewolfmuskoka.ca/recommends/JimmyDBrownHANDS

Jimmy D. Brown is one of my heroes. He has built an amazing business by helping others achieve their goals. The most important thing for me is that he markets with integrity. This post is part of a series he has released to coincide with the training course he is selling on outsourcing.

How to Outsource Any Project in 4 Easy Steps

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Guest

By Jimmy D. Brown

You’ve heard that outsourcing is a great way to grow your business (that’s true). And while you’d like to get started right away, maybe it all seems a little overwhelming. You’re not sure where to start or what steps to take to get the process rolling.

Good news: You can get started with outsourcing in just four easy steps. Read on…

Step 1: Determine Your Needs

Your first step is to figure out what to outsource. Ask yourself these questions:

What jobs do you need done? Here you need to evaluate all areas of your business, including: Writing, copywriting, graphics, design, programming and other technical jobs, marketing and customer service. Then draw up a list of jobs you have in each of these areas.

Is it cost-effective to outsource? First attach a dollar figure to your time (such as $50, $75, $100 or whatever your time is worth). Then figure out how long it would take you to do a particular task. Next, multiply the hours it takes you to a complete a task by your per-hour worth.

Example: Let’s say your time is worth $75 an hour and it would take you two hours to create a graphic – that’s $150 of your time. If you can find someone to do it for less, then it is indeed cost effective to outsource the task.

Step 2: Advertise Your Job

Once you’ve figured out what tasks you need to outsource, your next step is to advertise the job in order to attract as many qualified prospective freelancers as possible.

While there are a variety of ways to do this – and you should utilize as many of these methods as possible – one great way to do it is to post your project on a freelancing board Elance.com. You’re bound to attract plenty of qualified candidates!

Step 3: Choose a Vendor

At this point you’ll get to choose from among a lot of vendors. But don’t make your choice based on price alone.

Instead, you need to do your due diligence to find the most reliable freelancer who’ll get the best results for you. That means checking the freelancer’s feedback rating, testimonials, business history and portfolio.

This step takes a bit of time upfront, but it will save you a lot of time, frustration and money in the long run.

Once you’ve researched all the candidates, select the best one and hire him or her. Then move on to the next step…

Step 4: Manage the Project

Whether you get mediocre or great results is largely going to depend on what you do at this step. That’s because you need to do the following:

Provide a clear brief and instructions. Your freelancer may have some amazing talents, but mind reading probably isn’t one of them. And that’s why you need to provide a clear and accurate “no guesswork required” brief for your freelancer.

Offer protocol checklists to help your freelancer produce the best results. Secondly, you need to continue to communicate your wishes and help your freelancer do great work for you. And one way to do this is by offering a protocol checklist for each project.

At this point you’re probably thinking at the whole four-step process sounds simple enough. And you’d be right. But you may also be looking to fill in the gaps.

Example: Where can you get sample briefs and protocol checklists? How, exactly, do you do your due diligence? And what are some of the other reliable ways to find freelancers?

You can find the answers to all of these questions – plus all the checklists and protocols you need – inside the H.A.N.D.S. Free Formula! This is outsourcing made easy, so check it out now at:

http://lonewolfmuskoka.ca/recommends/JimmyDBrownHANDS

5 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Your Entire Business

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Guest

By Jimmy D. Brown

“Isn’t outsourcing expensive and difficult?”

Lots of people who’re new to outsourcing ask this question.

They’ve heard horror stories of projects that have dragged out for months. They’ve heard of people getting low-quality work. There are even a few cases of people paying and getting nothing in return.

But here’s the thing: All of these horror stories happen to a tiny minority of business owners. And it often happens to those who don’t know the right way to outsource. But for those who do know the truth about outsourcing, you’ll see them singing its praises.

Truth is, NOTHING will help you grow your business faster than a handpicked outsourcing team!

Here are five reasons why business owners all over the world happily outsource their entire business… and why you should too:

Reason 1: You get to focus on the “high value” tasks.

There’s nothing worse than spending hours doing a low-value task (like creating a graphic or writing articles) when you have other high-value tasks on your to-do list, like recruiting joint venture partners or drafting a marketing plan. Savvy business owners know that the key to business growth is to hand the low-value tasks to someone else so that you have time to focus on the high-value tasks.

Reason 2: A professional often can create better results.

I don’t know about you, but I’m far from being an expert on a variety of business tasks, like graphics, programming, design, copywriting and more. Sound familiar? Then start outsourcing, because a professional will most certainly do a better job since he’s the expert.

Reason 3: A professional can often do it for cheaper than you.

Time is money, right? So every hour you spend on a task may cost you $50, $100 or more. If you attach a dollar figure to your time and then start calculating how much it “costs” you to do a job yourself, you may be startled to discover that a professional can actually do the job for less cost than you!

Example: If your time is worth $50 an hour, and it takes you an hour to write an article, then that article costs you $50 to do yourself. I bet you can find a competent writer to do the article for half the cost – thereby saving you both time and money!

Reason 4: You’ll stop struggling to move forward.

One of the major reasons business owners struggle to grow their business is because they spend too much time struggling with daily tasks. For example, it may take a beginner an entire day to install a script on a website. But a professional could do the same task in as little as 10 minutes.

Point is, stop struggling. Stop trying to climb steep learning curves. Stop wasting time learning how to do frustrating tasks. Just hire a professional to do it instead!

Reason 5: You’ll enjoy more free time.

You don’t have to be chained to your business 24 hours a day in order for it to grow and be successful. If you outsource, you can spend just a few hours a week working in your business. And that frees you to do the things you really enjoy, like spend time with your friends and family, enjoy your hobbies and do more traveling!

In summary…

It’s clear to see why so many savvy business owners outsource their entire business… and why you should too.

But before you even think of hiring a freelancer, you need to learn the ropes. You need to make sure you the process is painless, productive and profitable. And that’s why you need to check out the H.A.N.D.S. Free Formula for outsourcing. Do it now, because you won’t be disappointed!

Complete details are at:
http://lonewolfmuskoka.ca/recommends/JimmyDBrownHANDS

Outsourcing Secrets – Free Report by Jimmy D. Brown

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Bill (LoneWolf) Nickerson

You know how it is with your business — you sit down to work. You start with all the grunt work that needs to be done. Setting up sites, filling orders, customer support and whatever else needs to happen behind the scenes.

Then you want to get into the meat of it — writing that article, coding that software, producing that video… But your time is gone. You’ve encountered the entrepreneur’s worst enemy.

Too Much Work, Not Enough Day

Have you ever wondered how you can get more time in your day?

What about getting done the things that you can’t do?

Or things that you just would rather not do?

Maybe there are parts of your business that, while you enjoy them, take your valuable time away from the core business activities.

In other words, your business has more work than you’re capable of doing.

The Solution? Outsourcing

Unless you have enough work to hire a full or part-time employee, outsourcing can help!

Provided you do it properly.

I’m sure you’ve heard horror stories about outsourcing gone wrong — poor (or incomplete) workmanship, language and time barriers, missed deadlines, scheduling problems and pure ripoffs.

But if you learn how to protect yourself it can be a blessing.

Doing It Right!

And that’s where Jimmy D. Brown comes in.
Jimmy has built up a significant online empire in the past decade. And he’s learned a thing or two about getting good help along the way. He’s put together a course to teach you the ins and outs (H.A.N.D.S. Free Formula).

If you don’t know Jimmy and the quality work he does, or you just want to get your feet wet then check out this free outsourcing report (just click on the link). It’s called How to Run Your Business in 60 Minutes per Day and has enough to get you started on the right track.

No cost. No opt-in. Just download and read this free, 24 page report.

Jimmy D Brown – 60 Minutes per Day

3 Ways to Use PLR Effectively

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Bill (LoneWolf) Nickerson

Private Label Rights (PLR) content is often maligned in the internet marketing circles. It seems that most people are quite polarized on the topic.

Some feel that it is the scourge of the internet.

Others see it as a shining ray of hope for the overwhelmed marketer.

Both of them are right — and wrong!

The Problem with PLR

The biggest problem with PLR today is that it is not used properly. Too many marketers grab tons of articles, ebooks, videos and just put them out there. They don’t take any care to ensure that the content is accurate. They don’t bother to correct spelling, grammar or other mistakes. They don’t take the time to make it unique and stand out.

There is also a lot of really poor PLR out there. Some is written by non-writers or non-English speakers. So when these two collide, look out!

3 Ways to Use PLR Effectively

To avoid being part of the problem you need to learn how to use PLR effectively.

1) Start with the best PLR you can afford.

The better quality the base material, the better your results will be. Also, there will be less work involved in rewriting it — and you should still rewrite it!

The best stuff will usually be content that you buy (but not always). You can sometimes find good quality PLR as a free sample or part of a membership site. When you pay for PLR, look for a couple of things:

Is it limited? The fewer copies that are licensed, the more valuable it is.
Does it allow the licensee to sell PLR? This can dilute the value as more copies get out into the wild.
Are there restrictions on the use that will affect your plans for it? Many licenses restrict the types of sales you can use (e.g. no auction sites). Some also restrict giving the product away.

That doesn’t mean that the really crappy stuff you’ll find isn’t valuable. It just means that it will require much more work to make it usable. In some cases, it is best to use it for inspiration as you write your own. It can give you ideas about what to write about.

2) Verify the facts.

PLR is great in that the basic research has been done for you. But you’re putting your name on this, so make sure that you double check the accuracy. Reputable creators of PLR do good research, but you still don’t want to take a chance.

3) Rewrite it.

I know I’m harping on this a bit, but this is the key. If you don’t rewrite the content then it will be the same as all the other guys out there that didn’t rewrite it. Is that where you want to be?

Make the content your own. Add your own voice to it. When people see your version they should not be able to tell that it is the same as Bob’s or Mary’s down the block. This will keep the search engines happier with your site as well since they won’t see as much duplication.

What’s Next?

There are many other things that you can do to make your PLR more effective, but these 3 will get you started on the right track.

What have your experiences been like with PLR? Share your story in the comments.

Image by miamiamia at stock.xchng

Is PLR Right For You?

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Bill (LoneWolf) Nickerson

PLR content. Should you use it or not? That is the question.

It boils down to a gut decision for you as a business owner.

Everyone needs content for their web sites, newsletters and other online (or even offline) channels. You need to have informative articles for your blog, article directories, email sequences, training courses, etc. You need landing pages for list building and sales. You need themes and software for your sites.

It boils down to content — tons of content.

4 Main Content Sources

So, how do you get content? There are 4 basic ways:

Produce your own.

If you are able to produce your own content in a timely fashion this is the absolute best way to go. You need to be comfortable with writing, speaking or being on camera to create articles, podcasts and videos.

If you are good at it, you will have unique content that has your unique voice. This helps you to stand out.

The flip side is that it all takes time. It is possible to write a 300 word article in 20 minutes. People do it all the time. But if you are really taking care in your work and doing some research, it will be much longer. The time to create video (even screen captures) also takes time.

It can also require extra software if you are getting into the podcasts and videos. This can cost money as well as the learning curve to get up to speed on it.

Hire a ghostwriter.

The second option is to outsource the work. Hire a professional to create the content for you. You will be the owner of the copyright and can even claim that you wrote it. That sounds a bit like lying to me, but it is very common in the literary world. You see it quite often when celebrities write their autobiographies.

You can find people to write articles at freelancing sites and the rates vary dramatically. Articles can be written by people in countries like India or the Phillipines quite cheaply. Or you can spend more to get them written by a local writer.

Either way, you need to make sure that you and your freelancer are on the same page with regards to what you want, when you want it and how much you will be paying.

You also need to watch out for freelancers who simply take existing articles (either PLR or not) and sell them to you as their own work. And some will sell the same article to several people.

Syndicate content.

Syndicated content is readily available at many article directories. Many bloggers will also allow you to syndicate their content.

Syndication means that you are allowed to use the content, but you cannot change it in any way. You must also attribute the source and the author.

You can syndicate some content for free, but remember that others can syndicate it as well, so you won’t be unique. It is also possible to pay for exclusive syndication rights for some content.

Licensed content.

This brings us to PLR, RR and MRR content.

Private Label Rights allows you to do things with the content that are very similar to what you can do with ghostwritten content. However, some licenses will restrict how you sell it and whether you can pass on the rights to others.

But the actual content can be changed in any way that you see fit to make it unique and have your personal twist.

Resell Rights (and Master Resell Rights) are similar except that you are not allowed to modify the content. You must use it as is (although some allows you to brand the content).

The biggest drawback to the various licenses is that the content is not unique — many other marketers will have access to the same content. At least with PLR you can make it unique with a little work.

The Bottom Line

So, you need to ask yourself “Should I use PLR in my business?” And that is a question that only you can answer.

You need to look at your content needs and determine which of the 4 sources of content will work for you. You will probably find a blend of the 4 sources which is just right for you.

Share how you’ve set up your content mix in the comments. I’d love to hear your experiences with the different sources.

Image from SRBichara at stock.xchng

Who the Heck is LoneWolf Anyway?

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Bill (LoneWolf) Nickerson

Since this site is called “LoneWolf’s List Marketing Adventure” you may be asking yourself “Who is this LoneWolf guy? And why should I pay any attention to him?”

Well, I’m that LoneWolf guy. My name is Bill Nickerson (that’s me on the right) and I’ve been working at trying to understand how this online stuff works for a couple of years now. This adventure is a way to share what I have learned along the way.

The Backstory

I come from a background in contract programming and corporate training. I’ve gathered some arcane skills along the way, including html and javascript (at least enough to make me dangerous 8=). Learning css, php and other web based technologies was very simple for me. I even picked up a decent SQL grounding along the way — in fact, that is one of the technologies I trained people in.

So I decided I wanted to build a business that was home based and allowed me to exercise one of my passions — writing. Blogging and building web sites was a natural fit.

Build It And They Will Come — Not!

I created a couple web sites and blogs, signed up for AdSense and sat back to watch my empire roll in the cash. Guess what, it didn’t. I’d written some pretty nice posts on a couple blogs. I’d written a fun web site that provides random fortune cookie quotations (based on the idea of UNIX fortune program).

But they didn’t get any traffic. And I didn’t know why.

So I set out on an adventure — an adventure to find out what I was missing. Boy, was there ever a lot!

The Adventure Begins

I’ve learned a tremendous amount over the past couple years. I still struggle with getting enough traffic. I still struggle with getting sales for those sites that are oriented that way. But I’m getting past the discouragement, learning to focus on things better and breaking out of my shell when it comes to sales.

So, if you’re finding yourself on the same journey, come and join me on my adventure. You’ll find tips and advice on how to build your online business. You’ll see the lessons that I learn. You’ll share in my disappointments, successes and the occasional rant. I’ll also share more of my story along the way.

Grab your backpack and your walking stick — it’s going to be a long, fun adventure!