A WAHumorous World

Two things happened to me this week. OK, just one thing actually happened to me and the other one was something I heard on the news.

First, I received a concerned notice from a service provider about my business credit card being declined. I replied that I'd look into it. On my credit card's site, the statement showed that the payment was made five days earlier and posted four days after that. I got the concerned notice yesterday.

I think someone needs to communicate better...

I also think this little fire is out and won't become a raging inferno, but who knows? A credit card company once cancelled my account because I attempted a transaction before the month's payment was received. Nothing I said or did was going to change their minds, and I was obviously too slimy and rotten an individual to continue the relationship. Not even a kiss goodbye.

Because of stuff like that, I'm a bit leery of credit cards. I only have one. No, really. I have had as many as three, which is nothing compared to some friends who have those overpacked wallets four inches thick and filled with enough plastic to make a Barbie doll.

Lots of people have the knack for tranferring balances back and forth so it seems like they never pay anything. There's even 0% balance transfers. I don't get it, but they're fanatics about it, like some play the stock market and others gamble. My mother-in-law does it nonstop. When another credit card offer comes with a tempting balance transfer option, she switches...at least until the next one arrives.

That thing I heard on the news is really no news at all. They said that consumer debt is going completely out of sight and keeps right on going. It seems like Christmas is the preferred time in the telecommuncations industry to announce how much in the hole
we all are. Ho ho oh no.

I use mine as a tool for my home business expenses. It seems easy enough, so why can't anyone else do the same? There's lots of credit card advice to be found. Every need and/or want imaginable is bought with a credit card, usually one of several. Have you seen someone whose card is declined who then proceeds to shuffle through a stack of them better than a Las Vegas poker dealer? The truly amazing part is that while they're performing this kind of card trick, they mutter about which are maxed out and which might still have enough of a balance. I hardly know what my balance is on my one and only card.

Most mind-blowing of all about this stuff is using credit cards to pay other credit cards. Stick 'em up, Peter - Here ya go, Paul. No wonder most of us are literally living on the edge. Why not write a check and enter the amount in the checkbook register? Or use cash...even if no one recognizes it anymore.

Well, I have to go apply for another card or I'll have no credit history and be a non-person. Hope they'll take American Express.



P.S. This is a PayPerPost post. For a couple bucks, I tell you what I think and only what I think. If I'm gonna do it anyway, why not?

Membership sites are hot right now. Some are expensive and lousy while others are cheap and excellent. Rarely you find one that's both expensive and excellent, but it's not so easy.

The worst of all are the ones whose owners fade away like the Cheshire Cat after reaching a certain membership level or being distracted by other opportunities, leaving only that big satisfied grin borne of lots of juicy monthly fees.

Not to mention the cost of the software, the setup involved, etc., etc. It then becomes a monster demanding lots of time and attention. Blah.

Lately I've seen a clever alternative to memberships sites: private group forum categories. If you have a well-established forum and are recognized as someone who knows what they're talking about, you can slap this up in a flash and start seeing cash. It's as easy as setting up one more category on your list of topics and creating a private registration for members. The only outside thing you need is a subscription payment processor like Paypal to take those monthly payments.

If your forum is really hopping, you're there anyway. Why not offer private consultations and discussions to your faithful fans?

But don't think that you alone are enough of a draw to make them stick around. Offer some meaty free downloads of whatever you're into. Oh yeah...keep it cheap, cheaper than the cheap membership sites. Push the fact that they'll have direct access to you and your responses to their specific concerns, not prepackaged one-size-fits-all autoresponses that lack that human touch and rarely answer the question anyway.

Why complicate matters?

I love Rosalind Gardner.

i haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but I'm a moderator on the NetProfitsToday forum and we've corresponded by email quite a bit. She's even helped me out with site issues and sales of my ebook.

She's incredibly nice and helpful. Her book, The Super Affiliate Handbook, has been the #1 authoritative resource for affiliate marketing, which can benefit almost anyone in any type of business.

But...

A guy named Jeremy Palmer wrote a book called High Performance Affiliate Marketing that is incredibly detailed and concise. It packs all kinds of juicy goodies into a mere 150 pages.

There's stuff like Action Items and Real Life Examples (from actual real life!) that's the kind of thing I've seen people clamoring for on some, and probably more, membership sites. Do this, plan your next step, do that...plain and simple. You'll know full well what you're doing all the time, which is more than I can say about many "manuals".

If you're new to this stuff, it's well explained upfront and then it takes you through the whole process.

Niches, affiliate programs, keywords - they're all spelled out so you understand and you can go right ahead and do it. There was even stuff I didn't know about! The importance of each step of the process is clearly stated, as well as the most important points to consider.

It's loaded with examples, screen shots and several ways to make it all as clear as possible.

And I have never ever seen such complete descriptions of website creation and the different types of affiliate sites. Not only that, he uses his own sites as practical examples. That's practically unheard of - most "experts" guard them with their lives.

Then there's website planning from A to Z. He covers everything you need to know 100% f.ree of tech-speak. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate that!

If you need to know and do it to market affiliate products, effectively, it's there. Even if you logged online for the very first time today, you can do all this stuff. Period.

Some people have complained (funny how some people always do that) that it didn't tell enough. Let me tell you right now, they are totally whacked, cuckoo and mentally deranged at say the least. I'd say the only thing he doesn't do in this guide is doing it for you. That part's all on you, sorry!

They've even complained about the price, less than $50 until December 14, then back to $97. These same people genuinely believe that one can not only get rich quick, but accomplish this feat without ever investing a dime in their business. Don't bother to wake them up, because they're happy with that dream. The reality is, of course, that you must spend money to make money. This little gem is worth thousands and thousands of bucks with the information it contains. Ask any long-term affiliate marketer.

To be honest, there's a lot more in High Performance Affiliate Marketing than I expected. There's literally nothing left out and no guesswork involved. With it, absolutely anyone can do this stuff, if they really want to do it and put in the work to make it happen.

There's only a handful of resources that I use constantly. I'm skeptical, wary and yes, cheap. If something can't deliver everything I want from it, I send it back in a heartbeat. My time's precious and I hate to have it wasted. High Performance Affiliate Marketing is going on my short list of first-rate, reliable resources. If you have any interest or curiosity about affiliate marketing and what it can do for you or you just want to know exactly what you need to do to really make it work for you, I empathically and unequivically recommend this book.

You can download it as a PDF document, read it online or print it. Save yourself some bucks by grabbing it before December 14!


P.S. Ros' Book, The Super Affiliate Handbook, is still on my short list and I still consider it highly useful and an excellent resource. Knowing her, she'll be rising to the challenge and making her own book better as this one!