If you’re a rookie at internet marketing and  trying to get your own website up and running one of the most challenging aspects can be driving visitors to your site.  One accepted way to do this is to write articles and submit them to an article directory such as Street Articles with a couple of links to your site embedded within the text which some readers will choose to click on.

Sounds simple doesn’t it?  Well it is if you enjoy writing and find the whole process of generating ideas, carrying out keyword research and writing good content that people want to read, it’s easy.  However,  lots of people find it quite daunting, worrying about what to write, the quality of their writing and how to spark the interest of readers.

If that resonates with you,  you should stop worrying because help is at hand through Wealthy Affiliate. One of the many services available to members is taking part in a challenge to write 30 articles in 30 days.

Yes that’s right 30 articles in 30 days – more if you can manage it.

Does that excite you?  If so great.  Read on.  But even if you’re immediate response was  to say ‘No way!’  still carry on reading.

I’ve taken part in a challenge (more than once) and I wanted to share with you the top ten benefits that I think are to be gained from signing up to take part.

Top 10 benefits of 30 in 30 Challenge

1.    A well written 30 day programme

These challenges are delivered by email on 30 consecutive days with step by step instructions on the tasks for the day.  Everything is written in non technical language which can be understood by everyone including those with little experience.

2.    Good back-up resources

There is a comprehensive range of back up resources (written or video) that show you how to do particular things eg how to buy a domain name and how to set up a website.

3.    Lots of hand holding available (if needed)

Alright there isn’t literally someone holding your hand, but the fact is that there is lots of support and encouragement.  Encouragement comes from Kyle and Carson (founders of Wealthy Affiliate) in the daily emails that drop into your box for 30 consecutive days as well as the support that is available from them and other members of Street Articles through the active and engaged community where you can build your network and connections with other authors. (No one will make you feel foolish).

4.    Establish the habit of regular keyword research

Although a lot of people only do keyword research when they have something specific to write about – taking part in a 30 in 30 challenge will help you get in the habit of carrying out regular keyword research. I spend about 20 minutes a day and find that the research I do is invaluable in writing articles or blog content every day.

5.    Increase your writing speed

Before I tried my first challenge it used to take me about 6 hours to write one article – sometimes longer.  I was always worried that what I was writing wasn’t good enough.  However, if you write regularly you can’t help but increase your speed.  After my first challenge I was down to 2 hrs and now on average it’s 30 minutes maximum to write and 15 minutes to proofread and correct mistakes.

6.    Can significantly increase traffic to your website

Now if you’re hoping that I’ll say by how much – I can’t.  No one could.  But the fact is that if you write good content that readers enjoy and as you build a relationship with them you will find that your CTR (Click Through Rate) from your articles to your website will increase.  I emphasize writing quality content and writing content within a niche you enjoy writing about as it will lead to much higher reader retention.

7.    Obtain high rankings in Google

Through improving your keyword research skills  and choice of keywords you will find that you can gain high rankings within Google.  I have a lots of #1 rankings for my articles and some of them have now been #1 in Google for over 6 months.  My success is due entirely what I have learnt from taking part in the challenge and continually improving my skills.

8.    Establish your expertise as a niche writer – You may in the future want to outsource some of your  article writing, but by taking part in the challenge you will understand what goes into writing regularly and successfully and it helps to establish your expertise in a single niche or several niche areas.

9.    Boost your confidence

I defy anyone not to feel more confident about article writing by taking part in a challenge.  At the end of 30 days some people manage to write far more than 30 articles and others like myself fall short of the target.  Did I get despondent?  Not at all.  The second time I tried the challenge I far exceeded the target because of what I had learnt the first time round.

10.    Increase your knowledge

I don’t know about you, but I believe in lifelong learning.  The great thing about taking part in a 30 in 30 challenge is that you learn so much not just about the art and discipline of writing articles on a regular basis but lots of additional information and networking with other Street Articles authors.

30 articles in 30 days.

Believe me the benefits of taking part far outweigh any doubts you may have about your writing skills.  Are you up for the challenge?

You can join the FREE challenge here!

Good luck!

Beverley
Member of WealthyAffiliate.com
Author at Street Articles (follow me)
Website: Confidence Coaching

Each and every year, most people throughout the world sit down and create a list of one or more New Year’s Resolutions for themselves.

This is a logical approach. This is what we have been told to do and over the years we have just grown accustomed to think of a New Year as a reason to set new goals.

There is a major problem with this and we think it is a systemic issue in our society. Sure some of us need to shed a few pounds, earn a bit more money, quit smoking, or make more time for themselves, but these are all SELF CENTERED GOALS.

And these are perfectly OK, however they are not “world changing” like something we are going to be sharing with you could be…

Does you losing 15 pounds or does you getting a better job have a positive impact on anyone but you? Perhaps. Maybe we should rephrase this.

Are your resolutions this year going to POSITIVELY impact the life of someone that you DO NOT know?

If your answer is no, then we want you to at least consider our new way of addressing a New Year. You don’t have to take action on it, but at the very least, can you please spend a second and read what we have to say?

Thanks for your time…we genuinely appreciate it.

The WE New Years Resolution

This year we are going to be doing something completely different. Instead of my usual “ME” goals that are typically self centered, and based around self improvement, we are going to be moving my goals to “WE”, meaning others.

Our goal this year instead of changing something that we are doing, we want to have a positive impact on a few people’s lives that we don’t even know.

Someone that has no idea we may cross their path now, but they will be better off because of the relationship.

We want to change at minimum one person’s life for the better!

Helping someone else this year instead of helping yourself could be instrumental in changing the world in a positive way.

We are living in a world of constant war, economic pressures, negative news, and an abundance of other negative “stuff”, that the positives are overlooked. In fact, people tend to do less “positive” because they feel that as a single person, they cannot make a difference.

Collectively we believe WE (including you) can though!

If you could simply help one or two people in a positive way each and every day or even throughout the year, think of the viral effect of this.

People that get helped in a selfless way (without incentive), tend to be in a better mood. They tend to pay their help forward. It becomes viral in a sense.

It is similar to the coined phrase “paying it forward”, however it starts with helping someone that is in need. It means helping change someones life for the better.

We could all in some degree benefit from change, but what if we helped each other achieve this change. Sometimes it is much harder to change yourself, whereas others can have a changeful impact on your life with relative ease.

We know this is ambitious for me to collectively think that this could change the world, but even if we are the only ones that takes part in this, then we know it has made an impact.

So here it is, our New Years Resolution is about OTHER PEOPLE this year. We think that going forward we are going to do this and we think you should consider doing it as well.

Our “WE” New Years Resolutions

Way we are going to change someones life for the better #1: Sponsor at least one local child that is suffering or lacks some of the basic necessities (food, clothing, gifts)

Way we are going to change someones life for the better #2: Sponsor at least one person in poorer countries who do not have the resources to get their own food, shelter or health care

Way we are going to change someones life for the better #3: Continue pushing the existing community to help 10,000’s (hopefully 100’000’s) get an education in the Internet, to better their lives from a knowledge, financial, and long term perspective.

Way we are going to change someones life for the better #4: Have a positive influence on people’s lives on a daily basis. A positive attitude is contagious in the same way the a negative one can be negative. I am going to challenge negative people with kindness, regardless of the situation.

The part that is exciting about this, is that two worlds are going to connect.

The Impact This Could Have…Imagine…

This can and will become viral if you get involved and get those involved around you. Here is a breakdown the impact that you could have…

If 1,000 people have a positive impact on improving someones lives, these 1,000 people that benefit from this may go on to impact another 1,000…which in turn could equate to 1,000,000 people over time.

Could you imagine if 1,000,000 people went out of their way to have a positive impact on 1,000,000 other people’s lives.

Could you imagine if every single person in a country went out of their way to help ONE person in one way or another.

Could you imagine if this was just something that we did naturally within the world. What an unbelievable place this would be to live, to grow up, to raise families and to co-exist with others.

We are going to hold myself accountable!

We are going to hold myself accountable to achieving what I said I am going to achieve and I will be reporting back on all of it later on in 2012. I would love for you to take part and do the same.

We are also not going to flinch at the idea of having to use my own money if need be. There are tax incentives to donating money, but sometimes this forces us to donate to charities that are loaded with administrative entities that suck up a good deal of your donation. We are going to go to ground ZERO if we have to and deliver my help to the person, not the organization.

We are going to make sure if it takes money (it doesn’t necessarily need to), that it is not going to some big corporation, rather the actual person that needs it. The resources and the benefit go much further this way.

Self Improvement, My Thoughts…

Self improvement is something that you should always be doing and should not be waiting until January to do anyways. If you are overweight, don’t pack your face until the New Year. Make a change now. If you don’t like your job and you need to make a change, do it NOW. Don’t wait.

If you need to quit a bad habit, improve a skill, become more educated, or focus more of your time on your family, DO IT NOW. Don’t wait for some silly date on the calendar to make this change, that seems ridiculous.

We are hoping that you take part in this and if you are willing, please leave a comment on “How you plan on helping others out this year”. Let’s make this the year of the “WE”, not “ME”.

We also hope you can help me spread the word here. If you know of anyone that may be interested in helping others, can you please share this (Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Blog, Email). The more people that take action on this, the better place this world will be for all of us.

Let’s make this world a better place, one person at a time!

Kyle & Carson
Founders of  Wealthy Affiliate
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

PS. We also hope we can positively change your life this year in one form or another.  All the best in 2012!

I know this is not the typical approach of a review, but who said that “typical” is the right way to do things.

I know there are a lot of people out there with a lot to say about WA, positive and negative and I wanted to invite everyone here to help create the most elaborate Wealthy Affiliate review on the net.

I am Kyle and I am the co-owner of WealthyAffiliate.com.

It may seem strange that Carson and I are approaching a review of something we own, but we think that this would be the most powerful way to deliver our thoughts on our services, what we like about Wealthy Affiliate, what we know we need to improve upon at WA, and where we are headed with the Wealthy Affiliate community.

And of course, your AWESOME feedback will definitely help this review out, so please be sure to leave your comments if you are an active member of the community or have been an active member of WA at some point in the past.  It will also give you (if you are a non-member) insight into what you can expect and what type of people are members at Wealthy Affiliate.

OK, cool, without any further jabber, here it goes…

What Does Wealthy Affiliate Mean to Us

Most people don’t know this because they do not have an idea of our vision and as an outsider, it may appear that Wealthy Affiliate is just another one of those “make money products”. However, it is far more than that.

Wealthy Affiliate has been a full time investment, passion, and has driven us to help 10,000’s of people since 2005, when the community started as a simple keyword tool site. Since then, we have allowed it to evolve in a flexible manner based on what our “members” want from us.

Believe it or not, many of the decisions along the way have lost us a good deal of revenue in the name of providing more value to the end user. Yes, we do treat WA like a business, but our considerations for improving our service, providing new tools, resources, technologies and training are driven by what will make the community better, not what will make us MORE MONEY.

We don’t do product launches. We don’t promote other people’s junk. And we don’t make crazy claims. Wealthy Affiliate is the only community that we believe in and are passionate about, why would we promote something else.

I am always connected to the community, in fact…you can find me and Carson hooked into WA from your nearest Starbucks on our coffee breaks.

Wealthy Affiliate meets Starbucks

How Wealthy Affiliate Can Help You

Wealthy Affiliate is training. WE are tools. We are services. We are support.

But more than that, Wealthy Affiliate is a community. It is like any other educational platform, you go to school, you have friends to hang out with, you have your teachers that can provide you with lectures, you have labs (tests) that you can do (taking action on what you learn), and if you ever get stuck, there will be MANY people there to give you a hand.

Because Wealthy Affiliate is not a product, rather an open community, it evolves with the times. When something changes in Google or when a new shift in the way we do online business happens, you will know about it. We will invite you to discussions to talk about it. And we will create tools and training to help you with it.

People ask “Can Wealthy Afffiliate Help me succeed online?”.

My answer. YES. That is why we created it and that is why we have maintained the longest standing and most successful service within the Internet Marketing niche.

We teach you techniques that work now. Other people regularly share techniques that work for them. We have close to 1,000 total resources, so we cannot say we teach ONE thing, because we teach 100’s of different techniques you can utilize to earn money online.

Where Wealthy Affiliate Lacks

We believe there are always going to be areas that we lack, but that is exciting to us. We would only be lying to ourselves if we said that we were the best at everything or that we “know” everything. We simply cannot.

What we do do however, is when we realize a weakness or someone brings it to our attention, we actively work to improve upon it. We have the resources and the technical knowledge to do just about anything when it comes to making the WA community better, and we are always working on new developments in the background to make Wealthy Affiliate a better place.

One recent example is Instant help. People were complaining because sometimes there was a delay in getting responses via the forum or through Private Messaging (we respond to every single question we are sent within WA and have done so since 2005!).

That led us to develop our WA Chat system, an instant way for people to communicate within WA. Now people can log into the Wealthy Affiliate members area for their first time and watch conversations going on, join in on conversations, and most important, get answers to their questions RIGHT AWAY!

In 2012 we are going to be improving on some more of our weaknesses. One is instant notification of new techniques and training, keeping our resources updated to the minute, and improving the social interaction within Wealthy Affiliate. Oh ya, and improving the speed, tools, and existing services that are already included in Wealthy Affiliate. It is going to be a busy but exciting year for all members!

Is it Really a Full Support Community?

This is something that people don’t understand that I want to clarify.

Carson and I are ACTIVE within Wealthy Affiliate every single day. I am writing this over the Christmas Holidays after spending the first 3 hours of

Me chatting at WA throughout the day!

my day communicating within WA Chat, responding to Private Messages, adding a blog post within WA, and commenting on some new training that was just created.

Over the years we have written “millions of words” in support and helped people that never thought success was possible to achieve success online. Ultimately, we are there to facilitate your learning and to share our experiences with you.

What we don’t do is DO the work for you. People that succeed online are those that are DOERS…people that take action. And when they get stuck, they ask questions. That is where the community at WA can come in and help.

There is also incentive to partake in the community. In 2012 you can earn an opportunity to meet Carson and myself in Las Vegas, paid by us simply by partaking in the community experience, sharing your experiences, and helping others out in the same way they help you.

Wealthy Affiliate is going to continue to evolve into a far more social animal, a community that spurs ideas, activity, and leads to greater collective successes!

The Technical Engine Behind Wealthy Affiliate

The technology driving the Wealthy Affiliate community is a very sophisticated and powerful engine…something that has been 6 years in ongoing development. With a vast programming team improving on our services and rolling out new updates almost daily, our services, tools and overall technology at WA are only going to continue to get better.

Here are some of the things that we offer all members NOW:

State of the Art Web hosting - State of the art architecture and redundancy. Our hosting runs live back-ups with full redundancy. It runs on the fastest servers available and we limit the number of domains that go on our servers to 20% of that of regular web hosts, allowing for quicker website loading times and greater efficiency.

3 Step Website Installation - Building a website is NECESSARY, but very easy using WP Express within WA. Literally 3 steps and less than 5 minutes of your time you can install a website. Platinum members get unlimited installs, some people run their entire local marketing business using WA hosting and manage 30+ client websites within WA.

Tools for interacting efficiently and building a following - We have a variety of systems within WA that allow you to create and build relationships with fellow members at Wealthy Affiliate, many of which are currently operating million dollar online businesses in many different facets.

Training infrastructure, delivering YOU what you are looking for - Our open source training model allows people to create resources as they see fit, interact within the training, and to comment on training inadequacies. The training at Wealthy Affiliate is diverse and covers a wide range of topics, but of utmost importance, it is current.

Leveraging research tools to increase your reach - We continue to build onto existing research and keyword tools within Wealthy Affiliate, improving their practicality for the “new age” of the Internet. This includes understanding Google competition, understanding social metrics, and being able to decipher other web pages in an efficient way.

I could spend another 5,000 words explaining systems that are within WA, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. I just want to say that if you can dream of it and you can request it, we can provide it and WE WILL provide it.   Here is a quick snapshot of the main menu within WA as a quick example..

We offer a lot, in fact 6+ years in the making!

WA is never stagnant and every year we roll out no less than 50 updates within the community. This upcoming year is going to be no different.

Your Wealthy Affiliate Review

Carson and I would love for you to provide your feedback, comments and opinions on the WA community. Be honest with your reviews. If we have helped you, let us know. If you see a weakness, let us know. Your review of Wealthy Affiliate means a lot to us!

WA has and will continue to evolve in 2012. It is going to be our most exciting year with the biggest changes yet!

Kyle (& Carson)
Wealthy Affiliate Owners
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

Kaboom…

We are welcoming a brand new year. 2012 is here folks which means some very exciting things.

First off, some exciting things for you. If you join Wealthy Affiliate before January 7th, 2012 at MIDNIGHT we are going to be giving you a fantastic bonus package.

On top of the massive amount of awesomeness you get when you join Wealthy Affiliate, we are also going to be giving you access to our New Years Extravaganza 2012 Package.

Here is what you get in the New Years Extravaganza 2012 Bonus…

(1) Traffic Explosion 3.0. This is the third iteration of a guide that I created initially about 9 months ago when I landed my initial 10,000 clicks in a few days using a simple “charlie sheen” technique that only took me 15 minutes! It has since evolved to get my article views over 90K, and I have diversified in the 3.0, including some brand new techniques that will work like a “traffic charm” in 2012.

(2) 1,000 Frickin’ Low Competition Keywords.  I hunted high and low for some awesome keywords…and I found A LOT of gems. People try to tell you that there are not many keywords out there left, but I can honestly say I have just brushed the surface. These are keywords that can likely get you rankings in MINUTES in Google and other search engines. These will work unbelievably well with the traffic techniques I give you in Traffic Explosion 3.0.

(3) 500 Keyword Rich Domains - Ever wanted a domain that could get you IMMEDIATE traffic and rankings in Google? It is possible to do with top two and three word .com and .org domains. We have spent a considerable amount of time coming up with 500 of these, high traffic, low competition keyword rich domains. You can buy these and instantly resell them for a profit, you can leverage the traffic you get from them and earn money, or you can put a site up….get it ranked, and flip it for even a higher profit!  Keyword rich domains like this are typically sold for $50+ each!

If you are reading this and you are an existing member of Wealthy Affiliate already, don’t worry, you will get this bonus as well. It will be released within the members area on January 7th!

If you are not a member yet, Sign-up here to make sure you get your very OWN New Years Extravaganza 2012 Package!

OK…let’s talk about 2012 and what it is going to mean to us and what it is going to mean to you…

2012 in Wealthy Affiliate Land

Big things are going to happen, and this is going to be quite apparent in the way WA molds to conform to the new age of Internet. We have many plans in the works for 2012 that is going to allow for brand new innovations, brand new opportunities, greater member networking, and ultimately many more successful members.

Our goals it to HELP people first and foremost. I ranted in one of my most recent posts about GURU’s and the products out there that are teaching misinformation…and believe me, there is a lot of it.

A few things that you NEED to SUCCEED in 2012 are:

(1) A website
(2) An understanding of content
(3) Understanding the concept of sharing
(4) Branding and passion in a niche you LOVE
(5) Transparency

And a community that “cares” on your site. One that offers you all the support you need until you can find success. One that helps build your foundation so you can do whatever you like online and get rewarded for it. One that provides you all the tools you need to create this and all the training you need to understand it. That community is Wealthy Affiliate.

The years of “fun” marketing and building REAL online business are here. The blackhat marketers & the gamers are going to be left in the dust, and those that prevail are those that are passionate about what they are doing and enjoy talking about their business.

Things that you no longer need to care about and should avoid are:

(1) Backlinks
(2) Auto-blogging, auto-submitting, auto-anything for that matter
(3) Using broken old article directories like EzineArticles and ArticlesBase
(4) Spinning Content
(5) Squeeze Pages
(6) Review websites
(7) High Page Rank Websites
(8) Creating your own Clickbank product

Some of those may come as a shock to you, but as I said, there is a TON of misinformation out there.

If you are getting backlinks still, good luck getting rankings in Google. This is likely hurting you more than it is benefiting you. Anything auto or spinning, is unhealthy…and there are a ton of misconceptions about websites, web pages, what to put on them.

Are you ready for success in 2012? I hope so!

Again, If you join WA before January 7th, you are not only going to be joining the top online business community online, you are going to get the New Years Extravaganza 2012 Package!

Before we leave you today, here is a quick update of the upcoming “members online” LIVE video training coming in January:

January 6th, 2012: FREE Traffic Methods – Leveraging the MANY free traffic outlets online

January 13th, 2012: Being a Vendor vs. Affiliate – Which one is for you?

January 20th, 2012: The Business of Local – The Global Local Business

January 27th, 2012: Pimpin’ Out Your Pinterest! – Taking advantage of the latest social community

Enjoy your holidays and Happy New Year!

Kyle (& Carson)
Wealthy Affiliate
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

Hey folks,

As we near 2012, there are exciting things to look forward to in the coming year. There are also many landmines that we need to be aware that can lead to a lack of efficiency from a cost and time perspective.

In this post I am going to discuss some areas of concern and open up some dialogue on certain concepts that are often misconstrued, misrepresented, and misused.

2012 is going to be your best year yet if you do things right and prepare for the new world of Internet marketing.Ready for some honest insight into what I think 2012 is going to look like? Want to know about something we are giving away to members of Wealthy Affiliate on January 1st, 2012?

Read on…

Social Ain’t Going Anywhere

Many of you are late to acquire social…many of you are probably reluctant to utilize social media for your businesses, for your website, and as a medium to share information.I am not going to lecture you here, but you need to understand that your business CAN benefit from social media. It can also lead to some major inefficiencies (can be a waste of time) if you overuse it.

You need to find out what works for your business and for your brand. No entity is the same and none should be treated the same.

So which ones should you use? At the minimum you should familiarize yourself with Facebook and Twitter. For 2012 I am predicting that Google is going to take a run at Google+ trying to force it upon people by integrating it much more heavily into search. You can prepare yourself by getting an account if you have not already done so.

There may be new up and comers that you should adopt as well, but it comes to management. It is tough to manage MANY different social profiles at once, so do what works for you.

One of the biggest aspects of social is SHARING. Getting your content out there is becoming much easier thanks to social mediums. Content can become viral very quickly and if you make content quality a core focus of your website, then you will see a significant amount of traffic coming to your site.

Are you still SELLING?

As I explained in a post that I wrote a while back, Hard Selling Ain’t Cool. I meant it. People are spending far too much time online trying to sell stuff. The Internet is not a vehicle for the hard sell, it is a medium people go to get informed…if you can help them out and build a relationship with them, then maybe you are going to be able to turn them into customer…perhaps a lifetime customer.

I am still seeing it all the time. People with weak “promo only” websites, people with review pages that are sell, sell, sell, and sites that are basically a replication of the sales page.

Not good!

Think of your experience online. Do you go to a site that is a promo and say, “this page is so awesome…I really trust this site!”?

Likely not.

All it will take is you to review your own website or blog as a viewer or get a friend to take a peak to let you know if it is delivering. You are in the people business and if you don’t deliver to your visitor, there are billions of other sites they have to choose from (and they will).

Another issue I still see is people promoting a product because they “think” it will sell rather than knowing the product or being a user of the product. How can you recommend a product if you don’t know it is a good product.

Selling stuff becomes so much easier if you are a user.

Think of all the stuff around you that you use on a daily basis and love. These would be easy for you to sell. If you are going to review a product, know enough about it that you can help someone make an educated purchasing decision. Don’t become a grimy sales person just to earn money, it will only earn you a bad reputation and a short term stay in the business world.

A curator, who are they and does it matter to you?

Search engines are going to become less and less important in our day to day lives. If you don’t believe me, then let me explain the change that has already started to take place.

People are hungry for information, this is a static. People will always want info.In the past people have gone to Google to get information for everything. From news, to how to sites, to content revelation (finding stuff they didn’t know they wanted to know). Now with the influx of tablets, apps, and curation tools and curators (people that don’t create content, rather they distribute it).

Now content is getting found without the help of Google. It is getting found through other mediums. For example, I love many of the apps out there for finding news, Pulse and Zite to name a few.

People will always use search in some form, so don’t think your SEO efforts are going to waste. They aren’t. What you need to consider is the rest of the content mediums that will continue to search for and find content that is valuable and that offers a quality user experience.

You want reach? Think about the end user reading your content, not the keywords within the content.

Is everything becoming FREE?

Not necessarily, but people are much more conscious of their dollar these days and are not paying for things they typically once paid for. Information is a big one, and with the rate at which technology is advancing, there are many services that are using the ad based model to drive their businesses.
As an online business, you can leverage MANY of these free services to drive additional business and to use as productivity tools for your business.

Here are a few of my favorites..

• Websites (blogger.com, weebly.com)
• Authoring Content, Submission (streetarticles.com)
• Social mediums (twitter, facebook, linkedin, googleplus)
• Keyword Research (google external, jaaxy free version)
• Documents, Spreadsheets, Diagrams, PDF creator (Google Docs)
• Image modification (Pixlr, Splashup)
• News alerts, product alerts (Google Alerts)
• And the slew of phone and tablet apps that are out there.

As a marketer, you have a ton of tools that can lead you to an efficient, bootstrapped business without having to spend a ton of money. Not to mention the best Internet business training out there is only $47 per month (shameless plug).

Not everything is going to be free, but as technology prices lower, more and more free businesses are going to enter the market. A user base is worth something to companies and we as users, get to take advantage of that by using many tools and services for free…as well as getting a ton of information for free.

Education should not cost more than a car!

News alert:manufacturing jobs are disappearing and so are jobs that can be outsourced. These may include some of the jobs that some of you are currently doing or know someone that is doing. The content/writing, call center, tech support, programming, manufacturing, even personal assistants.

We (Carson and I) get this, and it is the reason why we have not just created an “info” platform at Wealthy Affiliate. We have created and continue to build new services, technologies, and support mediums into the community.

Info itself has become far less valuable, the way it is delivered, the supporting tools and systems, and the support/communication mediums are where the real value comes in.

I can honestly say that a year from now there are going to be far less $1997 info products slamming into the market.

I am sick of seeing people getting ripped off by these, and I know there are many people that are exhausted from the 1000’s of people promoting a new product like this every week.

I also think that people are going to smarten up to the costs of education within the offline world (I hope). The practical and applied knowledge that you can learn from an education on the Internet (and one that is current) is becoming vital to your function within the work place. If you don’t know the Internet business, then you are probably going to limit your potential as either an employee or a business owner. This will give you the upper hand.

Pretty much everything can be done on the Internet these days, and pretty much everyone is on the Internet several times throughout the day. Why wouldn’t you want to be part of these and educate yourself in it? You are only increasing your value!

Amplifying Efficiency and scalability

Outsourcing is cost effective and can lead to scalability. It is only continue to grow as more people become aware of it as an opportunity to not only make money (through doing the work), and people can leverage cheap labor to get a lot of the tasks completed that they do not want to do and will allow them to grow.

If you are only one person or only a few person operation, it can be difficult to scale. You eventually tap out your resources (there is only so much time in the day), and by outsourcing tasks like website development, content creation, social profile management, etc…it can allow you to focus on growing your business.

Outsourcing has changed though. A lot of people have entered the global “outsource force”, meaning that there are good workers as well as not so good workers. That is life, but you should treat any outsource work you do as a business relationship. It is not simple, it should be done with care.

Not everyone is a good worker, I can attest to that (I would even say that most people do not produce quality). So treat your outsourcing as a company would any hire. Do your due diligence, ask for work samples, and get a small job done before you sign into a big contract.

Proper outsourcing can lead to scalability and is going to be something that is going to continue to be used heavily by online and offline businesses in 2012. Why would you hire local help when you can get the same thing done in a far more cost effective manner online?

Shed the tasks that you don’t want to do and become better at the tasks that you like doing!

New Years 2012 – A Internet Marketing Resolution

We are starting the New Year off with a Bang!

On the week of January 1st – 7th... we are going to be launching a New Years Resolution package to ALL active members of Wealthy Affiliate. We are doing this in pure appreciation for our members and the fact that so many people have stuck with us over the years. 6.5 years later and Wealthy Affiliate is at the top of the game, with a TON of awesome stuff coming in 2012.

Here is the BARE MINIMUM we are going to be offering all members:

• At Least 300 Keyword Rich and Highly Valuable Domain
• At Least 1500 Low Competition, Easy Ranking SEO Keywords
• A Guide to Success in 2012 – Traffic Explosion 3.0 Style!

Lots of things to look forward to and Carson and I personally believe that some of the things that are coming to WA are going to send shock waves through the industry…but are very good and will lead to greater member success rates.

WA is going to be the place to be in 2012 if you are looking to scale your success in the ever elusive Internet world.We wish you all a wonderful holiday season!

Cheers,

Kyle (& Carson)
Wealthy Affiliate
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

In case for some crazy, estranged reason you needed more incentive to join Wealthy Affiliate for $1, for an entire month, then I am going to let you in on a few closely guarded secrets.

And I am typically not very good at leaking secrets, but in this case, I happily will.

So you know exactly what you are getting yourself into right?

If you have taken a look at our site, you will know we offer all members…from the training, the tools, the services, to the support…I could go on and on.

BUT we haven’t detailed exactly what is coming up. That is why I wanted to touch base with you today and let you know EXACTLY what you have to look forward to when parting with your hard earned $1 dollar.

Unbelievable Live Video Training w/ Full Q & A Sessions!

LIVE @ WA on November 24th Video
Topic: Everything Google +, Business pages, and Authorship

Google +.  Is it a waste or should you be taking advantage of it.  If you don’t have at least one foot in the water, you may be missing out on driving more business, more traffic, and building your brand even further. This live video training will be targeting….

LIVE @ WA on November 28th, 2011
Topic: A COMPLETE Walk through of Wealthy Affiliate

This is a special training module specifically dedicate to the Black Friday Folks! WA is BIG, POWERFUL and a VASTLY AWESOME place.  We want to simplify the system for you, show you where you find all the training you need, where to start, where to go, how to get help, and how to leverage all of the components of Wealthy Affiliate to your maximum benefit.  You are not going to want to miss this one.

LIVE @ WA on December 2nd, 2011
Topic: The New World of Backlinks, 2012 Style

Backlinks are useless.  If you are using backlink services, you are wasting your time.  If you are paying for backlinks in any shape or form, you are wasting your money.  There are only a few quality ways to get backlinks left and they are likely not what you think they are.  Article spinning, backlink membership sites, backlink services, auto comment submitting, and pinging are ALL outdated techniques that can adversely affect your Google rankings.  Be here for this live training!

LIVE @ WA on December 9th, 2011
Topic: Create your own damn brand!

Fumble around the Internet for another minute without considering your brand and you are wasting a lot of potential.  Your brand is important.  Not just your business brand, but your personal brand.  We want to show you exactly how you can set up your online business for branding success..from start to finish.

LIVE @ WA on December 16th, 2011
Topic: Social Local

I’m local. Your local. We all contribute to social local.  There is a huge business in building local businesses social profiles.  There is also a huge business in marketing yourself through social channels to reach a local audience.  If you are a local marketing expert or you want to learn about the social local opportunity, chime in for this one.

LIVE @ WA on December 22nd, 2011
Topic: Getting Graphic with it

Graphics, text, font, and overall site appeal can make the all the difference in the world.  We are going to show you how you can quickly create your own graphics, where to find quality graphics, which colors work best and way, and provide you with some cool worksheets you can follow when you creating your websites and blogs!

LIVE @ WA on December 30, 2011
Topic: SECRET (I can’t tell you this)

LIVE @ WA on Jan 6th, 2011
Topic: Another SECRET (I also cannot tell you about this one)

Live Chat Discussions With Kyle & Carson

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
Topic: Hidden gems within WA

WA is vast and many people overlook much of the system they can really benefit from.  Many people don’t know about many of the aspects within WA that you can harness to earn far more money than you can imagine.  This discussion is going to be awesome and going to really show you how incredibly valuable WA is to your Internet Marketing LIFE!

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Topic: The Future of Social

Social is here and social is here to stay.  A few years from now we are not going to be referring to social with a name, it will be LIFE.  There are many facets of social marketing that are quickly changing and we want to point you in the direction of what works now…and have an open discussion on what Social holds in the future!

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Topic: OUR SECRET to 10 Years of online success

You will not want to miss this one! There is a lot that people don’t know about Carson and I and I truly believe there is a lot you can learn from us.  We are going to reveal why WE think we have been able to succeed for a sustained period of time in this completely open discussion.  Ask us what you want, find out what we have learned about failure, and what ultimately has lead us to years of success and the creation of SEVERAL multi-million dollar businesses.

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Topic: Content, content, content (how to get it ranked)

Most people are doing content wrong.  This likely includes you. If you are still writing for keywords, backlinks, and trying to appeal to Google, then you have it all WRONG.  In this discussion we are going to rip apart Google Panda, the changes that have taken place in the past year, and give you a working “content business model” that will work for YEARS to come.  Panda approved!

Do you have to pay extra for these LIVE video training sessions @ WA, or the personal and interactive live discussions with Carson and I?

HECK NO!

These are included as part of your $1.  Man, I have never seen a dollar go so far in my life.  Have you?

Remember, no obligations to stay at WA.  If we suck, tell us!  If we are awesome, stick around.  Nothin’ more to it.

So here we are.  You with $1 in your hand (likely in your Paypal account or on your credit card)…and us guys here at WA.  We have parted with what I think is $1,000’s in real, tangible value in exchange for your one dollar.

A spectacular deal and one that you will NEVER see again.

We are offering something GOOD…feel free to share the GOODNESS!

Also, I know many of you that have friends, family, people you like, and maybe even people you don’t like that would be interested in taking part in this offer.  You can share this in many ways:

• Click the Facebook Like button (on the left side of this page)
• Email a friend this page
• Share it with your network on Linked In
• Stumble it, Digg it, Mixx it, Reddit
• Twit it, I mean tweet it (on the left side of this page)
• Write a story about it on your blog or website
• Tell someone about it (yes, there is communication outside of computers)
• Send it out at work, just make sure your bosses don’t come down on you.  I am not responsible for you getting fired.
• Or just keep it to yourself, completely up to you

Again, this offer may seem to good to be true.  It is real and it is the LAST time we will be running this.  Access for an entire month to the #1 Ranked Internet Marketing Training/Tools/Service/Support for $1. Unheard of really.

Our goal in the upcoming month is to help you realize your potential, help you to start and grow a business, and prepare you for the year ahead in Internet marketing.

I look forward to meeting you!

Kyle
Co-owner of Wealthy Affiliate
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

PS.  If you have any comments, questions or just want to say what’s up, leave your comments below.

Black Friday is coming very soon and Carson and I have decided to do something for this MASSIVE Internet event.

We are doing something crazy!

We are doing something we have never done before.  We are doing it all in the name of “YOU”!

We are giving YOU full access to Wealthy Affiliate for an ENTIRE MONTH for an unbelievable price of ONE BUCK.  This is a 98% discount!

No catches.  No annoying upsells or pitches.  And no limitations to your account access.

And we want you to be PREPARED on the day of the launch.

On Black Friday, November 25th you are going to notice a change on the Wealthy Affiliate order page.  The change is going to be  simple.  You will be able to join WA for $1, for one full month!

This offer is only going to be available for 4 Days!

Black Friday, November 25th  @ 9AM EST – Cyber Monday, November 28th @ 11:59PM EST (mark in your calendar)

It is nearing the holiday season and we are feeling generous.

We feel that we offer so much but people are used to being scammed.  Therefore we want you to give you a full access experience to Wealthy Affiliate, no restrictions, full access to support our entire training suite, and all the tools and services.

If you like us, you stick around and pay the low price of tuition of $47..  If you don’t, it was still $1 well invested.

There is a reason why we are still here and every other Internet Marketing community has dissolved.  There is not a single membership site that has been able to survive since 2005 and there is a reason for that.

We care.  We help people.  We continue to innovate.  We continue to evolve.

What is Included for your $1?

Everything at WA.  I could create a huge list here, but it would take up the whole page.  Actually, to make a point of emphasis, I am going to tell you exactly what you are going to get in this upcoming month when you join WA for $1.

• 4 Live Video Training Sessions
• 4 Live Chat Sessions (Hosted by Carson and Kyle)
• 30 day success club, with daily actionable tasks
• State of the Art Web Hosting (for up to 3 domain installs)
• 3 WordPress Express website installations, install an awesome looking website in seconds
• Access to us (Kyle & Carson) personally if you have any questions
• Over 500 training videos, manuals and resources
• Our database of over 60 hours of Live Video Training
• Your own social profile, your own space, and your own WA blog
• Our famous forum, with 447,168 posts!
• Ability to create LIVE chats on any topic and join 100’s of active training discussion
• INSTANT support.  If you need help, there will always be someone there!
• Acclaimed keyword research and niche finding tool, in fact FIVE of them
• Article Writing tool, keyword density checker
• Link cloaking and traffic analysis tools
• Campaign and task management tracking
• Network with 1,000’s of other Internet marketers
• Hot Affiliate Program finder, find the trending affiliate programs
• Facebook and Twitter revenue generation system (click a button, earn money…really!)
• WA Jobs, outsource your work or get paid to do jobs right within WA.
• and this is just the start…

This is ALL included for your $1.  I know, seems unbelievable right?  No jokes, no hidden fees. $1, one month, full access to Wealthy Affiliate!

Why YOU Need to Join…

It is $1 for an entire month.  If you don’t like what we offer, there is no obligation to stay.  If you do like what we offer, it will only be $47 per month after this date.  It is our way of giving you a full test drive to our service.  We know we offer a service of value, a community that cares, and a training platform that exceeds anything else available.

We also know what we offer is goes far beyond any service out there, including any University education teaching Internet Marketing for $10,000+ per year!

BE Ready, Don’t Miss Out

Don’t forget these important dates.  Come to Wealthy Affiliate on November 25th, 2011.  You will be able to join WA for $1.  Mark on your calendar, put a stick note on your computer, or put this date in your phone.  If you have ever wanted to start an Internet business, scale your existing business, or attract new affiliates to your business, then Wealthy Affiliate will be the only place you will ever need.

Again, this offer is only good from:

Black Friday, November 25th @ 9AM EST ⇒ Cyber Monday, November 28th @ 11:59PM EST

If we put an opportunity for success right in front of you, would you grab at it?  WA for $1, ONE FULL MONTH…this is your time to shine!

JOIN WEALTHY AFFILIATE NOW FOR $1! 

Cheers,

Kyle
Wealthy Affiliate Co-owner
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

PS. Feel free to share this post with anyone that you may know that is interested in online business or making more money..  Also, if you have any comments of feedback, please post them below.

Here we are in late 2011. The greatest year of being “unsure” about the future.

With unemployment prevalent worldwide, housing issues persisting since the 2009 financial debacle, small businesses having a difficult time get a loan to implement their ideas, and the people we should be trusting (our leaders) being unruly.

What’s next. What lies in store for you, me, us. Where does the future go from here.

Again, I am not Nostradamus by any means, and I am not going to make any bold predictions 100 years from now, but I do like to think that I can look at facts, make some assumptions based on consistent trends, and tell you a story or two from our current business and people that we have worked within in the online world over the past year.

Hopefully I can also open up your eyes. Your eyes to employment if your are unemployed, where to find a consistent income and grow your business if you are struggling and need more money, and if you are a business, I am going to reveal how you can get more people walking in your door, more leads, and more traffic to your website.

All at once you ask? This must be some sort of miracle? Am I going to reveal some secret that I found in a bottle that floated ashore on my current  vacation in Italy.

No, what I want to tell you is the truth. That’s all.

Let’s start with the job market…

Unemployment is high. Really high.

Here in Canada it is floating around 7.3% and it has reached much higher rates, of close to 10%, some people claiming that these numbers may be lower than the actual number of “non working” people. In other countries this has grown much higher, with countries such as Spain (20.9% unemployment), Greece (16.6%) along with many others that are around the 20% range. That is a lot of people in the world that are unemployed, and that is a lot of people that are seeking work.

Or are they?

I ran a recent poll within my Facebook account with people on the subject of unemployment. People were actually quite upset with the system and the people that were abusing it as much as they were the state of the economy. American citizens are granted up to 99 weeks of unemployment and although people could capably get a job, they didn’t. The were abusing the system by not actively seeking work (some were anyways).

But don’t we pay into this system? Shouldn’t we be allowed to get some of this money back? That is another discussion, but I am not going to argue the fact that there are a lot of people without jobs and something truly needs to be done.

People don’t need just jobs, they need jobs that allow them to live above the poverty line. Working for $5 an hour at a fast food joint can’t support a family adequately and definitely doesn’t leave any room for extras like entertainment, travel, and the ability to buy stuff (the toys).

The problem is that the spectrum is shifting more and more towards a two class system in this world…

The RICH and the POOR.

I am going to throw a stat at you that will probably piss you off, even if you are rich (unless you are greedy).

The top 11,000 people in the USA make more than the bottom 25 MILLION (yes, meal-eon) people. Freedom, democracy, communism…call it what you want, but I like to think of it as unfair.

The “monetary bar” has shifted as corporations have been making massive profits, employees are making less, cost of living has gone up, and many people atre taking on “Mc Jobs” that would have never even consider it years ago.

I am never one to be a pessimist on outlook, but I do think that we have a bit of a “situation”. One that has more hope that you might imagine. One where the playing field is far more even that these stats have portrayed. One that anyone can do and benefit from.

What am I referring to?

The INTERNET economy!

Constructed of billions of daily clicks, billions in daily transactions, billions of messages and emails shared daily, and millions of web pages being created on a daily basis.

Whenever there are billions of people using something, there will be many microeconomics. In fact, the Internet economy is becoming the biggest economy, connected by more people than any continent in the world, and connecting people in a global economy and attracting billions in corporate investments.

Job Losses Will Be Lost, More Jobs Will Be Gained From The Internet

If you had a job in IT world and you are now unemployed, chances are your job may have been a sacrificial lamb to the net. If you were a data entry person and your job could be turned into a process, chances are your job has been outsourced. If you own a business where you need a personal assistant, content development, or programming services, chances are you have employees that are located somewhere else in your country, somewhere else in your town, maybe their mother language is not even English.

To some this may sound gloomy, but I think this is the glowing ball at the end of the tunnel that we are all need to move towards….

Creating your own personal economy on the Internet. I don’t necessarily mean getting filthy rich. It could be a replacement to your old income or it could be some extra spending money in addition to your existing income (if you are currently employed).

If you are happy, you are ahead of the game. Money is secondary and should be a focus, but it is mutually exclusive from happiness. It will lead to the delivery of “stuff and things” (as my friend likes to call) it. Vacations. Cars. Houses. And a bunch of crap we don’t need but can be fun to have when we can afford it.

But in order to live and not worry about money, we all have a bench mark. I am speaking from experience, when you reach the benchmark you thought you would be content with, the bar will always rise once you achieve it.

That is why you see billionaires trying to make more. Isn’t that enough? No, for the simple reason that “money” does not create happiness at that point. Anything can be bought. Growth becomes the most exciting factor.

What I want you to do now is to determine the amount of money that you need to survive the way in which you WANT to live. I am not talking about barely paying your lighting bill, I am also not talking about flying corporate jets with Richard Branson. I am talking about money to live in a way that you have dreamed about that would satisfy you.

OK…write this down and post it somewhere that you will see all the time. What you write down should be a $$ amount.

Now that you have that out of the way, I am going to give you a sound path to get there. It involves something that we just talked about, the Internet.

I am not here to tell you about some scheme or some secret path to success. I know how to succeed online and Carson and I have built several thriving BUSINESSES (not e-books or info products) on the Internet since 2005 since we went into business together.

What did we do and what should you do?

Follow a passion. Build an entity. Grow that entity and continue investing in it.

People say, how can you make money on the Internet? Well, the answer to that question is “doing anything”. You like cats and dogs, you can make money posting videos, writing content, selling supplies, promoting affiliate programs, creating websites for people in the niche, selling advertising, writing articles, selling websites relevant, buying domains…it goes on and on.

It just so happens that OUR passion is helping people succeed and anything related to technology. This passion has allowed us to create the following successful businesses online:

(1) WealthyAffiliate.com (an Internet Business Training school)
(2) StreetArticles.com (a content authoring portal and information site)
(3) Jaaxy.com (a research and analytics tool)

And over the years, 100′s of other websites that we have used to earn money through, test different marketing strategies, to sell, and to use for our existing businesses.

But the cool part is that these businesses are such a small chunk of the web sphere that creates a space for people like you to get a so-called Internet Job (like us), work for yourself and work from anywhere that has an Internet connection.

Actually as I write this I am not even connected to the net, I am on my iPad on a train in Italy (on vacation). That is the reality of the new world of employment, one that I have been immersed in for the last 9 years and know a lot about. In fact, I don’t know any differently now.

Carson and I have been teaching people how to do what we do along with many other ways to use the Internet to earn money. I want to fill in a lot of the blanks for you, but this has been a longer than expected article, so what I am going to do is make the upcoming month called:

“Internet Jobs” Month

This will be a month where we explain jobs online. How you can leverage these jobs. How you can earn more than any other job you have ever had. And if you have a business, how you can grow your business on the Internet. We are also going to be making some invites to special online job discussions that we will be having where we will be diving into things in great detail.

The next post is going to be all about the top “Internet Jobs”. Who is really working online full-time? How can you free yourself from the old economy and join the new Internet economy?  I will tell all in my upcoming “tell all” thread.

Take care,

Kyle
Co-owner of WealthyAffiliate.com, StreetArticles.com, Jaaxy.com
Follow me on Facebook

We have an announcement…

After months of development and many requests from members, LIVE CHAT is our latest addition to the Wealthy Affiliate community.

Instead of me being overly biased and saying it is the best thing since sliced bread, I would rather give everyone a sneak peak into the new LIVE chat system which is a component of WA Live interface which is going to continue offering more LIVE additions in the future.

Our two WA LIVE membership benefits started in November 2011 when we rolled out LIVE Video Training.

Every week we offer all members the ability to learn interactively through LIVE video on various topics which change each and every week.  This is the most current video training on the web and as a member you can watch all the past LIVE video training within our archives.

And our Brand Spankin’ New System…

LIVE Chat

The ability to chat in an instant way is something that members have requested for some time now.  Until now, members have used the forum, WA space, or Private Messages to communicate via Wealthy Affiliate.  These are all effective methods of communication and we do have one of the most active Internet Marketing Forums on the Internet, however the time has come to make things far more instant.

The NEW Instant Help/Chat Dashboard

Technology has come a long ways in the last couple of years and we are going to fully integrate the Chat system throughout WA communication landscape. I am going to outline how the LIVE Chat system works and show you some of the benefits…

Benefit #1: Create your own “topic” related discussions

Interested in sparking conversation about the latest marketing technique, social network, niche, or Google change?

You can simply create your own chat within Wealthy Affiliate.  Instantly choose and name your topic and you will launch your chat.  From there you can invite other members to take part and start engaging in different topics.

We can see many discussions solving many of the most complex problems online. With instant collaboration collides with 1,000’s of people looking to accomplish the same thing (make money online), big things happen.  Carson and I are also going to be very actively involved in all discussions.

Benefit #2: Get Instant Help

We have always taken pride in helping members in a one-on-one fashion and having the most interactive IM community online, however WA Chat is going to take this to another level. Any questions that you may have whether it be technical, hosting or marketing related, you can instantly create your own chat to query people (including us), or you can join the general chat right within the WA dashboard.

Help is there whenever you need it.  Whether it is 2am in the morning or 6pm at night!

Benefit #3: Build business networks

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could communicate live with very successful Internet marketers.  What about up and coming marketers?  What about people that are working within the same niche as you?  What about people with different skills that you could trade services with?

Instant chat is going to allow you to build business networks through “user integration” into the system.  Every chat has a list of the most active users in which you could connect with directly within the Chat via private message or you can befriend them via your WA Space network.

Benefit #4: Get the most current advice & training

The Internet moves quickly. If you have been around the last couple of years, you will know very well there is no standing around if you want to succeed online.  LIVE Chat is going to allow instant communications about current topics and events.  When Google makes a change, you are going to know (there will be live discussion about it).  If the FTC makes a ruling, we are going to be discussing it.

The Internet moves quickly and being able to discuss it in a LIVE fashion is going to keep you on top of your game.

Benefit #5: Chat with Kyle, Carson and other WA Experts LIVE

People have always wondered if we really offer the 1-on-1 support like we say we do.  The short and the long of that answer is an emphatic YES!  The cool part of the new chat system is that we know have another medium where people can connect with us, join us in discussion, receive instant help and advice from us, and it will allow us to reveal our thoughts and opinions on things that are taking place on the net.

All members get access to LIVE Chat, which also means that all members get instant access to us!

PLUS…

We have just rolled out a dashboard module that allows you to get “Get Answers to ANY Questions” via our Help Me plugin.  Simply enter your question, click submit and you can expect an answer to the questions in a much more timely fashion.

Bonus: Join Kyle & Carson for Some upcoming WA Live Discussions:

Date: Thursday, August 18th, 2011 (ALL DAY): Google Rankings / Panda Update(s)

Been hit by Google this year? Hate Google?  Want to succeed with Google in today’s Internet, not yesterdays?  We can help!

Join us for a live discussion on Google Rankings next Tuesday!

Date: Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 (ALL DAY): Everything “Internet Marketing” Chat

Bring your questions and bring your knowledge to a live discussion about Internet marketing, what it means to you, what has changes, and what you need help with.  We will be available Thursday Aug 18th for a communicate LIVE discussion about all topics related to IM.

This is just the start!

We have many slated updates, integrations, and further improvements to the chat system.  This is also going to be built into new systems that allow for more instant communication, including the likelihood of mobile and tablet app integration.

Lots to look forward and many success stories are going to derive from the newly added chat capabilities at Wealthy Affiliate.

Wanna chat about your Internet Business?  Join us within the walls of WealthyAffiliate.com today.

Cheers,

Kyle (& Carson)
The Wealthy Affiliates
www.wealthyaffiliate.com

There is a lot of doom and gloom out there right now, isn’t there?

The Internet is dead. The web won’t last. There is no opportunity online. You have probably heard the likes.

These are all what we call “fear” tactics or fear mongering and I want to spend a few moments explaining why the Internet is as healthy as it has ever been, it is just a little bit different, that’s all.

Unlike most industries that evolve in very long cycles (think of the industrial revolution that took a century), there are mini-revolutions that take place on the Internet all the time. It seems that in the past couple of years these life cycles have been speeding up drastically.

Technology is changing quickly. The way we market is also changing fairly quickly. At the same time, the WAY WE market to people and the reasons people buy is staying pretty static.

Basically, what is happening is there are NEW delivery models and platforms that you can utilize to get our your brand, to get traffic, and to create business.

New places like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google Plus are becoming prominent. People are using their mobile devices much more for research and to communicate, socialize and entertain themselves.

And then there are apps blowing up like crazy. These are all channels that are creating more connectivity, not necessarily stealing existing connectivity.

Simply put, opportunity is increasing because people are online more and there are more ways for people to be online.

I don’t typically like to get too data hungry (because people often times make up estranged conclusions from fairly simple data), but there are some traffic related, usership stats for the Internet across many platforms. These stats conclusively tell us that the Internet is growing fast…REAL FAST.

There are currently 2.1 Billion Internet users world wide, an average penetration of 2011 30.2% based on the population.  This is  a 400% increase from 2000!

Referenced: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm

One thing that the Internet has killed is the newspaper industry.   Many of the largest news publications have either followed the new age rules and offer their content online or they have become obsolete.  In saying this though, check out how many people are using their computers to gather news and information online.  A very high percentage.

The idea that people are not using desktop COMPUTERS any longer to search, inform and buy things is pure crazy talk.  The way we use the traditional Internet is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Out of the mobile traffic, a good deal of it is being done from the iPad.

I am an avid iPad user and I can say that I use it primarily for information and I make the occassional purchase from it.   I can do a bit of writing when I hook my bluetooth keyboard up to it, but for the most part it is an information device.  By no means do I use my traditional desktop or laptop less, I am just online far more (which is feeding the technology A.D.D. that I have!)

And what the heck happened to using email to communicate?

Who would of thought just a couple of years ago that the new generations preferred method of communication would not be through email. In fact, 19-35 year olds are moving completely away from email altogether.

What are they using then?

I have many friends that use Facebook purely as their communication medium. They use the messaging platform in place of their old email. They are also sharing information at record levels and making product recommendations via these networks.

If Facebook isn’t used, many people are sending SMS (texts) whether they are communication related, sharing videos, links or blogs, or simply killing time chating with friends.

Does this mean the list building and email marketing is dead? NO. It means that we now have more opportunities. Email marketing and building lists has become more diverse. You can now build lists within social networks and extend your reach to record levels there (and get much higher readership). Cool right?

Will the conventional Internet die?

With all the mobile and tablet talk, Internet marketers are freaking out that traditional Internet and search is going to disappear.

I have a tough time believing so. I have a tough time using a phone to do anything other than check my email, read a bit of news (if I feel like squinting), playing games, texting and of course phoning people. I would never try to be productive on a phone simply because that is not a reality.

What about tablets?

I am writing this post from my iPad on my wireless bluetooth keyboard. Tablets are quite functional and I can see a lot of people do work from coffee shops or on their patio (ME), but it cannot replace the desktop or laptop.

Why are we so excited about such tiny computers? Maybe because they are a novelty, but to be honest with you I am far more productive working from my laptop or desktop. There is always going to be a high percentage of people using desktops and I can’t see much change in the next 5-10 years.

Internet marketing is “marketing on the Internet”. You need to remember, if someone is connected to the net, regardless of the device it is creating more opportunity to Internet marketers. The more devices that connect, the greater the reach and the more WAYS that we can market.

It is not a bad thing. People like to freak out or marketers like to freak you out into buying their product out of fear (ex. The Internet is DEAD).

People also worry that search is going to completely disappear? Let’s look at a couple potential scenarios?

(1) Everything is an APP

One day we may all have our very own apps. These apps would be our personal space, profile, information and communication center that would could carry around with us on one to many devices. These apps would allow us to get the new we want and ONLY the news we want, perform all of our communications from one spot, create and sell things within our apps, and potentially have others share and import our apps.

Would this world remove search. It would for news as it would be delivered instantaneously. It might for people visiting Google as well, but they would still have to leverage data from one platform or another and they would still be in a position to be marketed too. People would use traditional search frameworks like Google.com far less and use an embedded Google type search within an app, but the information being delivered would be very similar.  It still has to be pulled from somewhere and the information will still be delivered and initiated via websites.

(2) Everything becomes a social network…

Instead of people going to Google to search for things, they would go to Facebook or Twitter. Well, this is already happening but it is more in the form of Q & A sites. Q & A sites might disappear, but chances are slim that your social circle will know the answer to an obscure question.

What about product recommendations. YES, people use their network of friends to get advice, but do you really trust your social circles advice (outside of your REAL friends). I don’t typically stop my research on a product or service after querying my friends on Facebook. I continue my search online and look for credible experts so I can come to my own conclusion.

People will always search for product information. People will always search for reviews. Social networks will never be able to replace a comprehensive personal product investigation (we are all sleuths when it comes to making purchasing decisions deep down inside).

(3) People still search the same way, just on different devices

This is the most likely situation.  People are simply going to have more devices to search from. Take a look at the following chart.

People are using the Internet on the go more than ever.  Most people use their mobile devices and tablets exclusively on mobile networks, connecting to the net while they are waiting in line, while they at work, while they are exercising…not just at coffee shops anymore!

We will continue to be more and more connected.  With the uprising of the general popolus and dethroning of facist politicians taking place in many countries and more recently the riots in the UK, our connectivity is proving that we as a mass network have become a force AND we are more connected than we ever have.

People are searching, posting, communicating, building content, and sharing content from their “current” location.  That is only going to continue to grow and I truly believe the Internet opportunity online is going to continue to grow as well.  It is just going to be different.  Evolution is always quicker than revolution.   People will continue to search.  People will continue to buy.

Don’t panic or fear the Internet dying.  Fear it growing too quickly that you can’t catch up!

Kyle
WealthyAffiliate.com Co-Owner

PS.  What are your thoughts on the Internet? I would love to hear them!  Please leave any feedback or comments below and feel free to share this article via the “social” buttons at the top.