A VIDEO PODCAST SERIES IS IN THE WORKS!

Folks, I have been tweaking and testing my video equipment for about 2 months now, and I am ready to put the polishing touches on my video podcast. I ran into major problems when my computer crashed due to overheating in early November. It turned out that my video card was damaged from years of heavy-duty use (video editing is hard on a video card). I ended up having to buy a new hard drive after the crash mopped my boot sector. I also purchased a new video card. I went with a 1GB PCI Express 16 with a GE Force 9500 chip set. I then decided to upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7 from XP, since I was loading a new hard drive anyway. It was the changing of the operating system that caused me the most problems. I found out that much of my hardware was not compatible with Windows 7, including my scanner, my Sony CDR-TRV480 Hi-8 HandyCam, my Sony DVD100 HandyCam, and yet another flash media digital camera. After much research, a friend offered a workaround solution. I installed a FIrewire PCI card and connected the HandyCam to the computer, and it worked! The only downer is the fact that the DVD100 HandyCam does not have a FIrewire port. At any rate, I was finally able to move forward and get back on-track with my video production. This video is a short test to see how we look on iTunes, and on an iPhone device. I kept the file size small (about 9mb), and plan to do a series of short videos covering marketing ideas, and gadgets for geeks (like me). We’ll see how this evolves over time. The first run does not have the bumper music or transitions that I want, but was simply thrown together to check the quality. Enjoy, and please offer your comments and ideas!

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CRAFTY WAYS TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE AND MAKE THEM BUY!

In today’s podcast episode, we will discuss a handful of marketing ideas, more accurately, “mind control” marketing ideas. They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink… unless you salt his oats! These short ideas will help “salt the oats” of your potential customers who are interested in your product or service and lead them quench their thirst for purchasing. Here is a summary of the tips. You will learn how to:

• create a problem & bring the solution
• be controversial, and spark conversation
• be the advocate for a group and lead the charge against the “villain”
• get super-creative on your ads and ditch conventionalism

For my bonus list of fantastic sales & marketing Twitter Tips that is constantly updated with fresh, cutting-edge content, visit http://su.pr/58wiGk. We’ll see you there!

Play Now:

 Mind Control Marketing Tips & Tricks [9:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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WHO WANTS A FREE $25 WAL-MART GIFT CARD, AND WHY AM I GIVING IT AWAY?

We all know that we’re in the midst of some pretty tough times right now. But tough times call for tough measures, and it forces us to get creative. I have had an idea brewing that I think will lighten the load for everyone during this so-called “recession”, and I think it will be a load of fun getting it started!

As we struggle during this stagnant downtrend, people are now looking for the best deals and breaks in the local market economy. At the same time, businesses are making an extra effort to connect with people in the local community on a grassroots level. I’ve got an idea that will help people find the best deals in our local area, which will also help business owners connect with and serve their local customers better. And all the while, if this works just right, we’ll be able to give away things like Wal-Mart gift cards and gas cards in a monthly or weekly drawing for all of the registered participants!

Here’s how it will work…

To get the attention of the local business owners, and to motivate them to give US better deals, we all need to stand together strong and united. When we speak as a group, we can get things done. I’ve created a private email list where people in the local community can register their names, addresses, and email addresses. It’s important to gather the address information to show the local businesses that these are really their local customers, and not just random people across the country. The email list will be owned and maintained by me, and will not be shared with anyone outside of the group for any reason whatsoever. The only people who will see the information will be the local member businesses, to verify that we are who we say we are.

Next, I will have a monthly or weekly drawing for free shopping cards. This will be done on my new web page. What will happen is that we will end up with a highly targeted amount of local traffic to our member web site, and this will attract local advertisers. Member businesses will be able to “sponsor” a spot on the giveaway page, which will fund the free cards. But they will also have to provide some special deal or discount to the members of the email list exclusively, that nobody else has access to. That will be our sole advantage!

On a monthly or weekly basis, a name (or names) will be drawn from a hat from numbers assigned to each member when they get on the membership email list. That person will receive a giveaway card! As long as people remain on our special email list, they will be in the drawing for the free cards. All they have to do is check in every week to see who has won. And the winners will be displayed on the webpage in a picture or short video!

This will be a load of fun, and thus far I’ve had a lot of people who have said they’d be interested in getting free Wal-Mart gift cards or gas cards. I did a survey, and the Wal-Mart card idea edged out the gas cards by 60% to 40%, but I still think it will be a good idea to try a gas card every now-and-then.

What will make this work the best will depend on people telling their friends and family in the local community. The more people are on this list, the more businesses will take us seriously and offer us better deals. My goal is to get 50 people on the list the first day it goes live, and then build it to several thousand people. So when the site goes live, pass the word and increase your chances of winning a free gift card! The more participants, the hotter the site will be. The hotter the site, the more the local advertisers will want to sponsor a spot on the page. The more businesses sponsorships we get, the more free cards will go to the members in the drawings!

So that’s the long and short of it. I don’t know what the official site name will be, but for now I’m hosting the signup page on one of my own domains. If you want to get a head-start and get on the list, go to the Local Jefferson City Giveaway Page by clicking the link right now!

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“HELP! I’m addicted to buying info products!”

You’re sitting up late at night staring at the computer screen, mesmerized by yet another information product for $97 that will purportedly change your financial life. You can’t take your attention off of the riveting ad copy. It is just too convincing! You have your credit card in-hand, and you’re ready to hit the “BUY NOW” button and check out… despite the fact that this is the 10th info product that you will have bought this month alone!

Forget the fact that you just bought a PLR package the day before for $7 that had you just as mesmerized as you are right now. You were moved to purchase by the slick marketing ad copy, and you  downloaded the information only to find out that it would be a lot of work to “re-brand” the PLR product. So you decide that you are going to “shelve” it for later.

Meanwhile, back to the current offer, you’re thinking that this would be a much quicker “hit” because the writer promises “all you have to do is point your mouse, click a few buttons, upload a couple of files, and watch your Clickbank account explode!”. So this obviously is a better buy. You decide that you need to make this purchase, generate the quick-hit profit, and then go back to that PLR product that needs more work.

But the truth of the matter is the fact that you do this all the time! You are constantly distracted by offers (great offers, for that matter) because you are on 15 different email lists of the most popular Internet marketing gurus! Now you are caught up in a vicious circle that seemingly has no escape route. Your bank account is suffering, and there is no end in sight. But to add insult to injury, you are also signed up for several “continuity” products, averaging $49 per month per program. You don’t even have time to read these great programs, let alone implement them.

I sat stuck in this exact info-vicious-cycle that I call “Info Product Overload” for several months on-end. I didn’t know what to do. It was like an addiction. A powerful addiction by the strongest “drugs”. But the “drug” happened to be the slick marketing ad copy of the gurus selling me their products. There was no wonder that I was stuck in an info addiction, because the Internet marketing gurus were getting their ad copy skills from the world’s greatest ad copy writers. You know who they are, and they are that good. They know how to hook you. They know how to make you buy… by giving you the feeling that you will be left out in the cold while everyone else is making tons of money on their product.

So where does it leave you? Broke, and frustrated. I know that’s where it left me. But the solution is coming. It’s almost here. An “IPO” is coming for $7 that will not only completely solve “Info Product Overload”, but it will make you money too. No, you will not get rich, but at worst-case, you will be cured of this evil condition inflicted upon you, and you will more than likely make your money back. At best, you will probably make enough money to go out on the town for a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant.

If you are sick and tired of being hypnotized by info products and slick-talking emails on a daily basis, get on my notification list. You will get an email as soon as the report is done. It will be short, sweet, straight to the point, and effective. Plus, you will be given Master Resale Rights (MRR) to this guide. Be the first to get it and re-distribute it. You will be the “info hero” to your friends as a result… and you just might make money during the process.

God bless, and power to the “regular” people!

Sign up below (no gurus or marketing experts, please)

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WHILE THE ECONOMY IS STUCK IN THE DITCHES, THE NICHES BRING ON THE RICHES

We are now in the throwes of an all-out recession. Just a year ago today, most of the prognosticators wouldn’t dare make mention of the “R” word, as they so skittishly named it. A few months later, they said “a recession is possible”. By summer of 2008, there were still a handful of mixed nuts denying the existence of the downturn, but by now, we can all finally agree that this is the worst recession since the Great Depression.

While all of our attention is focused on the latest unemployment reports, the most recent multi-gagillion-dollar corporation that is on the brink of total implosion, or the impossible size of the “bail-out” bill, there are niches thriving right under our noses.

Imagine if you would a vast plain, with flat lands as far as the eyes can see. Your eyes can see all the way to the horizon of what appears to be a solid, undisturbed topography of dirt and tumbleweed. But imagine that hiding within this vast flat expanse are great faults, or cracks in the earth’s crust. Picture in your mind that you are travelling across this flat plane and then you come upon a crevass that is 50′ wide that you did not see while you were a significant distance away from it. But now, you come upon this great crevass, and you look down, and observe that it goes one mile deep into the ground.

Well, the stale economy, or recession, is represented by the flat plains. The abundant niche markets that the majority of the population doesn’t know about are represented by the deep crevass within the plain. These very niche markets are hidden amongst us, and are tremendously deep with opportunity. When you discover one of these market niches, you are just as shocked and awed as if you had walked upon that great crevass in the middle of the plane.

I have discovered a handful of niches that are like endless springs of “black gold”, pumping out millions of dollars right smack in the middle of the sour economy. I have also discovered that people actually have somewhat of a scientific approach to researching and digging up these hot, hidden niche markets. There is definitely something to be said about it all.

As I learn more and uncover new fertile niche markets, I will be reporting about them on the blog site. I would also encourage others to share their knowledge of new niche markets that they may discover in the coming months. If all goes well, I would like to publish a guide that gives a step-by-step process of not only researching and exposing niche markets, but exploiting them for monetary gain.

For now, I’ll share with you a few common traits that seem to be standard with some of the best hidden niche markets.

1. Niche markets are fueled by people that are over-emotional about a good, service, or subject matter. Their emotion drives their desire so high, that spending money to satisfy their desire is not an issue.

2. Some niche markets exist due to chronic health issues, where traditional medicine does not offer clear answers or remedies.

3. Aging seems to be fueling the “nostalgia” niches. People will do whatever they can to re-invoke the feelings they had of being young.

4. Some niche markets are perpetuated by people who want to feel “part of” something, which is fueled by the human desire to fit in.

On part 2 of this blog post, I will expose 3 actual niche markets that have rigorous spending activities right this very moment. Until then, you better stay tuned and start researching niche markets!

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THE SECRET TO INFORMATION RICHES THAT I DON’T WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT…

By now, everyone knows the popularity of eBooks and information products that sell on the internet. We are at an all-time high for downloadable eBooks, reports, and “how-to” guides. At the same time, we are at an all-time low for information product pricing. All you have to do is peruse the eBay site, and you will discover the many listings for bulk info-product packages that can include hundreds if not thousands of articles and eBooks that you can resell online. The 99-cent eBooks are in such abundance, you can find a deal on just about any subject you are looking for.

At the same time that the 99-cent eBooks clog eBay and other internet sites, people are paying $97, $197, $497, and even upwards of $1997 for other information products that target niche markets. The sales of these high-priced info products do not seem to be slowing down, even amidst this sluggish economy. This represents a dichotomy that has always piqued my interest. I’ve noticed that the higher-priced information products seem to outsell the 99-cent “deals” because they have a higher perceived value. Seems like a no-brainer, but this is a fundamental truth. If you price your information cheaply, it will be thought of as cheap. Even if it is cutting edge and relevant info, you can price yourself right out of the market.

But before I get any further into the product pricing phenomenon, let me get back to the subject of this article. I mentioned that there is a secret shortcut to the seemingly tremendous niche of information products and guides. Not only is there a shortcut to tapping into this fountain of income, there is yet another tremendous opportunity that it presents that is based on something I discovered years ago regarding business of disseminating information. We’ll discuss both in detail.

First, I’ll clue you in on the secret short cut to information riches. I’m going to write about this once, and never again. The secret shortcut lurking right under your nose is the availability and use of Private Label Rights products, or “PLR” as we will call it from here on out. Up until recently, I had absolutely no interest in PLR products whatsoever. But now that I am writing articles and creating my own information products, my attitude has changed.

What turned me off about PLR products in the past was the fact that the overwhelming majority of PLR articles are very poorly written. The grammar is atrocious, misspelled words are common, and the style of writing is more colloquial than professional. Plus, much of the information is out-of-date. So… what changed my mind, you ask?

After spending a few months writing articles and developing my information products, I ran across an offer for several hundred PLR articles for pennies on the dollar, and I could not resist. I made the purchase, and discovered that the articles were still as poorly written as ever before. However, after spending night after night trying to create new material, I discovered the value of these PLR articles. They may have had horrible grammar and structure, but they covered the points that they were supposed to get across quite well. Instead of starting from scratch, I found that I could use a PLR article as a stencil of sorts. Sure, I had to re-write the majority of the text and correct all of the spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but it was an easier start than writing from scratch.

I learned that I could crank out an information product in a fraction of the time while using cheap PLR articles as a stencil. I also realized that it was easy to add newer information to the articles, thus bringing them current. After re-working several articles and even combining them into an eBook, I started to create a system of re-writing them. I also put my graphic design skills to work and created custom graphics and logos for each information product. The end result? A well-written, up-to-date eBook with custom graphics AND interactive links in only a fraction of the time.

I don’t completely understand why people sell such great information priced under a dollar or two. I suppose they think they will sell a higher volume by pricing the PLR information so cheaply. This is your goldmine, and your shortcut to creating relevant and cutting-edge information products that can be sold at a much higher price than what you paid to produce them for.

The second secret is even better than the first. But we’ll get into that in Part 2 of “A Secret Shortcut to the Information Goldmine”. Stay tuned. It’s coming soon.

Carlton Flowers, Micro Business Expert

Coming soon…

The secret weapon for business owners & professionals. How to fast-track your way to gaining top-level clients that will be loyal to your business and bring you maximum profits. Watch for it… it’s coming soon!

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ECONOMIC CRISIS VS. PERSONAL ABUNDANCE… WHICH IS YOUR REALITY?

The media has let us know on a daily basis that the economy is in the biggest funk it has ever been in since the Great Depression. Television reports, newspaper stories, radio broadcasts, they are all resonating the same message. Billion-dollar bailouts abound, negative financial reports are the call of the day, and the Stock market has been schizophrenic at best. But could there be opportunity hiding in the midst of all of the economic doom and gloom?

Absolutely. All that matters is what you accept as your reality. That might sound like the age-old “positive thinking” yip-yap, but let’s think about this… are you still spending money on a daily basis? Are people in your neighborhood still making purchases at the grocery store? The gas station? The local clothing store? Yes. Granted, most people don’t have the money to purchase a grocery store, a gas station, or a clothing store. Sure, it would be nice to own a business that offers goods or services that we cannot live without at a society. But for most, we can’t afford it.

But while most of the media wants you to pay attention to the negative reports that come streaming out daily, the majority of people are missing out on a key fact: people still buy “stuff” that makes them happy.

In order to drown out the misery of bad economic news, some people buy jewelry. Some purchase video games. Others buy books, magazines, or CDs. The bottom line is, people are still making purchases for things that lift their spirits and make them feel good.

For example, I will admit that I am the first person to buy a CD-ROM or DVD for $10 that exposes some cutting-edge business secret. I hover at the mailbox every day waiting for the package to arrive. And when it does, it feels like Christmas! The fact is, I LOVE to get stuff in the mail. It’s a thrill. It can represent the highpoint of the day after hearing nothing but negative things all day long at work.

So while the masses of the population sit and complain and focus on the souring economy, the smart entrepreneurial-minded individuals fervently research niche markets and discover hot-selling items that make people happy.

It might seem like the money supply just disappeared, but the fact remains that people are still spending. If you put your focus on the opportunities that abound, and realize that public spending still goes on every day, you will eventually discover a special niche that you can mine for all the money you will ever need.

I just listened to a video report that eluded to the fact that the Halloween niche produced $3 billion in sales this year. Wasn’t that right in the middle of the economic meltdown? Yes, it was. But droves of people spent un-godly amounts of money to dress up, look silly, and attend Halloween parties to… you guessed it, FEEL GOOD. That’s proof enough to let you know that you are only hurting yourself financially by putting all of your attention on the negative things around you. I never would have guessed that people would spend that much money on a silly pagan holiday, much less during one of the more dire financial times in our country’s history.

So there you have it. Proof that an economic duality exists. A recession, or even a depression, can exist peacefully right along with economic abundance and endless income possibilities.

Stay tuned for more information on how you can discover the diamonds in your own back yard!

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It’s been a short while since I have updated you on my freelance writing seminar project, “Fast Newsletter Cash”. A couple of weeks ago, I ran across yet another way to generate a very decent income using a method similar to monetization of a newsletter.

I was surfing the web reading articles on other blogs, and discovered some new methods that almost slipped right by me. So I decided to test them out myself. I have 2 tests running right now, and the new method should be producing results very quickly. Each time I test a method, I decide whether or not to include it in the seminar project based on the results. However, I don’t think I have to wait for the results of this test to know that it will end up in the final product. It’s just a matter of how well it will perform.

This brings the total to 5 different but related ways to put your writing skills to work for you and create cash flow that will end up in the seminar product. My only regret is that each time I come up with another simple method of making money writing, it pushes out my launch date a bit further. But it will be well worth the additional time added on to the release!

For now, head over to my latest Utterli post to hear a special audio message from me, and come back to my blog soon for a new audio message about “Fast Newsletter Cash”. And don’t forget to go to the FNC web page headquarters to sign up for my mailing list. This will get you the seminar product at a significant discount before the official launch date.

I’ll be in touch as the project progresses!

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GANG,

You may have heard by now that I am taking the law into my own hands! I’m in the middle of creating a vagabond band of renegade writers who will help me to hijack the traditional Stonehenge Media giant’s slice of the money pie.

As you know, I’m furiously working on my first large-scale seminar product entitled “Fast Newsletter Cash”. I’ll be blogging about it from time-to-time as it develops. The gist of it is, I discovered a way (very crafty, sneaky way) that you can write newsletters and monetize them with ease. I tested this out years ago using a simple internet site that had a golf game, and now I have ressurected the method but with a better vehicle to the money-making portion.

Local businesses are the target market. Right now, they use newspapers, glossy over-priced magazines, radio spots, and television commercials to promote their products. That’s the old stone-age way of doing things, hence the term “Stonehenge Media” that I have just coined.

To advertise via Stonehenge Media, or SHM sources, it does cost quite a bit of cash. But with my Fast Newsletter Cash method, you will be able to crank out a hot newsletter that will snatch local advertisers away from the SHM giants. You can ask any local business owner and they will tell you that they prefer to invest their hard-earned money on other local businesses and consultants isntead of the big media giants (SHM giants, rather… please forgive me).

HOWEVER, before I even get close to launching my Fast Newsletter Cash seminar project, I am going to teach every average “Joe Freelancer” how to become an effective writer. I want you to know how to write with style, emotion, action, and relevancy, so that once the seminar product is available, you will be able to take it to the streets immediately and turn it into a decent respectable income in the quickest manner possible.

Therefore, I now present to you, my esteemed freelance writers, my free writing series. When it is ready, I will send out one lesson per week. They will not be verbose. They will not be 100 pages long. They will more than likely be ONE PAGE LONG (2, tops). My goal is to make brief, straight-to-the-point hard-hitting lessons that give you the firepower you need to be an effective writer.

So stay tuned, and jump to the Newsletter Cash page and sign up for the mailing list to start receiving your free lessons!

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Let’s face it folks… I love to write. It started in college. I went to Mizzou (home of the Tigers) from 1985 to 1990 to major in Civil Engineering. For those of you who do not know, Civil Engineers are responsible for designing and maintaining your infrastructure. Think of me the next time you are driving through a highway interchange, a structural steel bridge, that multi-level parking garage, or when you wonder where your water comes from and ends up. These things and many more come from Civil Engineering.

I thought Civil Engineering would be all about math, science, physics, and crunching out calculations. I found out that a big part of Civil Engineering is honing your ability to communicate. You can design the greatest highway on earth. But if you can’t communicate why it should cut through the back yard of several retired citizens, then your project may never be built. This was an actual experience of mine. It was either cut through the yards of several houses on one street, or continue forcing the fire department and ambulance service to have to respond through a school zone when needing to race out for emergencies.

Being swift with the calculator and geometric highway design software wasn’t good enough. Writing a convincing summary of the project to be presented at a public meeting and sent out to the local newspapers was the only way this project was going to gain approval. It’s for reasons such as this that Civil Engineering invovles several writing-intensive courses.

This is what gave me the burn to write. I graduated and went on to work 8 years for the highway and transportation department, and 10 years at the Department of Natural Resources, where I continue to work and utilize my writing skills.

I think the reason I truly love to write is that I love to talk, relate to people, and teach others. I’ve been a training seminar speaker now for 15 years, and I write the majority of my materials. When you get a chance to use your writing in a face-to-face manner, it is even more enjoyable. But either way, whether it is writing a technical letter to a regulated manufacturer telling them how to comply with certain EPA regulations or writing a speech or training session for my job, I just love to write.

Something that many people don’t know is the fact that I truly love writing humorous or flat-out silly pieces. What I have noticed is that you have a better chance of getting your point across and affecting peoples’ lives when you tickle their funny bone. This winter, I hope to launch a new newsletter called “Cube Life” which will help employees deal with living in cramped quarters 8 hours a day and 52 weeks a year by writing satirisitic and humorous stories that make an underlying point.

You can look for it soon. I’ll be blogging about it here once it is ready to roll out. It will be sent out in PDF format to state agencies in Missouri, and a few of our high-population corporate employers. I plan on having a lot of fun with this project, and I have a feeling that the readers might enjoy it even more than I do!

Let me encourage you to write. It doesn’t have to be professionally done. Just write something. You can write about your life experiences, things that you are passionate about, or even the history of your life and family. Go to a free blog site like Blogspot (www.blogspot.com) and start expressing yourself with words. Just think… somebody’s life might be changed because you were willing to share experiences of your own!

That’s all for now. I’m putting down my pen and turning off the calculator for the night.

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