The Warrior Forum - Internet Marketer hangout

Are you learning how to be a successful Internet Marketer? If so, you will want to visit the Warrior Forum.




All kinds of people hang out there, highly successful gurus,newbies and everything in between.

When you sign up for Warrior Forum be sure to read the conditions for posting. I suggest that you take a look around first. This place can be like a wildwest town that has not yet banished guns. No, really, it is a great place to learn a lot about the Internet and marketing on the same.

If you like what you see, introduce yourself. You can state that you are a beginning marketer and that you want to learn a lot from the members of the forum. You will usually be greeted kindly. There are plenty of people who will give you the shirt off their backs if you are polite and show a desire to learn.

I recommend that you use your real name as your user name. This will help people get to know you. It's all about social marketing these days. Once you start to see some success as an Internet Marketer you will be glad you used your real name to identify yourself. You will be branded.

As always, be careful when picking a password. The Warrior Forum is like any other, only maybe more so filled with some very techie people. As always, the good guys outnumber the bad guys 99.5 to 1.

You will want to create a good signature file in your profile. At the Warrior Forum you must not put in an affiliate link in your signature. You can link to your website or blog or to a product that YOU created.

Like all good forum environments, you do not want to start posting an ad for whatever it is that you do sell. Try that and you will be scoffed and mocked with good reason. Don't do it.

Here are a few of the many sections of the Warrior Forum. Take a look at all of them.

If you go to the main Warrior Forum URL and login, you will find a page with all the different sub forums, as I like to call them. Herewith, you will find the various sections.

Main Warrior Discussion – This is where people hang out most of the time. I would say that at least 90% of what goes on at the Warrior Forum takes place here. The topics can range from autoresponders to Yahoo. The only thing you can’t discuss here is SEO, PPC and Adsense. There is a separate section for those discussions.

Mind Warriors – This part of the forum is where Warriors discuss topics related to self improvement. Most of the conversation here seems to drift towards picking each other up and giving each other encouragement. As of this writing, the big topic is “The Secret” which is a very psychological kind of thing. Not as much goes on here as at the main discussion, but you will find some interesting topics here.

Warriors Special Offers Forum – This is probably the most popular part of the forum even if it doesn’t have the most activity. The reason for that is because this is where Warriors sell their products and services at discounts to other Warriors. That’s why this is so big a place. Warriors know they can get great deals on things that they’d normally have to pay more for outside of the forum. To post an offer there is a $20 charge and the offer runs for 3 weeks.

Internet Marketing Product Reviews – This is where the Warriors get together and review products, or in other words, give their opinions and testimonials on products. You can say anything you like about a product but you can’t post a link to it, as that is considered a form of promotion.

Adsense/PPC/SEO – This section is where Warriors discuss anything pertaining to these subjects. Since this covers quite a bit of ground, there is a lot that goes on here. It is important that nothing go in this section that is not related to these 3 topics or it will most definitely be deleted.

You will spend most of your time in the Main Discussion Area.

Ask questions about things you don’t know. Eventually the forum regulars will get to know you well. Remember, in this environment, treat people as you want to be treated and you will learn a ton about Internet Marketing.

There is so much activity in the forum that your post can be pushed off the main page very quickly. Many times I thought my post was deleted or moved to another section only to find it was on page 2 or 3 withn an hour or two.

The Warrior Forum Special Offers section

Caution: The ads in this section can be very seductive to a newbie. I recommend that you do not buy anything here until you have some significant experience. The products can be excellent but keep your wallet in your pocket for a while.

This is where you put ads for your product or service. At one time posting a WSO was free. There was also a time that you had to have a certain number of posts to even be able to post a WSO. While that restriction has been lifted with the $20 fee, let me tell you the reality of posting a WSO and making any money from it.

The Warriors are a very protective and skeptical bunch. When a new member comes by and immediately posts a WSO, with very few posts, they are going to look at this as somebody who is just trying to take advantage of the forum members and make a quick buck. So the chances of you making any sales to the established forum members, is slim to none. You might be able to make a few sales to some of the newer less knowledgeable members, but even many of them will be skeptical.

So, if you are going to offer a WSO to the members, make sure that you’ve been around for a while and have contributed to the forum.

Your Own Product Or Service – The WSO must be for your own product or service. So if you’re a member of some MLM program, you can’t run a WSO to get members. This has to be your own product or service.

Discount – The product or service that you’re promoting must be promoted at a discount. So if you have an ebook that is selling for $97 at Clickbank and you want to offer it as a WSO, you have to offer it at a discount. There is no set amount this has to be, but the greater the discount, the better your response will be. I suggest a discount of 50% and no less than 20%.

Guarantee – Whatever you are promoting better come with a guarantee, otherwise you are going to have a lot of people reluctant to take a chance on it. Don't fear guaranteeing your product. Either you have a good one or you goofed up. In my opinion, if you do not have a good product, if your research is bad, if you just can't explain your thoughts, then you deserve to make a lot of refunds. Most of the time, though, you will not get many requests for refunds. If you do get such a request, I recommend that you make the refund quickly without a squabble. Just do it that way to save yourself grief. It's not worth your time or reputation to fight it.

Description – Give as complete a description as you can about what you are offering. Take as much space as you need. I recommend hiring an able copywriter to write the offer page description unless you know a lot about copywriting.

What is your experience at the Warrior Forum. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

Greg Cryns

The Complete Guide to Freelance Riches
The Mighty Mo Website Design and Promotion

Local Search Marketing overview

Do you know what is meant by "local search marketing"?

Essentially, this term refers to using the search engines to make sure that people who are searching for local businesses will find your information as a local business.

Simple? Not exactly.

Google took a step a while back to make sure that people who were looking for a local business found just that at the top or near the top of the first search result page. Since then, Yahoo and MSN created their own local search results. There are quite a few hoops you need to jump through to get your business listed on the first page.

Let's say you searched in Google for "website design in Minneapolis" because you want your new website to be built by someone you can easily meet with and discuss the project in person. It is good to know your website person personally, right?

If you did that search today, 2.3.09, you would see what is shown on the picture above on the first page of Google search results page (SERP).

Go ahead. Type your own search for your business. Be aware that Google local results are not found for every search.

Now search for "insurance in paso robles". Do you see the Google balloons that indicate the locations of various insurance agencies? That is Google Local.

I will do a series of articles on Google Local. Stay tuned. It is important for the future success of your business.

Greg Cryns
The Complete Guide to Freelance Riches
The Mighty Mo Website Design and Promotion

Stumble Upon - quick survey

Do you have the Stumble Upon toolbar installed on your browser?

Please comment on this to form a survey. Do you think Stumble Upon is a good marketing tool? Do you get results from SU?

Please tell us! :)

Image by Silver Smith

How to use Twitter to grow your email list

I have not yet tried to grow my email list with Twitter. I've thought about it but never took any action. Here is a guest post by Donna Gunter about this subject. Read and employ.


List Building: 7 Steps to Grow Your Email List With Twitter

Author: Donna Gunter

Copyright (c) 2008 OnlineBizU.com

Twitter is a microblogging platform that has taken the business world by storm, 140 characters per post. The purpose of Twitter is to post short updates (not to exceed 140 characters) about what you're doing at the moment, read the updates of others whom you're following (in a non-stalker way), and comment and reply on what they're doing.

All kinds of applications have been developed for Twitter, and I've discovered that people either love to tweet (i.e. submit a Twitter post) or the whole concept drives them crazy. I admit that seeing all the tweets exchanged among those I follow can be overwhelming (like being in a big instant message universe where everyone can see everyone else's messages), but I am having success in getting to know my fellow Twitter peeps and in getting the word out about my business and in growing my list.

As I became accustomed to tweeting daily, I began to wonder if I was missing a key business marketing strategy in the process, and then a colleague told me about her strategy of sending a direct message, or DM (this is a private message goes directly to your Twitter pal via email and can't be seen by others) thanking them for following her, as well as a short introduction to her business. I thought that was a wonderful idea, began to implement that strategy, and saw results immediately.

Then I read a great post by Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad on building your list with Twitter, and knew I had to incorporate this idea into my marketing strategy. Here's the steps I took to maximize my use of Twitter to grow my email list:

1. Create a Twitter account. Your Twitter ID can be your given name, or you may want to use your Twitter ID to brand yourself, i.e. OrganizingQueen. Just get the basics set up at this point. In the setup, check both options of "Email when someone starts following me" as well as "Email when I receive a new direct message."

2. Have a freebie to give away. You may want to create a unique electronic giveaway just for your Twitter followers, or you can use the same giveaway that you already use on your site. Once you've decided what to give away, create a squeeze page and insert sales copy and an opt-in form so that you can direct your Twitter followers to this page for them to join your list and receive your free giveaway. For tracking purposes, you may want to set up a unique page to see just how many subscribers join your list from this invitation.

3. Twitter bio: You have 160 characters to describe your business as a part of your Twitter bio. Describe yourself and your call to action. Here's a sample: "Houston Professional Organizer. Follow me for free ebook to learn how to clear your clutter in 30 days."

4. Set up TweetLater.com account and welcome message: The aspect of this service that you'll be using is the ability to send an automatic message to new followers, which you should turn on as a part of setting up your account. You can choose a public or direct (private) message. Choose to send the private message. This message is limited to 140 characters, as it's a tweet, so here's a sample along the same lines as the sample mentioned earlier: "Thx 4 following. Get free ebook to help clear clutter in 30 days @ ." I have also turned on the ability to automatically follow new followers.

6. Twitter email address. When you create your Twitter account, use an email address that is attached to an account or software that will enable you to forward all new follower notifications that you get from Twitter. My email software doesn't offer that forwarding capability, so I changed my Twitter email address to my Gmail address, and used the filter capability to create a Twitter label and to forward all of my follower notifications to my TweetLater.com account.

As a part of the account setup, TweetLater gives you the email address to which you forward those notifications as well as instructions on setting up your rules for your email forwarding. What happens when this is set up correctly is that anytime anyone decides to follow you in Twitter, they automatically get your direct email message to join your list without you having to do anything.

If needed, be sure and update your email address in your TweetLater account. You can also forward these messages manually to your TweetLater email address and achieve the same purpose. In order for this to work, the email address in your TweetLater account must match the email address in your Twitter account.

7. Test your setup. To ensure that this setup was working for me, I set up a "fake" Twitter account just for testing, using one of my free account email addresses. In my "fake" account, I found my "real" Twitter profile and clicked "Follow". Within minutes I got an email message that my "fake" account is following my "real" account, and then at my "fake" account email address, I received my TweetLater direct mail message about getting my free ebook, and a second email that my "real" account is following my "fake" account.

Twitter is a wonderful tool to help you add your Twitter followers to your list, which is one way you can create deeper relationships with your target market to help them get to know, like, and trust you. Start Twittering today and begin to experience amazing list growth!


About the Author:
Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com . Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com

Greg Cryns
The Little Black Book of Home Party Plan Business Secrets
All About San Luis Obispo, California

Hot tips to help you find job openings in 2009

I am not a head hunter nor do I work in job placement. But I've had quite a few jobs in my career so I do know a bit about the process finding job openings.

My son, Toby Cryns, has a great website development job in Minneapolis. Toby told me he obtained that job because he happened to be acquainted with someone who works at the company. This contact put in the good word for Toby. After a couple of interviews he was hired.

Toby is a master networker. He does it naturally without thinking about it. He loves to chat with intelligent and exciting people. Those are the people you need to help you find a job.

I think you will need to do a hurricane of networking to find a good job in 2009. Leave no stone unturned in your search. Do the things other people find too awful to do, like visiting businesses without calling first to make an appointment.

Put much less value on your resume than on your ability to make a valuable contact through networking and then somehow, some way, by hook or by crook, get in front of the decision maker wearing your best Sunday suit. Rev yourself up. Get that job. Be positive. Be special.

Once you get the ball rolling, and you will eventually, learn as much about the company as you can. Interviewers can be very impressed by people who know some little facts about their organization. Trust me, they do. They also appreciate people who shine. That is, people who have IT are impressive. What is IT? You know it when you have IT.

So, I would tell you to think way outside of the box for now. If you think a well constructed resume will get you a job by itself, I think you need an immediate course correction.

That is not to say that a resume is not important. You will need one sooner or later so spend some time and maybe some money to create the best and brightest resume you possible. A head hunter said that it takes only 7 seconds to decide if the person behind the resume is worth a phone call. He looks first for reasons to avoid calling the job prospect.

If I was desperate for a good job (or even not so good) I would hit the streets, baby. That means I would work out a map and walk into businesses unannounced. Be bold and be respectful.

Have your own business card printed up. You can get a bunch of them online for about $7.00. Put together a blog or website where you can send people to see your resume. Make them shine.

Here are some good links I found to help you land a job:

Check out Twitter's job search every day - this is a very cool tool for getting job offers and up to date news and tips

Making acquaintances on Twitter can be a great way to find a job

Hiring managers use Facebook too!

Top 3 Social Media Tips for Job Seekers

Advice and guides

Eight Tips for Job Hunting During the Recession

To KEEP your current job: How to keep your job during a recession

Frankly, I am glad I am not in your shoes. Your task is difficult but you can make it happen.

I am not going to tell you to try to earn your living on the Internet. I think your chances are better in real life no matter what you hear or read on the Internet or on those hokey TV commercial about working from home.

Be your own best friend.

Greg Cryns
20000 Credit Card Debt

Allowing COMMENTS on Blogger

If you use blogger make sure you set up the comment section so people do not have to be a Google member to post a comment.

I was wondering why I was getting so few comments when my visitor count went up every week. Well, bust my buttons, I did not know enough to change the settings!

Don't let this happen to you. It takes about one whole minute (or less) to make the change.

Click this link to read more about how to make setting changes on comments:

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41443

I made the change a few minutes ago. Please leave a comment to test this out. If your comment does not show up or if you have any other problem, please let me know.

Greg Cryns
20000 Credit Card Debt

The Power of Twitter - a few examples

Picture by host, Greg Cryns - want to know how I put this picture on my blog? Call me at 805-226-8354. I'd like to chat with you in real life. ;)

Can Twitter make a significant difference in your life?

Possibly.

Here are some results of people like you an me. They all joined Twitter without expecting too much, I am sure.


---This fellow made a list of the most used Twitter clients
---Did you know that Twitter posts become a way to find important information?
---Guy Kawasaki (VIP Internet guru) says he uses only Twitter for social networking
---Southern California was hit by a significant quake in 2008. Twitter covered it first
---Janis Krums posted the first photo of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on Twitter from his iPhone
---A group of people raised $25,000 for a good cause in a few days with the help of Twitter.
---His site went down. A post to Twitter saved the day
---Twitter saved Neill's reputation
---The Twitter community got him a Macbook power supply in a hurry
---Read how Twitter has become an effective substitute for "word of mouth"
---Motrin (brand name) apologizes on Twitter
---Bert Decker snagged a live interview with Nancy Duarte
---monitor the most exciting presidental election
---a plane crash in Denver quickly known in the UK
---hey twitter, write a blog post for me wouldja? They did
---first such interaction between an IR and an investor
---Journalist Jason Kristufek tells how someone got a job in an hour
---first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order at a restaurant
---Student 'Twitters' his way out of Egyptian jail from CNN (maybe the most famous tweet)

Those are just a few of thousands of eye opening adventures on Twitter.

Do you have any Twitter experiences to add?


Greg Cryns

Website traffic - getting started

Traffic Generation without breaking the bank

If you are starting out trying to make money on the Internet, the biggest problem you will face is getting targeted traffic to your website or blog.

Using Google's Adwords program, especially in some niches like "making money online" are simply out of the reach of people when CPC costs can shoot as high as a buck or two or more.

It's not something you want to get into with limited funds. So how does one just starting out get traffic to their site without spending a fortune on advertising?

This article is going to go over a few ways that are quite effective and cost very little. At the top of the list is article writing and marketing. Not only is this cheap, it's actually something you can do for free. The only cost is the time spent in writing the articles themselves. The process is quite simple. You write an article for whatever niche you're involved in and submit it to article directories in order to get listed in the search engines. Of course you will also get traffic directly from people going to the article directories themselves.

The best directory for submission is Ezine Articles, but there are many more to choose from. Another great way to get traffic to your site without spending a lot of money is putting up a blog with content. The process is very simple for affiliate marketers.

First, you setup the blog with content. Part of that content should be a review of the product that you're promoting. Most product creators will be more than happy to give you a preview copy if you tell them that you're interested in promoting their product.

After you've written the review and put up the content, simply go to social bookmarking sites, like Digg, and bookmark your blog. This will drive immediate traffic to your site. If you use a free blog like Blogger, this process also has no cost to it.

Finally, there is forum participation. Most forums will allow you to have a signature file promoting your site. While you can't blatantly promote your site through the forum posts, by engaging in the discussions and adding valuable content to them, over time, people will begin to trust you and as you gain a reputation at the forum, they will begin to look to your signature and start visiting your site. Again, this can be done at no cost at all. You don't have to have a lot of money to begin driving traffic to your site.

By using articles, putting up blogs and participating in forums, you can begin to drive traffic to your site literally within days and at no cost at all.

Do you have ideas about how to get free or low-cost traffic? Please share in comments!

Greg Cryns
Work At Home Profiles

Remembering my best friend, Butch

They Will Not Go Quietly
(by Linda Barnes)

They will not go quietly,
the dogs that shared our lives.
In subtle ways they let us know
their spirit still survives.
Old habits still make us think
we hear a barking at the door.
Or step back when we drop
a tasty morsel on the floor.
Our feet still go around the place
the food dish used to be,
And sometimes, coming home at night,
we miss them terribly.
And although time may bring new friends
and a new food dish to fill,
That one place in our hearts
belongs to them...
and always will.

Butch 2003-2008
I miss you, good and faithful buddy.