For the longest time, I only sent plain text emails to my mailing lists. Why? More out of personal preference than anything. I didn't like gussied-up HTML emails, so I didn't send them.

Also, it's easier. If you only send plain text, you don't have to bother with fancy formatting.

If you send hybrid plain...
[read more]

A while back, I needed a FireWire port to hook a camera up to my computer. I knew I had one in a box somewhere, so I spent...oh, I don't know how much time searching through boxes.

I didn't find it in any of the boxes I thought it was in, so I checked a...
[read more]

How do you pick the right price for a product?

Some of the advice is conflicting: do you price it low enough that buying is a no brainer, or price it high so that customers will value it more?

I've read plenty of examples of people raising prices and seeing sales increase, because they'd shed...
[read more]

We all love buying online to save on sales tax. But with state governments struggling to balance budgets and services getting slashed, more and more states are finding ways to get a piece of the pie.

Several states have enacted the so-called "Amazon tax", requiring companies over a certain size with affiliates in the state...
[read more]

You know the formula: step 1: create something valuable; step 2: give it away as an incentive to join your mailing list; step 3: ...; step 4: make money.

But what should you create in step 1?

You might think that a 100-page eBook, packed with everything you know, would be the killer freebie, and...
[read more]

Internet marketing has an uphill battle to fight if it's ever going to shed the negative side of its wild west culture.

We've all seen sales letters packed with fake "proof of income" screenshots, false claims, false scarcity, fake testimonials...you get the idea.

It seems like half the products in the internet marketing market (if...
[read more]

When people talk about niche selection, the conversation often starts with advice like "look for a flush, hungry crowd." In other words, you're looking for a) lots of people, b) who really want something badly, and c) have money to spend on it. Add to that that you need to be able to reach them,...
[read more]

Do you have a strong "USP" ("Unique Selling Proposition")? You've had the importance of establishing your USP hammered into you again and again, but if you're like most people, you still only have a vague idea of what it might be.

I've hammered on the idea myself:

How to Make Your Marketing Story Compelling:

A...
[read more]

If you're like me, your morning started an hour too soon today. Actually, I got a double whammy: spring break ended for the kids and daylight saving time started. Ugh.

If I were living the internet lifestyle :-), I would have stayed in bed. But breakfast had to be eaten and lunches had to be...
[read more]

Yesterday, I wrote about overcoming the fear of being unique in your marketing. This morning, I experienced something that hammered home the power of uniqueness.

I was listening to an old Stevie Nicks song, "Blue Lamp", as I worked. At one point, the music comes to the end of a phrase that's occurred before in...
[read more]