The Top 10 "How To" Web Searches

1. How to Tie a Tie
2. How to Write a Resume
3. How to Lose Weight
4. How to Draw
5. How to Levitate
6. How to Get Pregnant
7. How to Make Money
8. How to Kiss
9. How to Gain Weight
10. How to Get a Passport

11. How to Draw Anime
12. How to Pass a Drug Test
13. How to Play Guitar
14. How to Start a Business
15. How to Write a Business Plan
16. How to Play Poker
17. How to Build a Deck
18. How to Write a Cover Letter
19. How to Draw Cartoons
20. How to Lose Belly Fat

My Splash Marketing Pages

Here are some of my Internet web pages. They are all designed for different Google AdWords campaigns. They go from simple to more complex. I designed the first one myself, the others are provided free from my company.

http://www.findwealthwithin.com
http://www.livenlife.com/freddiecox
http://www.secret-biz.com/freddiecox
http://www.thenextbigboom.com/freddiecox
http://www.thewealththeory.com/freddiecox

And here is a work in progress home business resource page:

http://www.secret-biz.com/freddiecox/Resources/

Internet 2.0 -- The Best New Website on the Web

Here is one of the best new websites I have seen. The new Internet is all about the multi-media experience.

Check out this very cool new site: http://www.libertyleague.com/freddiecox

Contact me if you think it is great. Especially check the Ask the Founders section.

Best, Freddie

Vonage is Great for Business

I needed a separate home phone/fax line for my home business. This was going to be expensive through the phone company (Verizon), about $60.00, especially when I added unlimited long distance. Comcast has recently added phone service, but it was about $35.00.

Vonage has a small business plan with unlimited long distance in the U.S. and Canada with a separate line for a fax machine for $49.99. Their home single line plan is $24.99. That is such a great price. I plan to change to Vonage for our home phone service too. Check it out, you will be happy.

It is great to have a separate phone line and number for the home office. And I really like the fact that with Vonage I can set up the displayed caller ID info, so that my business name is shown.

Also check out the Vonage affiliate program. You get $30.00 when anyone signs up for Vonage using your link. This is so profitable and Vonage is such a desirable service, that I am thinking of testing a couple of newspaper print ads to drive traffic to my Vonage link.

41 New DXInOne Digot Released

I am posting this information on all of my eBusiness and Investing blogs because it is so important. DXInOne has released 41 new Digots. The Digots are from regions all over the world.

This is great news for anyone who has been frustrated with the difficulty in purchasing Digots in the past few weeks. All of these new Digots are available at this time, and I highly recommend purchasing all of them as long as it fits your portfolio strategy. If your portfolio is based in just U.S. Dollar based Digots, then just buy the USD based new Digots.

For more information, visit my new free DXInOne and eCurrency Investment Forum at http://ecurrencyevolution.blogspot.com.

Forum is not currently active.

Google AdWords Excel Worksheet

I noticed some traffic to my site searching for information on using Microsoft's Excel Spreadsheet program to track Google AdWords success. I have an old example of a Google AdWords Campaign that I ran until last year. I was an agent selling toll free number for Telcan.com. I have the results of the AdWords campaign tracked on the spreadsheet below.

I ran the campaign, got some customers, and then stopped the campaign for a few months. Then I started the campaign again. That is why you will see the gap in new customers. Because I also get residual profits on customers who signed up for a toll free number, the campaign is now profitable. But I am not tracking it anymore.

I think the most interesting row on the spreadsheet is the Cost to Convert row. It made from the Clicks per Client (or how many clicks it took to convert a client) times the Cost per Click. In the following example, it took just over 11 clicks to get a client sign-up with a cost of 66 cents per click on average and a cost of $7.47 to get one client to sign-up. Because of the value of the residual income, this campaign would be profitable in the end. Why am I not doing it anymore? Well, I signed up pretty early with TelCan, but now there are too many other affiliate driving up the average cost per click.

http://www.TollFreeForCheap.com

Download AdWords.xls

Business Blogs Driven by High Paying Keywords

I read an interesting post on Slashdot about someone using a content oriented blog to drive traffic through his blog. Of course, this traffic to his blog can make money for him through affiliate links.

He generates content for his blog, Asbestos News, by using Google Alerts. Google Alerts will e-mail text message alerts based on daily search results from keywords. Michael Buffington, the site owner, automated the posts these text messages on his blog. Most blogs can receive posts via e-mail. People searching Google the keyword will see his blog listing highly. If they click through his blog and on one of his affiliate links, then he earns income (passive income).

Michael chose the keyword, asbestos because lawyers are paying up to $100 per thousand clicks on Google AdWords. I will be trying something similar later today to see what happens.

[I find DXGold related keywords pay from $20 to $60 per one thousand clicks. So if I get 111 impressions and 7 clicks that is a 6.3% click-through-rate and the ad group pays $30.18 per thousand clicks, then I get $3.35 in my Google AdSense account.]

Success from Home Magazine Review

The following post is "recycled" from a recent e-mail to a friend in Network Marketing. I thought that there were some good ideas enclosed and that this would be good as a review for the magazine because it shows some of the ideas that were sparked from reading it.

Maybe you have seen the first issue of a new magazine, Success From Home. It is a very nice looking glossy magazine that promotes network marketing business. The premiere issue has a photo David Bach on the cover and a nice article by him with excerpts from his new book, Start Late, Finish Rich. I have not seen the book, but I gather from the article that much of it is about network marketing.

There is also an article by Robert Kiyoski and economist Paul Zane Pilzer, both promoting network marketing. The nice thing about the magazine is that there are no ads promoting any specific network marketing companies. In fact, the ads are from companies like FedEx, CompUSA, the Post Office, and Dell. There are several profiles of people and families involved in network marketing and their success stories. But the article do not lists their specific companies. I have taken it upon myself to use Google to look up some of the companies and
post them elsewhere in my blog. If I were involved with a Network Marketing company, I think that I would order a bunch of copies and share them with my downline.

So, is 2005 through 2010 going to be the start of a new age in Network Marketing? Will people's attitudes about Network Marketing change, as they realize that corporations like Citicorp and people like Warren Buffet are invested in Network Marketing?

I think that we may be dawning on a new exciting time for Network Marketing. As an example I will talk about Apple Computers. I really enjoy using and even reading about Apple Computers. Have you ever watched one of the webcasts of the MacWorld Keynote Address where Steve Jobs introduces new products? The energy and excitement (the buzz) is amazing. The web is still buzzing with stores on the Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle. I wonder if there is a way to capture that sort of buzz and excitement in Network Marketing. There was a time with people would not touch Apple Computers, and now owning one is sort of a status symbol or a badge of membership in a fresh community.

I knew that something was different in the world the day that my dad bought his first foreign made car (he had said he would never have one), and now the same man who thought my red Apple iMac a toy is looking at iPods. Will he look at Network Marketing differently in this new age?

Those are the though left with me after digesting Success from Home magazine. I would recommend it to anyone in or out of the Network Marketing business.

Technorati Blog Search

Because posts to blogs are happening faster than traditional search engine technology can keep track, there are new technologies being developed to feed on information being distributed in blogs. One of these technologies comes from Technorati. They offer tools to search the web in real time (search engines may only update once a week or so).

Check out the cool page from Technorati that lists the hot tag words from blogs. This list is alphabetical with the words in the largest fonts getting the most hits.

The Shyest Networker

Seeing the new Success from Home magazine has sparked some interest in getting back into network marketing. I believe that people's ideas about network marketing are changing and that the distribution of information about products will be the business in the near future.

With that said, I wonder at times whether my personality lends itself to network marketing. Like so many others, I tend to be a shy person who will opens up to others. But I think one of my biggest fears may be calling someone up to talk about myself or my business. Even if it is not a "cold call", just the idea brings nervous shivers to me.

I guess there are two way to tackle the problem. One of those methods is to overcome my fears and transform myself into a more confident and outgoing person. The other method is to use technology and the relationships (networks) that can be made online to drive my business forward.

The idea, Shyest Networker, came to me from thinking about how I could apply my personality to network marketing after visiting the Greatest Network's online community. The GreatestNetworker.comUnity is lead by John Milton Fogg, author of the highly recommended network marketing book, The Greatest Networker.

Recommend Your Network Marketing Business

I am thinking more and more about getting into a network marketing business. I see it an one part of my multiple streams of income.

I want to use this post to get comments or recommendations from readers. I want you to comment and provide a link to your network (or direct) marketing business. Tell me a bit about your business and provide a link, so that I can check it out.

Look at this as an opportunity to 'network' and get the word out about your business. Plus, adding links to your site may boost your search engine ratings.

I will say that I was involved with EverydayWealth before. I think that it is a good company, but they were going through some transitions with their website and fees. And I got out of the business to devote more time to my young family. I recently noticed an EverydayWealth online radio show on the same network that hosts eBay Radio.

When I was involved with EverydayWealth, I found this great site for Network Marketing resources--GreatestNetworkers.comUnity. It is an online community lead by John Milton Fogg, author of the great book, The Greatest Networker in the World.

People in Success from Home Magazine

I like the way that the stories profiling successful direct marketing people and families did not list their network marketing companies. I like that the magazine, Success from Home, does not seem like one big ad. But maybe you are like me and wondering exactly what the businesses are. Well, here is a list of the people and the businesses information that I have been able to find so far. Check back for updates. (Working on updating links.)

Darnell Self Pre-Paid Legal Services
David & Debbie Reeder with Ken & Sandi Burgess
Keith McEachern Goji Juice
Debbie Ratliff with son, Brain Ratliff Maximum Success
Dave Johnson
Collette Larsen USANA Health Services
Hector Lamarque Primerica Financial Services
Spencer Hunn ACN Inc (Telecommunication Services)
Kevin & Amy Lemmers
Dayle Maloney Tahitian Noni Juice
Janie Jones
Sue Mazza Avon
Jeff Robert NSA International Inc. (Health & Nutrition Products)
Tom Alkazin New Vision (Health & Nutrition Products)

I do not endorse, nor do I receive any compensation from companies listed in the links above. This information is a work in progress and was compiled entirely from Google searches. Please let me know if there are any mistakes.

Using eBay to Finance your New Business

* Update January 10, 2006. DXInOne has seen a very slow period of eCurrency Exchange system activity. eBay may very well be the best bet.

* Update July 12, 2005. I think this technique could be used effectively to earn money for your first investment in DXInOne. In the long run, you will make enough from DXInOne that you will not need to look around for any other business. But starting with money you ‘earned’ from getting rid of some household items could be a great start toward your financial success.
I recommend using eBay to finance your new small business. Before looking to your checking or savings account and way before you even think about using your credit cards, think about selling unused or unneeded items on eBay to finance your new business. Whether you are starting a eBay business, an Internet retail business, or entering the network or direct marketing business, selling items on eBay can generate money so that you do not have to raid your family assets.

I found that I had a notebook computer that I was not using much, a XM satellite radio that I could live without for the immediate future, a dress watch that I did not wear much anymore, nice sweaters and jackets that would not fit anymore, and other things around the house that I really did not need. I was surprised at how much money I got for some of the items, and it was nice to get rid of some of the clutter. Getting rid of clutter can also help you to find a nice place for your home office. One thing to note: when you purchase an item try to save the original box and packing items if you have the room, having these things can really increase the final price of anything you sell on eBay.

I made an Excel spreadsheet to track the items that I wanted to sell and how much money I got for them. One nice note about taxes, because these are household items that you are selling for less than your purchase price, you do not have to pay state or federal taxes. Of course you should consult a tax profession with any tax questions, and the above is not meant to be tax advice, but you can sell these unwanted items and then turn them into tax deductions when you use the money to purchase things that you need for your business.

As an added bonus, if you plan to do business on eBay these sales will increase your feedback and build your seller's reputation.

Network Marketing on the Brain

So I guess that I have network marketing on the brain today. It is because I saw a nice new magazine in the bookstore today. It is called Success from Home. It is a magazine exclusively devoted to home direct marketing business. But the nice thing about it is the lack of ads for network marketing businesses.

If you check out the business section of the magazine racks at any bookstore, you will see several magazines targeted at home-based business owners. The thing I most notice about them is the high number of dubious, a.k.a shady, advertisements for businesses. Success from Home is nice because it takes time to profile successful families in their home business oriented lifestyle without directly promoting their network marketing company.

Success from Home is published by Video Plus of Lake Dallas, Texas. I do not see too much information provided about the publishing company. I always like to do a bit of research and find who owns businesses whose products I find interesting.

The magazine has full page ads by Fed-Ex, USPS, CompUSA, Nextel, and Dell. There is a nice story by Robert Kiyosaki titled, Is There a Perfect Business Out There for You? and another long section highlighting David Bach, author of Smart Couples Finish Rich. I recommend the magazine and will give a detailed review in a following post once I have had more time to digest the content.

Start Your Business Blog

Start your business blog, now. It only takes a few minutes. Even if you do not have your business established, then start a personal blog. It will be good practice for when you do get your business going.

Step 1: Go to Blogger.com.
Step 2: Create a Blogger.com account (it's free).
Step 3: Name your blog.
Step 4: Choose a template for your blog.
Step 5: Create your first post. Give it a title and type a paragraph or two.
Step 6: Customize your About Me page.
Step 7: Publicize you blog. If you use Blogger, your blog's URL will be http://yourname.blogspot.com.

Congratulations you just started your blog. Blogger.com was recently purchased by Google. It is a free service and will probably remain free for the foreseeable future. If you would like more control of the look and feel of your blog then you can try a service like TypePad.com. I use TypePad.com and find that it is easier to manage images and affiliate links.

Here is the blog that I created in minutes: eBusinessQuickStart.blogger.com

Blogs to Revolutionize Network Marketing Business

(A December 22, 2005 Update -- I believe that podcasting may be even more important to online business than blogs. More information in my own podcasts.)

I believe that Weblogs (Blogs) will revolutionize network (direct) marketing. Blogs are changing the landscape of the web in general and will allow home business / network marketing business professionals to communicate with and build relationships with their customers and down-line representatives.

The web has been built on the page paradigm. It is modeled on printed pages, which is a document-centric mindset. Once a web 'page' is published, someone visits, and reads the site. If they are interested in the site they may bookmark the page and return. If after they return, you have added new information, then they may need to actively seek that new information.

Early weblogs started as link pages. Remember when everyone's personal webpage had a separate page that was filled with nothing but links (many were unfortunately not up to date). There were some of the most popular pages. People would regularly check back to look for new interesting links.

Weblogs are based on the post paradigm. They are not about new pages, but about new posts. They are filled with small chunks of information within the larger framework. This micro-content allows for multiple options for display. Posts can be organized by date, by title, or by subject or category.

Maybe you are asking, "So, what does this mean for my business?" Well, it means that your weblog is a tool for bringing new customers to your site and for bringing them back to your site looking for new content.

It can be a site that links to your networking marketing business link website where new affiliates can sign up. And it is also a place where affiliates in your down-line can come to find resources to be successful in their business. Their success equals your success.

You weblog gives you a place to list your affiliate links to marketing programs through businesses like Google, eBay, and Amazon to name a few. It can also provide a landing spot for your Google AdWords campaign. Your blog can be your one and only web presence for your business, or it can be an important link from your business website.

Network Marketing

I have a love/hate relationship with Network (or Direct) Marketing. Like most other people, I have been exposed to network marketing for many years. I have many memories of my mom and dad being solicited by Friends representing many different direct marketing companies. Then I had two experiences which started to change my mind about the business.

In about 1999, I was mailing a package for eBay at Mail Boxes Etc. (not The UPS Store). I was visiting my parents and my mom with running errands with me. She ran into someone that she knew who was checking his mailbox at the store. She asked if he was still with his company. He said that he was now in business for himself making twice as much as his old job. He seemed sincere about his new found success. The business was a network marketing business selling health/diet/energy products. He gave us some samples and a brochure. The marketing in the brochure seems appealing. I especially liked the way that the company promoted its success in helping its dealers get out of debt.

A couple of years later, I was enjoying reading the Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad books. I was surprised to find that he not only endorsed network marketing businesses, but he recommended them for people looking to enter the business market. He recommends direct marketing businesses because they usually require very little start-up costs, and because they come with a framework of tools to get you started in business. I think that is a good thing. I will write more about my own experiences with a network marketing company. I am not with any company at this time, but I am will definitely consider being a part of a network marketing organization again if they opportunity seems right.

First Steps in Branding Your Business

I have just written about the importance of registering your domain
names. That is really the first step in branding your business name.
This is an important step, even for small businesses. Branding is about
reputation and respect. The more of a presence your business
represents, the greater your reputation and respect.

Steps:

1) Register your .com, .net, and .org names.

2) Register close spellings of your domain name.

3) Set up e-mail forwarding, i.e. orders@, customerservice@, retailsales@, returns@yourcompany.com.

4) Register your business name as an eBay user's name.

5) Register your business name on AOL's IM Service.

6) Register your business name on Yahoo.

7) Design a logo for you business ($99 at LogoYes.com, it is easy to do).

8) Incorporate or register your business name with your state and get a Tax ID Number.

9) Make sure you have a good bricks-and-mortar street address (not a PO Box and not an address like Poppy Court Apt #12).

10) Think about getting a toll-free phone number and business Internet answering service. Have someone with a nice voice record your voice greeting.

11) Get you business website, even if it just a very simple page with your business name, logo, and mission statement.

12) All along the way, develop your business mission statement, business values, and business policies. Post these on your web site.

Steps 5 and 6, the IM screen name and Yahoo name, are not necessarily for you to use, but it is free to register at these popular web services. You are trying to mark your presence on the web.

Register Your Domain Name

I have said it before and will say it again, Register Your Domain Name for Yourself and Your Business. It is not very expensive and so important. If you are starting a new business, make sure that you .com domain name is available. Register your name (www.firstnamelastname.com). Register your kid's names. They will appreciate it so in the future. Register these domain names even if you do not plan on having a website right away.

How much does it cost? Well, the service that I use cost less than ten bucks to start and less than ten bucks a year to maintain the name. With that you not only get to register the name, but have access to a simple web interface to forward the domain. Here is how it works. Say that you register www.yourcompany.com, but you actually website where you are posting the site is www.homepage.earthlink.net/yourcompany/. Well that last URL is not so professional, not exactly something that you want to put on you business. You essentially point the browser from the first URL, which is easy for your customer to remember, to the second URL where you get cheap or free web hosting.

Obviously, as your business grows you may need to find a more formal web host. But this will get you started. By the way, the company I use is called www.975Register.com (I am not getting paid to send you to their site.). You can see if the domain name is available on their website and register it for $9.75 per year. They also allow e-mail forwarding. You can have an e-mail address like customerservice@yourcompany.com and forward it to you personal e-mail account. You can have up to 50 separate e-mail addresses with this particular company.

(Update 12/23/05: www.GoDaddy.com is now cheaper than 975Register.com. www.GoDaddy.com is now only $8.99 with more features than others.) If you have several domain names to register you might want to look at www.GoDaddy.com . They are just a bit more expensive than 975Register.com at $9.20 per year, but they will try to sell you many, many other products and services. Some of these might be interesting to you if you are looking for some help with submitting your website to search engines. But you have to pay extra for e-mail (now free) from www.GoDaddy.com . And I think that going to Google and submitting your website for free is good enough for most domain names.

One more important item. Because it is so cheap you may want to register the .org and .net addresses for you company. I would not worry about it for my name, but in business it is important. Also you may want to register a common misspellings of your business name too. You can again point it to your real e-mail address. For example, say that you have a country club called MillionairesPardise.com, you might also want to register MillionaireParadise.com (without the s in millionaire). There are companies that look for and exploit these common mistakes in URL formatting for popular websites.

Tips for Sourcing Wholesale Goods for eBay

Ever notice that much of the items for sale on eBay from online stores is not the greatest quality. I find that sellers who have "real" bricks-and-mortar stores have an easier time sourcing name brand products. Well, I recently found a company whose product I recently wanted to sell. There was only one company (person) selling their products on eBay. And doing a little bit of research showed that I should do well with their products. I went to their website and found their customer service e-mail address. I sent a short, but polite e-mail inquiring about being a reseller.

I got a nice response back. It was all as I expected, except that they only wanted to deal with retailers who have bricks-and-mortar stores. You will find this often because companies just don't want to deal with small online businesses.

Luckily, I have already set up a couple of things so that I can appear to be an "real" store. First, I set my company up as a corporation. Setting up an LLC is very simple. This gets me a Tax ID Number. Then I set up an 800 number that rings to my sell phone. My wife has a nice voice and I got her to record a business greeting on my cell phone's voice mailbox.

Because my home address has sort of a suburban sounding name (you know like Flowering Lane). I got a business mail box down at the local UPS Store. It costs $14 per month and provides me with that bricks-and-mortar address.

In the end, I was able to deal with the company and get their wholesalers catalog without any phone calls. It is a good deal. They will ship the wholesale merchandise to the UPS Store. They will even call me to tell me I have a large package. I pick it up on the way home from my day job, list the items on eBay, and I am in business with a quality product that many other eBay stores would have problems acquiring.