But it has become so much more! I have formed relationships with people from all over the world, who have similar Dreams and goals like myself, the great thing is we have all been able to share each others knowledge and support each other when needed either personally or business wise!

That,s the joy of the Internet, because it allows you to overcome either your shyness or your inability to talk to people face to face!

If I had not started this journey I would not have learnt so much in such a short space of time, in fact I have probable absorbed more this year, other than when I was a small child in shorts! (I hated those shorts) still that,s another story!

With the technology we have available to us today, we have far more opportunities available to us than ever before, but it,s up to us to take those opportunities and run with them! And yes not every thing will work, but if you don,t try you will never know!

Getting involved with John Thornhills Master class has enabled me to take my first steps to building a sustainable business online! The side effect from being on the course is the other great students I have met and formed friendships with during this past year, it,s also been very enjoyable watching each student who have stuck with the course building their own path as they have developed there knowledge base!

I still find it hard to believe that at the age of 56 that I actually enjoy learning new things (I hated school) but it is just like I was born again and cannot wait for the sun to come up and to learn something new!

This week has really lifted my spirits! Firstly a fellow student and compulsive blogger John McNally included my blog in his top five this week! Now this is no mean feat when John does blogging like nobody else I know, granted my post was about my new Android phone and John still uses smoke signals unless he is blogging! Sorry John only kidding lol

I also noticed another friend Bill Murney was up there in Johns top five for the second week running( do you write your posts just for John bill?) so well done to him and good luck with his new walking book too!

It was also very pleasing to be contacted by a fellow marketer who has asked me to write a guest post for him in the coming weeks, now that really has got the juices flowing! that,s the great thing about this business you just never know what opportunies may drop into your lap! (All good things come from small seeds! so remember to sow yours) now is the time!!!!!

I must admit I can see why some people can get hooked on blog hopping! Because it has really opened my eyes to what is possible if you just take Action! The world can really be your Oyster if you find the right grain of sand (niche idea) and run with it!

A new blog I visited this week was Sally Neil’s , and she has a really great project she is working on , and she is giving everyone the opportunity to have there own url link in her new book, (so pop along and take a look)

Well just from writing this post I have come up with a few new ideas to add to my blog, variations on a theme, but then again most things are!

So I look forward to seeing you again , and I look forward to reading your comments below!

All the best

Nick

Learn something New Every Day

Oxford.UK

How times have changed, the majority of us have a real up to date mini computer with us most of the time which can be very helpful but also very annoying if you leave it on whilst your working, it always rings at the wrong time and interrupts your flow!

I have just got one of those HTC android phones and you can do more with it than I could with my first computer, in fact I still haven’t learnt how to use all the functions that it has, thankfully I have learnt how to use it as a phone lol!

Can you remember when you patiently waited for the postman to arrive with the days post, to see who had writtain to you that day! ( I know mostly bills) but that’s still the same today, in fact its mostly bills and sales letters that drop through my box!

And what’s all this Face-book stuff, yes I have an account and use it mainly for staying in contact with my family in the USA and keeping up with my friends, but some of the stuff that gets posted up makes me cringe ( why would you want anybody to know what you did in bed?) the mind boggles!

And then there’s this Twitter thing! A message service which only allows you 140 characters per post! What’s that all about? But yes I have one of those too! (Am I sad or what?) we are told as Internet entrepreneurs that we need all of these ways to communicate with our customers/followers ( Now I am getting into religion) I thought it was only Jesus that had followers?

I came across this video the other day and it really struck a cord with me! See what you think

I love to watch my daughters expressions when she is texting on her phone or writing on face-book, you can tell if she is happy,annoyed,engrossed and many other feelings I am sure!

Do we love our phone and our Apps more than we do people? I just wonder how far technology will go before the human race becomes extinct!

I remember watching Star Trek with all of the make believe technology they used in the show! Well many of those gadgets we are using today in some way, good but scary!

Well back to work to have a Twitter with my Face-book and Stummble upon I hope you Digg this post!

Have a great Day

Nick

Loving my Android Phone!

It,s not just the birds breaking into song either, the phone has at last started to ring again with both old and new clients booking work in for the season, now this is great new,s as there is still so much doom and gloom spread all over the newspapers and the TV!

With my gardening /landscaping business now starting to kick back into gear, it will not stop me looking for new earning opportunities both online and offline (what happened to the saying “Bricks and Mortar businesses” ) just goes to show how the Internet language is effecting how we speak today.

It was interesting that Adrienne posted on this blog that she felt there was too much competition for her own skills of organisation, personally I don,t think that is the case, if you are good at something and have a Passion just go for it, as my last article said “Competition is Good” if there was,nt any competition you probable would,nt have a business!

I am still on a fast learning journey with Internet Marketing, but one thing I have learnt so far !Is don,t try to compete in a market you know nothing about!

Many of the top gurus online today started in their own niche before branching out into training and marketing sites, all businesses are like apprenticeships, you have to learn the basics before you can progress, the advantage we have today, is that we can add more knowledge to our chosen field via the good old Internet!

As I proceed with writing my first e book I have already found another 6 sub niches that I can write about, so I can see my whole year planned out for me already, the interesting thing is that my Daughter Jenna is getting married in July so I have been heavily involved in helping with the planning , and as I am footing a large part of the bill, I have been researching online for ways to create a great wedding on as small a budget as possible( her friend spent £25,000 on her wedding and added it on the mortgage) not the most economical way to do it!

And yes there is a lot of books on the subject, but just maybe there is another book in there some where, what do you think?

After all , we all like to read interesting stories that can save us money don’t we!

So if you are not sure if you should write that book,seize the day and just do it! If nothing else you will have practised your writing skills and improved your knowledge of producing an e book on the way!

Have a great day and may all your Dreams come True!

Nick

Oxford UK,

When the idea first springs into your mind, you will be full of excitement and dreaming of making bags of money, it,s only when you start researching your idea , that you start to find so many people offering the same or similar service as you are looking to start!

That,s when those pesky gremlins start attacking your mind with doubts ”it won,t work you know” or “there,s too much competition” or whatever pesky excuses they infest your mind with!

So with your brain flooded with these self doubts , you give up on that idea , reasoning that it was,nt right for you anyway.

A few day,s/weeks passes and once again a light bulb moment  furnishes you with another great idea, and once again you travel down the same road of Hope and then despair!

So how do you get off of this roller coaster that leads no where?

Well back in the 70,s/80,s when I managed a pet and garden supplies store in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the store was growing year on year! And then Bam!! they built a brand new out of town shopping centre with a huge Supermarket at the centre of it!

This meant that our once thriving town had started to die, with many of our old customers visiting the new centre and with it spending the money they once had in the old town centre, plus The Council even had the nerve to put on a Free bus service to transport people to the new stores!

All the small store keepers could either roll over and give up! or stand strong together and fight for their lively hood!

So each store put a plan of Action together, this is what we did.

We looked at what services we could offer that the big stores could,nt , we also analysed what there special offers were, so that we did not try and compete on price (which would have been financial suicide) we also offered a “Special Order Service” purchasing goods that the Supermarket were not interested in! It took a few months, but we had found our Niche in the market, which gave us a chance of competing with the big boys!

We never did get back the number of customers we once had, but we did manage to increase the amount of profit that we got from each customer by going the extra mile! (And the Store Flourished once more)

Having the extra competition certainly kept us on our toes, and I was pleased that all of the staff kept coming up with their own ideas of how we could compete with the big stores, which created a fantastic working environment for us all!

I find it very similar in the Internet World, as you look around for new products to create, you will always find somebody who has thought of it before you, which starts those Gremlins to start spreading that virus back into your mind!

All I can say! Is don’t worry,just make sure that when you are creating that new product that you put a bit of your own personality into the production of it, and you will find that many people will resonate with how you deliver the information and you will get sales!

Getting Ideas is easy!putting everything together without those pesky Gremlins stopping you on the way, is the hardest part, but once you see the Plan coming together, the satisfaction and confidence that you will get from the journey will be immense!

It might take 10-20 or more products before you hit that vein of gold, but if you stop looking you will never know if success was just around the corner!

So take the plunge and believe in Yourself!

All the Best

Nick

Oxford.UK

And the way to do that is by creating a Headline that grabs their attention like a glass of water in the middle of the desert!

You have to remember that the main purpose of your headline is too state in clear terms what you are offering your customers!

The average person is bombarded with over 3,150 sales messages every day, so its very important to include a benefit so as to encourage the reader to complete the whole of the sales message.

But as you well know it is essential to narrow down your niche to give you any chance of success.

One of the most memorable headlines writtain here in the Uk was in The Sun Newspaper many years ago ! The headline was “Freddie Star Ate My Hamster” I have enclosed a picture of the front of the newspaper just below!

In my opinion it sounded a silly headline at the time, however it created so much outrage and dis-belief that the newspapers sales increased amazingly, with both the tv and radio stations following up with the story plus competing newspapers/magazines too!

Was the story true?

Probable not!

But it created immense interest, so the newspaper won hands down!
It also helped lift British comedien Freddie Stars career too!

Remember no matter what your offer is only a small percentage of the worlds population will be interested in it.

For instance you would,nt market cat food to a deep sea fisherman “ unless he was fishing for cat fish!” I know a bit corny , but at least you get my point!

The very first advert I used for my landscape/gardening business , I used the headline “Tired of Gardening” this advert started my business off and since then I have had to do very little advertising as most of my business now comes from refer-alls ( I will cover this in a later post)

I am convinced the reason that the advert was successful was due to the heading! People reading it were looking out at there own garden, or their partner saw the ad and persuaded their other half to give me a call!

You see the majority of company’s use their company’s name as the headline and do not look for a headline that sells a benefit.

Whatever business you are in or looking to start, you need to find a hook in the headline, so that you can catch your readers attention so that you can reel them into the rest of your sales message/advert.

Try to write out at least 50 different headlines, this may take a few days ( the first few are easy) keep a notebook with you because you never know when a gold nugget will pop into your mind, write down every headline that comes into your head, because if you don’t use it for your main headline, you can always use it for sub headings or bullet points, or by slightly adjusting to wording for another article or sales message!

Its a proven fact, that people live such busy lives that you have less than 5 seconds to capture their attention ( So HEADLINES really do make a BIG difference)

Well that,s all for now folks!

Have a Great Headline Day!

Nick

Oxford.UK.

If its on TV they are always trying to sell you the next best thing that you need either for your house or yourself! And if its in a Newspaper/magazine , they are mostly promoting their business!

But how often do they sell you on the benefit’s that you will get from buying the product or from using their business, not very often, unless its a holiday or a car commercial or advert!

Some of the more savvy businesses do sell the sizzle” mmn I can smell the bacon now”!

Lets take a carpet shop for example, do they sell you the benefit’s from shopping with them? Not very often! They push their business name and that they have a vast selection of carpets to choose from and some offer free fitting!

What if they made a slight change to their add copy, and offered to find what ever carpet the customer wanted if they didn’t have it in stock! Would that give them their own U.S.P. I am sure it would!

Another example would be a local Garage, normally he would just use his name “Joe’s Garage” for example and leave the rest up to the customers imagination on what services he offers for the motorist!

Now once again the more pro-active owners would be offering free oil checks and or Tire checks or fee wiper blade checks!

(Remember to ask for their email address at the time)

This then opens them up to offer the customer more offers which will eventually result in more business

Now I have put this in its most simple form, but you get the idea!

If your competitor “Zigs” you “ Zag”

For example in my own gardening business most of my competitors(and there are a lot) offer free estimates, now nearly everybody does that! So I thought how could I differentiate myself from the crowd!

So a few years ago we started offering a “Free Lawn Weed Treatment “ on our first visit, this has proved very successful for us, resulting in converting 60-70% of our estimates

Now if you were looking for someone to look after your garden who would you call first!

Always be on the look out for your very own Unique Selling Position ,at first this may seem difficult but if you make the time to check out your opposition there is always a new way for you to put your own twist on things to give you an advantage!

Oh and by the way! The only cost that I have is a little bit of chemical weedkiller, which I apply with a Knapsack sprayer and a few minutes of my time, the cost is negligible! But the benefit to the customer is Visible!

So go look at your own business if you have one, or if you are about to start your own income stream , remember to find your very own U.S.P.

Nike are one of the best company’s in the World for creating the “Sizzle” and the dream!

Ok! this commercial was banned for obvious reasons! but it grabbed your Attention did,nt it!

Internet Marketing is at the cutting edge of advertising both on and offline, so don’t get left behind!

All the best

Nick

The Internet is moving so fast and it seems every day a new idea or program pops into my inbox! in the past if the sales page got me interested they had a chance of getting my cash, or rather my credit card details, the World has changed so much over the past few years with the Internet giving us the opportunity to see all over the world.

This year i have decided to stop buying all the new courses and to concentrate on what I have learnt the past year with John Thornhills Masterclass and to start to implement the vast amount of ideas that have come from the great content that he teaches!

So this year I will be working on producing my own products and I have set myself quite a target considering I am still running my own landscaping and Gardening business, I guess this will give you some clues to what my first products will be about. it is such a waste if we don’t use the knowledge that we have gained throughout our working life!

Its not just what I have learnt from work, but its also the knowledge I have gained from being a soccer referee/coach /manager and Chairman of our local club.

I still remain with the soccer club using my landscaping skills to help maintain the pitches and grounds, and over Christmas with a bit of brainstorming (even though it was alcohol induced) I came up with another product for all of the amateur soccer clubs in the world.

And that’s what life is all about really, its taking all of the knowledge that you have stored in side that Brain of yours, and finding some way too profit from it, and if you do that you have every chance of being successful in the Information business!

Not only do I intend to create my own writtain products but I also want to learn how to use video both on my blog but also as stand alone products too,

So if you have dreams of being successful on the Internet make your plan , give yourself small daily tasks and you will be amazed how far you will have come at the end of the year!

If you feel that you dont have the Courage to achieve your Dreams watch the video below! it might just change your mind!

The effort Derek Redmond put into those last 250metres is immense! so if you only put a small amount of effort into your new product every day how much could you Achieve!

My aim is to have substantially added to my income by this time next year, and if I have,nt, it will not be because I have not put the effort in! but I feel that I have an advantage over many because of all of the fantastic friends I have found whilst on Johns course and the continuing support we get from John too!

Well back to work !

Have a Great Year and may your goals come to fruition!

Nick

In  my last post I was talking about finding time for your Internet Business just by cutting back on how much TV you watch, well today I am going to vent my anger at those so called experts who publish ebooks to the web.

What annoys the hell out of me, is that very often they write about subjects they know nothing or very little about and give very little instructions or real world advise on how to be successful after reading the book!

That,s why people waste so much money buying ebooks , because they are disappointed after reading the contents and then move onto the next hot thing being advertised on the net.

To be honest there is no excuse to turning out trash ebooks, all the information is already written about in books that you can find at the Library or even here on line, but truthfully is that the correct way? I think not! if you want to write a quality ebook please do your research correctly, and that’s by finding someone in the Industry who has already been successful.

That’s not as hard as it seems at first, just go to your local yellow pages and find someone in your chosen field, and contact them, and ask if you could interview them to regards to writing a book about there business, tell them you will give them credit for there input in the book,(everyone wants to see there name in print)

If they are agreable ask if you spend some time with them while they are at work, perhaps work for them for free for a week, the knowledge that you will gain for your work will be far greater and more meaningful that just copying somebody else’s work that you have bought from Click-bank!

When you are creating your book it is very important to express your enthusiasm and share your newly gained knowledge into an enjoyable read! otherwise you will not gain the trust of your new found customer(remember you will hopefully be able to sell something to him on the back-end)

In-fact the best way to do this would be to tell a story either about the way you started your business or how the business owner you interviewed started his, this is not too hard, we have all read books that have held our imagination and that we have found hard to put down.

It may be a case of just putting amusing short stories within your book,of your own personal experiences or of those of the business man you interviewed.

Try to explain all of the problems that they may encounter within the business as well as the positive ones, that way you will give an honest view of the business so that your customer can make an informed decision before buying equipment to start there new income generator!

To give you a few ideas . I have  enclosed a video of one of the best British speakers Geoff Burch, who gets his point across by using comedy  during his speeches,

I hope it stimulates your own writing juices

Have a Great Day

nick

With the economy still in Free-fall! We are all looking to increase our income, and also to save money where ever we can, contrary to belief the governments don,t worry about us! Only themselves, so its up to us to get off our backsides and take some Action!

But if you are in Full time employment (if your lucky) or at this moment staring out of the window at the snow falling! preventing you from either getting to work, or if you work outside not even able to do any work! You start to worry about how you are going to provide for your family, especially with less than a week to Santa coming down the Chimney(that,s if you have one)

So what do you do? Well as I said earlier we have to take Action because if we don,t nothing will happen, yes we can all make excuses but in the end you run out of them and start repeating yourself and begin to feel sorry for yourself and blame everybody else! The truth is if we dont make the effort our whole world will collapse like a pack of cards!

The first thing to do! Is to admit to yourself , that enough is enough! and that you are not prepared to see your family suffer any more, and then get out your pen and paper and start to make a plan, this is so important , otherwise you will just flit from task to task without any tangible progress, this can be hard if this is some thing you have never done before, but once you can see yourself making progress you will wonder why you have never done it before!

I know, you are now thinking , “I am so busy, where will I find the time” well guess what! For you to succeed you are going to have to give up a bit of leisure time,

Don,t worry its not as bad as it sounds!

How much could you accomplish, if you could find another day a week to start you new income stream yes 8 hours or more a week!

So where can you find that time? and no I am not going to wave a magic wand!” or perhaps I am”
Well how much TV do you watch for starters? 3-4 hours a day/evening? Infact probable even  more at the weekends! so if you can cut back on the soaps, the old films, you have watched at least twice, and all the other re-peats, I reckon you will find at least 8 hours a week! times that by 52, and you have 416 hours a year !

 Boy is that a lot of time that you could use more productively, and even if you only made £10 or $10 an hour that comes to a very nice sum of £4,160 or $4160  extra income a year depending on where you live!

Now would that make life a little more comfortable for you and your family just for a little sacrifice?

So is it worth cutting back on your TV and being more selective about what you watch? You bet it is!

I don,t know what sort of things you are interested in! But I am sure if you write down all your interests in that note book it will be a good starting place for you to find those new Income streams!

But please be willing to Fail a few times on the way! Yes Fail! Because for us to learn systems properly we need to feel the pain! Its just like when you first tried to ride that shiney new bike that you got for Christmas, plenty of grazes and bruises before you took off on your own! But what a thrilling adventure it was, once you had mastered it! Well its the same with starting new micro businesses too, you have to be prepared for the grazes and bruises, hopefully they will be small but you still must be prepared for them! And learn from them!

The Internet is a vault full of information, and the key is right there in front of you! Use it and start searching for your niche! if your not sure of how to do something go to Youtube and ask away, very often there is a video showing you how to do something and its Free!

All the information you could ever need to earn money on the Internet or in a Bricks and Mortar business is just waiting for you too find!

If your looking to increase your Internet knowledge go to the www.warriorforum.com where you will find all the experts you will ever need, and if you can,t find your answer, write a post and ask for help! They are only too willing to help you!

Just from this resource alone you will start turning those 8 hours a week into cash! And just maybe change your life for the better just as I have!

Your familys worth it, make that decission today and start to write your own Freedom plan for the next year or maybe 5 years and you will be amazed at how far you will go!

All the best

Nick

My good friend Rob sent me this story I hope you enjoy it as much as me!

 Sometimes we really do beat ourselves up to change things for the better!

Or do we?

God: 

Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

 St. FRANCIS: It’s the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

 GOD: Grass? But, it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It’s sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

 ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

 GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy

. ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.

 GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

 ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

 GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

 ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

 GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

 ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.

 GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

 ST. FRANCIS: You aren’t going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

 GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It’s a natural cycle of life.

 ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

 GOD: No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

 ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

 GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

 ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

 GOD: Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

 ST. CATHERINE: ‘Dumb and Dumber’, Lord. It’s a story about….

 GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis

Hope you enjoyed that!

All the best

Nick