Imagine yourself looking at your sales reports for the month. On its own, your sales figures look fine. But when you compare it with your sales and marketing expenses, it’s a little below where you expect it to be. You begin to wonder what you are not doing right.

What could be the reasons why your revenues don’t seem cooperative with your marketing efforts? Do you know who your customers are? Chances are you have already identified who they are and more so, you know them very well such that you have just the right products to satisfy their specific needs. How come, then, are you having such a difficult time pulling your sales up?

As promised, this post is going to be about positioning.

Knowing your customers is not enough. You have to decide how you want to position yourself in your chosen niche or market segment. This is what positioning is all about – it refers to “how organizations want their consumers to see their product.” You have to decide how you want your market to perceive your product or service. For example, Head and Shoulders position itself as the No. 1 anti-dandruff shampoo. Another example is Avis which positions itself as No. 2 in the rent-a-car services and appropriately carries the tagline, “We try harder.” This tagline turned out to be a very effective one for them.

When you formulate your positioning strategy, it is very important to remember that how the market will perceive your product or service will largely depend on how your competitors position themselves, too.

So what positioning strategies are available?

One strategy would be a “me-too” strategy. This happens when you position your business close to your rivals. One advantage this strategy brings is that it allows your consumers to easily compare your product with those of your competitors when they buy.

Another strategy would be to position your business “away-from-competitors.” This strategy may involve presenting a benefit or feature that is more superior in certain aspects. This move would certainly have to consider the other elements of the business’ marketing strategy – pricing, promotion, and distribution. All of these elements must echo the superiority of the benefit or feature.

According to marketing gurus, “Ultimately positioning is about how you want consumers to perceive your products and services and what strategies you would adopt to reach this perceptual goal.”

Indeed, there are so many business strategies that can help you so you can grow your business. But how would you know if you have chosen the right one for your business?

Some of Malaysia’s noteworthy entrepreneurs will come together to reveal the X-factor that boosted their business success in the first ever Thinking. Doing. Growing. Business and Marketing Conference on the 5th of May 2012 at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. This is the time you can compare notes from those who are sure to be doing it right and learn how to apply their strategies to your own enterprise.

Hurry! There are only very limited seats available to date. Reserve yours now!

Credit:growmap.com

Well, do you care about your personal reputation first of all? Definitely yes! What people think about you really does matter. The old ‘I don’t care what people say’ doesn’t work at all especially when  it comes to your business. The fact is people will base a lot of their conclusions about you from your reputation. This is even without trying your services first. Yes, REPUTATION is the lifeline of your business.

With the increased popularity of online marketing, you have another problem at hand-how to manage your repuation online. If you are a brandname for example, being able to control your reputation should be top priority. Here are some things that online reputation companies can do for you:

• Protect your company from negative comments. When it comes to reputation online, the mechanics are simple: the more negative comments out there about your company, chances are people will choose your competitor instead.  What can be done about this? Countering the negative with positive. Logging into forums and the like and spreading ‘good’ things about your site.
• Higher ranks on the SERPS. With more positive things being said, more people visit your site, more people ‘like’ and ‘tweet’ about you and viola! You’re up on the SERPS.
• Creating the right face. Having a good reputation will create a trust in your target audience. They will then view you as a trustworthy source and will be more likely to support you.

Social media sites are great and easy platforms to use to market your business, but can quickly become detrimental if your accounts aren’t managed correctly. But managing numerous accounts, which is needed to obtain greater visibility, can be difficult, expensive, and time consuming ñ especially for smaller businesses. To alleviate the burden of maintaining social network accounts, blogging, and websites, many businesses are turning to firms offering online reputation management services.

Read more here.

taken from developsocially.com

If you are to use social media to find potential customers online or increase traffic to your blog or site, you would need to start by getting involved in the right sites. There are really a handful of sites that you can choose to use for your online marketing but knowing how you can use these to your advantage is the key.This depends mostly on the kind of business you have. If you are after getting people’s opinions to help you make good decisions, then Facebook and Twitter are your obvious choices. Here are some sites that can aren’t very popular but will be a great help:

Insidefacebook.com

Though this isn’t an official Facebook resource it can help you interpret what’s happening on your Facebook page. The site offers informative stats about your Facebook page and can help you understand it better.

Formulists.com

This is a site that goes with Twitter. It’s a list creation and management tool that can allow you to create and update customized Twitter lists that update constantly. You can easily expand and manage your network with this site.

KnowEm.com

This site is a great tool that can check your brand or product name in over 550 popular and merging social network sites. Why would you want to do that? Well, you will be making sure that nobody uses your name aside from yourself. It’s in a way ‘reserving’ your name on all these sites.

Addictomatic.com

Instead of searching all your favorite social networking sites for the latest news and updates on your business, this site allows you to do this search on a single site. Simply create your own ‘hot topic’ and you’ll be able to get results on all those sites! Bet you didn’t know such a site existed.

Brandtags.net

This is something you would be especially interested in if you are a brand. The site allows you to enter a brand and search for what’s being said about it. It’s a great way to see how your reputation is doing online.

Keeping up to date with all the social networking sites that you are connected to can be a hassle. These sites do all the hard work for you.

For a complete list, check this article.

Watch this crucial video now:

So now you know the sneaky “unorthodox” ways to get someone to buy.

And all these awesome lead generation secrets can be found in the relaunch of the Branding Salvation System. For 3 days only…

Get It Now!

Have a sneak peek at the “secret docs” Believe me, the amount of hidden information in this maximum security vault can solidify your iron grip in your niche. For megalomaniacs only. Watch it now:

You discovered the Brandagon. You know how to create a personal brand that can help you dominate your marketplace.

Now, in this video sample of my spanking new Branding Salvation System, you’ll learn how you use social media to spread your brand EVERYWHERE. Watch the stunning Stranglehold Strategy in action:

Remember… Just 2 more days until the unveiling of the Branding Salvation System. Here’s a sneak peek of what you get:

Module 1

C2C Branding 101: Unleashing the Ideavirus

• The dirty little secret of Ogilvy — revealed. This simple positioning tweak can double your response rates nearly instantly.
• Introducing the C2C Brand. This stands for Consumer-to-Consumer branding. This is the quickest, easiest way to attract a hungry mob of buyers–without spending a red cent.
• “Oh no, not another life coach?!” Lower barriers of entry means that you’re probably experiencing escalating levels of competition. Discover the amazing “big boy” strategy that’ll leave them to eat your dust!
• PLUS: What’s the ultimate leverage point for your business? The startling answer is probably not what you think.
• The Unique Selling Proposition is dead. Why? Too many competitors with similar function. The amazing alternative here.
• And much, much more.

Module 2

Beyond the Purple Cow: The DEA Personal Branding Structure

• Branding gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout says this, “If you can, be first. If you can’t be first, create a new category in which you can be first.” How to use the astonishing “Unique Emotional Proposition” principle to rapidly become the rock star in your niche.
• How to exploit the crucial relationship between the UEP and C2C Brand for unfair competitive advantage.
• Imagine playing soccer upside down… What Adidas can teach you about profitable differentiation.
• PLUS: Astounding 3 step DEA Process that can help structure your personal brand. Easy way to stand out like a Purple Cow.
• PLUS: How does weeping and heartbreak help in building a formidable brand?
• And much, much more.

Module 3

Intersection of Realities: How to Uncover Your Target Market in Minutes

• Intersection of Realities: 3 stunning secrets to read your market like an open book. Easiest way to craft hyper-targeted blockbuster campaigns that your prospects will devour.
• Your prospect are at their most “eager-to-buy” state when you scratch their Immediate Itch. Simple yet reliable technique to uncover what it is — every single time.
• The hidden, high risk of of a Frank Kern video. You can bungle your marketing campaigns if you don’t take into account which gurus your market listens to. Subtle differences, huge implications!
• PLUS: How playing God can help you create the most optimal positioning for you in the marketplace.
• And much, much more…

Module 4

Behold the Brandagon: Your Inception Weapon

• Working with designers doesn’t have to be torture. How to use a mood board to effectively communicate your visual needs.
• 3 surprising websites to outsource your design work–for as much as 78% off market rates!
• Behold the Brandagon. The 5 little-known ways to spread your brand like an virus in your prospect’s minds in under 3 seconds.
• WARNING: Big business are all part the Acronym Conspiracy, ensuring that their ideas have a vice-like grip on your mind. How you can apply this strategy to your business for extremely lucrative ends.
• PLUS: Being a friend to everyone increases sales, right? WRONG. Why polarization is profitable.
• PLUS: Avoid paying for overpriced stock photos. 2 overlooked sources of free graphics.
• And much, much more.

Module 5

Stomp the Yard: Massive Syndication Secrets

• How to “drown” your prospect by flooding the net with your content. Quick way to transform the entire internet into your own personal stomping grounds.
• BEYOND THE BLOG POST: The single fastest way to syndicate your content everywhere–and I mean EVERYWHERE
• Studies have shown in the knowledge economy, information overload is the biggest side effect. Why taking the “art gallery” approach can create a stellar reputation for you
• PLUS: Do this to become the head of a tribe of evangelists. No idea gone un-retweeted from now on.
• PLUS: How to effectively monetize social media with the 3C technique
• And much, much more.

Module 6

Three Degrees of Conversion: How to Boost Response Rates to the Moon

• Mass Conversion: Automate this system to create a daily flow of prospects, buyers and evangelists — without spending a single extra dime.
• Why the brutal action of “twisting the knife” helps in creating a deeper, more ravenous hunger in your prospect for your product–and your product alone!
• The number one way to boost the clickthroughs in your content by as much as 124%. (CONFESSION: It’s rather rude!)
• PLUS: How the Super Six Persuasive Content Framework structures your articles and blog posts to make people flood you with cash.
• PLUS: Did you know video constitutes a whopping 25% of the content online? 5 simple steps to achieve staggering Youtube success.
• And much, much more…

Module 7

The Bloghound Model: Curating Your Way to Cash Flow

• Create an authority blog in under 5 minutes a day. 3 sneaky ways to decrease writing but increase traffic
• The pro-blogger model is dead. Why writing long, high-quality blog posts are a waste of your precious time. What do do instead.
• Filter over filler. How popular blog Boing Boing paved the way for bloghounds to thrive. The quickest, easiest to get in on the scoop of the hottest news stories.
• PLUS: 5 seconds = 120 visitors? How to write Tweets and Facebook status updates that unleash a floodgate of clicks
• And much more.

Get ready to get your mind blown and wallet filled up

In the meantime… Leave a comment if this video has helped you.

Psssttt… Let me tell you secret…

As promised from yesterday’s blog post, I’m going to reveal to you what my magic marketing machine is — the profit booster known as the Great Amplifier.

In case you missed out on yesterday’s post, the Great Amplifier wasn’t the latest guru overpriced product… Nor was it some Google loophole…

Not at all. The Great Amplifier is based on the principles introduced by the summer blockbuster Inception.

You know, the one about the most effective way to plant ideas into random people’s heads?

Well… The Puppet Master has been already doing that for years. And he doesn’t need those fancy-shmancy technology (or special effects) to plant dangerous ideas into prospect’s minds to hand him money time and again.

Here’s the shocker:

Big corporations like Nike, Coke and even Google have been doing Inception for years.

There’s a reason why when you think of sugared water… You think of Coke… Or when you think of Nike… You think of sneakers.

The big boys have access to a diabolical persuasion force that can bulldoze the mental barriers of millions of people and have successfully wedged their ideas–their brands–into the public consciousness.

Don’t you wish you can have access to such untold power? Don’t you wish you can harness their billions of dollars of psychological research and unleash the influence of your brand, product and service with such ferocity? Don’t you wish you can brutally dominate your niche in such a decisive way?

Good news. Now you can. And that’s because the Puppet Master has worked behind the scenes for the top brands for many, many years. And from this arcane knowledge he has crafted the Great Amplifier.

Behold the Brandagon…

This diagram is the foundation stone for your brand. It’s a system that transforms your ideas into becoming the dominant ones in your marketplace.

Here’s what they mean:

1) Visuals:

For your brand to represent something, your prospect’s mind need to visualize it. Everything from the color scheme to the logo placements have been engineered to maximize their stickiness in your mind.

How can you differentiate yourself through the use of visual motifs?

2) Stories:

The mind interprets stories as truth. This is the reason why Madoff could get away with his ponzi scheme even though the numbers were documented in the reports. He sold to them a story of unbelievably constant riches. Can you tell powerful stories with your brand?

3) Labels:

The dirtiest little secret Corporate America is keeping is this thing called the Acronym theory. No one loves terms like GAPP, OPR and CRM more than these guys. The reason? Naming makes things more real than it is. And this trait ensures that these best practices will never leave the workplace due to its perceived authority.

So a quick tip? Give your ideas or methodology a name. You’ll start winning in the marketplace of ideas.

4) Language:

National Geographic explorer Wade Davis summed it up perfectly when he remarked language defines culture. In other words, different languages leads to different cultures. What’s the language of tribe? What kind of language can you introduce that not only identifies with your tribe… But create a new subculture as well?

5) Bias:

Here’s a crucially important point:

Polarization is Profitable.

The more skewed you can present your brand, the more targeted customers you’ll get. Red hot buyers that will love you and become your evangelists.

Can you position yourself or your brand in the most controversial way possible? Leave the objectivity to the mediocre.

Now here’s the deal:

The Brandagon is a very small part of the Branding Salvation System, the brand new product on personal branding and how to establish sheer and utter dominance in your marketplace.

You’ll get a step-by-step guide on how to use the Brandagon to take your bottom line to an entirely new level.

I’m not one to mince words, and what I’m saying whether you’re in the online marketing space or a brick-and-mortar business… It is essential that you start feeding your mind with the best practices of big business.

The Branding Salvation System takes these billion dollar principles from the boardroom to your bedroom.

7 jam-packed modules with no BS insights into the world of branding, positioning and persuasion.

Best of all… You’re going to get it at a startlingly low price. When most branding and USP courses run the gamut from $1997 and above. You’re only going to pay a fraction of that amount.

That’s because I believe everyone needs to start somewhere… And sometimes… One can charge a reasonable amount without exploiting others.

But, here’s the clincher…

The Branding Salvation System is only going to be up for 5 days. After that it’s going to be pulled off the market. Why? Because I believe the information is worth a whole lot more than I’m charging for. And I’m going to repackage the information into a high-ticket product quite soon down the line.

For now… I just want to reward you for being a loyal subscriber all this while.

The sale starts tomorrow. Watch out for the email to let you know when you can start to buy. Don’t hate yourself for missing out.

In the meantime, if this blog post is useful at all… Feel free to leave a comment.

See you soon.

Imagine a magic machine.

And imagine that when you pour in all your marketing efforts into this machine, you’ll start seeing double, triple even quadruple your results without expending any more effort than you should.

Take all your online marketing activities…

• Blog posts…
• EzineArticles…
• Youtube…

Take all your content and plonk it into this mysterious contraption…

Suddenly…  You start seeing exponential results.

Where you were once making $997 per ad campaign. You’re now making $1997. Maybe even $4997…

We call it the Great Amplifier.

And no, this isn’t some overhyped guru product. Nor is it some newfangled SEO loophole. It isn’t even a software service or product.

This “magic machine” exists in the realm of the mind.

Yes, it’s almost like that hot movie out right now – Inception. It’s all about the power of a sticky idea…

What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient… highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed – fully understood – that sticks; right in there somewhere. ~ Cobb

Like the Christopher Nolan-helmed movie, the Great Amplifier takes your idea and wedging it deep into your prospect’s consciousness. And that idea could be a marketing message… A suggestion to buy your product… An idea to inspire them to change the world… Whatever the case… An idea deep rooted enough nearly always lead to action… And for your customers, that idea could be a buying one…

The end result? Profit for you.

Wait… It gets better… Imagine replicating that effect over and over and over again. A mass conversion from cold prospect to warm leads to red hot buyers. Automated forever. This is true niche domination, my friend… Once you can wrap your head around the forbidden truth that is going to be revealed by the Puppet Master tomorrow…

The seed that we plant in YOUR mind could change everything. ~ Cobb (paraphrased)

Prepare for it… You’re about to discover a breakthrough way of marketing that will fatten your coffers in a way like you never seen before. Watch out for an email tomorrow revealing the secret location of the never-before-seen video.

Get ready for an inception.

This concludes the end of the year. And as year-end traditions go, those irresistible “best-of” lists are everywhere.

For fun, I decided to do an internet marketing edition of one of those lists. I know it’s a little indulgent and more than a little incestuous due to the tiny size of our niche, but I bet you’re a sucker for this as much as I am.

So the Best in Internet Marketing 2009… Here’s an overview of the various categories:

• Top 10 Internet Marketers
• 3 Biggest Shockers
• Top 5 Products
• Top 5 Online Marketing Breakthroughs
• 5 Bold Predictions for 2010
• Puppet String Marketing Products of 2009

Without further ado…

1) Ryan Deiss and Perry Belcher

I know I’m cheating by including 2 marketers instead of one. But these two are inseparable and boast of some of the best “good cop, bad cop” chemistry since the Lethal Weapon series. Awesome marketing insights and sharp-as-nails business acumen make them the marketing role models I wish I had years ago. These guys are the real deal.

2) Mike Hill

Mike Hill has been the secret weapon of many, many multi-million dollar corporations. He has pioneered a lot of the CPA offers we promote today, and has paved the way for Acai Berry, Teeth Whitening and Colon Cleansing to become the million-dollar niches they are today. He’s also a really big-hearted person and has even given me an unforgettable wedding gift.

3) Amish Shah

Some people call him the top CPA affiliate marketer in the world. I’m inclined to think so. His manic testing, grasp of human psychology and business smarts have put him way above the level of many other established marketers in his hyper-competitive domain. Recent props from Frank Kern will propel his already shining star even further.

4) Mike & Vishen from MindValley

The MindValley boys are going to be speaking at Yanik’s Underground 6 event  next year. And now… the doors will be flung open to those whom I feel to are among the world’s top underground online marketers. The only reason I know about this is because I used to be copy chief for these guys. These guys are all about marrying Silicon Valley-level technology, world-class email marketing and  topgrading to create 6 figure DAYS on a regular basis.

5) Marty Rozmanith

He’s on this list because he’s the man behind 2 of my top 2009 products WordPress Direct and CPA Ninjas. I rarely follow other marketers so closely. I even more rarely buy something a marketer’s put out. Most people produce derivative info or badly-coded software but whatever this guy handles is top notch. Learned a ton and WordPress Direct is my single best investment this year, and I make plenty.

6) Tim Schmidt

He’s not one of those guru types but he’s introduced a whole new way of doing continuity programs that’s going to revolutionize the way we do membership sites in the years to come. Called Association Marketing, his 80% stick rate and other staggering figures make mincemeat out of the far inferior forced continuity models introduced by Mike Filsaime and Russel Brunson of yore.

7) “The Barefoot Exec” Carrie Wilkerson

There’s an old internet marketing adage that says “all you need is one idea to put money in your pocket”, and you see this on countless IM sales letters. Well, the reason is that it IS true. Carrie gave me just one idea in the early days of the business to come out with my flagship product the Twitter Salvation System, and we have hundreds of buyers since. Plus, of course… She has an iron-clad grasp of personal branding and social media.

8.) Robert Plank and Jason Fladien

These guys are synonymous with the words “Speed of Implementation”. In the space of less than 12 months, I’ve seen them churn out no less than a whopping 22 products between them. With them, quantity doesn’t compromise quality though, and these guys are a boundless guide to smart resourceful strategies that you don’t need a lot of money to implement.

9) Andy Jenkins

In my opinion, the former Stompernet CEO has ascended to the pantheon of the email marketing Gods where deities like Frank Kern, Matt Furey and Dave Dee now reside. And that’s for starters; his SEO and e-commerce teachings have already become the stuff of legends. After all, making $25,000 off of a fake sword site really deserves recognition of some sort.

10) Peter Parks

Though not as well-known as Amish Shah, Aymen or the rest of the CPA Cartel, he has successfully cut a swath as a really smart superaffiliate to watch out for. His mastery of little-known licensing strategies and Web 2.0 marketing has brought some much needed innovation to the tired affiliate marketing space.

Perry Belcher retiring

I consider Perry a friend. I know his name has been synonymous with controversy over the past few years, but I still consider him one of the most brilliant marketers of his generation. The next Vincent James, I dare say. So imagine my shock when all his social media accounts got deleted and the revelation of his retirement from the IM scene was written on his blog. You’ll be sorely missed, Perry.

Google shutting down 100,000 accounts

Those in the scene know Google ain’t the biggest fans of us online marketers. But what they did next was just balls out insane. In the sweeping move that may change the face of the affiliate marketing landscape forever, they shut down a 100,000 AdWords accounts of online marketers — both spammer and legit. Overnight, entire income streams disappeared. “What next?” seems to be the question on everyone’s lips for 2010.

Andy Jenkins leaving StomperNet

There have been a lot of nasty rumors and wild speculation surrounding the circumstances, but let’s not go there. All I’m going to say is that he was the face behind one of online marketing’s biggest innovations in Stompernet… Thus, forever ends the era of those awesome StomperNet emails and pop culture references.

1) WordPress Direct

The one thing I missed about working for one of my previous companies was their content management system. They could set up an entire website structure in under 10 minutes. Now… technology has caught up because we can now do the exact same thing with WordPress Direct. Of course you need to upgrade to Platinum membership in order to enjoy an optimal CMS experience. But I believe every penny spent is worth it. You can get it here.

2) SENuke

People once paid underground marketers like Jeff Johnson $25,000 to learn SEO tactics that now SENuke can do on autopilot in a span of 15 minutes…At a fraction of the cost. The single most powerful linkbuilding and SEO tool on the market today, it can easily take the place of your local SEO company. Huge learning curve, but the search engine rankings are worth it. You can get it now.

3) CPA Tsunami

CPA marketing has been the rage this year. This says something: As much as CPA marketers make a ton of money, the product owners are making much much more as they tap into their army of insane super-affiliates. CPA Tsunami is brilliant underground marketer Mike Hill’s gift to the world… On how to set up your own CPA marketing program so that you don’t have to worry about traffic again. Thank you, Mike.

4) CPA Ninja

To continue the CPA marketing craze… There has been a slew of CPA affiliate marketing products released throughout the year with exorbitant price tags attached… Ranging from the painfully mediocre to the plain darn excellent. The best of the lot to me is CPA Ninja–Marty Rozmanith and Matt Trainer have excellent chemistry together, and Trainer’s Excel tricks have revolutionized the way I set up my AdWords campaigns forever.

5) 13 Sneaky Little Email Tricks

As a highly-paid email copywriter, I have seldom come across email marketing products that are any good. This $97 package by Ryan Deiss is a hidden gem among the slew of overpriced product launches. His ninja autoresponder tricks are really cool, and have directly impacted my income more than any other product out there. It’s still available, so get it while you still can.

1) CPA over Clickbank

Clickbank has long been the default starting place of the fledgeling affiliate marketer. In 2009 however, marketers have flocked over the CPA networks instead. Why? The simple reason that a simple Zip/Email submit converts far better than trying to squeeze a sale from jaded prospects. The maths is staggering. CPA is here to stay.

2) The Rise of the Cartel

As with any industry growing up, oligopolies and monopolies will form. Whereas the internet marketing scene was the Wild, Wild West a few years back, it’s now resembling more and more the dog-eat-dog offline world. The early adopters who are now the “top dogs” have banded together to form an invincible faction with mailing lists and money in the millions. Good business sense. Not so good for the lone rangers.

3) Bleep Bloop

For far too long the IM scene has had no checks and balances. Unscrupulous marketers have run roughshod over consumers with their forced continuity and upsell hell over the past decade or so. As a consumer, I have dealt with non-existent support, terrible coding and rehashed products so much that it has sadly become an industry norm. And in comes the Salty Droid, a blog detailing the various scams and scandals of the industry. He may be vulgar and a tad mean-spirited, but he’s a much-need breath of fresh air in a scene plagued with chicken-hearted sycophants. Read his rants here.

4) The FTC

And while the Salty Droid is the voice of the grassroots, the FTC is the governmental enforcer part of the equation. To be honest… I sometimes see the FTC as an inconvenience. No more high-converting testimonials with specific results… Disclosures everywhere, etc. Yet it’s one of those painful-but-good-for-you necessities because with no guidelines, there’s just going to be wanton abuse. So a grudging thanks FTC, for keeping us honest.

5) Social Media

Twitter and Facebook. Facebook and Twitter. 2009 is the year of social media. Every other day there seems to be a breaking news story on Twitter, Facebook and other social media services. Social media marketing is indeed revolutionizing the way we do business. Even for an obscure Malaysian marketer like myself, it has catapulted me into stratospheric heights that otherwise would not be possible.

1) Greater barriers to entry

5 years ago, the internet playing field was indeed a level one. Your average industrious work-at-home mom or the unemployed bum could succeed in online marketing, given enough determination and a Clickbank ebook. Unfortunately, times have changed. With newly-loaded online marketers employing an army of article writers, backlink builders and bloggers, the one man army does not really stand a chance anymore. You need sufficient cash and stringent tracking and testing in order to compete… Now, the online marketing scene is like any other industry–competitive and cut-throat, where only the strong survive.

2) Local Marketing

I was one of the first few who hopped on the local marketing wave long before Jeff Walker and Frank Kern exposed it to the world–and I’ve profited greatly from it. Most small biz owners don’t know the different between a squeeze page and SEO. So grab these low-hanging fruit by using your knowledge, experience and expertise to charge lucrative consultation fees and stop competing against the Mike Filsaime’s and Aymen’s of this world.

3) Going to the CPA networks

If you’re an existing product or business owner, there’s no better traffic tactic then turning to the CPA networks to lend you their army of SuperAffiliates. PPC… SEO… Article marketing… All these pale in comparison to the sheer awesomeness of “having a daily product launch” (as Mike Hill says). That’s how obscure niches like teeth whitening and acai berry are now multi-million dollar industries. Once you have an offer that converts, you don’t have to worry about buyers’ traffic ever again.

4) The shift from affiliate to product owner

By the same token, being an affiliate now is really not advisable. Did you know that if you’re using AdWords, there’s an option where you can make Google your affiliate? Offer them commissions, and they will auto-optimize your campaigns while spelunking profitable new keywords for you. The big problem? When Google perfects this formula, they’ll probably start cutting out the middlemen–i.e. affiliate marketers. All the more reason for you to launch a product-driven business and let other affiliates worry about Google’s next destructive move.

5) Building your business outside Google

Face it: Google is arrogant.  They’re probably have cause to be proud because the money-loaded corporations have jumped on board and they don’t really have to take care of the needs of the small business owner anymore. Plus, their shutting down of a 100,000 affiliate marketing AdWords accounts isn’t creating any more goodwill. Good news: Google only represents 15-20% of the web, so there still a big and lucrative playing field outside of them. CPV, CPA and contextual marketing… Explore them all.

Of course, what’s a Puppet Master post without a plug eh? Here’s some of the best-selling products we have released this year.

Twitter Salvation System

The grand-daddy of Twitter marketing. The Twitter Salvation System has been purchased by the gurus themselves, pleasantly surprising me in the process. Mark Joyner calls me a “Twitter genius”, click on the link to find out why.

Twitter Mind Control

What happens when you combine forbidden persuasion with Twitter’s real-time power? Twitter Mind Control, that’s what. Use these sneaky psychological triggers to boost sales, attract prospects or carve out your niche. Your call.

Twitter Affiliate Marketing

There’s a lot of BS out there on using Twitter for affiliate marketing. Follow-spamming your prospects while spamming them with endless Clickbank offers is far from best practice. Here’s my tested and proven method to shovelling in big fat affiliate commissions to your bank account–no black hat or illegal tricks.

Advanced Affiliate Marketing

If you want to take your affiliate marketing to the next level, you should take a look at this. Judging from the number of the most prominent affiliate marketers who bought this course, the Puppet Master’s take on Bum Marketing will turbo-charge your SEO and article marketing like no other.

Email Salvation System

This email marketing home study system is one year in the making. One of my buyers told me that they can see themselves making money utilizing even a fraction of the content. Most email courses are either crap or expensive, this may be the best bang for your buck if you want to enjoy profitable autoresponder marketing for the new year.

Well, what do you folks think? Agree? Disagree? What are your thoughts for the Best of 2009? Please leave your comments below!

Obama has served 100 days in the White House.

A 100 days. "Success or failure?", the 2 camps are still debating.

A policy here. A ruling there. Intervention all around. Some people call the President’s moves brilliant. Others call it plain dumb.

Yes, the voices are crystal clear. The first 100 days are always forgivable ones. You need to get your feet wet, to clean up the mess of the previous administration, just to learn to juggle the various egos of the others in power.

The first 100 days are about research, and policy discussions, and rounds and rounds of meetings to fix what’s wrong about the country.

Yet, the same media voices claim the next 100 days are THE MOST CRUCIAL ONES to determine whether Obama succeeds as president  or is a flash in the pan.

You see, the next 100 days are about IMPLEMENTATION. To stop talking and take action. And the anticipated results will determine his destiny.

How have you spent the last 100 days?

Did you set your goals? New Years Resolution? A fierce determination to succeed and prevail through this difficult recession period?

Now, whether you see results or not, it’s crunch time.

Just like Obama, it’s your next 100 days that determine whether you sink or swim in this moment of crisis. Whether you make a comfortable living or become yet-another-statistic.

It depends on you.

And right now you want to take the street fighter route and use any weapon to not just survive, but thrive.

This is when Twitter comes in. A marketing channel that doesn’t cost money, yet has unprecedented opportunity. Oprah, Ashton, CNN… Twitter’s now mainstream baby, and it’s time to learn how to harness Twitter for maximum ROI.

Internet wealth specialist Stephen Pierce says that its far easier to dominate a marketing channel that it is a niche. In other words, you reap more profits from focusing on one channel than trying to challenge the existing Goliath’s in their niche.

They’re probably going to clobber you.

You still have first-mover advantage on Twitter. In fact, I guarantee you that if you focus on Twitter marketing for the next 100 days, your business will accelerate in a way you never thought possible.

Picture this… Once you master Twitter… Your prospects suddenly transforming into evangelists… A steady flow of leads without spending a red cent… Your personal brand spreading like wildfire across the Internet.

It is possible. In fact, in less than 100 days after coming on Twitter as an unknown, I established a 5 figure business from scratch–with no name, no list and no website. And a 100 days later, I’m among the elite marketers in this world.

I’m handing you the keys to the kingdom. This is the age of acceleration. The whole old-fashioned, white-knucked slave-till-dawn was the old rule of successes. Now, it’s to springboard off the opportunities and devices that make leapfrogging your predecessors so much easier.

So come on! Your next 100 days is do or die. Seize the moment and take that step of faith to succeed today.

—–> Carpe Diem!

P.S. 100 days may seem short. But miracles can happen in that time. A 100 days ago I was still unmarried. A 100 days before that I was still an unknown copywriter trying to make a living. Take the 100 days challenge and rise up now.

Twitter Salvation System. Doors Now Open.