Anyone who is interested in Internet marketing or an online business enterprise has undoubtedly heard the term Web 2.0. This refers to the second generation of Internet marketing tactics, tools, techniques, and strategies that are today being used to create millionaires by the handful. Web 2.0 in its original incarnation, refered to the integration of rich media into websites. But today, the term represents much more, specifically in the way that Internet entrepreneurs conduct business.

In the early days of Internet marketing, most companies relied solely upon their website. Serving as essentially an electronic brochure, the website provided information about the company, its business, its products, and anything else deemed relevant. However, the website more closely resembled an electronic brochure then an aggressive marketing tool. Also, in the early days, interactivity was virtually nonexistent.
Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to money and investing, a groupthink mentality is often the method of choice. Anyone who has ever watched or studied the stock market understands the power of collective thinking and investing. Sometimes this approach works, but more often than not it fails. The reason is that groupthink mentality piles layer and layer of action upon one initial thought or idea. If that initial thought or idea was not the right one, the entire group is penalized.

This is particularly true now as we fight through the effects of the global recession. The stock market has taken its worst hit since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and is still so volatile that many investment advisors are telling their clients to stay out of it. With everything in disarray, the global capital markets in turmoil and even large automakers threatening bankruptcy, trying to create and preserve wealth in today’s environment can be very challenging.
Read the rest of this entry »

Every business person knows the value of marketing. As Henry Ford once said, nothing happens until something is sold, and the reality is that nothing is sold unless people are motivated to buy it. But getting people motivated to buy your product or service is not necessarily easy and in fact can be downright difficult. Regardless of what business you engage in, whether it’s a bricks and mortar store, or an online Internet marketing enterprise, successfully promoting your message to the masses is an essential element of success.

The Internet is one of the most effective marketing mediums ever devised by mankind. It allows the entrepreneur to communicate a marketing message to over 1 billion prospective customers at the speed of light. Because the marketing materials are in an electronic format, the entrepreneur saves a significant amount of time, money, and energy not having to produce paper-based marketing products.
Read the rest of this entry »

Finding the world’s best boss is simple – simply look in the mirror. The fact of the matter is that if you’re not working for yourself, your job and your career are at risk. If you work for another person or for a company, you might even like the boss that you’re currently working for. But you should harbor no misconceptions about his or her true motivations. The fact of the matter is that people care about themselves first and foremost. In other words, if it comes down to you or your boss losing your job the chances are pretty high that you will be the one to go.

Entrepreneurs have long known that the only true form of employment security is self-employment. Of course self-employment can take many forms. You can own a bricks and mortar store in a conventional business environment, and grow the business by adding employees and perhaps adding locations. Entrepreneurs the world over have made tremendous incomes in this manner, but at a price. Managing large groups of employees is never easy, and adds significantly to the cost of doing business. Additionally, real estate and building expenses can get out of hand very quickly.
Read the rest of this entry »

Many people have heard about entrepreneurs making millions of dollars online but they refuse to believe it. Instead, they frame everything within the realm of their own experiences, and feel that achieving massive wealth on the Internet is just not a viable option. Even as they contemplate Internet success with disbelief, they are worried about their jobs, or have already lost them.

The truth of the matter is that there is tremendous wealth just waiting to be made online. A growing number of Internet marketing superstars are pioneering the way that business is conducted online and are making millions of dollars in the process. These people have developed a whole toolbox of tools, techniques, and tricks that enable virtually anybody to launch and operate an Internet marketing business.
Read the rest of this entry »

A panel of economists recently convened to hash out their expectations for the recession. They have created several likely scenarios projecting the ultimate resolution of the current economic problems. These outcomes range from a quick and speedy recovery that could be realized by the end of 2010 to the opposite end which is no recovery at all. In the case of a quick recovery, by the end of next year things will be pretty much back to normal. The worst-case scenario is a great depression as bad or worse than the cataclysm of the 1930s.

In between those two extremes are several other options. The first is a relatively quick recovery although not quite as robust as first thought. Under this scenario, the recovery would take several years but things would start getting better relatively quickly. The other intermediate scenario and the one that economists are looking at very closely, is a very long and slow road back to normalcy. In this circumstance, the recovery would take years and years of moderate growth and slowly declining unemployment. When it was all calculated out, this group of astute economists believes that the fourth option is the most likely.
Read the rest of this entry »

Human beings have a habit of over complicating things. We take our problems, and over analyze them to the point of stressing ourselves to our limits. Instead of looking for a simple and elegant solution, we build mental barriers and roadblocks making even the simplest problem appear to be way more complex than it is. The fact of the matter is that by reducing solutions to their most simple form, we can break through these barriers and achieve virtually unlimited success.

This phenomenon holds true for virtually all aspects of our lives. For those of us who are dissatisfied with our jobs – provided of course that we still have jobs – even if we are terribly unhappy we rationalize that it’s the only thing that we can do for the money that we so desperately need. Instead of identifying a simple solution and implementing it, we analyze and reanalyze, over thinking the problem until we become mired with inaction.
Read the rest of this entry »

A growing trend in Internet marketing is the use of embedded videos in a website or even a blog. These videos are typically inexpensively produced, often shot with a handheld video camera by the entrepreneur themselves. Companies are also using videos of customers touting the product, service, or opportunity that give further credibility to the basic message of the website.

Although these videos do not need to be professionally produced, they should appear very professional when they are played. The production values generated by even a relatively inexpensive home video camera are quite sufficient for these purposes. However, the entrepreneur must take care to ensure that the lighting, background noises, and overall appearance of the set convey the intended message. A video that is too casual, sloppily produced, or poorly filmed will have a negative effect by driving customers away.
Read the rest of this entry »