Will 2009 bring Boom or Bust for your Internet Marketing business?

There’s a lot of speculation as to how the year 2009 will go for those IM’s out there hoping for a good year.  I imagine that what makes up a “good” year to you might be a disaster to others so in order to measure your progress, I’m recommending that you put together a method by which you can actually measure progress or the lack of it.

What were your sales for 2008?  Expenses? All those numbers that you’ll need to do your taxes, especially if you’re here in the United States.  Then, take a look at what you WANT to do in 2009.  Are there any expenses that you see that you can trim? Efficiencies that you can create to help you to achieving a profit in 2009?  Maybe even a NICE profit?

Then look to see if you used the BEST methods for promoting your biz. What can you do differently to achieve better results? Asking these questions now can help you put together a more profitable ending to 2009… but only if you start now!

Did you use WEB 2.0 methods for promotion in 2008?  If not, you should be!  A “loyal following” in a social network is much more likely to respond positively to your suggestions to look at “product a” than people on a “name list.”  Anywhere from 2 to 3 times more likely!  Think what that could mean to YOUR bottom line at the end of 2009!

One of the easiest WEB 2.0 networks to get started with, in my opinion, is Twitter and you can easily follow me there to see what I do to promote me and/or what I’m doing. The good news is that you don’t have stay glued to your computer to find out what I’m doing. Just check in once or twice a day, log in, and the information shows up on your computer screen.

There are NO long messages.  140 characters will be your longest message sent or received! That’s the limit.  You’ll learn how to say more with less in a big hurry!  The website at www.tinyurl.com is what many use to compress LONG url’s so they can include links to web pages and more.  Check it out.

Follow me at: http://twitter.com/trafficmechanic

Are you marketing the EASY way or the SMART way?

It would seem that everybody but me is promoting the new Instant Banner Creator (IBC) like crazy.

I guess I didn’t get excited about IBC since I’ve been making and hosting my own banners for several years. I’m a student of Doug Williams, that entrepreneurial Canadian that started the MoneyLegs.com group several years ago. You see, Doug was my online mentor until his death a few years ago.

I don’t do “FANCY” very much as I believe in the old school way of doing things which is simple and to the point. Doug was very stern in his teaching and he told me to host everything that I used on my OWN server.

It’s my belief that the IBC will enable newbies to make some nice banners to use in their promotions… but it does not teach them any graphical skills whatsoever. And what happens when that program dies… as many of those type do? What then?

Instead, I recommend to my audience to start with the beginner level of PaintShopPro to make their banners. It takes more time but they can then take pride in saying that they really did create that banner or any other graphic they need… and if they want them animated… the animation shop that is a companion to the main package makes animated banners a snap!

You can download an OLD version of PaintShopPro at www.oldapps.com and a search on Google will find you all kinds of tutorials if you need them.

Now… if you don’t know how to host your own banners, and good tricks like that, you can always take some of the great classes offered at MoneyLegs.com and we’ll teach you how to do that and much, much more. Why not drop by for a visit today?

More again soon from…

David Perkins, (aka: TheTrafficMechanic)

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As we end 2008, are you prepared for the coming year?

When I looked at my calendar this morning I realized that this last month of 2008 is already half over! And my question… Where did the year go? Was I sleeping???
I have been working on my plans for next year’s efforts and some questions have come up that I have not fully answered yet. Things like… WHAT can I do Different ‘Next Year’ that will get better responses than what I have done this Last Year?

Hopefully you’re aware of the old saying that suggest that INSANITY is “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting DIFFERENT results?” You have heard that one, haven’t you?

If you have or have not heard it before… think about it as you plan your efforts for next year. What have you been doing? Were you doing the right things? Were you doing them enough? Could just a little bit more effort have made a big difference?

The next few posts will focus on areas that you might want to give SERIOUS attention to in making your plans for marketing online in the coming year.

It’s said that 2009 may be a BANNER year for those of us who do it “right” online. With all the layoff’s and job losses in the offline world, people will turn to the internet in hopes of finding a way to survive. You and I need to be prepared and the time to be ready is NOW! Are you ready?

What are YOUR traffic generation Goals? Email Marketing Goals? Sales Goals? We’ll talk about these and more in the coming days before the end of the year. Stay tuned! And have a Happy Holiday season, however you celebrate it!

David Perkins, (aka: TheTrafficMechanic)

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Did YOU Enjoy A Long Weekend?

Now that the Thanksgiving weekend is about over (mid-afternoon on Sunday) it’s about time for some rest! This has been a tiring weekend and a VERY trying weekend for some who may read this post. People who live where nothing EVER happens probably complain because nothing ever happens… but turn on the Television and suddenly living in a place where nothing ever happens just might not be so bad? Take for instance the poor worker in California who was trampled to death by crazed shoppers at a WalMart on Black Friday. Or all those who were murdered, wounded or terrified by terrorists in Mumbai, India. And, just getting into the terminal in Bangkok, Thailand became impossible with the protesters filling up the place and bringing Air Travel to a screeching halt there… Hope you weren’t there for the weekend!

Here in my back yard it was just beautiful. Kinda chilly but beautiful for raking up leaves, trimming the vines out front (huge trumpet vine) and finally putting up the Christmas Decorations before it gets too darn cold to put them up at all! And I got to see two out of three of our Kids this weekend and that really made it a winning weekend for me!

Life just can’t be lived TOTALLY in front of my computer… but don’t tell my clients that! They must think I don’t have anything else to do… and if it wasn’t for them, I must might not have anything TO DOo… so no more complaining.

How has this year treated you? Did you accomplish the things you meant to? Build all the business you planned to? I certainly did not meet all my goals but I was able to help a few others meet theirs… and that kinda makes me happy.

This past week I heard from a good friend and client that he’s back! That’s right, Jim’s back! This time last year he was looking at a “prognosis” that was NOT joyous… The doctor said he only had a short time to live. Several EXPENSIVE surgeries later… “golly, gosh” there wasn’t any cancer after all! Surprise, Surprise! Now the “diagnosis” is that he has a CLEAN “Bill of Health!”

If you EVER need INK for your printers, copiers or fax machines, get in touch with Jim and he’ll give you a GREAT price on ALL the INK or TONER you ever need! Visit with Jim HERE.

Actually, this past week had me getting emails from people I met many years ago while traveling all around the world. From places like Midway Island to the Red Sea. Yes, parts of my Navy life really were an “adventure!” Other parts… well, we won’t go there! Hmmmmm.

If you’re really into the blogging scene, you may have noticed that MY blog is still using a rather OLD version of WordPress. It’s about time to backup everything and come bounding into the present and start using the current version of WordPress. I was reading an article in one of Mike Paetzold’s blog posts, recently, where I believe he explained some of those upgrading things. Guess I’ll have to go back there and check it out. You do know who Mike is, don’t you? He is “Mr. Blog.” You can catch him at Mike Paetzold Recommends. Tell him Dave Perkins sent ‘ya!

My upgrade will take more than just a couple of clicks as I’m one of the “over 50” crowd and I’ve been using a hosting company for my websites that has really done me right… but they do not offer the CPanel version of a control panel and my upload of the blog to my server is still via FTP… and since it’s maybe once every couple of years… I really don’t mind. After all, a server that stays online 24/7/365 isn’t one to complain about! If you want really stable and secure hosting for YOUR website, check out my Hosting Company… the price is right and the service is “almost” instant!

Catch you again soon!

David Perkins (aka: TrafficMechanic)

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Happy Thanksgiving 2008

There was a time when anything that I might write would never have been read by anyone outside of my little community. “Community” being defined as a group of homes in my little town… here in the United States.

With the advent of the internet, what I write can now be read all around the world and elsewhere in the universe if you believe, as some do, that we’re not here alone…

So what does Happy Thanksgiving mean to you? For many who live in the United States it’s a time of year when we typically gather with friends and family that we probably haven’t had time to be with since the last year or maybe longer. The day is typically spent sitting around catching up on the past year’s events, eating much more than we should and many watch football (American style) on television… or actually at the event!

For others in the world, who are hard at work or wherever you are, my wish for you is that you have a very SAFE, Peaceful and Profitable day. As I watched the television last evening and observed the horrifying events that unfolded in Mumbai, India I realized that I truly do have much to be thankful for. My prayers go out to those who were (or are) injured as a result of the terrorists actions. If you’ve lost friends or family, Peace Be With You.

To all my friends,

Happy Thanksgiving

David Perkins (aka: TrafficMechanic)

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