Bruce Hoag
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Each vendor has their own way of doing this.
Some give you a recognizable link that shows their domain first with the part that applies to you appended to the end.
Others “cloak” your information so that the buyer never sees your name. When that happens, it appears to the buyer that they are getting the product directly from the vendor, but you still get the credit.
Thing to do is to decide which products you want to sell, and the learn about the affiliate programs that each has.
Hope this helps.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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I know that reciprocity is a powerful psychological force, but in this forum my primary goal is to offer advice which I think may benefit whoever I happen to be writing to.
If some additional benefit comes as a result, then that’s fine; but it’s not why I’m doing it.
And this is probably just me, but I’ve always felt uncomfortable with the “buy a round of drinks” tradition. That’s the one where one person buys everyone’s drink, soft or otherwise, and the the second round is bought by someone else. Perhaps one reason is that one lemonade is enough. 😉
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
There’s another development on the cards with Google. It’s called the “double-snippet.”
At the moment, Google places one snippet at the top along with its ads. That may change. They may start using two snippets.
When you have one snippet after another plus some ads, then the first “result” may be on page two.
Content marketers are starting to give advice on how to increase your chances of being included in one of the snippets, but what I see changing is the way that Google search works altogether.
I don’t know what that will look like, but it seems to me that marketers are going to have to find another way to get people to their sites apart from Google.
One way – and this has been around for awhile – is to focus on a different platform.
You could use LinkedIn, or Quora, or Twitter, or Reddit, or a host of others – bypassing Google altogether.
The thing you have to remember is that each platform is different. That means that what works on Google may not and probably won’t work on any other platform. But unless the others start crowding out the results with snippets or ads, then you may have a better chance of being seen on them.
Another thing worth remembering is that to some extent, your friends or followers on those other platforms are warmer leads than those who find you in a search.
Thoughts anyone?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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I’m back at A, but I’ve had a major breakthrough on something: Clarity I’ve been seeking for 26 years!
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Probably the one question that I now ask more than any other is “Why?”
Why should I do this?
Or to rephrase it, “How will doing this help me to get closer to what I want to do?”
If I don’t have a good answer, then I know that it’s a distraction.
The clarity has been amazing!
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Have you tried out Clarity since you asked this question, Don?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
I’ve bought his products because they always seemed to fit the need I had at the time.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
I solved this problem by buying another cable and a charger to go in the car.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Writing books
Sean said this the other day.
You’re first product will be your worst one.
And your first book, though it may be good, won’t be as good as the second.
The third will be better than the first or the second.
The fourth will be better than the first three.
If you’ve written one book and, because it didn’t sell well, have given up, then you need to remind yourself that you’ve quit too early.
Find another topic that you can write a book about, and then write it.
It may take several in order for you to get any traction.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Deep Work
“The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy” (Cal Newport, Deep Work, p. 14, italics author’s).
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
What if you could only work 8 hours per week? What would you do?
I decided that the topic may have been to vague for most people, and so I’ve extended it to stimulate your imagination.
Here’s your schedule for the the week: Monday (2 hours); Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, you get 90 minutes.
How will you spend your time?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
I hated HostGator. They made it incredibly difficult to do anything except send them money.
I was with BlueHost for years. Then a friend offered to put my sites on his server for free. So now I’m with SiteGround.
SiteGround’s customer support seems to be better than BlueHost.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
70% of my request have been unanswered.
I’ll leave them there.
No harm done and, when it’s important, they might reply.
And so far, apart from showing a little extra interest, accepting or not accepting a friend request has made very little difference in this forum.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
After today’s coaching call, it’s to review my comments in PP and a lot of messages that you and I have had, and figure out a system that encompasses the big ideas as much as possible.
Then codify it, write a book, and get this show on the road!
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
I heard a great podcast today. I’m going to post the link in the Post Anything part of the site, but I’ve also included it here so that you have it.
Jonathan Cronstedt talks about what great course material looks like, and how it helps customers.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
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Not sure what your question is, Julia.
If you want to create a clickable signature for this forum, then go to Members, find your name, and then edit your profile.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Another way to help you with this is to use a page builder.
There will be a widget for images, and you’ll be able to define the size of the box that the pictures go in so that they’ll be uniform.
Not all page builders are created equal, however. We use SiteOrigin at work. I don’t like it. The tutorials are pretty much a waste of time, too. The main limitation with the pictures is that they all have to be the same size.
I don’t think it matters in Beaver Builder.
In any case, a page builder will give you more control over the image sizes.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Hi Robert,
There are two things that are missing from your offer.
The first one is why you’re doing it. The best way to understand this in the short term is to look up Simon Sinek on YouTube.
If you can grasp what he says, then after some thought you’ll be able to figure this out. But it won’t be obvious.
I’m writing an ebook about this topic which will become my new freebie.
The second thing that is missing is your how. Now you don’t have to give away the farm when you tell people about it, but you do have to connect the dots.
The description of what you want to do doesn’t give me any specifics. In other words, I can’t tell if it’s relevant to me or if you could help me.
You are going to have to teach people HOW to do what they do because you’ll find that that is a large part of why they don’t go for it.
That’s one of the primary reasons why Sean’s blueprint is so effective. It helps people to know what to do next.
In addition to the Sinek clip, I think that you need to read a lot in an area that interests you. Really get to know the topic. Don’t rely solely on what you find on the Internet either. Use it instead to learn what is missing. Then figure out how to teach people the missing part and show them why that part is essential to succeeding in whatever it is that they want to do.
And you may have to restrict yourself to a group of people with a specific interest, too. By that I mean that your offer can’t be targeted at all Baby-Boomers. Find a problem that some people in this group are trying to solve, something that if they can fix it will change their lives, learn as much as you can about it, and then create a method for helping them to correct it.
The “go for it” part can be included in all that.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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It doesn’t sound like anger to me, Sean.
Leave it up. 🙂
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Getting ready to move in a couple of days.
I don’t have much stuff. Everything will fit into a van, but the main thing is that I won’t have an Internet connection for a couple of weeks.
I’ll have to do everything online in the office (day job).
On the one hand, I’m looking forward to that.
No TV, no Internet, and even the cellphone won’t work because there’s no signal.
I’ll have a radio and a dozen books to read.
On the other hand, it may feel like an online diet.
Just imagine: NO email first thing in the morning.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Something that I think most people have missed is that Google, Facebook, YouTube – all platforms, for that matter – have agendas that are different from those of IM-ers or anyone else who is trying to monetize their space.
Perhaps it can be thought of like this: In the UK, they speak of working at “cross-purposes.” It means that people who are working together are doing it for different reasons, and so their methods don’t contribute to the success of the other. Instead of cooperating, they’re competing.
That’s what’s happening on the Internet. I don’t think I’ve ever read that anywhere.
What you see are marketers trying to second-guess what these large platforms will do next. Then these same marketers react to the changes.
A better approach is to align your agenda with theirs.
Instead of trying to understand what they’re doing so that you can adapt, pursue their agenda.
For example, what has Google said all along is it’s goal, it’s agenda, if you prefer?
Haven’t they always said that they want those who use their browser to get the best possible experience the first time? Haven’t they said that they don’t want people to have to keep searching because they can’t find what they want?
What has been the response of marketers?
Not to help Google give people the best possible experience, but to get traffic so that they could be first on the results page.
How did they do that?
First it was keyword stuffing. Then it was keywords. Then it was long-tail keywords and LSIs. Cloaking was another one. Cloaking is a kind of online bait-and-switch. Hidden words was another way people tried to get traffic. If you ever watch the Google Hangouts with John Mueller, you really get an insight into all the tricks that people try.
And that’s what they are: Tricks.
What would happen if marketers stopped trying to second-guess the how of the platforms and instead focused on their why?
What would you do differently if you knew that your success depended on making Google, or Facebook, or YouTube more successful?
Zig Ziglar famously said that, “If you help enough other people get what they want, then you can have what you want.”
Yet, the only people that I see marketers really trying to help is themselves via their customers.
What I don’t see is those same marketers trying to cooperate with the platforms.
Instead, I see a lot of whining and complaining about what those platforms are doing.
It tells me immediately that many of those who use them still don’t get it.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy5 users thanked author for this post.
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I think that Scott wrote this post long before PP was decoupled from the coaching, Julia.
I’ve been rereading some of the posts to see where I could add value and came across this one.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Hi Julia,
Interested in your comments about “organic searches.”
Can you elaborate?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Sorry to hear of your struggles, Les.
Let me know if I can help.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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Words, songs, images, and other forms of input always trigger memories when there was a strong emotional experience that occurred simultaneously.
There are some things that I try to avoid because those memories are so painful.
I’m sure that you’ve had such experiences, too, Susan.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Hi Les,
What’s the URL of your IM website?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
What is the URL of your website, Roger?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
What’s the URL of your IM website, Tina?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
A singer and an actor. How interesting.
What were you in?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
This is why you always sell value and never time.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
You are, indeed, a blest man Scott. You have more sight than I do.
I was given glasses when I was four, and that was back before the ophthalmologists could shine a light in your eye and determine the prescription from it.
The glass ones left a dent in my nose. During the summer, I remember my friends holding my glasses in the sunlight, and that the paper on the ground would start to smoke.
About age 7, I got plastic lenses.
At age 16, I got contact lenses. For the first time I had depth perception. Without them, I can’t see well enough to drive.
One eye corrects to 20/20. The other just helps out a little.
To go through what you have and come away with near perfect vision is amazing.
It’s a gift.
Now I’m going to give you some advice.
Your wife needs you. You’ve admitted that.
Much as you like going to Africa, you need to stay home and look after her.
It’s by the grace of God that you have your sight back.
Use it to look after her.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Have you lost your sight, Scott?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
OK.
Here’s the link: How to Defeat the Bright Shiny Object Syndrome
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
How’s it going now, Bob?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Hi Les,
I’m reviewing the posts in PreneurPal.
Came across your request for a link to Alpha Waves music.
Sorry I didn’t see it until now.
Here’s the link to several choices: Alpha Waves
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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Hi Tina,
There’s now a Post Anything part of the forum.
When you get a chance, can you reread this part of the thread, and then write a post that describes your experience?
Bruce
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
I hope that you’re continuing to improve, Norma.
No need to name names. Just think about it, but is there someone in this forum that you could work with to help you with some of your more immediate challenges?
If so, then PM them.
If not, then why not ask a question that describes the kind of help that you need?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
The last several days have had to flow.
I moved about a month ago, but only got Internet yesterday.
So there was getting used to that.
It was really quiet. No music, except in the office.
I’ve been home most of this week. There’s too much snow and ice on the ground to travel. I’m expecting to be here for the rest of the week, too.
But for the most part, have gotten into the habit of going to bed earlier and being more disciplined in the mornings. Need to because the commute is now 40 minutes, instead of five. 😉
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
One of the problems with fear is that it feeds a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You’ve probably heard that you get more of what you focus on. The reason is because the more you look at anything, the more of it you’re able to see, and the more of other things that look like it you can see.
We’re all afraid to a certain extent; but you have to accept that that goes with territory. In fact, employment is based on false security. People get laid-off all the time, and they thought their jobs were secure.
So, don’t focus on what you’re afraid of; but also, don’t interpret your happiness on the basis of the outcome you get. That’s a recipe for depression. Trust me. I’m speaking from personal experience. You don’t recover from clinical depression by “pulling up your socks” so to speak. It can take years to recover, and some people never do.
You can avoid that by focusing on the good you’re doing, and striving to do your best. Then at the end of each day, you can feel good about yourself for achieving that.
It may take a very long time to see the results you want, but if you base your happiness on that, then you’re setting yourself up for more disappointment.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
There’s a web site and app called Coffivity that will give you the sounds of a coffee shop without you actually having to be in one.
You can choose between times of the day, too.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Whatever you call it, Les, you have to be able to write persuasively; and it can’t be a hard sell.
If people feel that you’re the protagonist, they’ll defend their position, and they won’t buy.
You have to get alongside of them. They have to feel that you know what they’re thinking, and that you agree with them.
You don’t have to be a professional writer to write persuasively, but you’ll find that those who can’t write well also struggle to persuade people of much of anything.
Communication is everything.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Many years ago, I read that no one really predicts how people will use technology. For example, you may recall (or read) that Bill Gates said something along the lines of no one ever needing more than 64 MB of memory. (Something like that.)
Now couple that with the well-known psychological principle that “you get the behavior that you reinforce.”
Google, Facebook, and all other platforms want you to behave a certain way. To that end, they use their algorithms in order to reinforce a particular behavior.
Because they don’t disclose what those algorithms are, users are left to figure out how to get what they want. What they want usually conflicts with what the platforms want; but since users don’t own the platforms, they eventually start to figure out the game they have to play in order to get those, and that works for awhile until the platforms change their algorithms again.
I said it elsewhere, but I’ll say it again: If you want to make the platforms work for you, then you have to align your agenda with theirs. You won’t make money by fighting with Google or complaining about Facebook. Instead, you have to figure out how to use their platform the way they want you to and use it in that way as a means to achieve your goals.
All platforms want to make money. That doesn’t mean that you have to buy anything from them. It only means that you have to do the things that they want you to. If you do that, then other people will get the experience that they want on those platforms and those with the money to buy their products will be drawn to them as well. And because you’re doing what you should, the platforms will reward you.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Collectively, those stories would make a great book, Julia.
Think about the themes they each illustrate, and then make an outline.
If you want some help, then let me know. 🙂
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy2 users thanked author for this post.
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Some things, like reference books, car battery chargers – anything that is there in case of a crisis or emergency – you probably ought to hold onto.
Other things that you haven’t used for some time need to be evaluated.
You need to be practical about it; not just ruthless. If you think that you’re likely to use it in the coming year, then it would be reasonable to keep it.
If you have the wherewithal to replace something you haven’t used for a year or two, and don’t expect to anytime soon, then my suggestion would be to give it to someone who can use it now.
Clothes are a good example. The various shelters can give them to people who wear the same outfit 24/7.
I get rid of those books which I know that I’ll never use again. You and I have both read enough of them, Sean, to be able to make that determination.
I’ve found personally that when there’s less stuff around me, then I think more clearly. For me, anyway, clutter is a distraction.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Hi Les,
I’ve given a lot of public presentations.
The most important thing is preparation.
When you think you have it all together, then stand at a table with your notes in front of you, and present to the wall or the empty room out loud, just as if you’re doing it, all the way through.
Make whatever changes you need to to your notes.
An hour or so later, do it again, all the way through.
Amend you notes if you need to.
Then leave it for the rest of the day.
The next day, run through it again, out loud, just as if you were delivering it.
And the day before, do it again.
Presentations, speeches – anything like that – you need to be as natural as possible, otherwise you want engage anyone.
Even if you’re more or less reading from a script, you want to deliver it as if you don’t have one; and that takes practice.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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How do you keep the sand and salt out of your computer? 😉
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
Days like that, Sean, are wonderful.
They’re anchors in the storm of life.
They’re monuments to God’s faithfulness that we can look back to when we’re struggling.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
I can see, from re-visiting these posts, how easily I forget what I’ve suggested to other people.
Often, I feel like I’m living in two parallel lives.
There’s the one where I’m doing all the things that I want to do, and then there’s the one where everything changes almost as soon as I get out of bed. LOL
In order to make 80/20 work in the way that I’ve suggested, I know from personal experience that a lot of other things have to be orderly.
If there’s too much chaos in my life, then I can’t focus on what matters.
And there has been a lot of that lately.
The experiences of others in this forum make many of mine pale into insignificance.
The difference is that when you face something major, you have no problem dropping everything to deal with it. Your brain and your heart and your emotions “give you permission.”
It’s when there are a lot of little things, none of which seems that important but which collectively impede your progress, that you feel that internal conflict; like you’re chasing your tail.
And so for me, I have to get the little things under control so that I can give my work the kind of focus that’s required to make 80/20 work.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy1 user thanked author for this post.
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Great insight, Julia.
I like the idea of trying to create more content than I consume.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the more I read, the more I want to write.
This has been particularly frustrating in the day job because there I’m reading constantly, trying to stay up on what’s happening on the Internet, all the while working with no budget, in a boring industry and where not much can be said about it anyway.
Add to that the fact that most of our customers don’t search for what they need online . . .
I’m interested in your practice of journaling.
A lot of people do it.
The thing I’ve never been able to understand is how to do it without having to re-read everything in order to find what you want.
How do you do it?
This might be a project for Norma. She has a planning product. This sort of thing feels like it could complement her product funnel.
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy -
As a matter of curiosity, Les, what does a typical day look like for you?
Bruce Hoag PhD
The Internet Marketing Psychologist
The Mindful Writer - for deep and persuasive copy
