Monday Apr 16th, 2007: Issue #791
The weather has been amazing this weekend and it is still beautiful today. Like a summer’s day, but without the humidity.
Even more amazing is the fact that at exactly the same time last year, we had ice and snow on the ground.
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Last night I had a dream. Although I know I have quite vivid dreams, I’m not someone who normally remembers them for more than a second or two after I wake up, but last night’s dream was different.
It has stuck in my mind in full detail and even left me feeling some shadow of the emotions. It is weird sitting here, hours later, still feeling edgy because of events that happened in a dream.
I don’t put much store in dream interpretation, but even I can see possible messages and meanings in this one. Here is a brief summary.
For whatever reason, I’d been asked to perform a magic act at a charity concert. I wasn’t a magician, but for some reason I had the equipment to perform half a dozen tricks. I had no desire to do it, but the cause was good and the organizers were insistent, so I very reluctantly agreed.
I practiced my tricks, but even I knew that I was rubbish - and for certain would be even worse when in front of an audience. So I felt an enormous flood of fear. Fear of the certainty that I was going to embarrass myself in public.
On the day of the concert I went home to get my props, but they were nowhere to be found. I searched my house from top to bottom, with increasing panic. Where could they be? What on earth was I going to do?
The only thing I could do was turn up at the event and sheepishly tell the organizers that I couldn’t perform because all my props had gone missing. They were, of course, furious. The ‘compere’ had to get up and apologize to the audience on my behalf and I felt even more shame and embarrassment.
So there I was, torn between two powerful emotions - terror of public embarrassment and shame at letting people down who were relying on me.
Then I woke up, but a hint of those gut-wrenching emotions remain.
I don’t know where the dream came from, and I’m no psychologist, but even I can read a clear message:
Don’t allow yourself to be bullied into doing things that you are not prepared or equipped for.
Or perhaps even simpler: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
But is it the same message that you read into the dream?
Let me know what you think!
Or maybe I’m just going a bit crazy in the summer weather we are experiencing here.
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I bought a book over the weekend that I’d like to review here. It is called ‘Get Google Ads Free’ and claims to teach you how you can advertise on Google AdWords (or any PPC) for ZERO cost. Quite some claim.
The author makes an even bigger claim. He says that he has achieved more that $87 million in free ads since he began this process, and over $12 million of that in the last year alone.
I was intrigued. Actually, scratch that, I was burning with curiosity: How does he DO that?
I had several theories as to how this might have been achieved, but all of them appeared to be discounted in the sales letter.
A note on the sales letter: it is very hypey. It doesn’t seem to make any claims that are not answered in the book, but the way those claims are worded makes a very simple idea look to be a lot more interesting than it actually is. Perhaps that is just good copywriting. It isn’t dishonest, but it is a bit over the top.
Curiosity is a powerful motivator. I really wanted to know how this guy (I think his name is Jon, but I can’t find his full name in the book anywhere) was achieving such enormous amounts of advertising, apparently at no cost whatsoever.
I figured that as the book is sold through ClickBank, if it turned out to be total trash, I could easily get a refund (that’s the beauty of ClickBank - they refund with no questions asked).
Now that I’ve read the book, I won’t be asking for a refund. I learned things from it that will more than pay the cover price. But does it really fulfill the claims made in the sales letter? Yes and no.
Yes, because it does explain how you can make your Google advertising *effectively* free. The book does do what it promises. It actually does quite a lot more than it promises because the ’secret’ that you are buying it for could be explained in a couple of pages, and yet ‘Get Google Ads Free’ runs to 85!
No, because there is a trick involved. And, if you get it wrong, that trick could end up costing you a lot of money.
The system in ‘Get Google Ads Free’ demands a walk of faith. You have to believe that it will work - and put your money where your belief is. That means that you have to actually buy very expensive PPC advertising up front - in the faith that the book’s system will quickly get it all back for you - and more.
Without giving away the ’secret’ totally, I can tell you that it does not involve vouchers, affiliates or arbitrage (my initial theories) but that it does involve monetizing the pages that your AdWords ads point to in such a way that all of your advertising costs are more than covered.
It isn’t groundbreaking, but it is a twist on a very old idea that I haven’t seen described online before. I can see no reason not to try it out.
The secret strategy is revealed in the very first section of the book. After that the book expands on the basic idea and gives practical tips for putting the secret to work for list building, making money without selling a product, using the secret with newsletters and so on.
It ends with a fairly long section that is basically an affiliate’s resource center for people who want to sell ‘Get Google Ads Free’ themselves. Frankly, some (most) of the ads that are given for affiliates to use are quite offensive and I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable running them. But having said that, they probably work.
Objectively, the affiliate resource section is one of the best and most complete that I’ve ever seen for any product. A lot of work has gone into it and as a ‘how to sell affiliate products’ or ‘how to support you affiliate’ book, would make an excellent stand-alone product in its own right.
So here is the $64,000 question. Should you buy ‘Get Google Ads Free’?
On balance, I’d say yes. Not just to satisfy your curiosity, but also because if you read between the hype and bragging, there are some good ideas to be had. Ideas that could make you a lot of money.
http://www.urlnex.us/getgoogleadsfree/
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I joined a new site called FreeIQ. It costs nothing to join.
You get access to all kinds of interesting stuff - videos, reports, audios, ebooks - that members have posted. It is a bit like YouTube on steroids!
You can also make money from the site by joining up as an affiliate (also free) and making a commission when people you’ve recommended buy any of the paid products that are advertised on the site.
The site is still in beta testing mode, so there isn’t a mass of stuff on it yet, but the potential is huge.
As I said, it costs absolutely nothing to join, so jump in on the ground floor!
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Later this morning Delia and I have a meeting with a bank to try to open a new business account. My own bank has made such a meal of it - the latest fiasco was sending me all the forms made out in the wrong name - that we are looking to change banks.
I hope that it all goes smoothly, but realism tells me that it is bound to be a frustrating and annoying experience. Or am I just attracting negativity to myself by thinking that? We’ll see.
Anyway, because we fully expect to come out of the meeting wound up like springs, we are then going to take a drive to Kew Gardens - http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ - so that the peaceful beauty there can restore our spirits.
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An Inspirational Thought
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There is a little voice in our heads that acts as a valve: whenever we start to get too enthusiastic, motivated or inspired, the little voice tries to close down the flow.
That voice is called doubt.
Even the most positive among us have this annoying little creature living inside our skulls.
We can live with doubt - and forever limit our actions (and hugely restrict our potential). Or, we can learn to ignore the voice. It shouts pretty loud though.
Even better, we can overwhelm it.
Daily affirmations are one such tool we can easily use to drown out the voice of doubt. Every time we repeat to ourselves that we are successful, smart, proactive, healthy, wealthy or … (fill in your own blank), the voice of doubt becomes weaker.
When your affirmations shout and your voice of doubt whispers, your success in whatever you desire will be assured.
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The Quote of the Day
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Will Rogers said:
“A man only learns two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.”
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Today’s Power Thought
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The story of how Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ the New World is well known, but what isn’t so familiar is that without a simple glass of water his voyage would have never happened.
For eight years Columbus had been desperately trying to raise backing for his planned voyage, but he was met with rejection everywhere he went. Finally, he had his last chance to put his case before the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
They listened to his plea but rejected him.
Dejected, Columbus began his journey home, knowing that his final option had just been exhausted.
It was a hot day and before setting off on the road Columbus called in at a monastery to beg a glass of water. The monk that served him proved to be a willing ear for his tales of woe and so Christopher unloaded his troubles at great length.
By sheer coincidence, the monk turned out to be the Queen’s confessor and he was very impressed by Columbus’ passion, commitment and enthusiasm. He, in turn, spoke privately with the Queen and Columbus was granted a second audience.
This time Queen Isabella was much more receptive.
The rest is history.
Now, why is that little history lesson a daily action point?
Because we can all learn the very simple idea from it that you must never give up. You really never know where or when your breakthrough is going to strike.
It is vital to keep your enthusiasm stoked up to the highest level and to let everyone you meet see that passion shine through.
You never know when the person you are enthusing to has the ear of the Queen.
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Fascinating Facts
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It would take 27,000 spider’s webs to weigh one pound.