Wednesday November 7th, 2007: Issue #856
It is a beautiful morning.
I’m not talking about the weather (that’s a bit gray here) - I’m talking about what the French call joie de vivre. The Joy of Life.
No matter how bad things have gone - and Lord knows we all have our challenges at times - every morning is a new opportunity. A fresh start.
Today could be the best day of your life.
Isn’t that worth feeling excited about?
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If you are on any Internet marketing lists at all, your inbox is probably like mine right now: buckling under the weight of emails promoting the new wonder software Affiliate Elite.
I’ve watched the videos and marvelled at the multitude of bonuses that everyone and his uncle is offering to entice me to buy. But I’ve resisted.
Yes, I have to admit it, I haven’t bought it (and so won’t add to the list of people trying to sell it).
I am puzzled though as to why it is being hailed as such an amazing tool - when its two primary functions are not so difficult to achieve either very cheaply, or for free.
The two functions are:
1. Look up affiliates of ClickBank products.
Unless I’m completely missing the point (quite likely) the search engines will let you do that. Just find out the vendor’s Clickbank id from the CB marketplace and do a Google search on ‘xxxxx.hop.clickbank.net’, replacing the xxxxx with the id.
Do the same thing on Yahoo and MSN and you’ll build a list of active affiliates very quickly.
2. Spy on what AdWords advertisers are doing with their campaigns.
I bought a program recently called AdSpyPro that does a lot of what Affiliate Elite seems to offer. It costs just $67 against AE’s $149 + $39 monthly.
Brad Callen is a guy who develops very good software. His previous programs have always been excellent. However, one thing that does mark them in my mind is that they are complex creatures to get to grips with. They tend to have lots of features and functions that I never really understand how to use. Keyword Elite was a good example of that - packed with goodies, but light on usability (for me, anyway).
From the outside looking in, it appears that Affiliates Elite is another program from the same mold.
Maybe one day I’ll buy it to see what all the fuss is about. But right now I think I’ll stick to the simple solutions that I already use.
And let the army of affiliates battle it out amongst themselves.
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What happened to everyone’s creativity on Monday?
The exercise only attracted five entries - and one of those was from me!
http://kickstarttodayforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=666
Well done to the four people who made the effort. I’m sure your brains received a welcome Kickstart as a result. 
The creative exercises are intended to help you to fire up your synapses. They force the bright light of thinking into dusty corridors of your mind and blow away the darkness. Just five minutes with each creativity exercise can have magical results for the rest of your day.
There is no time limit, so if you didn’t take part on Monday, you can still do it today, tomorrow or anytime you like.
Open up your mind and let the muse pour forth.
Follow that link and prove to yourself that you CAN write!
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Following my little mini rant about Yahoo on Monday I’ve had a few emails from people asking me to change their email addresses for their Kickstart subscriptions. It is my pleasure to do so, and hopefully all who have made the request should get their copy at the new address today.
On the Kickstart Forum, Kev Polley - a London Lunch regular - has written a fascinating series of posts about his own battles with Yahoo. He has had his own problems getting his emails delivered, and Yahoo sent him a very long 12-point (I think) checklist of things he needs to have done at server level to be compliant with their incredibly stringent requirements.
In the end, after acceding to all of their demands, they threw one final punch at him and said that they would deliver 50% of his emails to people’s inboxes and 50% to their junk folders.
What on Earth do they think they are playing at? Is Kev a 50% spammer? No, his subscribers have all requested to receive his messages.
And how come they treat an honest emailer with such disdain while happily delivering 100% of most real spammers junk to Yahoo customer’s inboxes?
Yahoo have turned email into a lottery for legitimate folk, while encouraging a free-for-all for the pond slime.
It is a bit technical, but it is well worth reading Kev’s posts at http://kickstarttodayforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=667
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An Inspirational Thought
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A Zen saying by Hui-Hai goes:
‘Your treasure house is within you. It holds all you will ever need.’
A Zen saying should never be explained - its truth should grow into your spirit and you contemplate it.
However, this saying is pretty transparent.
We spend so much time looking for inspiration that we so often forget to look in the one place that there is an abundance supply - inside out hearts.
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Who do you know who would love Kickstart Today?
Don’t keep it to yourself - send them to
http://www.kickstartdaily.com today!
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The Quote of the Day
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Louis Kronenberger said,
“Many people today don’t want honest answers insofar as honest means unpleasant or disturbing. They want a soft answer that turneth away anxiety.”
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Today’s Power Thought
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The most positive person in the world is a closet pessimist.
Is that a contradiction in terms?
Not really. It is just an acceptance of the fact that we are very complex beings and that there are an awful lot of facets to our personalities.
A person who is 100% optimistic about every little thing in life probably wouldn’t survive. A little negativity is what keeps us safe.
When you are driving, you’d be nuts to assume that every other driver on the road is going to behave perfectly. You hold back a little bit of pessimism to keep you focused on potential problems.
Business is like that too. If you see every situation with rose-colored glasses, all that will happen is that your world will be pink.
We all need a little reality to keep our optimism and positivity burning brightly. Without contrast there is only gray (or pink!)
So don’t beat yourself up if you occasionally find yourself having negative thoughts, they are quite healthy.
The time to worry is if you only occasionally have positive ones! Then you have to take steps to find out why you are so down on yourself and the world, and work out a strategy for redressing your own personal balance.
There are good solid reasons why you should aim for a positive balance.
Studies show that optimists tend to achieve more, stay healthier longer and suffer far less depression. Good reasons to see the bright side, I’d say!
Here are three simple tricks that can soon get your mind into the habit of seeing positive rather than negative:
1. Wear an elastic band on your wrist. Whenever you catch yourself thinking ‘I can’t', ping it. It will hurt, but you will soon break the ‘I can’t’ habit.
2. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, and much negativity comes from that ‘can’t cope’ feeling, take five and write down all the pros and cons of the situation. Then take all the cons and think what is the worst that could happen. When you’ve done that, do the same with the pros - think of the best that can come from each of them. Now focus on achieving those ‘bests’.
3. Find the most optimistic and positive person you know and invite them out for a drink occasionally. There is nothing like absorbing positivity from others to give your own flagging spirits a boost.
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Fascinating Facts
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When I worked on the advertising account for a major London department store they told me that every Christmas an old tramp (hobo) went in and bought a large bottle of Aramis aftershave.
After a few years they send a store detective to follow him and found that he went back behind the store, opened his gift to himself and drank it.
It’s a wonder the guy survived his experience, but he later told them that he loved it and it was his one treat in the year.
At least he smelled good for a day or two!