The very first issue of Kickstart in 2009 carried a roundup of my 10 favorite recommendations from 2008. It was a diverse list of products and services that I believed had stood the test of time and were still very worthy of your consideration.
It is true that many Internet marketing products have a very limited shelf life. They often describe a process or an idea that is potentially very profitable, but which either stops working relatively quickly or is superceded by something better.
Unfortunately, a lot of the products that sell ideas that don’t work any more remain on sale way beyond their useful life – and so contribute to the often heard opinion that all Internet marketing products are a scam.
It isn’t true – almost all are good at the time they are written, but they can and do go out of date quickly.
That’s one reason why buying them when they are fresh and taking action on their advice quickly is such a good idea!
But having said all that, there are many products that work to time-tested principles and are evergreen in their usefulness.
Those are the ones that I most like to recommend, wherever possible.
My 2008 top ten are described at My top recommendations from 2008/ and are still among my most favorite products.
Recently, several Kickstart readers have independently asked me for a recap on the top products I’ve recommended so far in 2009, so I’ve dug back and made some selections for you.
There have been 33 issues of Kickstart this year, with a couple of Kickstart Extra editions thrown in. In all those, there have been recommendations for 11 products and I’ve gone through that short list to select my top picks.
It was very hard, because I still stand by each and every one of my 2009 recommendations, so leaving any out was a challenge.
These are all things that I would not want to be without, and which I know you’ll be delighted to own. The descriptions are straight from the issue of Kickstart where they were first reviewed and recommended:
### Artifact – Article Spinning Software
It seems like a long time ago, but probably isn’t, a friend of mine, Glenn Leader, created a script that helped you turn one article into hundreds. The software was called Artifact (short for article factory) and was very well received by the article writing community. You see, Artifact made sure that every ’spun’ version of the article read as well as every other one. There were no weird thesaurus substitutions and the results were really good.
I waxed lyrical at the time and Glenn sold a lot of copies.
Spinning – the process of turning one article into lots can be very useful. When you submit articles to directories (a really good way to get backlinks to your websites) it is highly beneficial to submit a different version to each one. In addition, if you create several versions for you own use, you can post them on your blogs, forums, websites and ezines without worrying about whether Google will penalize you for duplicate content.
The only problem with Glenn’s original Artifact was that it was script based and a bit tricky to learn to use. He always said that he would one day build a software version that made the process much easier and now he has.
http://artifact.webmaster-toolbox.info/martin/
It took him two years, but it has been worth the wait.
I’ve used a lot of article spinning programs over the years and even written a few myself. Some were absolutely awful, producing utter gibberish. Some were way too hard to use and some so simplistic that they just didn’t do what they were supposed to do.
The all new Artifact does exactly what it promises and does it elegantly and very easily. You’ll be creating multiple unique versions of all your articles – whether you’ve written them yourself, or bought them from a PLR source – in record time. And every new version will read as well as the original! In the case of some PLR articles, your spun versions will probably read even better!
As Glenn is an old mate (and frequent attendee at my London Lunches), he has allowed me to tell you about the new super-easy Artifact ahead of his official launch – and to offer you a $30 discount. That won’t be available for long though, so if article marketing is on your agenda in 2009 (and it really should be) Artifact is one tool you’ll be glad to have in your kit bag.
http://artifact.webmaster-toolbox.info/martin/
### Online Income System
It is funny how coincidences happen.
If you are into Internet marketing you’ll know what ClickBank is all about, but if not, it is a company that allows you to sell other people’s products (as an affiliate) and get up to 75% commission on each sale. ClickBank handle all the financial stuff and just send you a check when you’ve earned above a preset amount.
In my case, I have always had the threshold set at $250 because cashing dollar checks here in the UK is costly, so I want it to be worthwhile.
My checks from ClickBank have been steadily increasing and now I expect them to be over $1000 – and my record this year was $3800.
Obviously some of that is commissions from what I recommend here in Kickstart, but a lot of it comes from other online marketing I do.
Frankly, making commissions from ClickBank is not brain surgery. It is actually quite easy and if I devoted more time to it as opposed to all the other things I like to do, I could make a lot more.
One of the things on my list of stuff I wanted to do was to write up my methods for making money with ClickBank and create a newbie friendly guide to getting started. After all, nobody makes a single dollar without taking that first step, and I planned to hold hand with anyone who really wanted to get on track.
I have notebook full of ideas for the report/ebook that I’ve been idly working on for a while.
Then came the coincidence.
A Kickstart reader – Albert Harman (hi Al!) emailed to ask my opinion of a product he was thinking of buying called ‘My Online Income System’ from a lady by the mane of Kimberley Hoffman.
I’d never heard of it and don’t normally buy random products ‘to order’ but was sufficiently intrigued by the sales message to stump up for it.
What I found was that Kimberley had pretty much created what I was planning to write – a beginners’ guide to making regular money from Clickbank.
It is step-by-step, very clearly written and it covers all the important stuff you need to know.
I love that lady – she has saved me a whole lot of work!
If you are experienced in Internet marketing then this is probably not for you (unless you are experienced in knowledge but are still not making any money). But if you want to learn how you can make a regular income as an affiliate marketer and eventually look forward to sizable checks arriving each week, then this course is highly recommended.
The only thing I have against it is that it way too modestly priced. If I’d have written this I would have set the price at least double. It would be worth that and more.
http://urlnex.us/onlineincomesystem
### PLRpro Ebooks
The Frank Garon seminar went very well and all the speakers gave excellent value in their talks. I spoke for over two hours on communicating through your ezine, how to write articles the right way and how to use private label ebooks to quickly and easily have your own products to sell.
It all seemed to go down very well.
During the last part of my talk I explained that private label ebooks, if sourced from the right place, offer an almost magical way to make money online. Someone else does all the work, while you just sit back and take the profits!
The only place that I now source all the private label ebooks that I sell is a membership site called PLRproEbooks. many Kickstart readers will be familiar with PLRpro – the site that gives you hundreds of articles each month and now has some AMAzing site building software built in – but not so many people are aware of the incredible stuff they offer at PLRproEbooks.
Each month they give members three complete ebook packages.
Each book is specially written following lots of research into what the market is actually asking for – so you know that each one is a hot topic that is already in demand. The current month, for example, includes books on How to stop excessive sweating, cat training and anger management. Last month had great books on weight loss with Hoodia, student loans and dealing with stress. In previous months we have had excellent, well-written books on such diverse, but hot topics as credit card debt, greenhouse gardening, job hunting and fly fishing.
Here is a rundown of what you get for each book, each month:
* 4 professionally designed website templates
* A top quality sales letter
* 40 well written, keyword-focused plr articles
* A 10-part autoresponder series
* An entire blog template
* A specially written ‘teaser’ ebook
* The entire ebook recorded as an mp3 file – in both male and female voices
* A huge spreadsheet of keyword research
You can literally be up and running, selling your own product in minutes.
I have no problem recommending PLRproEbooks to anyone who wants to have their own products to sell. There simply is no other membership site that gives you so much, of such high quality, for such a low monthly subscription.
Like all these things, you have to take action to make them work for you – but the action needed is minimal. And at a cost to you of barely $20 per book, you need only make one sale a month to cover your costs.
With markets as hot as these, that’s ultra conservative.
http://urlnex.us/plrproebooks/
### 20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online
Yesterday I bought a book that is so good that I can’t wait until I next meet my chum for dinner. I’m going to phone him up and tell him about it – it really is that good!
There is no question that we are in bad economic times, and no question that many people are feeling the pinch. I’ve been saying for ages that Internet marketing is the solution – it provides people with the opportunity to make money – either in their spare time, or even full time. You can make anything from a few extra dollars to help make ends meet, right up to big enough bucks to make your day job irrelevant (and all the worries that go with it).
The problem is that ‘Internet marketing’ is such a blanket term that the first big barrier is ‘what IS Internet marketing then?’ Unless you know what you are trying to do – which aspect of online marketing you want to concentrate on – you’ll fall at the first fence.
The book I bought is called ‘20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online’.
It has been written by a group of highly respected people who make a lot more than that!
This group of experts – including Dr. Mani, Case Stevens, Kenth Nasstrom, Patrick Pretty, Bev Clement, David Schwartz, AnneMarie Callan, Michael Badger, Jim and Doris McKiel, Jeremy Estes, Michelle Brouse, Michael Savoie, Jack Bastide, Gary Knuckles, Willie Crawford, Thea Swafford, Scott and Sharlene Raven and Daniel Taylor – is made up of men and women from all over the world. They are making a mint online, in all kinds of different ways. Each one devotes an entire chapter to tell you, in great detail, just how to get started in their particular branch of online marketing.
And how with a little effort, you can easily make $100 a day profit for yourself.
I’ve met several of the people on that list – and as Kickstart readers, some will even be reading this today!
There is no fluff whatsoever. The book has 247 pages and is packed with real ‘take it to the bank’ information.
I learned a lot from reading it – and now intend to print it out and go through it with a highlighter pen. There is so much good information in here.
The book has been on sale for about a year, I believe, but I’ve only just stumbled across it. I wish I had found it when it first came out, but better late than never.
Normally I like to tell you if a book or product is best suited to beginners or more experienced Internet marketers, but this one is suitable for everyone.
Beginners will get a great overview of twenty of the very best ways to do online marketing, while experienced people will get great tips and an insight into other areas that they haven’t worked in yet.
‘20 Ways to Make $100 Per Day Online’ is worth a bundle and could have easily sold for ten times the asking price (and I mean easily). But instead it has been priced very, very low so that everyone can afford it.
See for yourself at http://urlnex.us/100dollardays/
Now please excuse me while I get on the phone to tell my friend!
### Quick Income Blueprint
A little while ago I saw a few posts on the Warrior Forum about a new product called Quick Income Blueprint. There was certainly a buzz growing around the product and then I saw that a few of the gurus who promote absolutely everything started pumping out what looked like pre-written emails about it.
That was my signal to move on. I’m always very suspicious of the latest new things. I take the view that the people who promote without thought can have the early pickings to themselves – if the product is any good, it will still be worth considering when I get around to looking at it in detail.
I don’t know what made me come back to this one, but I did eventually buy it for myself this weekend and I have to say that it is pretty good.
The author, Paul Walker, has put together a package that is filled with value. There are seven pdfs (the blueprints) that outline the seven strategies he proposes, and videos that go with several of them.
They are good stuff. You’ll learn new ideas and new ways of approaching Internet marketing. They are not detailed step-by-step plans, but they do give you a working overview of very practical methods to make money as quickly as possible without any required up front outlay.
The whole thing is aimed squarely at newbies – if you are already doing Internet marketing I wouldn’t bother to buy Quick Income Blueprint – you are not the market it is aimed at. But if you are new to this game and are looking for an overview to steer you in the right direction, then this may be just what you have been looking for.
http://urlnex.us/quickincomeblueprint
Even better than the product itself is the list of surprise bonuses! I can’t tell you what they all are (that would spoil the surprise) but I can say that almost all of them – and there are 12 – are easily worth the entire cost of the product. Especially the package of PLR ebooks and articles that you get.
I’m a great fan and proponent of private label articles and ebooks and firmly believe that they offer the fastest way to make money online – and here you are with 14 ebooks and 305 articles given as a bonus!
Do yourself a favor – at the very least check out the sales page at http://urlnex.us/quickincomeblueprint
And remember – if for any reason you are unhappy with your purchase, Quick Income Blueprint is sold through ClickBank, so you can easily get a refund just by asking.
### Google-1st
As this has been my most recent recommendation, I won’t reproduce all the text of my initial review – you can read it at Google-1st Full Review
All I will say for today is this: none of the other products I have recommended in 2008 or 2009 will do you much good if you don’t have the magic ingredient to allow the money to flow your way.
That magic ingredient is a ready supply of free traffic to your website.
Google-1st describes a simple, but comprehensive system for getting your web properties onto the first page of Google and the other search engines. it works like a dream.
And in Internet marketing, page one of Google means just one thing – a steady supply of free traffic, and money, coming your way.
Google-1st may just be the most important product of them all.