Thursday, January 29, 2009

Twitter: Business or Pleasure?

Hi, Folks.

Recently, I've been spending a lot of time on Twitter. For a long time, I just didn't get it. I always imagined a bunch of teenagers sending stuff like, "I'm checking my email" or "I'm getting ready for a date".

I did NOT want to be like this:



Frankly, that video shows you what my opinion of Twitter was.

And don't worry ... there are PLENTY of people that actually do use Twitter just like that.

But when I started noticing some of the more prominent marketers that I'm familiar with using Twitter, I decided that I might want to take another look. There must be a reason the "pros" are on there, right?

You've heard the phrase:

"If you want to be successful, do what the successful people are doing."

Thus began my journey in to Twitter.

I opened my Twitter account and I began looking for those marketing folks I mentioned. When I found them, I clicked "Follow". I started reading what they had to say. Some of it was ... well ... just silly ... but I like a little humor, so .... ok.

Some of the stuff they posted was pretty good. There were some solid ideas and tips being shared.

Learning some new tips on Twitter: Priceless

Then one day, someone asked a question on Twitter about recording on a Mac.

I've used my Mac to record audio for my web site, music demos, videos, etc... so I thought, "Hey ... I can offer some tips there."

All of a sudden, I'm tweeting. I typed in my little reply.

The person that asked the question replied with a "thank you" and we made a few tweets back and forth.

Hmmmm..... that was kinda fun!

I decided I would update my profile on Twitter to tell folks a little about myself.

I don't remember the original description but I remember that "Email Marketing Pro" was part of it.

Once I updated my profile, something interesting started to happen. People were searching Twitter for other people with similar interests. A few more people started following me on Twitter. A few of them would ask a question about Email Marketing.

Hmmmm.... What's this? Making new potential business contacts?

I also added something about being a bass player, a father of 5, etc....

More "followers" with similar interests started showing up.

My conversations are becoming more and more diverse. More people are interacting with me.

I am making new contacts. We're sharing tips back and forth.

Someone asked me about my business and if I had some advice.... I got a new client!

Old friends are finding me on Twitter and we're reconnecting.

Hmmmm.... this Twitter thing is fun AND profitable on many levels.

But here is where the real dynamic of Twitter has kicked in for me.

As I'm talking with people on Twitter, they have a whole network of followers, too. One day, I shared an email marketing tip with one of my contacts on Twitter. They shared a comment back to me and did what is known as a "retweet" where they publish my comment again for their followers.

Hmmmm... all of a sudden, their followers are introduced to me and what I do.

After a very short time, I'm getting close to 800 followers and I'm having some conversations about music, business, marketing, homeschooling, basketball, personal development, email marketing, old high school memories, and discovering new things all the time.

There are some absolutely amazing people on Twitter that we can all learn from.

There is no shortage of the "I just brushed my teeth" folks, but they're easy to ignore.

Think of Twitter as a world-wide social gathering. With the click of your mouse, you can decide who to interact with and how to interact with them.

So if you're still on the fence about Twitter, my advice is to jump in.

Then ...

1) Take time to seek out and follow people you are genuinely interested in.

2) Take time to see how the conversations flow.

3) Be genuine and add value to the conversations.

4) Go ahead ... have a little fun.

5) Be courteous and respectful ... even when you disagree.

6) Enjoy the journey and let it flow.

Yours in Success,

Brian Rooney
TrafficWave.net LLC

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Great MLM Spillover Debate

The Great Spillover Debate

Spillover: Are you looking for it or creating it?

There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to the idea of making money based on spillover.

Does spillover happen? Absolutely.

Is spillover the way to build fantastic wealth? Hardly.

The plain and simple truth of the matter is:

Spillover happens when it does because SOMEBODY is promoting.

In a simple illustration of a 3x matrix, it looks like this:

Level 1 can hold 3 sales.
Level 2 can hold 9 sales.
Level 3 can hold 27 sales.
Level 4 can hold 81 sales.

And so on....

This sort of plan can and often does lead to spillover whenever there is at least one person that is effectively promoting and referring others.

Let's suppose you join a matrix plan and you are going to be a referring "machine". You see the potential and you know that the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. You're ready to "rock enroll" and you know that you can help a lot of folks in the process because of the way the matrix plan is set up.

You get your three closest associates or friends or family members on the phone and you tell them what you are doing. They are excited and they join.

You now have 3 people on your first level.

Congratulations! You are off to a strong start.

Next, you contact some more close friends, associates, or family members and you plug them in on Level 2. It takes 9 people to fill Level 2.

You now have a full first level and a full 2nd level.

You are making even more money and everyone on your first level is seeing some growth because you created spillover for them by filling your 2nd level.

Your next task is to fill Level 3.

That will take 27 people. (3 x 9 = 27).
Getting tougher to carry that load by yourself, isn't it?

While you are working on filling Level 3, you start to get phone calls from people on Level 2. They want to know where the spillover is. Why aren't you building their downline for them? What's going on?

A couple of the people on Level 1 want to know why their downline is building so slowly. Can't you do something to speed things up? They have to make money so they can make a car payment this week! What are you doing up there, anyway?!?!?

Let's say you are really good at this stuff and you manage to fill your 3rd level with 27 new referrals.

Congratulations! You've done well for yourself. You've created spillover for your first level people and your 2nd level people. But now the 3rd level people want to know where their spillover is and the people on levels 1 and 2 want to know why they aren't making a few thousand dollars yet!

Sound familiar?

I know the true builders recognize some of these comments and questions. They get this sort of nonsense every single day.

Here's the thing that amazes me (and I've seen this a LOT over the years):

Someone will get up WAY too early in the morning, to drive WAY too far to a job they absolutely hate.

They will spend ALL DAY at that job making FAR too little money. They will then drive home in traffic, complaining about their stupid job, their lame boss, their lousy pay, and how this just isn't what they envisioned for their life.

But when their upline sponsor asks them about spending a few minutes a day promoting their web site to help with the team build, they instantly talk about how they don't have time, can't figure out how to log in, don't know where or how to post an ad... "I'm not good with that stuff!", etc...

And then they ask why their downline isn't growing faster.

It's a vicious cycle and I see it repeated throughout the world on a daily basis.

I want to be clear: Matrix plans can help a large number of people because of their design. As sales begin building, the new sales are forced down into the lower levels of the organization and that is called spillover. It does happen and I see people making money as a result.

But rarely do these sorts of people really get in to the big money.

Here is how the big money earners really do it:

They build with a team. They seek out fellow builders and workers and they work together with an attitude and approach to CREATING spillover rather than receiving spillover.

Suddenly, it's no longer about one person being able to refer 30 or 40 people on their own. It becomes about a team pulling together to create a massive group-wide momentum that results in the income levels that we end up reading about with other people.

Consider this:

If you are the kind of person spending an hour in the morning to drive to an 8 hour job and then another hour getting home and still not making the kind of income you desire, consider dedicating yourself to spending just 30 minutes a day and finding others that will do the same to take your life back by building your business.

When I started working online, I had 3 jobs. I worked as a janitor during the day, taught music lessons and played music at night, and cleaned boats on the lake on the weekends. I was working 60 to 70 hours a week on a regular basis.

THEN, because I absolutely KNEW there was a way to take my life back, I spent my evenings studying, researching, and trying various online methods of building wealth.

There were times when I didn't sleep for 2 days in a row. I was that dedicated to taking my life back and providing a stable life for my family. Bear in mind that I was doing this while married and with five kids! I wasn't a single guy with a few needs. I had a big rent payment, lots of groceries, car payments, and bills that just kept showing up month after month!

I knew that my current jobs were not going to get me there.

I knew that I couldn't just keep adding jobs.

I knew that there had to be a better way.

I knew that I was going to have to work my butt off for a while.

So I did.

I made a ton of mistakes along the way.

Some things didn't work out.

I maxed out a few credit cards along the way.

But I knew the answer was to keep plowing forward. I absolutely REFUSED to quit.

Today, I'm sitting in my home office writing this article. My commute to work is about 20 seconds. I don't fight traffic unless I'm taking my sons to a basketball game on the other side of town and I don't have to ask permission to take a day or the weekend off!

And the most important part of all (even more important than the fact that I make a LOT more money now) is: I absolutely LOVE what I do!

I want you and others to see that it can be done IF you wrap your mind around the idea of being willing to put solid effort in to CREATING your success.

Someone once told me... EVERY Online opportunity works. And every online opportunity doesn't work. It depends on the person involved and how they approach their business. I have to tell you: I agree 110%.

Brian Rooney
TrafficWave.net LLC

Monday, January 19, 2009

You Bet I Practice What I Preach!

Sometimes, members will email me to say something like, "Yeah... I read all your articles and stuff but can you send me something that I can use to get started with making money online?".

I guess they think that I have some super-secret methods that I don't share about in my blog posts, tweets, articles, etc...

But I want to be very clear: All this stuff I'm teaching you to do .... THAT is what I do, personally!

When I post something about blogging .... I get that from blogging.
When I post something about using Twitter... I get that from using Twitter.
When I post something about article marketing... I get that from my actual article marketing.

I practice what I preach, folks! And THAT is why I make money online.

When you read it from me, you can believe that I have personally walked it out and THAT is why I can share it with you!

Put all that reading and all that thinking in to action today and start earning.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Do You Want E-Mail Marketing Results?

Hi, Folks.

Every day, (and I do mean EVERY day), I get emails from people that are frustrated by their lack of e-mail marketing results.

"I don't have a list."
"Nobody buys what I'm offering."
"I don't know what works."
"I'm not a technical computer person."
and the list goes on.

One of the keys to success is to find someone that is doing what you want to do and then ....

Do What They Do!

So .... let me give you an idea of what I do.

1) I have over 200 new people ASKING ME for information on my offer every single month.

UPDATE: This has grown to over 300 people asking for information every month!

2) I am able to generate new sales in MINUTES.

3) I can tell you EXACTLY which headline worked better than another.

4) I can tell you EXACTLY which of my ads are getting results.

5) I know EXACTLY how many people respond to my ads.

And believe me ... there is more.

All of this (and much more) is included in your TrafficWave.net training.

The best part is that MOST of the stuff I do is absolutely FREE! I started spending money on some of the techniques AFTER I was generating profits.

Want to know the secrets to generating 200 new leads every single month, tracking your ads, and creating sales? Log in to your TrafficWave.net back office and click "Training Articles". Subscribe to my training series. There are two:

1 for Affiliates (how to earn with TrafficWave.net)
1 for Customers (how to use and profit from the tools in your business).

EVERYBODY should subscribe to the tools training.

And if you want to earn with the TrafficWave.net Affiliate plan, subscribe to the affiliate training!

You can follow along with me as I use the exact same strategies I teach you to use in building and profiting from your lists.

And even better... as I learn new strategies and put them to the test, I turn around and teach you the same stuff!

If you want E-Mail Marketing Results ... Start by requesting your TrafficWave.net training in your back office today!

Brian Rooney
TrafficWave.net LLC

Friday, January 9, 2009

Stop Whining! Get Back Up and Keep Going!

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is when people (especially grown adults) whine to me about how I don't understand how hard it is. I suppose they have this image in their mind that I was somehow born with a business and have always been able to make money from home.

The reality is that when I started learning Internet Marketing, I was holding down multiple jobs during the day, having to support five kids, and do most of my studying and internet marketing at night. There were times I might not sleep for 2 or 3 days.

But I knew (and I do mean "KNEW") that I had to start doing things differently or I was going to continue struggling to scrape by for the rest of my life.

So when someone says to me, "You just don't understand how hard it is. I have a job I have to do during the day and 2 children at home.", they are right. I don't understand how they can have it so EASY and still complain and whine instead of just doing what it takes!

I've always been a believer in "You Can Make Excuses Or Money. NOT BOTH".

I wanted to share this amazing little video about someone else that has had it MUCH tougher than most anyone else on this planet. But they are a perfect example of continuing to get up and succeed in life no matter how many times you fall down.




Thursday, January 8, 2009

How To Build and Profit From Your Own E-Mail Lists

New Article shows you how to build and profit from your own in-house e-mail lists:


Your comments and feedback always welcomed.

Brian Rooney
TrafficWave.net LLC


Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Email Marketing Click-Throughs

Any time I run an Email Marketing campaign, I track open rates and click-throughs. 

Open Rate refers to the number of times the message is actually opened. It's not an exact science as some email programs may not load the image that is used to track the open rate and some email programs may not show the full HTML. 

I just know that whatever I see for an Open Rate is probably a little bit low and I adjust my thinking accordingly. 

It's nice to get an idea of your Open Rate because this gives you an idea of how many people on your list were at least interested enough to view your message. After all, if they don't read the message, they can't see your offer, right?

Tracking the click-throughs, however, is pretty precise because I use a unique AdTracker URL for each message that goes out. This lets me see exactly how many people clicked the link in my message and when.

I blasted out an Email Marketing message to one of my lists back on Dec 15, 2008. I was pretty happy with the Open Rate. It wasn't amazing but several hundred people did view the message.

What is more interesting to me, though, is that people are still clicking the link in that message today! I don't know if these folks just don't check their emails that often or if my message got saved for later, or what ... but I love knowing that a message I sent out weeks ago is STILL bringing me new potential customers today!