Disqus - Latest Comments for Dr.Mani

Re: Advanced Reputation Management With Profiles And Presell Pages

Dr.Mani — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:07:38 -0000

Nice article. One more idea that works well (if you can pull it off) is having your own page on Wikipedia. Create it - and try to make it 'stick'!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Why I delete comments (Scripting News)

Dr.Mani — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:33:15 -0000

Whoops, and just yesterday on Twitter I was saying I agreed with your 'no comments' policy!

Well, to be precise, I did define your view correctly - comment on my blog, but retaliate/argue/extend
the discussion on YOUR blog.

Dr.Mani

Re: How spam will likely enter the Twitter community (Scripting News)

Dr.Mani — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:24:51 -0000

Dave, Twitter does have the feature to turn off @ replies.

Settings > @Replies > no @ replies

Poof! G'bye spam.

Dr.Mani
(drmani on Twitter)

Re: Twitter's business model (Scripting News)

Dr.Mani — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:34:50 -0000

Easier model - charge Twitter users a modest annual fee for some extra features.

Dr.Mani

Re: Dembot - Why Mahalo is Fundamentally Flawed

Dr.Mani — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:33:41 -0000

The 'model' is VERY similar to what started as "The Mining Company" in 1997 (where I was a 'founder Guide') and evolved into today's About.com - the jingle then was "We mine the Web, so you don't have to"

And way before Google Adsense, they used the ad supported model - a PPC service called 'Sprinks' - and if I'm not mistaken, PPC guru Perry Marshall was spearheading the ad marketing efforts then.

Quickly - VERY quickly - About.com became a top 10 Web property. It was powered by over 500 Guides, each of which was paid a modest fee for what turned into pretty hard work after the early phase... but the ingredient powering the 'search' was passionate humans.

Similar to Mahalo? I think so.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Do You Trust My Advice?

Dr.Mani — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:39:59 -0000

Andy, my stats are a wee bit better - 38 opt-ins from 170 referrals.

I also agree with Guillermo that 'trust is not translative'.

I've also chosen a more convenient (to my users/readers) approach of giving first, and asking for an opt-in ONLY IF they liked what they got, and want more of it.

An example: http://InternetInfopreneur.com/giveaway.htm

Maybe the "opt-in -> free report -> follow up" approach makes more sense for some, but it ended up frustrating me to breaking point today! I blogged about it, 'Attention : Now You Got It, Now You Don't!'

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Do You Trust My Advice?

Dr.Mani — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:39:59 -0000

Re: Affiliate Product Launches I Refuse To Promote

Dr.Mani — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:10:23 -0000

Andy, you should take breaks more often. You come back with a BANG! Thanks for two outstanding, informative and brutally frank posts. The industry/niche needs it. And in line with it will be my new manifesto, will DM you a link to it on Twitter shortly. Thanks for what you're doing to "keep it all clean" - for all of us :-)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: From the comments...a medical student says:

Dr.Mani — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:46:42 -0000

It's often too hard to buck the trend, go against the grain, and believe that YOU have the choice to control what you do with your career and life.

Only when more young doctors realize they CAN fit their professional work in with other passions will 'informed choice' guide the specialty they gravitate towards.

This might help

http://www.moneypowerwisdom.com/dare-to-be-diff...

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: louisgray.com: What's Your Twitter Noise Ratio?

Dr.Mani — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:13:56 -0000

Nice post, Louis.

You wrote:
"I feel if I "tweet" too often, those following will opt out or gain in annoyance."

I'd respectfully submit it has to do with WHAT you tweet about, and WHAT your 'followers' expect from you.

If I were to give you one winning stock tip after another on Twitter and that's the reason you follow me, would you object to my tweeting 7 times every minute? :)

And by the same token, if you follow me to learn how to optimally manage your time and find me tweeting only once a day, telling how I'm painting my garden fence, and giving you progress reports... well...

Just like any 2-way communication tool or service, Twitter following is a reflection of implicit promise and perceived value. When the 'match' is right, frequency becomes simply a side issue!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Once You Step Up, You Can Never Go Back

Dr.Mani — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:54:56 -0000

My 'profound knowledge' this year:

Email will wait in my inbox, even if I check it only 2 times in a day.

And life still goes on.

Surprising, initially.

Liberating, ultimately :)

Nice post

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Viral is not word of mouth

Dr.Mani — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:09:05 -0000

I think the distinction is more on 'pass along' rates.

Word of mouth can spread from one person to another - and stop.
Or carry along further. The only caveat is they spread by
word of mouth (one person tells another) as against mass media
or corporation-to-prospect advertising messages.

Viral marketing messages do not stop. They spread, like a virus,
from one messenger to another, and then one or many more. Ideal
viral marketing successes would grow exponentially along the way,
getting more and more likely to keep spreading as the audience
hearing the message grows.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Manic Depresion And Market Madness

Dr.Mani — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:51:45 -0000

GREAT point, Ed. There's power in momentum. I hope many read this and take note - and get MOVING.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: WordPress-to-WordPress Import

Dr.Mani — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 23:47:34 -0000

Worked like a charm. Thank you so very much for providing this plugin.
All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Tag…You’re It!

Dr.Mani — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 02:57:40 -0000

Great post, Te-eg - and some great links to other cool blogs that I've got to check out now :)

Thanks for participating in the Q&A.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Stumbling for Business - How to make the most of the hits you get

Dr.Mani — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:01:43 -0000

Great points, Teeg, in a VERY limited experiment, I'm seeing already how the behavior of visitors from StumbleUpon may be different from those from other sources.

I wrote a short tip sheet on effective use of StumbleUpon targeting infopreneurs (who make up most of the target audience of my blog) - and there has been little 'on site exploration' with most SU visitors leaving to go to follow the links (I placed MANY of them to other blogs and sites offering detailed info.)

The article is here:

17 POWER Tips for StumbleUpon Beginners
http://InfopreneurBlog.com/17-power-tips-for-st...

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: The Aftermath - Studying the Results of StumbleUpon’s Buzz Effect

Dr.Mani — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:13:55 -0000

Teeg, nice follow up - thanks. My own experience with SU buzz has been a bounce rate of around 50% which contrasts nicely with traffic spikes from other services like Digg, where rates are often as high as 85% or more.

Bounce rates indicates how many visitors backed out right away without visiting other sections of your site - so 50% indicates that the other half DID look around. Nice, for free traffic from as 'random' a source as SU.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Finding, Measuring and Becoming an Influential Blogger

Dr.Mani — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:07:39 -0000

You're on a topic close to my heart, so much that I changed the focus of my blog recently - it is now about 'Blogging for Influence & Attention'.

One recent self-analysis I did based on Avinash Kaushik's interesting idea is on my blog - this is just one way to measure 'influence'

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/is-this-blog-succes...

All success

Dr.Mani

Re: The Twitter Movement

Dr.Mani — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:51:08 -0000

Right you are, Twitter is a strange beast! :)

I wrote a recent blog post titled "Oh, Twitter!" that summarizes what
I've made of the presence-stream micro-blogging service.

http://MoneyPowerWisdom.com/oh-twitter/

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Your Space in my Blog: 2nd of March 2009

Dr.Mani — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 08:13:58 -0000

I’m taking a ’sabbatical’ from the regular work I do online - to pursue a dream.

A couple of movies I watched recently shared a similar theme. Both light-heartedly, yet sensitively, explored the serious subject of dying. More specifically, how to LIVE before dying.

“The Bucket List” was about making a list of things to do before one dies - and then working through it. “The Last Holiday” was about daring to do the things one always hesitated about - until the realization hit that life isn’t forever.

As a doctor, a surgeon, a heart specialist, I have always understood (perhaps more poignantly than most) how tenuous life is, how suddenly it can be snuffed out, even without warning.

And these things convinced me that it was time to live out one of my dreams - to write books. Three of them, actually. One will be a ‘how to’ business book. Another will be in the ‘Self Help/New Age’ genre. And the last will be a fiction novel.

I’ve decided to set aside 6 months to do it. It may take longer - or maybe get done sooner.

It doesn’t matter.

Big Question(s):

1. Are YOU going for YOUR dreams?

2. If not, WHAT is holding you back? And WHY?

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: How Twitter Can Drastically Improve Your Life

Dr.Mani — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:46:58 -0000

Excellent post, Marina, shows just how even a 'coffee room' environment can be individually helpful and useful, in very practical ways. I blogged on the view of Twitter as a 'coffee room' here: http://MoneyPowerWisdom.com/twitter-through-a-h...

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: 2008/06/18/twitter-ebook/

Dr.Mani — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:23:57 -0000

Internet marketing is NOT a 'business'.

And 'Internet marketers' are NOT always business-people.

Both John Reese and Mashable are saying the same thing - in a different way.

It's the tale of the blind men describing an elephant... the elephant in this case being the semantic confusion over the ambigious and ill-defined term "Internet marketer".

Nor are Internet marketers 'identical' in many respects (albeit sharing a vague commonality of trying to leverage the Internet to sell things or make money, they in fact have very little similarity!)

Coloring them as a group with a broad brush will offend some, tickle others, and pass the rest harmlessly by :)

As an aside, John Counsel recently taught me this nice distinction.

Marketing is identifying a need and filling it.

Selling is making people want what they need... because otherwise they won't buy it.

All success
Dr.Mani

Oh, Twitter!
http://www.MoneyPowerWisdom.com/oh-twitter/

Re: 2008/06/19/john-reese/

Dr.Mani — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:34:40 -0000

Mark, even assuming 'worst case' scenarios where affiliate marketers infiltrate Twitter, the nice thing about a service like Twitter is that I can UN-follow that kind of person EASILY.

Even easier than opt-in email, which depends upon the email marketer's opt-out process working right (and that's another can of worms I won't open here!)

So, 'worst case' if Twitter gets 'overwhelmed' by marketers, the rest of us can still continue to use the service effectively.

Because, in the broader analysis, Twitter is so much MORE.

Don't you think so?

All success
Dr.Mani

Oh, Twitter!
http://www.MoneyPowerWisdom.com/oh-twitter/

Re: 2008/07/16/friendfeed-competition/

Dr.Mani — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:38:52 -0000

You just got me all excited about FriendFeed.

Again!

Great article, thanks for sharing.

All success

Dr.Mani
http://www.FriendFeed.com/drmani

Re: So. I’m In Tears Now, Thanks A Lot

Dr.Mani — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 00:17:58 -0000

Tinu, that testimonial is representative of 100% of people who read your ebooks and take action on the principles you teach.

Maybe not all will have similar numbers or go against tough competition in niches like travel - but the results are good, as long as your blogging principles are followed.

How do I know?

Why, I use them, of course :)

All success

Dr.Mani
... just another Tinu fan :)

Re: Free Traffic Tips : Status : Transitions

Dr.Mani — Sun, 13 May 2007 01:54:57 -0000

Tinu, glad to see you back again.

I sent you a few emails, maybe you didn't see them.
If so, I'll send another copy.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: The Karmic Capitalist: Should I Wait Until I’m Rich to Give Back? (Plus: Auction and Tim Q&A via phone)

Dr.Mani — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:27:52 -0000

Awesome post, Tim. You really are changing the world!

I'm delighted to see you support 'Room to Read'. John Wood is one of my favorite social entrepreneurs, and "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" is an inspirational read that's helped guide my own non-profit work.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: The Best (and Worst?) Autoresponders of 2007

Dr.Mani — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 21:54:49 -0000

This is an 'autoresponder' message (well, not quite 'auto', but it sits in my Eudora Stationery) and is for discretionary use only. I've had occasion to use it 3 times in the last year, whenever someone really wastes my time with back and forth email arguments.

Thought your readers may get a laugh out of it:

= = = = MESSAGE BEGINS = = = = =

SUBJECT: You've Reached Dr.Mani's "ANTI-ANNOYER" Autoresponder

Hi, thanks for your email.

It will NOT be read :-)

You've been directed to this autoresponder because your earlier
emails have been considered to be one of the following:

- time wasters
- annoyers
- hindrances to Dr.M's creativity and productivity

As such, he has no desire to enter into an unproductive exchange
of email messages with you on this topic.

If you enjoy talking to a computer, please continue to correspond
on this topic. Each time, you will receive an identical replica
of this very email message.

Over time you'll collect 100 of them.

But that does NOT entitle you to a gift, zero cost vacation or
any other form of compensation or prize.

What you will get, though, is the satisfaction of being recognized
as someone who doesn't give up, one who never-says-die, one whose
persistence will overcome mountains.

As such, Dr.Mani wishes you the very best in your life.

Best regards

Dr.Mani's Computer

= = = = MESSAGE ends = = = = =

Re: Twitter for Business

Dr.Mani — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:35:14 -0000

Nice primer on Twitter, John. Have shared it with my Twitter network too. Thanks :)

All success
Dr.Mani
I tweet as 'drmani'

Re: My Social Media System

Dr.Mani — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:39:41 -0000

John, EXCELLENT post, many lessons in it. I've devised a system similar (though less comprehensive than) yours - and as you say, "work it, day in and day out" (that bit's the key, isn't it?!)

I also wrote about how I set up several social networking sites to integrate in a fashion that lets most of what I do on one gain leverage from others (like you do) - this post is a bit old, so other (better?) technology options may exist to achieve the ends.

Integrating Your Social Networking
http://moneypowerwisdom.com/integrating-your-so...

Another one that may help optimize social networking is a detailed outline of how I manage Twitter in 10 minutes a day...

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/twitter-in-10-minut...

Thanks again for a valuable and instructive guide, John. I appreciate it - a lot. :-)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Meeting People at Events

Dr.Mani — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:15:24 -0000

Chris, I did get to know about you through Twitter, and do consider you a 'celebrity' coz you were interviewed by Guy Kawasaki - and so, if we meet at a social event, I might be 'intimidated' at saying hi... but now I will after reading what you just said :)

Nice points. I'd add just one thing - Don't GUSH.

The really nice folks always get a bit embarrassed when someone gushes about how great, famous, wonderful they are - and how lucky/ amazed/ delighted/ honored you are to be actually talking to them. It kind of starts things off on the wrong foot.

Just be natural. Respect, admiration and appreciation can be conveyed without going overboard!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Meeting People at Events

Dr.Mani — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:40:14 -0000

Interesting blog by Justin - thanks for highlighting it :)

Incidentally, the 'guy' who did lay the pickle on my Subway yesterday does know me! (Full disclosure: I made my own! ;) )

"How do YOU normally feel at these events?"

Nervous. Often. Either because I'm worried everyone will recognize me. Or because they won't!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: The Magic of Including People

Dr.Mani — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 23:28:13 -0000

Chris, nice blog.

An email from one of my friends to his friend was about 15 words long, kind of like your template...

"Hey, M, meet Dr.M. He's ____. M's ____. Hope you guys enjoy working together."

That email, 3 weeks back, has led up to a book proposal sitting on the desk of a major New York publishing house!

It gave me a HUGE new perspective about participatory involvement, and more important, the role of playing 'connector'. I'm now in the advantageous position of knowing many groups of people, and will work on bringing them together more actively, now that I'm convinced about how beneficial a quick word in the right place can be.

As for getting people to participate as part of 'ownership' of a concept, it is that exact approach that's taken my non-profit Foundation from start up to being able to fund 22 heart operations in under 4 years.

I'm often blown away by how incredibly supportive, energetic and inspiring my helpers are - and that's because they feel INVOLVED in helping a child through supporting my project.

See 2 examples of participatory projects here:

http://www.CHDinfo.com/squidoo.htm

http://www.tagathon.org/

Dr.Mani

Re: Personal Branding and Social Media

Dr.Mani — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:04:22 -0000

My idea? Use COLOR.

It happened for me quite by accident. Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" launch was supplemented by a nice little ebooklet of case studies called "99 Purple Cows" - and he was gracious to include my story in it.

Since then, I've branded most things with the color purple - and the tag line: "Dr.Mani - he's DIFFERENT!"

Website: http://www.b--Different.com
Blog: http://EzineMarketingCenter.com
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/drmani
MySpace: http://www.MySpace.com/drmani

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Personal Branding and Social Media

Dr.Mani — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:11:02 -0000

Oops, sorry, the link for my blog above should be:

Blog: http://EzineMarketingCenter.com/blog/

Dr.Mani

Re: My Family Life

Dr.Mani — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 08:10:03 -0000

Chris, from my not inconsiderable experience of knowing entrepreneurs, professionals and self-made people, the biggest clue to those who have their priorities right is that they are *concerned* that they may not be spending enough time with family.

I'm always wary of those who claim they are giving adequate (or more than enough) time to their spouse and kids. Truth: they are NOT.

The most powerful statement I've heard is this... "To a child, love is spelled T-I-M-E."

Each time I ask my little girl (she's eight) if she thinks I'm spending enough time with her, the answer is prompt and clear... "No". And she's right - even if she has my undivided attention for 2 or more hours daily!

You're lucky to have such a lovely family - and they are lucky to have someone like you who cares!

All success
Dr.Mani

@ Kat - you should talk to my wife... she's completely endorse your views re the window thing!

@ Ben Yoskowitz - took me a few seconds, but I figured it out before reading your second comment ;)

Re: Moving On

Dr.Mani — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 03:27:13 -0000

Chris, I wish you luck in whatever you choose to do.

However, I find it hard to understand why you would give up something without first knowing (or having a clear idea) of what else you're going to do instead.

I mean, I've made MANY major changes in my life. Some worked out better, others worse, than the status quo. But I've never made a pro-active change/move without first deciding quite definitely what I'll be doing instead... and so I'm pretty certain you do to (maybe it isn't time yet to reveal it, huh? ;)

If there's any way I can help, all you have to do is ask, ok? :)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: The New Gig

Dr.Mani — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:03:13 -0000

"Know what you want, and get it" - Sushmita Sen, former Miss.Universe

"'Take what you want, and pay for it', says God" - Old Spanish proverb

Good for you, Chris :)

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. - One question: Can you confirm for readers that going after a dream is worth it... from the practical and pragmatic viewpoint of making a better living or lifestyle?

Re: Consider Impact and Make Meaningful Projects

Dr.Mani — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:24:48 -0000

Great post, Chris. My touchstone has ALWAYS been - Is what I'm doing help spread awareness about congenital heart defects, or raise funds to sponsor a child's operation?

If yes, I keep doing it. If not, I stop.

EVERYTHING I do passes through this filter.

Even this! :)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Use Social Sharing To Extend Your Message

Dr.Mani — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:52:10 -0000

Excellent thoughts, Chris, I'm always looking for ways to leverage information sharing... which translates into 'getting my blog read by more people'! ;-)

Things that work well for me - pinging soon after blogging (Pingoat.com and Pingomatic.com), listing it on StumbleUpon, Sphinn and Twitter (if someone hasn't done it within a 'reasonable' interval after I blogged it), and for the 'rafters posts', sending an email out to my list of a few thousand readers, explicitly inviting them to re-blog it, Sphinn/Digg/Stumble/Tweet it.

But the ways you mention are higher leverage, more subtle, and DEFINITELY things I'll weave into my blog marketing going forward.

Thanks again.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: My Next 100 Posts

Dr.Mani — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:30:41 -0000

We're BOTH going to be having fun - coz just yesterday, I spent 2 hours jotting down notes for 32 'pillar' articles on my blog's new theme - 'Blogging for Influence and Attention'.

Looking forward to writing and reading a lot in December :)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Snake Oil In Social Media

Dr.Mani — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:38:58 -0000

Chris, in 'INFLUENCE: The Psychology of Persuasion', Robert Cialdini delves into the 'shortcuts' we use to survive in an exceedingly complex world. It would be silly (and impossible) to try and learn EVERYTHING on our own, uninfluenced by social behavior and experiences.

In a classic case study, he shows how crowds in a busy city will blithely ignore the suffering of an injured derelict on a sidewalk - until the first person moves in to help, when a crowd soon gathers and follows.

Just as the crowd needs that 'first mover', people need social proof for trying anything new - a 'pioneer' who gets the arrows in his chest (or not) to prove it's safe, or deflect the danger while the follower can slipstream past to safety.

The 'expert' is the pioneer, the guide, the pathbreaker who shows it is safe, attractive and beneficial to try something new. The 'true' expert has paid the price to earn the glory of leading. The 'fake' - well, just fakes it!

I guess I follow your lead in social media, and consider you an expert, for these reasons.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Marketing is NOT Social Media-Social Media is NOT Marketing

Dr.Mani — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:26:00 -0000

Agree with Jason (comment #1) - and it's especially hard to argue with a mindset when they have the (short term) numbers to 'prove' that 'social media marketing' done their way is effective.

Long term, it may get ineffective, the same way email marketing (a.k.a. spamming) is today - but by then, some fortunes will have been made, the slash-and-burners will have moved on to the next Big Thing... and purists will sit back, scratch their heads, and wonder what they missed

(I know I did with regard to email relationship building... those hard-earned trusting interactions are losing value fast because email delivery rates have plummeted across the board! :-(

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: The Power of Comments

Dr.Mani — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:40:40 -0000

Comments matter.

Comments can be made on my own blog, not necessarily on yours. (Can't you tell I'm on a Seth Godin bandwagon?!)

Comments are NOT a measure of blog influence.

Comments are nice for traffic.

Comments can be a pain to moderate.

Comments aren't conversation, more like commentary.

Comments are made by 10% or less of blog readers (even loyal ones).

So WHY do comments matter?

:-)

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. - Enjoyed the 'spomments' label, not the effect!

Re: The Power of Comments

Dr.Mani — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:45:15 -0000

I asked this some days back:

Do YOU Measure Blog Influence by ‘Comments’ - Or ‘Audience’?

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/do-you-measure-blog...

Dr.Mani

Re: Twitter Revisited

Dr.Mani — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:10:53 -0000

Interesting question - No, I don't think Twitter has 'changed my life'... yet!

Will blog a longer answer soon. I like the perspective of posting on Twitter to answer the question: "What has your attention now?"

I took that further to say: "What are you doing that might interest ME now?" - which changes focus to Tweeting about stuff likely to be of interest to others - than how you feel coz your airline got delayed!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Twitter at Velocity

Dr.Mani — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 22:58:55 -0000

I'd LOVE to have 1,000 real life friends. Assuming each friend requires 5 minutes every week, that's 5,000 minutes (or around 100 HOURS) per week to devote JUST to meet 'minimum' friendship standards.

How much time per week do you spend today with your real friends? I daresay it'll be more than an average of 5 minutes per week!

So how does this change in the digital world? Humans are still humans. We want (need?) to feel special. The only way I can make you feel special is by treating you personally, recognizing and acknowledging you, interacting one-on-one with you - and that takes time. Energy. Effort.

It simply is NOT realistic to devote that much to just sustain friendships - and neither is it realistic to expect real friends to settle for less from you... at least unless you have invested a GREAT deal more into your relationship in an earlier phase.

Coming at it from an email marketing perspective (which is something I've done for a decade now), I have 2 groups. One is a 'one to many' communication group, where I send an email blast to a crowd of interested prospects. The other is a 'one to one' communication group which I count as friends.

On Twitter, I pruned down from following over 200 people to just around 75 now. Of the 75, almost 60 never (very rarely) tweet - leaving me just 15 frequent Tweeters to keep up with and network with. More personal. More meaningful. More enriching.

When someone new joins my tweet-stream, I follow them for a while to see if I can keep up with them. If I can't, I stop following them - because that fits my idea of how a relationship develops... TWO-way interest, contact and communication.

It's also why my email lists are measured in hundreds or low-thousands while others in my niche boast of mailing out to over 50,000 leads. The difference however shows up in RESULTS and RESPONSIVENESS. The owners of 'big' lists often envy my response rates in excess of 25% - while I wonder why the OTHER 75% didn't respond, and whether I need to invest more into our relationship!

Like most decisions in business and in life, the bigger question in managing a crowd of Twitter followers is NOT to ask how to do it more effectively - it's to ask whether you should do it AT ALL!

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. - It's for the 'one to many' style Twitter user that I planned TwitZine - http://www.TwitZine.com - and will share some thoughts on that Twitter stream in 2008.

Re: Have the Data Wars Begun

Dr.Mani — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:10:29 -0000

I blogged about this, in a wider context than just textual data (it's far scarier when you think of the potential of shared GENETIC data, and that's already in the works!)

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/the-social-gene-poo...

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Programming for the Masses- Social Computing

Dr.Mani — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 08:30:24 -0000

Last night, I listened to a podcast on BBC (thanks, Hugh MacLeod) interviewing Mark Anderson of Strategic News Service.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/gl...

His 3rd of 10 predictions for 2008 was:

= = = =
"3. Content Has No Boundaries. Or: By Expanding, the Web Disappears. Content will be provisioned to every device, making the “Web” seem an outdated idea, like “multimedia.”
= = = =

Will 'programming language' really matter in an 'invisible' seamless Web?

Audience - especially 'permission assets' - will likely matter more.

And social media technologies (like Twitter for publishing a TwitZine) will become valuable for aggregating such audiences.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Challenges of Social Media Types in the Workplace

Dr.Mani — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:12:34 -0000

There are always technological solutions to such problems, though it's easier to 'blanket block' with a firewall.

In a pediatric hospital in Australia where I trained, each staff member was given a login/password they could use to access the Intranet and Web. However, the sys admin could track online surfing patterns, and would immediately notice frequent visits to social sites during work hours, or if the user accessed any 'prohibited' sites.

Email access was free. To assess suitable and legal/ethical use, they had programmed it so that if you got a 'naughty' email message, and deleted it within 5 seconds, you didn't request it - while if you gawked at it for longer, it indicates 'interest'... which could then be penalized suitably.

The one way to work around this was to login as someone else - and that ID security was the user's responsibility (logging off after surfing, and not sharing passwords were commonsense precautions taught new users).

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: A Sample Social Media Toolkit

Dr.Mani — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:44:17 -0000

Excellent list, Chris.

I'd add one more category - of profile sites specifically for getting found on Google & other search engines.

Some nice ones I've found:

Naymz - http://www.naymz.com/search/mani/sivasubramania...

Mevu -
http://www.mevu.com/drmani

There are many more. And don't overlook profile pages on Zimbio, Squidoo or Gather to boost SE presence and branding.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Advice for Traditional and Local News Media

Dr.Mani — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:46:53 -0000

The most interesting opinion piece I read lately about the 'Future of Newspapers' was on Scott Adams' Dilbert Blog. It's similar to what Dennis (Comment #1) outlined... having a panel of bloggers whose stories get VOTED to the newspaper front page.

Tie that in with hyper-local reporting (regular people writing about their neighborhood happenings with their unique insights), and publish multiple 'regional editions' of the digital version of a newspaper (maybe even one for each neighborhood, rather than city/town) - while leveraging the established 'commercial' features of traditional media (selling advertisements, sponsorships, professional editors, etc.)... and then finesse it by having readers decide which content makes it to the most visible sections!

Bloggers get paid like freelancers, depending upon how often their stories get 'published' or how 'visible' they are.

Not sure if I explained that well.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Twitter Packs Goes off the Rails Quick

Dr.Mani — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:38:05 -0000

Chris, could it be the *perceived* lack of control of who gets on which list?

What about if you'd tried it this way -

* Post a form inviting recommendations for each pack
* Set up a Digg style voting button for each 'nominee'
* Once a particular nominee gets a minimum number of votes, put them into the 'final' version of a pack
* Leave comments open for feedback about someone on a pack, so folks who disagree with the inclusion can object with reasons
* ONLY AN ADMIN can then edit the list/pack

It's a structure we are used to in real life.

We go to the ballots and cast our vote. The majority candidate gets to become president. We then disagree with a policy, and vent about it. But WE CANNOT CHANGE THE PRESIDENT - until the next election.

This wiki thing is wild! I can edit ANYONE's comment - with no rhyme or reason. An anarchist's dream. And this statement isn't really true:

"Think about this: ANYONE has the password, ANYONE can edit the list... That’s the opposite of exclusionary."

A nutty clique or claque can drown a few sane voices just because each has equal power - just like votes from 'informed' and 'groupie' voters in an election.

One way this whole PACK idea helped was in forcing me to think which group I might fit in - and realizing the answer was, 'NONE OF THEM'!

Hmm.... time to niche-ify myself ;)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Social Media Changes Lives Directly

Dr.Mani — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:58:00 -0000

I've tried my best to help Beth's effort - and it looks like the Cambodian kids will WIN!

btw, my guest post just got published on Problogger - it's about 10 reasons bloggers should get involved with non-profits!

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/02/01/1...

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Scaling Yourself

Dr.Mani — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 23:31:22 -0000

Prioritize.

Prune.

And say "No".

Oh, I forgot. Use automation and/or outsourcing intelligently.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Who is Secretly Pitching You

Dr.Mani — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:56:02 -0000

Chris, this recent blog post shares my perspective on this
(or rather, my changing perspective)

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/changing-dynamics-o...

Thoughts?

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: How Small Boxes Help You Succeed

Dr.Mani — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:45:02 -0000

Chris, you just gave me a framework to plan my 2009.

Will post to my blog when it's done, great weekend exercise. Thanks for sharing the process you used to come up with your road map.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Promoting Your Book Online

Dr.Mani — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:52:00 -0000

After studying many approaches, I had decided Alex Mandossian's "Virtual Book Tours" were best... until I got a Master's level education on how to do a book launch by watching (and being a part of) Seth Godin's release of 'TRIBES'.

Triiibes.com was a kind of crucible for leadership training, which is the theme (I think) of Tribes... and building a social network of passionate fans who are most likely 'sneezers' to put the concepts in a book to the test, own those concepts, get involved in implementing and discussing them - and then, making them a PART of the launch... that seems like a strategy to launch a book that simply cannot lose!

Pre-orders from early members of the social network is probably just icing on the cake. The process is as fascinating as it is effective. Maybe I'll do a short report about insights gained from the observation process. Or maybe, better still Chris, you can twist Seth's arm into getting HIM to do it!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Promoting Your Book Online

Dr.Mani — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:53:59 -0000

Oh, I forgot to add this one. Writing a 'Change This' manifesto on a related theme is another GREAT way to build buzz - http://ChangeThis.com

Dr.Mani

Re: When Twitter Goes Down

Dr.Mani — Fri, 08 May 2009 23:35:12 -0000

I save such info to a text file, saved to my desktop with the name "to-tweet". When I log in to Twitter, once or twice a day, I 'cluster tweet' all info from that file, and then delete it from that file.

Bring on the Whale - she don't bother me no more! :lol:

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Links Are Good Manners

Dr.Mani — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:45:31 -0000

Yep, fair.

Dr.Mani

Re: 19 Presence Management Chores You COULD Do Every Day

Dr.Mani — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:13:38 -0000

Great suggestions. Know what? I'm going to put many of them to the test - starting today. Will measure and track my numbers, and maybe do a blog post about it at the end of July. Thanks, Chris. I agree absolutely - it's a 'dollars for time' exchange that may or may not make sense for an individual... and needs to be tracked as such.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: How I Tweet- A FAQ

Dr.Mani — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:44:09 -0000

So... Guy prompted you to do a "How I Twitter" thing too, did he?! :-)

Mine is here - I called it "27 Months of Twitter - Insights, Lessons and
Suggestions to Make the Most of Twitter"

http://bit.ly/ZTrds

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: New Warrior Forum Review

Dr.Mani — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:38:27 -0000

I'm with you, Jack.

Both in terms of how I owe the Warrior forum big time for a lot of the help and education I got in the early days of my online marketing growth, and the new social tools that have been added.

To the powerful feel of a Ning.com-like social network, I'll add one more solid benefit for the 'new' Warrior forum as I perceive it - USER self-moderation, which allows for a much fairer system of judging a member's contributions as being worthy of inclusion or being deleted (or moved around) as 'spam'.

For those placing the 'social tools' first and as a priority, here's food for thought - tools are only as good as the people using them.

The Warrior forum always has had a thriving and active membership, which means the implementation of a social network feel, even if it comes later than it might have, will generate plenty of action and energy - because the users are passionate marketers.

To compare the changes with what Tony has done at the Blake boards is an apples to oranges thing. They aren't distinct or mutually exclusive communities. I'm even a moderator at the Blake board, and am 'defending' the Warrior forum improvements here :)

As for 'being first', I'm sure no one is going to be able to support an argument that they were the VERY first to implement most of these networking tools, or that they are doing so in a completely unique or innovative fashion no one before them has ever done.

Nor does it matter.

Want to see cutting-edge in 'plug and play' simplicity? Go to Ning.com. It is even portable to the point you can start YOUR OWN social network using their tools - that's how advanced the technology is.

Both the Blake and Warrior forums are centerpieces of the IM niche because of their membership. Obviously, some prefer one over the other. The rest frequent both, as far as time permits.

Tony Blake himself is an early adopter (like me) of the social technologies (hey, we're both inside TRIIIBES.com - now, which of you reading this is, huh?! :-) ).

Tony is active on Twitter, Facebook and many other Web 2.0 services - and is one of the first who introduced me to the concept of Web 3.0, and is already heading towards there.

He is more 'cutting edge' than just about any other online marketer in the IM niche I know of, with the exception of Jack Humphrey and Howie Schwartz - and yes, I'm including all the other 'big gurus' in this list!

So if Tony did implement many of the things that worked for him on his forum, it's only natural. Just as Allen did add stuff that makes the Warrior community better engaged.

After all, that's the primary objective of the owner of any 'tribe' based service - I'm amazed at how much time Seth Godin spends inside Triiibes.com daily, as the tribe gets entrenched and engaged.

Finally, hat's off to Jack Humphrey's skill in getting fans of both camps to battle this out - ON HIS FORUM! :D

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Erased

Dr.Mani — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:21:49 -0000

Whose data is it anyway?

http://moneypowerwisdom.com/the-social-gene-poo...

You think PHYSICAL data is all-important? It gets way more murky when you think GENETIC data (which you have more claim to call 'personal' in the first place!)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Import your Blog’s Feeds to Facebook

Dr.Mani — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:56:46 -0000

It took me a while to figure this out when I first imported my blog, thanks for a simple, easy tutorial.

The one thing thar irks me is that only one blog can be imported.

"You can import posts from one external blog so that they appear along with your notes. Facebook will automatically update your notes whenever you write in your blog. Imported blog posts cannot be edited."

Anyone know of a workaround to pull in multiple blogs? Kind of like iGoogle lets you pull feeds from mutiple blogs into your homepage?

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Studying Roots? Or Picking Fruits?

Dr.Mani — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 21:43:33 -0000

Michel, there's a principle top negotiators understand, called the 'diminishing value of services'. Once a service has been rendered, it's value decreases dramatically in the eyes of the recepient. (That's why a 'lady of pleasure' would ALWAYS insist on getting paid 'up-front' ;)

>>>
Do you expect to refuse to pay your doctor's bill, even if you're still sick?
>>>

As a specialist in this field, I can confirm there ARE indeed MANY patients who do feel that way - and know of some docs who even return professional fees when a patient's family threatens a malpractice lawsuit, simply to avoid the hassle and wasted time... even though their own professional services were of the higest standard and quality.

Yes, patients expect RESULTS - and to only have to pay for them. It's not fair - but it's life!

>>>
You wouldn't expect someone like Armand to wait to get paid, even if he offered such a service in the first place. So then, why us?
>>>

My mentor Jay Abraham is BIG on positioning and 'ethically influencing' clients to behave the way you want them to. Expectations define outcomes. Perhaps it's time you started FIRING your clients (at least the worst of them). Perry Marshall recently had a nice series of short reports about it, and I have a blog post sharing my thoughts on this issue too.

"Customer Service - Have We Created A Monster?"
http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/drmani-says/archives/002191.html

I'm currently in the process of sorting out my client database, and identifying my best, most loyal and longest-standing ones. By the "5-95 rule", 5% of any group is going to account for 95% of the results - and my investment of around 10 hours in mining my data, backed with a ruthless plan to stratify my output according to 'perceived value' will make a BIG difference... or at least, that's what I'm hoping :)

Re: Sylvie Fortin: My Teacher

Dr.Mani — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:53:47 -0000

Michael and Sylvie, you will be in my prayers during the stressful days ahead.

Breast cancer was one of the topics I was specially interested in during my general surgery trainee days, and I pride myself on having read up a lot of the published literature on the topic circa 1993.

Even at that time, trends about LONG TERM outcome were VERY encouraging - and this has only become better more recently.

Lance Armstrong is one of the most inspiring examples I've read about in recent times - get his book, "It's Not About The Bike" (my wife gave it to me as a birthday gift, it's awesome). It details Lance's agonizing diagnosis of cancer at the peak of his career - and how he fought first the disease, then disbelief and cynicism to get right back on top of his game, winning the toughest event in International cycling, the Tour de France, MULTIPLE more times!

My friend's mother, who had breast surgery for cancer in 1996, has been healthy, active and practically normal for the last 10 years.

As you said, the key is staying positive - and I know how dark the near future can seem. Many of my own close family members have had shaves with this dreaded disease - and WON.

I wish you both every good thing and will be hoping and praying for Sylvie's speedy and smooth recovery from surgery and chemo.

If there is ANYTHING you would like me to help with, just say the word, Michael.

All success

Dr.Mani

Re: What’s the “Buzz” All About

Dr.Mani — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 23:44:51 -0000

I think you looked better with the hair, Michel.

But, what the heyr, right?

:)

Dr.Mani

Re: Interview Reveals Inside Tips

Dr.Mani — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:00:56 -0000

Loved it, Michel. Will share it with many others. A free report I wrote recently echoes similar values...
http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/genius.pdf

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Going Bald For Breasts

Dr.Mani — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 01:15:30 -0000

Michel, in case the response to this email is low, it could be because like me, many others found it filtered into the JUNK mail folder. Not sure why, but thought I'd let you know, so you can fix it :)

Dr.Mani

Re: The Death of The Salesletter

Dr.Mani — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:28:19 -0000

Let me see...

A FIFTY-ONE page report that condemns LONG copy... and how many read it through to the end?

I rest my case.

:)

Dr.Mani

Re: Is Facebook a Viable Marketing Tool?

Dr.Mani — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 07:29:13 -0000

Michel, I recently blogged about which was the 'best' social networking tool - and mentioned why I decided NOT to go ahead with my testing of Facebook.

I however won't condemn all Web 2.0 marketing as a 'waste' - I'm finding Twitter quite interesting, and Seth Godin has a short 6-minute video on his blog that's an eye-opener about the use of Web 2.0 (or is it Web 4.0 ?!)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Forced Continuity: A Different Perspective

Dr.Mani — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:02:52 -0000

Michel, I echoed a similar viewpoint in a blog post provocatively titled:

"Forced Continuity - Great Concept, Stupid Implementation"
http://www.MoneyPowerWisdom.com

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Customers Won’t Discount Your Dishonesty

Dr.Mani — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:08:52 -0000

Michel, interesting post. I read about it on Alice Seba's blog, so commented there first. I'll share one part of that comment, in the form of a question, playing Devil's advocate ;)

Of these 2 choices, which would you rather have?

#1 - A customer who buys from you at the lower price because s/he is a bargain hunter, or slow decision maker, or just â€˜warm' enough to buy only when incentivized.

#2 - A NON-customer who turns down your offer and so is allowed to walk away, perhaps to never return!

Give me a cash-paying discount hunter and I have a chance, with an education-marketing sequence of communication, to convert him/her into an ongoing repeat buyer.

But without that prospect in my funnel, in such a vast ocean as the online marketplace, what are my realistic chances of ever getting that non-buyer back to sample something else?

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Are You Committing These Sins?

Dr.Mani — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:38:20 -0000

Sylvie, kudos to you and Michel for putting out a manifesto of the nature you did.

It's time.

:)

I did one a few years back, titled "Dr.Mani & Mr.Snyde" - you can download it from http://EzineMarketingCenter.com/drmani-mrsnyde.pdf

I've already emailed my list about the manifesto.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Are You a Lazy or Me-Too Marketer?

Dr.Mani — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:32:44 -0000

Michel, I just read the report a few hours back, and thought it was NOT as good as Part 1. The reason for it came through right at the end, and does indeed explain the WHY. Worth reading for the powerful message it shares, though I wish it had been a 'bit' shorter :-)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Twitter Populated By Drones And Fakes?

Dr.Mani — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:57:45 -0000

Fantastic, Michel.

Now, for your next post, share your thoughts on 'Automated DM' on Twitter.

I did - here: http://Niche2.com/TwuckYou.htm

:)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Following Up On The Auto-Follow Fiasco

Dr.Mani — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 03:05:12 -0000

Ah, but thou doth protest too strongly, Michel.

:)

I have but ONE RULE for Twitter.

It's this:

There are NO RULES on Twitter.

You and I *will* use Twitter differently - and for each
of us, one specific way or style will work better, or
worse.

You have made a passionate case for 'no auto-follow'.

Leave it at that. You've made people think - but imho,
some of your examples (like comparing the owner of a
small home business to a CEO of GM) are a far stretch.

Not everyone will agree with any one point of view
re Twitter.

Individuals use it differently from 'business' users.

And to some 'social' only means 'involving others' -
not personal interaction at all. Hence the strange
anachronism of "social marketing" (Huh?!)

:)

All success
Dr.Mani

I tweet as @drmani
Follow me if you like, but I
WON'T follow you back!

Why not? Coz of my "Follow FORTY" policy!

Re: Black Hats Are For Magicians, Not Marketers

Dr.Mani — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:49:57 -0000

Michel, around 2 or 3 years back, I was almost at a point where
you seem to be today, emotionally. At a point where I was
ASHAMED to call myself an 'Internet marketer'.

So I decided to QUIT. And spent a month reviewing what was at
the core of what I did, stood for, and wanted to be known as.
The answer was: "Creating infoproducts that solved problems
and helped people."

That's when I re-created my online persona as the "Internet
INFOPRENEUR" - http://InternetInfopreneur.com

It has made me happier, and more at peace with what I do - and
not surprisingly, all my copy, product type and marketing methods
have changed subtly to fit that new persona.

Why am I sharing this? Because I sense a growing frustration
with the status quo from your recent blog posts. And while it
is commendable that you are trying hard to spotlight the
questionable practices and behavior that's growing ever so
blatant and rampant in this niche, I would hate to see it
turn you cynical or disillusioned to the point you might
just end up walking away in disgust.

You're that rare, refreshing beacon that guides the less
experienced and 'still not given up on hope' beginner who
so badly needs a role model to not just emulate, but also
respect.

Take a break, if you must. But keep on being the 'leading by
example from a position of ethical success' guy that you have
always been, instead of becoming a 'harsh critic who is almost
giving up' on the industry you're near the top of!

Just my 2 cents.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: How Do You Deal With Trolls? Trent Reznor (NIN) Walks Away From Social Media

Dr.Mani — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:50:19 -0000

Sometimes mantras and that inner space of deep calm is all
you have to resort to if you want balance!

Having been on the receiving end of some (not as bad as some)
harsh criticism and condemnation, I can attest to it not being
pleasant at all.

But 'walking away' does seem an effective strategy - as is
relying on a medium YOU control (like a personal blog) to
respond to any criticism you want to deflect in as calm and
rational a way as you can manage.

You then have to trust on that being as visible online as the
'hate attacks' - and take solace from the view that at least
you aren't shown up as a reckless and ranting respondent to
the senseless insults and tearing down.

A 'bootcamp' on how to tackle it sure sounds like a good idea
to me :)

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: 8 Magazine Strategies that add Value to Your Blog

Dr.Mani — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:10:26 -0000

I loved this article! After reading it, I...

1. saved a copy to review later
2. bookmarked this page, as backup!
3. tweeted a link to my list
4. followed you on Twitter :-)

Thanks, Rod.

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Lazy Launch Days Are Numbered

Dr.Mani — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:16:42 -0000

Nice post. Got me thinking :)

The line between 'joint ventures' and 'affiliates' has been blurred in the Internet marketing niche for a long time now.

What many call 'JV' deals are often little more than affiliate joint promotions.

Which, in context of what you've just highlighted (and most product owners have known intuitively for many years now), makes me wonder: why not merge the two concepts into something more valuable, intimate and hands-on?

In other words, as a product owner, work with ONLY a close 'inner circle' of affiliates/JV partners.

Keep your product promos exclusive to this small group. Give them extra perks and special, customized promo tools to use, like interviews/webinars with them, co-authored special reports, virtual workshops done together. Maybe even 'reciprocal promotions' to your own database.

The bit that often gets overlooked by many product owners is that, in the headlong rush for 'quick' profits, they ignore the real goldmine of a satisfied, even delighted, loyal client base. With one of those, you don't need too many 'new' clients to keep the profit pump primed.

Years ago, I scaled down on 'external' or 'outbound' marketing, and in the process, cut down on my own affiliate recruiting efforts BEFORE the 'bonus war' reality hit the marketplace. In this way, I have been insulated against the madness and mayhem, while my business chugs along - maybe not expanding massively, but definitely thriving.

Periodic inflows of new clients come from joint venture co-promotions - and with a good system of delivering value to clients, you don't need too many of these deals to keep things going well.

But what's a beginner to do?

Use this reality of 'affiliate bonus wars' to deliver a killer FRONT-END product - and forego all profits, over-deliver to affiliates, and build intimate relationships with the best performing partners.

All of this would be done with a view to developing and growing a client-base that will be delighted with the quality of your product or service to the point they'll be repeat buyers... and at the same time nurturing relationships based on real benefits and value-delivery with your affiliates (who will later morph into that exclusive group of 'JV partners').

Done right, this strategy will simply bypass the need to 'go back to the well' too often, and lets you siphon off a segment from your broader marketplace to focus on, deliver value to, and mine for continuing value for years to come - maybe forever!

In a nutshell, for a product owner, a strategy build entirely on getting more affiliates to sell more products for you is one that condemns you to either working harder than ever, and/or accepting diminishing returns for this effort.

Build a team that works together. Create a client base that you can help by providing value. And use affiliates ethically to reach that point - by over-delivering to them, too.

Just my 2 cents!

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: Lazy Launch Days Are Numbered

Dr.Mani — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:15:38 -0000

Maybe I thought of this idea because I'm right in the middle of promoting my first print book!

:)

All success
Dr.Mani
Author: 'Think, Write and Retire'
www.ThinkWriteRetire.com

Re: 12 Biggest Whores in Internet Marketing

Dr.Mani — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:35:12 -0000

Hmm... should I change specialities and offer the cure for digital AIDS, instead?

Nice. I already have the cred in the IM niche!

Hmm... Maybe I'll even ask the Gates Foundation for a grant ;-)

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. Hey, Rick, I hope you aren't including those who are promoting "Safe
'Traffic Secrets' Sex" in your rant?! :)

P.P.S. Reading carefully, you'll notice Rick's NOT against TS2 - he's against
those hyping it to the sky and lacing their affiliate offer with ridiculous
bonuses! (Just pointing it out, in case anyone missed it)

P.P.P.S. - Uh-oh, just noticed Rick had clarified that in an earlier comment!
Oh well, bears repeating anyway.

Re: How To Get Traffic From A-List Bloggers

Dr.Mani — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:45:38 -0000

Y'know how revelational it was when someone first said the 2nd or 3rd ads on Google Adwords got HIGHER clicks than the top one?

Well, I've found being a 'later' blog commenter brings in more clicks and traffic.

For instance, #7 comments get 7 times more ;-) (tongue firmly in cheek!)

Nice post, and tool

All success
Dr.Mani

Re: louisgray.com: Google Wave Hits Shore. Flash Flood Warning In Effect.

Dr.Mani — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:29:24 -0000

As a child, I went to the beach every day during summer holidays (we have the world's second longest beach, btw!). As an adult, it happens less often... but is still fun. And the best part of it is standing in the WAVES!

There are many waves. They never cease. Only a few will touch my feet.

And yes, I'd love to stand there for hours and hours - but usually don't.

Still, while standing on the warm sand, feeling the swish of water swirl around my feet, I feel happy!

Maybe that's how we should use Google Wave?!

;-)

All success
Dr.Mani