Have you heard of mind mapping?

I have to confess, I was late to the party. But now that I’ve started using this powerful mode of brainstorming and organization, I use it for every new project.

Here’s a look at a mindmap for a new product I’m working on:

Visualizing the different areas of a project, such as traffic, affiliates, content, launch, etc and having an easy way to organize my sometimes random thoughts is what makes this so useful.

Here’s a link to some free mind mapping software so you can give it a try.

I love to test things on my web sites. Why? Because I almost always learn how to make more money when I do.

Every test result, whether positive or negative, teaches me.

In the past I have used many different forms of testing and tracking software. And paid lots of money for it. Funny thing is, I never regretted any of that investment because the test results always paid for any tool I was using.

Until now. Read the rest…

Did you know that eBay gets 6.4 million new listings every day? (From June 14, 2007 investor call)

That’s a staggering number.

Even more interesting, people do billions of searches on eBay every month. That’s a lot of qualified buyers looking specifically to spend money.

It makes eBay an outstanding opportunity to make money, either casually or seriously.

Many people have funded their first online business by selling things they have lying around the house using eBay.

It’s not hard to come up with some old books, DVDs or kids toys and raise some quick cash. eBay makes it easy to do, you can sign up in minutes and get started.

Using the techniques you have learned about simple copy writing, it’s easy to create a listing that is far more powerful than the typical listing done by someone who has no marketing knowledge at all.

Have you raised money by selling things on eBay?

Do you have things that others might want?

Personally, I’ve bought two cars and sold one on eBay. Leave a comment with your thoughts and experiences with eBay.

Sign up for eBay (it is free) and get started making money on billions of searches per month.

I remember talking to ClickBank in 2003 when they told me they were working on recurring billing. But that was the “old” ClickBank. Under new management, they’ve been making a lot of improvements and this is a major feature.

Recurring billing means you can use ClickBank to handle billing for a membership site or a payment plan.

https://www.clickbank.com/recurring_billing.html

and

https://www.clickbank.com/recurring_billing_faq.html

One major issue, and an opportunity for clever programmers, is figuring out how to automate the process of turning off the account of someone who stops paying. Right now, ClickBank sends an email to the address on the account notifying of a cancellation.

Until someone figures that out, the new service might be more useful for allowing multiple payments for a product.  Will more people buy your $99 eBook if you let them pay in three easy payments?

Split testing is the only way to know, but it is certainly something that has helped a lot of people increase sales.

You’ll still have to figure out what you would want to do if someone only makes two payments. Then again, that’s not much different from how ClickBank works today. The customer already has the eBook, even if they get a refund.

View press release here

Other ClickBank information recently made public includes that they have 11,000 publishers and over 100,000 active affiliates. They process about 20,000 orders per day. In 2006 ClickBank did more than $200 million in revenue with just 42 employees.

Another interesting note is that refunds across all products average 7%.  Refund rates over 15% or chargeback rates over 1% can put your account in jeopardy.

The company has spent considerable resources improving their infrastructure, and is now working on major new features including recurring billing which will begin rollout around mid-July.

Another big enhancement will be the ability to track clicks on hoplinks, giving affiliates a better idea of the traffic and conversions their promotions are getting.

Ooooh. This topic is going to make some people very nervous.

Is your laptop backed up?

Laptops are the most vulnerable of computer equipment because they are mobile. If your entire business is on your laptop and you don’t have a bullet-proof backup strategy, you should be very nervous.

Personally, my desktop has a RAID system built in, so that is very safe. But I was worried about my laptop until I found a backup solution called Carbonite. It automatically backs up every file on your laptop to a server at their site, and it’s all encrypted. You set it and forget it. And best of all? $5/month. That’s it. I don’t know about you, but my data is worth $5 a month to me. Read more about Carbonite if you need to get your backups taken care of.

Masterminding is when a group of like-minded individuals get together to share ideas that help each other. In the internet marketing business, masterminding is a powerful technique that helps one develop new ideas, refine existing business tactics, and generally improve one’s business and profits.

I recently organized a mastermind session in San Diego for some fellow internet marketers who were attending a seminar.

Pictured below are: Jeff Mulligan, Andy Jenkins, Jeff Walker, Yanik Silver, John Reese, Mike Filsaime, Brad Fallon, Rich Shefren, John Carlton, Jeff Johnson, and Ryan Kaltman. The notorious Rich Jerk was also there but wouldn’t allow me to show his picture.

I also have mastermind sessions with some internet marketers that are located in my area, including Eric Owens, Chuck Smith and Tim Kerber. I always come away from a mastermind session with fresh ideas and new enthusiasm for this business.

I’ve met and become friends with all of these marketers by attending seminars. The power of networking at a good seminar is amazing.

I’ll be at Yanik Silver’s Underground Online Marketing Seminar in March. Be sure to introduce yourself if you attend.

Details on Yanik’s Underground Online Seminar.

I joined the Better Business Bureau OnLine a couple of years ago. You have to also be a member of your local chapter. Cost me under $500. Then I split test some sales pages where the only difference was having the BBB logo on the page or not. And sales increased significantly on the pages with the logo. Enough to pay for my membership in a couple of weeks.

You need to be registered in business with your state for at least a year. Depending on your business, they may even check references. In my case, they asked for references of people who bought my products, and even people who asked for a refund. It’s good to know they check this out before they admit you.

The system also sends an email to you every time a visitor clicks on the BBB logo to verify your status. I get dozens every day so I know people are checking it out.

The reason it works so well is obvious. BBB is one of the few logos that is recognized by almost everyone, and seeing it gives people a better feeling that they can trust you. You can’t overemphasize the importance of trust when doing business online. Visit the Better Business Bureau for more info on joining.

According to an article in PCworld, consumers spent over $100 billion online in 2006. In the last two months of 2006, online sales rose more than 26% vs the same period in 2005. It’s an encouraging number for anyone doing business online and proves that there is plenty of room for new people, products and ideas. The article also explains the growth of niche products and the “long tail” of internet commerce.

This morning I was driving my 9-year old son, Danny, to school early.  He was elected to the student council, and he had a meeting.On the way, I asked Danny what the student council had done so far this year.

He proudly told me that they had succeeeded in getting the snack cart to carry apples.

OK, that’s not exactly world peace, but these kids are eight and nine years old.  They had an idea and they made it happen. They got what they wanted, and now they have momentum. They’re empowered to tackle the next project.

I was thinking of how this applies to my business and I realized that it’s not always about “The Big Idea”.  Sure, a few of those are great.

But lots of times stringing together a bunch of little ideas can create a victory. And I’m better off actually “doing” the little things than I am just “thinking” about the big one.

Doing vs thinking about it.

A good lesson reinforced by the fourth grade student council.