When I first communicated with Lynn Terry in January, it was to apologize.

Fortunately, she was gracious. :-)

Lynn runs a great blog over at ClickNewz.com — and we decided to exchange interviews. Keep reading to get Lynn’s take on picking a niche, affiliate marketing, traffic generation, and more.

You’ve been online for 13 years, which I think must be at least a century in Internet years. Why were you drawn to the Internet? How did you first try to make money… and did that project fail or succeed?

LOL – True! I was drawn to the internet back in the 90’s because it was just hitting the scene. I was in my start-up year with an offline brick ‘n mortar business and initially got online to find parts and suppliers.

I immediately took an interest in creating something online. I made my first personal web page on angelfire, then geocities (which I won an award for). A friend of mine introduced me to an email discussion list where women all over the world were talking about online business ideas, and the rest is history as they say! ;)

My first official venture was a web development company, ultimately employing an international web team. I worked with local businesses and nationwide companies to establish a presence on the internet, and to create online marketing plans.

It was a very successful business, and a model that is once again brimming with opportunity and profit potential…

Obviously, 13 years of experience has made you a lot wiser. Give us the short version of how you now pick a niche to start a new online business. Do you pick something you love, something that is commercially viable, or a combination of the two?

A combination of the two is ideal, passion and profit combined. Obviously you can’t monetize a passion that doesn’t have a buying market.

That said, given a choice between two profitable niches, I would go with the one based on my personal interests – even if the other had slightly higher profit potential. Regardless of the numbers, you’ll always do better in a market where you are personally invested.

There are 3 ways to choose a niche like this. It can be based on your professional experience or expertise, a hobby or skill, or it can be something you are interested in learning more about yourself. Perhaps you’re just taking up snowboarding, or starting to collect something, etc.

A new personal interest is always a great niche, as you’re in the research phase yourself. You can really connect with your target market, share resources, conduct case studies, share video and photos, etc.

Do you recommend selling digital products only or physical products too? Why?

I’m a big fan of promoting physical products as an affiliate. While digital products offer a higher commission, physical products see a higher conversion rate. Buyers are less skeptical, often pre-sold, and online product sales are just continuing to rise dramatically every year.

A combination of product types and offers is ideal, depending on your market. If you’re promoting physical products, you can often do that with low-cost (or even free) info products that help your market with the buying decision…

Once you’ve proven a new business idea, do you rely on organic search traffic, paid traffic, or both? How does Adwords figure into the equation?

I am currently using organic search (free traffic from high search engine rankings) as my primary source of visitors. SEO is easy, and it’s free.

I started out using Google Adwords to get targeted traffic, but quickly got annoyed with all of the updates and “slaps” – entirely too high maintenance for me. Especially compared to SEO. PPC requires too much constant attention for my taste.

The model I use is taught by Dan Thies free in his guide at http://www.SEOfaststart.com

I understand you have an Internet marketing blog and a forum. Who are they for, and where can my readers go to check them out?

I have been blogging for about 6 years now, running a discussion forum for online business owners for right at 8 years. Both offer a variety of content & resources for anyone that wants to learn more about marketing their business online, or starting an online business.

You’ll find the forum at http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/members/ and my blog is http://www.ClickNewz.com. There is active cross-over between the two, and it’s a great community. If you stop by, be sure to leave a comment on the blog or post an intro at the forum – I’d love to meet you!

If you enjoyed this interview, make sure you check out my interview over on ClickNewz: 3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Online Business

Ever see a picture of a performer spinning plates on sticks? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done in person, but I’ve seen pictures of it similar to this one:

As an entrepreneur and service provider, I feel like plate spinning is a good metaphor for my life.

There are always lots of plates in the air. And I have to keep them all spinning — or risk one of them falling and breaking.

Sometimes I finish a project and I get to stop spinning a plate. Yet, inevitably, I have a new plate that needs to be spun.

I tell ya — it ain’t easy. And it requires a lot of work.

But it’s fun.

Secret #1 is that being successful in business requires work.

Secret #2 is that work is meant for pleasure. It’s one of the few things God has provided on this green earth to give us meaningful satisfaction.

So what are you waiting for? Go spin some plates!

-Ryan M. Healy

Do you know Drayton Bird?

In direct response marketing, he’s a living legend.

After all, not many can say they worked with David Ogilvy. And not many can claim being the top trainer for the biggest direct marketing agency in the world (Ogilvy & Mather).

Plus, Drayton’s experience runs the gamut.

He’s helped small businesses, of course, but much of his work has been with big companies… companies like Airbus and American Express.

The breadth and depth of Drayton’s experience cannot be overstated.

To put it in perspective, think about this:

He had mastered the fundamentals of direct response marketing long before most of us were even born!

Anyway, the reason I bring all this up is because both Drayton Bird and Bob Bly were recently interviewed by Ken McCarthy.

This interview is direct response gold. Yet Ken is giving away the interview for free.

Why is he doing this?

Because Drayton, Bob, and Ken will be doing a special copywriting Master Class on the Monday following Ken’s System Seminar in April.

And the free interview is a taste of what will be presented during the Master Class.

Obviously, if you like the interview, maybe you’ll consider attending The System as well as the Master Class.

But even if you don’t, you’ll still get a lot of value from listening to Drayton Bird and Bob Bly share stories and insights culled from decades of hard-won experience.

Here’s the link to download the interview (opt-in required):

http://www.thesystemseminar.com/319-34.html

Just so we’re clear, this is my affiliate link. If after downloading the interview you decide to attend The System or the Master Class, I will get a commission.

But potential commissions aside, I still think this interview is worth your time. With that in mind, here’s the direct link you can use if you’d rather not use my affiliate link:

http://www.thesystemseminar.com/masterclass/

Enjoy!

-Ryan M. Healy

Creativity is vital for any idea worker. But it’s easy to let creativity die.

We get stuck reading the same things, thinking the same things, doing the same things in the same ways we’ve always done them.

Doesn’t matter where you live. A guy in New York can watch the same TV programming in San Francisco. A guy in Fargo, North Dakota can eat the same exact fast food as a guy in Houston, Texas.

Franchise businesses have painted the commercial landscape with a uniform color.

And take a look at the suburbs these days. It’s not much different. Nearly every house blends in in a sea of sameness.

It’s no wonder we have such a hard time being creative.

Copying Instead of Innovating

Here’s another problem:

Creativity often leads to valuable breakthroughs — then idea pirates copy those breakthroughs within days, weeks, or months. This can be very discouraging for the pioneer of ideas.

Not only that, when copying is rampant, it discourages creativity and only encourages more copying. Next thing you know, you’ve got copies of copies of copies.

A flaw in the first copy gets amplified in every successive generation. It’s devolution. For some reason, this process seems to happen faster than normal on the Internet.

Pioneers vs. Pirates

As an entrepreneur, business owner, or service provider, you have a choice. You can be a pioneer or you can be a pirate.

And although Hollywood has romanticized the idea of being a pirate (thank you Johnny Depp!), I believe the better choice is to be a pioneer.

Yes, I know: The pioneer is the guy with the arrows in his back. But making creative mistakes is not lethal. Just because one new idea fails doesn’t mean the next one will fail too.

Creativity takes work. It takes effort. It takes time.

How to Be Creative

Creativity (and its byproduct, originality) can only flourish when you are reading, thinking, and acting differently than you and other people normally do.

Creative action leads to creative thought.

This why it helps to get out of your routine every now and then.

Drive a different way. Do things in reverse. Read books outside of what you’d normally read.

Investigate a new hobby. Go somewhere you’ve never gone. Do something you’ve never done.

By breaking your routine and doing things that may even be uncomfortable for you, you’ll cause your brain to think in new ways. You’ll have new thoughts.

And perhaps you can incorporate some of those new thoughts and ideas into your own business. Perhaps you’ll have a breakthrough.

-Ryan M. Healy

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Since my wife and kids are sick today — bad coughs because of some respiratory bug — there won’t be a lot of romance going on here today.

But I’m not going to let that stop me from cuddling up by the fire with another sales letter… maybe yours!

=========================
I’m looking for a hot date with an ugly sales letter! Can
you help? >>> http://www.ryanhealy.com/copy-critique
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As you may recall, I’m currently offering 8 copy critiques at 40% off the regular price. You pay only $300 for your copy critique.

Just yesterday I finished the first critique. He ordered it on Feb 8 and I finished it on Feb 13, well under my 14-day turn-around guarantee.

Here are some relevant stats:

• I inserted 18 comments right into his sales letter pointing out trouble spots and areas for improvement.

• I wrote 2 new headlines for potential testing.

• Plus, I wrote 1,397 words — 5 pages! — of feedback that was sent in a separate document. (The sales letter was 2,512 words, including testimonials. I wrote more than HALF that in feedback.)

Of course, I can’t guarantee a certain number of comments or headlines or pages when I do your critique.

But I can guarantee I will give you my best suggestions to strengthen your copy so you get more sales.

So what do you say?

For only $300 I’ll get all cozy with your sales letter and show you exactly what changes to make so you can romance more sales out of it.

Click here to order your copy critique.

-Ryan M. Healy

Direct mail advertising is very different than online advertising.

With direct mail, you have to find or compile a list of people who will be a good fit for your offer. The people you mail may or may not be interested in your product or service. They’ve never asked for you to contact them.

Plus, to complicate matters, the cost of printing and postage can be significant, especially if you’re mailing a large list.

Online, you get a few clear advantages. You either market to people who’ve already given you permission to be marketed to; or you market to people who are searching for exactly what you have to offer.

And, as an added benefit, the cost to advertise online is usually lower than advertising with direct mail.

Before I ever start writing a word of sales copy, I want to know how the message I’m writing is going to be distributed.

Is it going to be sent via direct mail? Is it going to be published in a magazine or newspaper? Is it going to be posted on the Internet and advertised via Adwords? Is it going to be advertised via banner ads on targeted web sites? Etc.

The answers to these questions have a HUGE effect on how you should write your copy and how you should design your conversion process.

Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to help with both online and off-line direct mail advertising campaigns. Every experience teaches me something new: sometimes the lesson is obvious, other times it’s subtle.

There is one thing that all forms of advertising have in common. That is you must make sure that you are going after a market that 1) can be reached affordably and 2) has money to spend on your product or service.

If either of these two pieces is missing, you’re headed for swift and possibly devastating failure. (It always depends on how much money you’re spending up front, before you have any results.)

It seems this year I will be doing more work in the direct mail advertising field. I’m actually really looking forward to it because it seems that there’s something more “real” and gratifying about physical forms of advertising.

Certainly, every piece of mail a client pays to send is that much more accountable to results — a true test of skill and dedication.

-Ryan M. Healy

If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are you’re a control freak like me. One of those guys who wants to do everything himself.

Say it with me: “I’m a control freak.”

There. Feel better?

I do.

While I can appreciate the desire to do everything yourself… the desire to make sure everything is “just right”… I’ve also learned the value of paying for expert help.

Not every outsourcing experience has been perfect (they rarely are), but I can definitely say that outsourcing and paying for outside advice can be worth far more than you pay for it.

For instance, this past fall I hired a business coach to dig into my business and tell me what needed fixing. He called up my past clients to get objective feedback about my performance and the value of working with me.

When he was done, he compiled his discoveries and spent a good amount of time going over them with me.

Some of the things I learned I had only suspected — and the research confirmed my suspicions. Other things I didn’t expect at all — and the research uncovered new information.

Fortunately, all of it was valuable to me. Now I have much greater clarity about what I need to do to improve my business. And it’s clarity that I could not have achieved on my own, apart from the help of an expert.

That’s one of the problems of being a solopreneur. It can often be difficult to be objective about your own business because you’re so close to it. It can be even harder to find time to work on your business instead of working in it.

Copywriting Myopia

If you’re writing and editing your own copy, you can run into the same problems as a solopreneur does.

After looking at your copy for days, weeks, or even months, you can develop a form of copywriting myopia that prevents you from seeing the big picture — from correctly diagnosing what’s wrong with your copy and how to improve it.

Let’s face it. It’s next to impossible to be objective about our own work once we’ve invested so much of ourselves into it. And even though I’m a professional copywriter, I still get other copywriters to critique my work.

Sometimes all it takes is a new headline, or a subtle tweak, to make your sales copy really “pop.” And usually it’s the guy who’s not emotionally invested in the copy who can come up with the big insight that makes the difference.

Right now, I’m offering copy critiques at a discounted rate for the next 8 clients only. One spot was claimed yesterday. I expect more spots to be claimed before the end of the week — maybe all of them.

If you have some sales copy that needs a second set of eyes, then click here to claim one of the remaining copy critiques now.

-Ryan M. Healy

Imagine my surprise as I watched the Superbowl and saw a TV commercial for Google! I’m not sure whether or not it’s their first TV commercial, but I don’t recall ever seeing one before.

What I love about Google’s commercial — called “Parisian Love” — is how it builds a compelling story through search phrases.

They don’t come out and say “We’re the best at search!” — they merely paint a picture of travel and love and new beginnings… and Google’s role in that story. Here’s the commercial so you can see it for yourself:

Late last week, on January 28th to be exact, four suspicious nominations were submitted to the recent post where I invited you to nominate your favorite Internet marketer.

After reading them, I suspected they were fake nominations. Here they are in the order they were received:

Comment #1

“TERRY KARLIN”

I would like to nominate Mike Filsaime.

His success speaks for itself. I’ve bought many of his programs through upsells.

Comment #2

“JOHN CARMICHAEL”

I am amazed that no has yet nominated the coolest IM guy ever: Frank Kern.

Frank is 100% down to earth, genuine, always over-delivers and completely devoted to customer service.

I love his videos and his laid-back attitude. His Mass Control 2.0 is awesome for any serious marketer. I was delighted to recently sign up for his monthly continuity program at only $297 per month. What a steal for such great material.

–John

For the record, “Terry Karlin” and “John Carmichael” both posted their nominations 7 minutes apart from IP address: 24.5.xx.47

But it gets better. Because then these two comments came in a few hours later:

Comment #3

“TERRY GOMEZ”

I would like to RYAN DIESS.

His Perpetual Launch model and software is sheer genius!

Through a clever piece of scripting you can make it look like you are giving a live webinar and hence capitalize on the “urgency” of a live event (cf. Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula) without the stress of actually delivering a live event. The software he provides completely automates the process and leads the viewers to believing whatever their active imaginations’ want. You can segment your list and mail to selected portions each week about the “event.”

His prior partnership with Perry Belcher, convicted felon, should not be held against Ryan.

Comment #4

“MARK PASSION”

My nomination for trusted, high integrity, high impact IM guy is Frank Kern.

Why? So many great products … and just view this super professional video on “The State of the Internet”: [link removed]

It’s rather long (about 30 minutes) but jam-packed with great information and just remarkable in what Frank says. It speaks volumes about his clear integrity and desire to make a difference for all of us in IM.

In a pattern nearly identical to the first two comments, “Terry Gomez” and “Mark Passion” both posted their nominations 12 minutes apart from IP address: 64.134.xxx.148

Digging a Little Deeper

It’s uncanny how similar the tone and even the words are in all of these nominations, isn’t it? Let’s examine some of the similarities.

First of all, there are the shared IP addresses. Both pairs of comments appeared on my blog the same day spaced a few hours apart.

Second of all, I find it humorous that while inventing four different people, our mystery commenter couldn’t even think of four different names. He had to use the name Terry twice: Terry Karlin and Terry Gomez.

What’s more, there’s “Kar-lin” and “Car-michael” used as last names in the first pair of comments. Obviously, the mystery commenter couldn’t use “Car-lin” and “Car-michael” — that’s too obvious. So a letter “K” was used in Terry’s last name.

Third, each of the four comments is completely anonymous. No gravatars. What appear to be fake email addresses used on all of them with the possible exception of Mark’s (he has come back to comment a few times).

Fourth: What’s most interesting of all is the similarity in word choice between John Carmichael and Mark Passion. Look at this:

“I am amazed that no has yet nominated the coolest IM guy ever: Frank Kern.” -John Carmichael

“My nomination for trusted, high integrity, high impact IM guy is Frank Kern.” -Mark Passion

Funny that both John and Mark like to use the acronym “IM” instead of spelling out Internet marketing. (Mark even uses the phrase a second time in the span of three paragraphs.)

Both John and Mark like to use a lot of superlatives. Their nominations are quite salesy and product focused.

In fact, Frank’s products are used as evidence of his character: “over-delivers,” “awesome,” “a steal,” “great material,” “great products,” “great information,” “remarkable.”

John and Mark really like the word “great,” don’t they? And is it just me, or do their comments sound more like thinly veiled sales pitches than genuine nominations?

Mark Passion’s Passion

Mark must not have liked how I flagged his comment along with the other three as being fake. He returned to my blog on Saturday night to try to defend himself. Here’s his comment verbatim.

Hi Ryan,

My entry to your excellent blog was NOT a fake!

Sorry to have to correct you, but my nomination of Frank Kern is quite legitimate. (As is that of my girlfriend for Ryan Deiss!). We wrote our nominations on the same laptop, right after each other given our joint visit to your blog. Is there something wrong with that?

I’m not sure what you hoped to achieve by publishing the IP address– Is that meant to somehow silence my voice and cancel my vote through some cloaked threat that you can hunt me down via a simple-minded IP lookup??

Please keep an open mind and please do allow everyone to link to Frank Kern’s simply remarkable “State of the Internet Address” at [link removed]

If you have some real evidence or verified data that Frank Kern should NOT be nominated, then by all means please post it publicly so that we can all see it and make up our own minds. Your censorship of the link smacks of totalitarianism. Let’s keep the web open for everyone to decide for themselves.

I’m sorry if my nomination offended you but I did follow your guidelines.

Thanks!

Mark

In addition to this response, Mark used his anonymous twitter profile (“TraderPassion”) to tweet my post.

But of course he twisted the truth to make it look as if I had christened myself “sheriff” to clean up Internet marketing. He also claimed I was preventing Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime, and Ryan Deiss from being nominated. See for yourself (click to enlarge):

None of Mark’s claims are true.

I have not anointed myself sheriff. I’m not trying to clean up Internet marketing. And I’m not preventing legitimate nominations.

I am trying to prevent fake nominations. Big difference.

In my opinion (and I could be wrong), all four of the nominations I’ve listed above are fake. And I’m not afraid to say it.

The Holes in Mark Passion’s Defense

In Mark’s defense of himself, he claims that he and his girlfriend were using the same laptop to read my blog, and that’s why the two comments came from the same IP address.

I don’t buy it.

Most females I know would not nominate a guy for his “sheer genius” and then immediately deliver a blatant sales pitch for “a clever piece of scripting” designed to fool would-be customers.

(Ladies? Can I get an amen?)

And what normal person comes out of nowhere saying, “His prior partnership with Perry Belcher, convicted felon, should not be held against Ryan.”

I also find it unusual for Mark Passion to be so passionate about promoting Frank Kern. This goes beyond a nomination. Twice he has attempted to link to Frank’s blog — the second time with the admonishment to “keep an open mind” and “please do allow everyone to link to” Frank’s blog.

Huh??

This is not the behavior of a normal person nominating someone.

Then there’s the issue of Mark’s Twitter account, TraderPassion. (Update: As of 2/2/2010, this Twitter profile has now been deleted.) Notice how Mark tries to spin the story to make the gurus look good and make me look bad.

Based on what I know about Frank’s products, it appears to me the person behind this is trying to turn this into a story about how Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime, and Ryan Deiss are really the good guys who’ve been unjustly attacked.

Frank did the same thing when he got busted by the FTC. He took the story and turned it into a selling point.

Last but not least, there’s Mark’s parting comment: “I’m sorry if my nomination offended you but I did follow your guidelines.”

Oh, yeah. That’s right. I didn’t say, “No fake comments.” So like any normal person, Mark thought it would be totally okay to pose as multiple fake customers and plug his favorite gurus’ products.

Disinformation, Subterfuge, and Propaganda

One of the problems with the Internet is the ease with which you can pretend to be someone you’re not. The temptation to be anonymous is too tempting a power for some.

If you’ve read the comments on Salty Droid, you’ll often see a dissenting voice appear. More often than not, it’s a guru engaging in some kind of subterfuge.

Back when people were finally becoming disillusioned with James Brausch (a.k.a. “Diego Norte”), James himself lead a campaign of disinformation on Crunch Gear to confuse people and make it look like he was really a good guy.

He even took the fight to a different web site and made false accusations against the author of the original post, John Biggs. Biggs then had to run a follow-up post to defend himself. The comments got so crazy on the second post that he was forced to close them. He wrote:

I’m closing comments because whatever Ponzi scheme these guys are running it’s clear they’re crazy as all get out.

Fortunately, there’s no army of interns leaving fake comments on this blog. At least not yet.

So far, it appears that the fake comments are coming from either Frank Kern, Mike Filsaime, Ryan Deiss, or one of their buddies.

Either way, it’s kind of sad that in the absence of legitimate nominations they’ve resorted to fabricating nominations so they’ll get on the list of ethical Internet marketing teachers.

Which, in case you hadn’t noticed, is a good way of making sure you’re not included on the list.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Mark Passion tried to make the argument that censoring his comment “smacked of totalitarianism.” Let me point out that propaganda is a technique much favored by totalitarians. Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Tse-tung come to mind.

So when you think about it, my censorship of Mark’s propaganda is fighting fire with fire. A totalitarian technique requires a totalitarian response.

P.P.S. Contrary to the recent propaganda, legitimate comments are welcome. Post one below.

A few people have responded to my recent controversial post either on their blogs or via comments. Some have expressed their opinion that it’s never good to name names. And others have spoken out against name calling.

But I think the two issues are getting a little bit confused. There is a big difference between “calling somebody out” and being a “name caller.”

If you name names and draw attention to a particular person and his or her bad business behavior, that is a public service. This is why there are complaint boards, business rating services, etc. They exist to help document unethical business practices and protect consumers.

Should we have not called out Bernie Madoff — and let him continue his Ponzi scheme indefinitely? Should we have been silent as Robert Tilton exploited thousands of TV viewers every week?

To be silent on such issues is to encourage criminal behavior.

In my opinion, naming names is not optional. It must be done to preserve law and order in a society. Criminal behavior (like fraud) can’t be ignored.

Here’s a mental exercise that helps prove the point:

Imagine a known sexual predator living in your area. Would you merely warn your neighbors about the different kinds of sexual crimes being committed in neighborhoods across the nation?

Or would you tell your neighbors the full name of the sexual predator, exactly what he had done in the past, and exactly where he lived so you would know how to avoid him?

I think you know the answer to that. You’d warn your neighbors — and you’d give plenty of specifics.

Name-calling is a different issue entirely. It rarely serves any positive purpose and only redirects attention away from the real issues that need to be talked about.

Unfortunately, this is what often happens in political discussions. The ad hominem attacks start flying. The real issues get swept under the rug.

In fact, this is what happens in many, many arguments, not just political ones. Whether it’s between two friends, two spouses, or whomever, it’s far too easy to let our emotions get the best of us — and resort to name calling. (“Jerk!” “Pervert!” “Idiot!” Etc.)

So, in sum:

Naming names – Necessary, especially when criminal behavior is involved.

Calling names – Unproductive at best, damaging at worst.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. :-)

-Ryan M. Healy