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:

Here is a guest post from copywriter David Tendrich. You can learn more about David by reading the author bio included at the end of his article. Enjoy! -Ryan

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What is gut-wrenching copy? It’s controversial. It pushes reality. It inspires.

It’s the kind of copy that, while you read it, your mind thinks, “What? Is that really possible?” but in your stomach you feel this tiny tickle as you imagine your life how you want it to be.

This copy lets you believe for just a second that your ideal way of life can really happen. If you just take a leap of faith, and buy the product, things will just come together. They really will this time. You see the testimonials of other people who were in your shoes, and how their lives were changed. You read the promises of the sales page… “If you just take action and put this product to use… I GUARANTEE it…” and you feel motivated to make it work, at all costs.

It’s copy that doesn’t cater to the mind. The mind is satisfied too easily. It’s copy that caters to the burning desires deep inside a person. Tap into what someone wants on a mental level, and you get sales. Tap into what someone wants deep down in their heart of hearts, and you might run into the wonderful problem of selling out.

Luckily, writing gut-wrenching copy is not guesswork. It’s not magic either. You can do it in these two steps.

Step 1: Talk to your clients

The first step is to ask your clients some questions. They are the real “magic” behind gut-wrenching copy. You’re going to pretty much take their answers and put them straight into the copy, with a little touching up of course.

You’ll want to hand-select a group of clients who you feel completely represent your “ideal” client, or your target market. Here’s an example…

1. I’m putting out a product that will teach you 100 free or low-budget ways to instantly get more clients, what doubts/skepticisms cross your mind? (These are your objections you’re going to counter in your copy)

2. If you could finally get tons of clients for free, how would that benefit your business? (This is where you get your fuel for connecting to people’s minds)

3. How would those benefits carry into other parts of your life? Like your family life? Your home life? Your love life? Your happiness? (And this is where the magic happens.)

Ask them to go into great detail on their answers to question three. Find out their goals in life, their dreams, their ambitions — what they really want. You may get some heavy answers — but that’s good. The heavier they are, the more honest and real they are.

Step 2: Connect the dots

Now, when you write your copy, you’re going to connect using your product to these dreams that your clients described for you.

That way, you’re not just selling a course on copywriting… you’re selling a guide on how to spend more time with your little girls so you never miss out on a single second of them growing up… How to take your family on a dream vacation to Hawaii where you stay in the nicest hotel, in the nicest room, and enjoy life in a way you never have before… How to work two weeks out of every month so you can spend the other two weeks doing whatever you feel like…

And when you gather testimonials, ask people to tell you how the product carried into their life! Ask them to tell you what they’ve accomplished. That way your testimonials build on your copy, and together both inspire your reader to take action.

The cool thing is, from the moment someone reads your sales page they’re thinking about what they really want. Then, when they buy the product, they’re way more likely to put it to good use because every time they see it they start thinking about these burning desires. So by writing this kind of copy you’re actually doing people a service!

See, these dreams transcend money. Well, they use money as a stepping stone, but if your readers could accomplish all of their dreams while having $0 in their bank accounts, they’d be just as happy. I know I would. So keep prying until you find the real reasons someone wants your product, because once you tap into that you’re set.

About the author: David Tendrich is a copywriter in Atlanta, GA where he and his life partner, Louisa Levit, run a copywriting, marketing, and graphic design company. You can learn more about David by visiting his blog on copywriting.

In high school, I joined the newspaper staff as soon as they would let me, and I took all the honors English classes I could. I was in love with reading and writing — I couldn’t get enough of it.

In honors English we would read a book every two weeks (usually a classic), then write an essay about the book we had just read. It was like clockwork. Every other Monday a new essay was due.

But there was a catch. We never wrote our essays at home. We didn’t even type them! Nope. We wrote them out by hand… in class… in 90 minutes or less (we were on a block schedule with four 90-minute periods a day).

The reason my teacher did it this way was because essay web sites were just coming into fashion. Students could download dozens of pre-written essays on just about any book they wanted. The business of plagiarism  had hung out its shingle and students were responding in kind.

At that time, search technology was in its infancy, so it was actually fairly difficult for teachers to discern whether a paper had been plagiarized or not. Thus the dilemma: Let students write essays at home or force them to do them in class?

My teacher chose the latter. And while it was stressful back then, I’m extremely grateful she decided to do it that way.

You see, the discipline of writing a timed essay by hand once every two weeks forced me to be an efficient writer. I learned how to write fast without editing myself. I learned how to build sentences in my head faster than my hand could transcribe them.

Now, years later, I will sometimes use an $8 dial timer that I picked up at Bed, Bath & Beyond to time myself. If I’m feeling distracted or I’m having a hard time focusing in on my writing, I’ll set the timer for 45 minutes. I’ll force myself to write for the entire time.

Guess what? Every time I set that timer, I write faster. The power of a micro-deadline works just like a normal deadline: it makes you work!

Next time you find yourself struggling to write, pull out your timer or stopwatch, set it for 30 or 45 minutes, and start writing. You’ll be amazed by how quickly your mind snaps to attention. And you’ll be amazed by how quickly the words spill onto the page.

-Ryan M. Healy

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

Earlier this week, Remarkablogger (Michael Martine) suggested:

Consider a post that rounds up a list of the “good guys,” too.

I think this is a good idea. I’m going to put together a list of trustworthy online marketers. But I need your help.

With that in mind, I want to know:

Who are the good guys and gals in online marketing? Who would you want to be on this list?

Most importantly, why?

Two rules:

1. You can’t nominate yourself.

2. No bashing or flaming allowed. Recommendations only.

Got it? Now scroll down and nominate your favorite online marketer in the comments.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. Why are comments now closed? Read why here: Disinformation, Subterfuge, and Propaganda

If somebody wrongs you, it’s natural to be upset. And it’s natural to want some kind of retribution or revenge.

Just look at how we as a nation reacted to 9/11. Everybody wanted to take up arms and go kill some terrorists. (In fact, we’re still on a witch hunt, killing people in countries who had nothing to do with 9/11.)

We could have reacted differently. We could have turned the other cheek, forgiven the perpetrators, and earned the world’s respect.

Unfortunately, we showed our true colors. To our detriment, we proved we are not a forgiving people.

The reason I’m writing this post today is because it’s WAY too easy to get bent out of shape when you are wronged. It’s WAY too easy to hold a grudge and boil in your own venom.

There is a better way.

It’s called forgiveness.

Just yesterday I was reading a post by Internet lawyer Mike Young. He writes, “Everyone makes mistakes. If perfection is the standard by which marketers are to be measured, none would meet it.”

I totally agree.

So while I did “name names” in Internet Marketing on Life Support, I did it to protect unsuspecting people from what I consider egregious abuses of trust. It was not to imply that I or anybody else is perfect.

A Better Way to Respond

Personally, I’ve been ripped off by multiple clients in the past. Some to the tune of thousands of dollars.

Of course, I could have moped about it, spent time thinking of ways to get even. But that kind of behavior is totally unproductive and not gratifying in the least.

In each case, I’ve made changes to prevent the same situation from happening again, then shifted my attention toward finding new (and better) clients. It’s paid off.

My advice: Keep short accounts with people.

As King Solomon advised in Proverbs 19:11, “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”

So when somebody wrongs you (and it will happen), better to just chalk it up to experience and keep going. You’ll be a better human — and you’ll be more productive — if you learn to forgive, forget, and move on with your life.

-Ryan M. Healy

Are Internet marketing “gurus” just a den of thieves? And is Internet marketing itself now on life support as a result of their unethical business practices?

The reason I ask these questions is because recent events have forced me to ask them.

Internet marketing “gurus” are being called out left and right, new advertising rules are going into effect, people’s merchant accounts are being terminated without notice — it’s probably the biggest shake-up to hit Internet marketing since the first big “Google slap.”

Let’s take a look at some of the “recent events” I’m talking about:

Event #1: Perry Belcher “Retires”

Here’s the short version: Perry Belcher sold fraudulent health supplements through his company called Selmedica. When it was discovered he was committing fraud, authorities seized Belcher’s assets, auctioned off his home, cars, and other possessions, and gave him a 10-year probation.

In what appears to be an attempt to side-step the terms of his probation, Belcher partnered with Ryan Deiss to promote products on the Internet again. “Get Money from Google,” “Social Media Blueprint,” and other programs followed.

But after much dogged persistence by Salty Droid, Perry Belcher pulled the plug on all his online businesses, deleted his Twitter account, and announced his “retirement” from Internet marketing. (Or, more accurately, forced retirement.)

Event #2: Eric Graham Fails to Deliver

Eric Graham is known as the Conversion Doctor. He helps people improve the conversion rates of their web sites. In the past, I’ve been impressed with Eric, and even went to an event in Denver specifically to meet him. (That’s where I got the picture at right.)

Anyway, I was surprised to learn that over the last year or two that Eric has continued to make big promises, but — according to the testimony of multiple customers — has not delivered fully on those promises. Worse, he has denied refunds and not honored his own guarantee, which he features prominently in his sales process.

I wouldn’t even have been aware of these issues had not Fred Black written in detail about his own unsatisfactory experiences with Eric Graham. I respect Fred and his work, so I take this issue fairly seriously.

Turns out, Fred is not the only one who’s spoken out against Eric Graham. There seems to be a pattern of negligence. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”

Event #3: StomperNet Descends into Chaos

Ken McCarthy (an Internet marketer who has my utmost respect, by the way) introduced Brad Fallon to the Internet marketing community back when I still had a job.

I bought the first “Stomping the Search Engines” program, listened to it in my car, and used what I had learned to build a site that’s been cranking out $20 to $70 a month for more than five years now. The methods described in the program worked for me, so I thought highly of Brad — at first.

Well, Brad went on to partner with Andy Jenkins and formed StomperNet. They did a big launch, claimed to make millions — and from the outside, everything looked peachy.

Here’s what I found interesting: With the exception of giving Brad Fallon his initial credibility, I don’t think Ken McCarthy ever promoted him again. I had always wondered why.

Now I don’t wonder so much.

Andy Jenkins (no saint himself) ended up suing Brad Fallon. They haven’t paid affiliates from the first StomperNet launch. And now Brad has sued his own wife (Jennifer Fallon) over ownership of their wedding favors business. (Oh, they’re getting divorced, too. No surprise there I guess.)

And just so you know I’m not making this stuff up, you can read all about the StomperNet shenanigans on Salty Droid, links to legal docs included. (Warning: Strong language.)

Event #4: New FTC Rules Go into Effect

On December 1, 2009, new FTC rules went into effect. As you may know, these new rules were a backlash caused by “flogs” — fake blogs — being created and multiplied by certain Internet marketers.

The new rules say that if you feature testimonials that include specific results, then you must also prominently describe what “typical” results are. Disclaimers like “Results not typical” are no longer sufficient.

For an in-depth review of the rules, what they mean, and how you should respond, I recommend listening to the Easy FTC Compliance Seminar posted on Robert Skrob’s blog. (There’s also a handy PDF download in case you prefer to read.)

Event #5: Visa & MasterCard Crack Down on Merchants

On January 14, 2010, I received notification from PowerPay (my merchant account provider) that Visa and MasterCard is cracking down on what they consider “brand damaging” business practices.

Behind the scenes, Visa and MasterCard provided merchant account providers with a master list of “worst offenders.” Merchant account providers were told to immediately terminate the merchant accounts of these worst offenders — or face $100,000 fines per infraction.

As you can imagine, faced with $100,000 fines, merchant account providers acted swiftly. And a client notified me on January 16 that the merchant accounts of four major Internet marketers had been terminated. (It’s probably no surprise that three of the four have been targeted by Salty Droid.)

What Does It All Mean?

First of all, let me say that I think there are many Internet marketers who’ve crossed the line and should not be followed, supported, or endorsed. Enough is enough.

Let me also say that I believe there are many ethical Internet marketers who deliver fair value for a fair price — and do not engage in high-pressure sales, deceptive marketing methods, or the outright fraud I’m now aware of.

What this means is this:

• You must choose your mentors and teachers in the online space wisely.

• You must be especially wary of outrageous, hyped-up claims. (If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.)

• When possible, you should get a second opinion from someone you trust when you’re tempted to spend a large sum of money for an event, coaching program, home study course, etc.

• And, possibly most important of all, you must protect your reputation. Because, in the end, your reputation is the most valuable asset you have.

Internet marketing is not going away. The Internet will continue to be a marketing medium. But how that medium is used will most definitely change — possibly more dramatically this year than ever before.

Ultimately, I don’t think there’s any reason to panic. But you should certainly be proactive about complying with the new rules and making sure you’re dealing with reputable online business owners. (This advice is as much for me as it is for you.)

Really, it all boils down to these three things:

1. Guard your mind.
2. Guard your wallet.
3. Guard your reputation.

Simple, for sure. But as most principles go: easier said than done.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. So far, my 4th business prediction for 2010 — “The End of the Internet Marketing Guru as We Know Him — is happening a LOT faster than I expected.

P.P.S. Would love to get your comments on this post. Were you already aware of these issues? How do YOU think all these changes and revelations will affect Internet marketing?

P.P.P.S. In case you are interested, here are the new merchant account terms as spelled out by Jud Smith of PowerPay:

PowerPay cannot accept merchant applications for products and/or services employing “Negative Option” enrollment, in addition to the following practices:

Marketing models that employ “Free-Trial”, “Deferred Billing” and/or “Shipping Only”.  Customers must be receiving a tangible good or contracted service in exchange for charging of payment cards.  Incentivized discount offers are acceptable when the cardholder is receiving something in exchange for payment, however we will be unable to support accounts engaging in hidden or delayed charges and ‘free’ offers that are not truly free.

“Cross-Selling” and “Up-selling” business practices.  All sales should be directly between the business entities (merchant) processing the transaction and the cardholder, with cardholder authorization for all purchases.

Per Payment Brand guidelines, the use of multiple merchant accounts, billing descriptors and merchant processors may be viewed as an attempt to avoid chargeback monitoring programs and is prohibited.  Perceived non-compliance has led to termination of processing relationships.  PowerPay will review the business consideration for opening multiple merchant accounts to ensure compliance with Payment Brand guidelines.

Transactions generated from internet traffic and all other lead sources must be managed and monitored for potential fraud using an approved system.  Third Party service engagement may be a requirement for account approval.

The FTC has recently published guidelines regarding “Negative Option” enrollment programs and is taking a very aggressive position against merchants utilizing/employing this business practice.  Recommendations take in part from the FTC’s website may include but are not limited to the following:

Material terms should be disclosed in a clear, concise manner.  Unnecessarily long or inconsistent terms are viewed as an attempt to mislead the consumer.

Terms should be disclosed in a conspicuous manner, clearly placed and labeled on websites in a location that indicates the importance and relevance to the transaction.  Fonts and colors must be easy to view.

Material terms must be disclosed prior to completion of the transaction and before a financial obligation is incurred by the consumer.

Customers must provide affirmative consent to any offer, examples include a mandatory “I Agree…” statement checkbox, where the customer is acknowledging the Terms and Conditions of the offer and consents to be entered into continuity program as a result of completing the transaction.  Pre-checked boxes do not qualify as affirmative consent.

Merchants must not discourage or make difficult in any way the disclosed cancellation procedures and all cancellation requests must be honored in accordance with the stated terms of the transaction.

Last I checked, Apple had sold like a hundred gazillion iPods and iPhones.

Okay, just counting iPhones alone, they’ve sold more like 33.75 million as of fourth quarter 2009. [source]

Remember, that’s not counting any iPod Touch sales.

Plus, millions more Crackberries, PDAs, web-enabled cell phones, and handheld Internet devices have been sold all across the world.

I don’t think I’d be exaggerating if I said that 70 million people worldwide can now surf the Internet on a handheld device. And even if it were “only” 34 million people, that’s a LOT of mobile web surfers!

Question: Have you ever wondered how many people are trying to read your blog using a handheld mobile device? And have you ever seen what your blog looks like on one?

I only recently got an iPhone in July 2009 — so I’m not casting stones here at all — and all of a sudden I realized why “the mobile web” is actually a really big deal.

One morning in particular brought this to the front of my mind. My friend was traveling and my brother had slept through his alarm clock, so all of a sudden I found myself at Panera alone… without a book. (The horror!)

But I did have my iPhone.

So I stopped in at a few of my favorite blogs.

Let me tell you: It was practically impossible to read some of them! The words wouldn’t resize, the borders wouldn’t flex, and I’d be stuck scrolling left to right and squinting to read the super-small font.

Not a pleasant experience.

Then I tried to read my blog. And it wasn’t much better!

The fact is, a blog that’s designed to be read on a computer cannot be easily read on a screen that’s perhaps one-tenth or even one-twentieth the size of a full computer screen.

That’s when I got curious about how to modify my blog for mobile readers.

Turns out, it’s way easier than I thought — if you have a Wordpress blog.

All you have to do in Wordpress is scroll down to “Plugins” from within the admin panel and click on “Add New.” Type “Wordpress Mobile Pack” into the search box. Click “Install” next to the plugin to install it.

From there, customize as you wish.

It’s a beautiful thing. Because immediately you will have a site that is easily viewed and read by any mobile web user.

Problem solved! (Not to mention you can now grab the eyeballs of a few million web surfers who are stuck in department stores while their wives try on clothes.)

-Ryan M. Healy

Every business owner is in the bridge-building business: one project (or sale) often leads to another.

Think of every client not in terms of what you make today, but rather what you might make in the future as a result of that client’s testimonial and referrals.

Clients are the bridge between your present and your future.

You want to be in the bridge-building business, not the bridge-burning business.

Every time you burn a bridge, you actually burn two of them. You first burn the bridge between you and your client. Then you burn the bridge your client might have built between you and a future client.

Which means anytime you burn a bridge you are literally burning the bridge to your future! Not a good plan.

In any project you take on, in every sale you make, always give your best effort, your best service — even when you don’t feel like it.

Build bridges; don’t burn them.

-Ryan M. Healy