Sales and then some...

...made another sale in my Keeping to the Borders shop today. That adds $5 to my profits there. Not a lot you say? Well, five bucks here, five bucks there, it can all add up. This person bought a t-shirt and a mug. Thanks, whoever you are!

Build Up Your Biz 2 is on its way to my new web host. What a production! Setting up the account, then, having to send it to the new host, then, wait until it gets there to log in to build it. Fortunately, I have most of the pages built already. Think I'll just toss in a landing page and then change things around a bit. I ought to figure out how to capture names, since the power is in the list, but what could I offer as an upsell??? This site will be my affiliate links site, while eDragon Marketing will become my "spiritual" site.

Submitted three more articles to Ezine Articles tonight. Two on "religious" issues (a rebuttal to another poster about the Bible being wrong, and one about all this idiocy about Merry Christmas), and one on mentoring. Search for C. Rogers Upson if you want to read them. I hope they'll be up in the next couple of days. If you find them interesting, sure would appreciate if you forward them, vote on them, put them in your ezine. The only article that has been put into anyone's 'zine has been the dog one. Maybe I need to do a few more of those??

I'll probably start my articles file on BUYB2 with the mentoring article. It's not awfully long, about 700 words. Keyword rich, though. lol I was researching some keywords for 'affiliate marketing' and got 'home business opportunity' and a slew of other ones. So, decided to write an article to include as many of the top search terms as possible and still make sense. Think I succeeded admirably.

I have been learning more about building webpages since I got fired. Having the time to work on this stuff is such a blessing!!! At last, I can schmooze in forums and build webpages and try different stuff to work on making a living on the internet. Wish I knew how to do a graphic that would allow me to put my capture page like an envelope and then, when they click on the link to get into the site, it would turn and open and the site landing page would come out and spread out to be read. Wouldn't that be spiffy?

To be truthful, I'm scared to death of collecting addresses and having to DO something with them. I mean, these are affiliate links, so what would be the upsell? What can I tell folks about in a newsletter? My "Fly Beyond" newsletter is growing pretty well, but that's just my "opinions" of things spiritual and not MARKETING information! lol So, I shall have to explore what I DO know about affiliate marketing and round up all the free books that I can toss out there occasionally.

Well, I do have a new program I'm an affiliate of and it's right up my doggie alley.

Wonder if I'll ever have enough business to make banners like that? Teehee, I could do that for my Keeping to the Borders shop now, couldn't I? Put that on my Dog Potentials page and drive traffic there. How's that? I could find a javascript for that and just make it very interesting.

My time spent at Affiliate Classroom is being very productive. I'm just at the waiting game for the domain and then it's off to the races for me. I've been enjoying posting in the forums there and reading all the training materials and working on getting the promotional stuff worked out for my niche(s).

Well, that's about it for now. Happy-Merry-Blessed Whatever! Chris

Send your affiliates to school...

...if you have any, if your are one, or if you've ever thought about being in business on the internet and don't have a clue how to start. Yes, I get excited about stuff, but this one is really, really exciting. FINALLY, a mentoring program that isn't going to cost $100+ per month to be in, that doesn't require a major investment to get into, that actually suggests programs for you and then walks you though each step to develop your plan for it, and has all these lovely guides and interviews and case studies and a magazine and all. Would it be worth one measley dollar to spend two weeks exploring an environment like that? To go into the forums and find people that know less than you and more than you and about the same but different from you? Well, get ready to roll out the red carpet---drum roll, please...

I have spent the last four days having a blast in the forums, studying the guides for the step-by-step information on marketing, asking questions and giving answers. Realized I know more than I realized and by offering my experiences to others, I've become far more confident. Tomorrow, I'm going to learn the part about autoresponders. An issue that has been a true mystery. Yeah, I've read the books, listened to the audios, but never had anyone take the time to put it into one-step-at-a-time-I-know-you-don't-know-this-yet format. These guys do. And, it's not written in such a way that you feel stupid, either. Too many of the "gurus" forget that regular folks can't afford some computer techie to do all the programming they need and don't necessarily know how to do it themselves. Give it a look.

Well, just over a week ago, I got fired. Again, I think it's going to be one of those best-things-for-me things. NOW, I have the time to study and the brain power to deal with it. I can practice graphic design and design websites. I even added another domain name to my "holdings:" www.buildupyourbiz2.com teehee, I haven't even told my family, yet. This is one of those fait accompli things I think I need to do. Once things are up and rolling, I can casually mention it to them. lol Ought to freak them out something fierce.

Well, I've decided that eDragon Marketing needs a major revamp. I'm going to pull the Spirit of page, the Screen savers page and the World Internet Summit page. Then, I'm going to take eDragon in a more "inspirational" direction. The ezine, "Fly Beyond," has been doing really well, and I think I want the pages to reflect that a bit more. Eventually, all the others will have their own domains.

I have two articles to proof and put on Ezine Articles and see if they get picked up. One is a response to another person's article about how the Bible is wrong because it says that some of the people with Jesus at the time would not taste of death until they saw the kingdom of God. He has claimed that all the "signs" listed in the Bible have come to pass and it STILL hasn't been the end times. The other is my rebuttal to the whole Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays idiocy that's going on. For one thing, there are many holidays that fall around this same time of year, so it is more politic to use Happy Holidays if you don't know the person you're offering it to well. Heck, they might be of the wiccan or druidic persuasion, you don't know. For another thing, I think it would be of more benefit for the folks that are really pushing this to work on keeping God and the Ten Commandments in Washington. Or, nativity scenes being put out instead of this piddly argument that they're trying to take Christ out of Christmas. Seems like somewhere in the Bible it says something about not offending those that are not of your faith. I still haven't found it, yet.

Well, that's my current soapbox. I'm not an advocate of Political Correctness, but this seems awfully trivial and ridiculous to me.

Mercy, I've about written a book here. lol Well, I'll stop now. I need to feed the dogs pretty soon and then do a slew of writing and see if I can clear my mind of the buzz of ideas that have been disturbing my sleep every night.

Happy Holidays.

I have ANOTHER blog--lol

Okay, I've added blogware to my eDragon Marketing website. Well, actually, my host did and I just added it to my capabilities! So, you might ask, what the heck do I need with another blog? That one is going to be my "articles" blog, I think. Not my "as things roll along" one--that's this one--but the articles you could copy and post to your own website or use in your ezine. Right now, it's at www.edragonmarketing.com/blog. I still have to put the links on the webpages. Planning on changing them just a tad, so haven't yet done that.

Also, if you've not been to the website lately, check out the first page. Antone of CaRP has gotten my rss feed loaded and functional! WooHoo Now, all I have to do is figure out how to edit the page for the new stuff I want to add without screwing up the .php. Thank you, Antone! I really appreciate it. The check's in the mail--heh, heh.

Well, I am now officially "retired" from WalMart. Okay, I got fired yesterday, but it wasn't going to be long before I was going to leave anyway. Now, I can concentrate on the internet businesses and get fired-UP about getting that done. Most people would be devestated about getting fired, but that's usually because they have no back-up plan. Well, I do, so....

I think I freaked the boss out when he said, "We'll have to terminate you." I just said, "Okay." lol

If I am to take responsibility for myself, I know that this is what I have attracted (read Joe Vitale's "The Attractor Factor" to get that reference) to myself, so, that's where I am and what I have to do about it. Well, there are a few other things, like getting a business license and setting up a business bank account, finding someone to do the taxes, etc.

That's stuff I need to do soon, so I can start 2006 (hmmm, numerologically, 2006=8 which is the number of money--cool) with the right and legal stuff in place. I need to pull my 401K funds to support getting the business legally started properly. Not a problem!

Anyway, that's how my week has been so far--how's yours?

Ta, Chris

New thoughts on negativity

Some of you might remember the post to my other blog that went like this:

Imagine a huge stone altar. Maybe somewhere like Stonehenge. Now, imagine your worst fears. They permeate your being. Gather it all up from your entire body, like wood for a fire. Put it all on the altar. Get as much as you can find and put it up there.
Now, imagine a fire from Heaven coming down and burning it all away.

Feel better? Let the light of hope and determination fill the areas you just cleared. Do this as often as necessary to help get rid of the negative stuff and fill your life with positive stuff.

All negativity can be removed like this, which has helped me a great deal. But, recently, I realized I hadn't done it in quite some time and when I evaluated my inner being, it was very dark with negativity again. I had noticed that my sales were down and I was beginning to spiral down to the way I was before--cranky, critical, no fun--depressed.

So, I did a removal/burn and felt ever so much lighter. Now, I would like to suggest that you remember to do this at least monthly, but remember, too, that when you remove that negativity, you must fill the space in your spirit with joy and goodness, or, as it says in the Bible, the demon will return and bring friends.

What has this to do with eDragon Marketing and my other business plans? If I am not uplifted, my "vibes" will be negative and will drive business away from me. If I am positive and caring, my "vibes" will draw business to me. Does that make sense?

Think about your shopping experiences, for example. When the cashier and shop staff are upbeat and positive, you have an excellent shopping experience, even if you couldn't get what you wanted there. If they're cranky or just not very positive, you come away with a negative experience, even if you got everything you came for.

So it is even on the internet. Your vibes will infuse your activities and people will either be drawn to what you offer, or repelled. YOU make the choice as to how it will all happen.

In other news, (lol) I have added some new things to my Cafe Press shops: The Wright Gifts and Keeping to the Borders. Check 'em out, might find something there for a Holiday gift. Now, why do I say "Holiday" rather than Christmas? I use the more generic term because there are many religions that celebrate holidays around this time of year. Many nationalities, too. So, why cut any of them out of the concept? I'm hoping to celebrate Christmas at my family home this year, but there are those that celebrate Hannukah (sp??), Kwanzaa, The Three Kings and I don't know what all else. So, Happy Holidays to all. Later, Chris

Moving right along...

Well, Antone at CaRP has done it. Now, all I have to figure out is how to get the .php page as my main page. I'm sure he'll let me know. lol

I also added some free ebooks for you to download, if you'd like. They're on www.edragonmarketing.com/recommends.
The Shocking Truth About Action action.pdf
The Power of Gratitude PowerofGratitude.pdf
From Jim Edwards 5waystoCreatePDFs.pdf
Empower yourself with this information Empowerism_10_Basics_branded.pdf.
Orrrrrrrr, you could just download them from here. :-)

I've also added a new issue to my "Fly Beyond" ezine. I have about 30 subscribers now. What a thrill! To think that folks actually LIKE what I have to say and want to read the weekly issues! Thank you! I've requested to have "Fly Beyond" listed in the Zinester directory, so, I hope that happens soon. It will be in the Inspirational category, I hope.

I have bought some Christmas presents for the family. Found this interesting site through PayPal that specializes in them and have a really unique way of offering them for sale. Go to www.thaigem.com and check them out. Some really nice looking pieces there, if you like that sort of thing. They FedEx the stones to you. They also have jewelry available.

Anyway, I still have to finish my own ebook and get it up on the website. Soon. Have to work daytime hours tomorrow. YUCKY! I much prefer the 12-9 shift. I'm not much of a morning person anymore. lol Oh, well, guess I'd better be happy for a job until I can get some other source of income rolling in. Okay, so that's about all that's gone on for today. Later, Christi

SOME progress, today!!!

I actually got some of the screen savers loaded to eDragon Marketing today. There are five of them, Adorable Borders (pix of Border Terriers), Dogs1 (my dogs, lol), Fun Bears (found these on a gov't site), Inspiration1 (inspirational sayings on some of my pix), and Trine1 (Ralph Waldo Trine sayings on a few of my pix). I created them with Cool Captions, which I downloaded from www.download.com and then, after the trial period, paid $10 for the right to "sell" or give away the results. I haven't been able to get hold of the programmer, I tried, but no response. I wanted to know how to "edit" some of the created screen savers. Still don't know.

Heard from Antone at CaRP, today. He's going to fix up my little website with rss AND atom feed capabilities. The second part is going to cost a bit more, but he's going to load both at the same time, so only the one fee for the programming. Thanks, Antone!

Have this huge list of things to do tonight, but didn't get to all of them. Ewan Chia sent another email about an affiliate checklist for programs you might want to consider joining. If you haven't signed up for his Secret Affiliate Weapon program, why the heck not??? You could be leaving lots of money on the table (have you ever wondered WHAT table they're talking about?) if you aren't getting into this information. Ewan is really good at explaining things and I just downloaded another of his free ebooks from his secret blog.

BUT, the main thing I wanted to accomplish tonight is to get the links fixed on the website for the screen savers. They've been a while in coming, but finally decided I could just go ahead with what I had and let the chips fall where they may. lol My next project, besides all the affiliate programs I'm trying to get straight and worked on, is to work on the Trine books. Then, the dog books (think I'll write one on bathing your dog. Found a handy item that will help with that).

First thing in the morning, I have to balance my checkbook, then, transfer my www.buildupyourbiz.com domain to Host4Profit. Plus, I have to get my Christmas shopping on track. I've gotten a few things, but not nearly done. Be glad when I get more time to myself without having to worry when I'll get paid and how much. That's about the only good thing about a regular j.o.b. You know WHEN, just not necessarily how much. I'd rather get a heck of a lot more for the same or less work. ;-)

More later, Chris