Brent Worley Blog

Ahh, Memorial Day weekend. It is the officical start of summer. Here in Arkansas, summer has arrived (highs in the 90’s with 50% humidity or higher). What a tradition this weekend has become for many of us. Usually the weekend falls on or around my birthday (its actually this coming Thursday instead of on the weekend itself) and spend a lot of time with family.

This year, I’m spending a LOT more time with my grill (yes, my family too, but we’ve decided to grill everyday of the weekend so far).

Its the weekend of the Indy 500. Its the first weekend that many start their summer vacations…if the kids are out of school, that is.

But mostly for us, its about the grilling.

Lets not forget the intent of the holiday, though. While I’ve never served in the military, far be it from me to disrespect any past or present member of our Armed Forces. Soldiers of the past fought for our freedom, many loosing their lives. And while you may have your own opinion of the current war(s), lets not forget our men and women serving. Pray for their protection and their safe return home. My wife and I spend a lot of time thinking and praying for her father-in-law who is currently in Iraq. We wish nothing but safety and fortune over him and the people he serves with over there.

Just think about this while your grilling, sitting by the pool, catching some additional sales this week, or whatever it is that you plan on doing this weekend.

God Bless America, our veterans, and our current forces serving the country.

Its hard to be online without running across the millions of messages of “How to make money online.”

In fact, if you have been on the Internet for any length of time, you most likely have an email about it, been asked to see a webpage about it, etc.

So this begs the question: Can an average person really make money online?

I wrote earlier in my blogging about beginning to use some Internet marketing training to sell an affiliate product for one business. Following the Internet Marketing Home Study Course I received from my good friends at FormerMLMLoser.com and one report called Niche Marketing On Crack, I set out to build this website, populate it with information, do some minor advertising, and see what the results were.

Well, the fruit of that labor has started rolling in.

I received my first notification of a sale last night.

I have spent maybe 4 hours total on the website, most of that on submitting articles to start getting backlinks. My current Google rank for this website is 41 for the keywords FHA Training, 41 for the keywords FHA Loan Officer Training, #3 for “Be A Great FHA Loan Officer“, and getting more popular all the time. In the month of April alone I have had 93 unique visitors on a very targeted niche that generates a small, steady stream of traffic.

21 days into the month and averaging nearly 20 hits hits a day.

Checking the stats for the affiliate program, I have had 21 impressions to the affiliate website from my website for May, for an average of 1 a day. While not impressive, remember that I have spent 5 hours on this total.

Here is what is great about the Internet marketing training I have received so far, though.

Although my website is only #41 for a couple of the main keywords I have been targeting, other things I have done in my marketing are much higher up. For instance, I have an article in the top 20 and a Digg reference to my website also in the top 20 for the keywords “FHA Training.”

There are some fairly stiff competition among some of these websites in the top 10, but following what I have learned in the Internet Marketing Training I am using, I should be able to crack into that in the next little bit and see my traffic increase.

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend these products I am using for Internet Marketing, whether you are wanting to crack into affiliate marketing, building a network marketing or home based business, etc. The Niche Marketing On Crack is very inexpensive and will teach you a couple of basic concepts. The Internet Marketing Home Training Course is more expensive but very, very in-depth.

By the way, if you would like to know how to get the more expensive Internet Marketing Home Study Course for free, I can show you how (drop me an email: brent@brentworley.com and tell me you want to know how to get this for free).

So does Internet Marketing work? Can the average person make money online? I say YES!

As I expected, it comes down to the two Davids.

However, I think one is a HUGE favorite.

David Archuleta, while vocally the most talented on the show, has worked himself into a peciliar situation coming into the final. He has only showed one genre that he excels in: Ballads. Take away the chance for him to show off those crooning pipes to a slow, lyrical toon, and he gets mediocre reviews. His Chris Brown performance last week proved that.

And while he has the vote of most teeny-boppers, he is not the complete package or star material. In fact, he is a little awkward. He has shown us throughout this season that he does not know how to communicate in a one-on-one interview. Only in the taped moments did he ever seem comfortable.

Archuleta has one other factor working against him: He is not original. In fact, I would guess that, minus some slight movement of notes in some songs, he has not had an original moment. It appears that most of the differences he put into his music was the prodding of his father, not from his own imagination on how a song should be.

The “Goliath” in this match-up is definitely David Cook.

Lets fact it, Cook is the complete package for a star. Vocally, he is extremely talented both within and outside of his comfort zone. The minute-and-a-half time limitations have not served him well in the last couple of weeks, but his originality has. He has the look of a star, the ability to communicate like a star, and the ability to make songs his own through arrangements.

And while not all of his performance this season were his originals, the ones he performed that he did arrange were nothing short of incredible. He not only brought the house down on the re-arrangement of “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey but this rendition of Aerosmith was incredible (regardless of what Randy says in the end).

So what will it take for Cook to win it all?

Not much.

If Cook shows up with an original arrangement in hand and rocks the house in one of the many songs he’ll get a shot at this week, he’ll capture an overwhelming majority of the votes of anyone over the age of 16.

If an older demographic votes this week, Cook will win in a landslide.

The final airs live this Tuesday on Fox. Lets hope for a knockout performance from both contestants.

I’m seeing something interesting in the home business/network marketing circles.

People who I thought would have no interest in them are all-of-the-sudden joining them.

One person I know well made it quite clear to me a few years back that he would never join one of those “pyramid schemes.” I received a text message from him the other day pointing me to a website with a presentation for a rather well known company.

Personally, I’m excited about what the future holds for home businesses. It is evident that more and more companies are moving to a word-of-mouth or referral method of getting additional business. Banks, retail stores, etc, are all offering affiliate programs geared towards having others advertise their products and services and getting paid a percentage of the cost or a referral fee.

There are many services that are very high quality that are offered through network marketing companies. I work with one fairly new company, but what they currently offer (and will offer soon) will be a huge help to individuals, families, businesses, pets, and everything inbetween.

For instance, on plan they have now is just geared towards helping people save money.

A future plan is going to be geared towards health care, but not in the typical fashion that most plans in this niche are fashioned.

How about tech support?

Legal help?

But here is what is really great about all of this: This is not the only company offering great services to consumers while allowing people to build an additional income stream. And while not every company is a best-fit for any one particular individual, there are companies out there that are a fit for everyone.

Cosmetics

Purses

Vitamins and nutritional supplemtns

Weightloss

Legal plans

Kitchen gadgets

Websites

Adult…umm…nevermind

Candles

You get the point. While any one company may, or may not, be a fit for you, there is one out there.

And if an all-out business is not for you, you can always concentrate on affiliate marketing and simply build websites geared towards driving traffic and generating sales.

In my usual manner of filing taxes, I use Turbo Tax’s online system (usually a higher priced one as I have business expenses I need to mark on a Schedule C as well as do my personal taxes).

Never again.

Since Turbo Tax loves Santa Barbara Bank and Trust (SBB&T) for their direct deposit option, using them will force the IRS to mail your rebate to you instead of having it wired into your bank account.

How nice of Intuit to inform me of this.  Oh wait, they did not.  I found this out after digging through their website, wondering if I would get my rebate this week or not.

Some people are claiming that they are receiving direct deposit.  I decided to place a call to Intuit to discuss this with them.  Their response?  Paper check mailed no later than May 30th.

Turbo Tax fully let me down this year, not only with the rebate, but the fact that their software showed me getting a larger return than what I actually received.  Their software had an error in it, the IRS caught it, and my refund was less.  Supposedly they have a 100% accuracy guarantee, but they will only pay the amount of penalty plus interest and not reimburse the cost of using their service (which was nearly $100).

I do not think I’ll use Turbo Tax for any future tax filings.

It will either be called a brilliant move or the biggest mistake in poker history.

The World Series of Poker (i.e. Harrah’s Entertainment) and ESPN announced today a delay of playing the WSOP final table…until November.

The goal is to air the WSOP prelims and the main event up to the final table.  The 9 final table players would return to Vegas to play a live broadcast of the final table.

There has been a lot of discussion about it, notably negative on a popular online poker forum, PocketFives.com.  In particular, there are concerns about what happens if something happens to one of the final 9?  What would prevent the weaker players from seeking coaching from a pro?  Are the lives of the final 9 at danger from each other, the mob, etc?

Obviously, these are all hypothetical situations, but things to be concerned with.

The Good:

Poker has seen a slight decline over the last little bit (emphasis on slight).  TV ratings are down slightly as well as players due to the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (not passed on its own merits but tacked on to a Homeland Security bill in late 2006).  Poker is needing a shot in the arm, or so the thought is.

So, the goal is to get as much exposure for the final 9, crank the hype machine up, and drive up ratings for the live final table.

Along with increased TV ratings, the other hope is that sponsorship deals can be struck with the final 9, selling spots on their outfit as advertising.  This will make the play more profitable for these players, and others playing the game will take note.

The Bad:

There is too many possibilities for something bad to happen, either for the individuals, or for the game.  I’m all for gaining popularity, but not at the risk of damaging the integrity of the game, the players, etc.

For instance:

• What would prevent a form of collusion at the final table?  For instance, two of the players could work out a system to reveal (within reason) their hole cards?
• What if something happens to one of the players?  Sure, this could happen on the planned day off between the final 18 and the final 9, but with 4 months separating when the final table is set and when they actually play it, well, that leaves for a lot of time for something to happen.
• Extreme scenario:  What if a mob were to get to one of these players?  Don’t think it could happen?  With millions on the line, I would be willing to guess that it is definitely not beyond the realm of possibilities.
• Along with the previous line, what if a hit was placed on one of the known players?  Money makes people do crazy things…
• If someone cannot show up due to natural causes (i.e. death), are they just blinded off, or can someone from their estate play it out for them?
• Deportation for foreign players?

The Ugly

Two things have come up, one from a dealer (though not for Harrah’s) and another from a multitude:

First, realize that in tournament poker dealers are paid “extra” in either one of two ways:  Part of the prize pool is held out specifically for them, or the big winners tip them a certain amount.  This money is typically distributed at the end.  Is Harrah’s going to take care of the dealers?  These guys make a lot of their money based on tips from cash game play and NOT dealing a tournament.  Remember, these are people too, with families to feed, rent to pay, etc.

Also…where is the player’s cut in all of this?

The main event players pony up $10,000 to play in what has been the largest live-play event in the world.  Of the $10k, 6% is being withheld this year, with the largest portion of that going towards “entry fees.”  This is only fair (I have no problem paying fees to play).  But you know the will make millions more while the hype machine cranks up, either in new players to their casinos, ESPN coverage, companies paying for sponsorships, etc.

So in all of this extra revenue, are the players getting any cut of it?  Probably not.

Pro players probably have a larger problem with this than the average Joe, and I definitely do not have a problem with it.  After all, its business, and probably a good business move.  But I can definitely see the complaints, as the 9 players will be inconvenienced by having to wait months before their possible payout.

One thing is for sure on this:  This will be a heated debate until November.  Only then will the verdict come out on whether this was a good move or a bad move for the WSOP.

By the way, I should say this:  The World Series of Poker, WSOP, and Harrah’s are all property of Harrah’s Entertainment.

To the voting public of American Idol:  Huh?

Granted Carly Smithson has been taking heat from Simon for weeks, her performance on Tuesday should have been enough to put her through to the next round.  In fact, that song proved that she can have a great time, perform, and not feel like she is trying too hard to impress everyone.  In fact, even Simon liked it (for once).

Instead of picking the person who blew it (Brooke White) or the guy that has no business making it this far (Jason Castro), you pick one of the two females that have some real talent and chance of making it in the music industry.

But there is an obvious reason why Brooke made it through:  She has a huge following based off of her looks and previous performances.

In fact, one forum I participate on continually has post about how “hot” Brooke is.  Of course, most of these guys are 18-23, single, and “living life” so to speak.  But this may have had a lot to do with who all continues to vote for her.

Had this been the first time she has slipped on her performance, it might be a little more easily forgiven.  However, this is a second time.

Brooke’s following is that similar to viral marketing techniques.  Consider it a “bandwagon” mentality of followers.  Her popularity has spread quite rapidly since Hollywood week was over.  Her fans have been contagious in how they promote her looks and talent, as is evident by the buzz on the Internet and now the voting.  Through this viral spreading of her fan base, the show became about popularity and not about performances (especially recent performances).  Brooke is talented…just not the most talented this week.

One good thing did come out of this week:  It left hope for a finale with the two real superstars of this season:  David Cook and David Archuleta.

Some people blog for the sheer enjoyment of sharing what is going on in their lives. Others use it as a medium to pass on information to people who might need to know about something.

Personally, I think Wordpress and blogging are best used as a mixture of business and pleasure.

I love writing on this blog, but I also realize the HUGE potential that blogging can have for marketing products, businesses, concepts, and ideas. In fact, I have spent quite a bit of time (my mentor would probably say too much time) learning how to optimize my blogs and market them correctly.

An example:

Many know that I have some decent involvement in the mortgage industry through a company called National Mortgage Associates. It is a company owned by my friend and mentor Terry Snyder. He started this concept a couple of years back and we have been working to continue it.

The concept of a mortgage training company would not be complete if we did not offer any training. One of the hottest mortgage products on the market currently is the FHA line of products. Terry turned me on to a FHA training program that had an affiliate program attached to it. After reading how to use Wordpress to do some promotion of affiliate programs, I decided to put it to the test.

http://www.fhatrainingreview.com was born.

The site is nothing more than a keyword optimized Wordpress blog. I’ve used many techniques I have learned to make the blog optimized for a niche market.

With the on-page SEO complete, I have been working on multiple off-page SEO techniques to drive backlinks up from pages with great Page Rank. I did all of this in the course of a three to four hours.

By the way, you may be wondering how I came about learning all of this, my resources, mentors, etc.

The most helpful resource I have is my Internet Marketing Home Study Course. A very good family friend and mentor of mine, Scott Miller, put this together as he was learning the multitude of ways to market his business online. It has been a HUGE help.

Another product that helped me in terms of affiliate marketing via Wordpress is Niche Marketing On Crack. This was a recommended product from the Warrior Forum. It gave me some ideas about how to utilize more Wordpress specific functionality and how to market for specific niche keywords. The keywords I chose for the FHA training product have very little competition.

So yes, blogging is slightly therapeutic, but it can be profitable at the same time. I’ll update the blog in the next few days once Google re-indexes the site and sees the updated content.

Just think that 5 years ago we were complaining that gas prices were above $1.20/gallon. Now we are faced with prices that make even Honda drivers cringe. After all, your car may get 30 miles to the gallon, but putting in nearly $50 still hurts.

With gas rising, though, marketing efforts for anyone who offer a product or company that can earn them extra should increase as well. People are looking for second income streams or second jobs. With this in mind, ramping up your online marketing is becoming critical.

I’m personally trying to write more articles, start up more sites on pages with Page Rank, and other methods to draw people to one of my many primary copy sites. I’m also going to be increasing some of my affiliate marketing efforts in hopes of earning a few extra dollars here and there myself.

So its time to break out the old dusty brain and begin working diligently again. Write more articles, increase your web presence, and spend some time learning more about marketing online will drastically help your traffic, your business, and eventually your personal pain at the pump.

I never cared for the concept of American Idol until I got hooked watching the auditions last year. Now, its a weekly ritual (and set to record on the DVR in case I’m gone). Its interesting to me…I actually get hooked on the performers and how they do.

For the longest time I figured the baby-faced 17 year old crooner David Archuleta would win it all. After all, he is (in my honest but educated opinion) the most talented vocalist. He has a great future ahead of him but he lacks originality.

Enter David Cook.

I’ve always like David’s style. He’s a rocker with a good voice. What makes him stand out is his ability to take a song, put his touches on it, and make it sound like an original that could be a #1 hit all over again.

Take this week’s theme: Mariah Carey. She is one of my favorite all-time female vocalist but I’m not a HUGE fan of some of her songs. “Hero” was huge hit, as was “One Sweet Day” (combined with Boyz II Men…my all-time favorite song. Ever. Period). However, I never really cared for “Always Be My Baby” as a song. It was a little too, well, bubbly for my taste.

Again, enter David Cook.

David C. takes the song, adds his touch (whoever is helping him with arranging these is a genius…and if no one is helping him, David C. is a genius), and makes a song that I believe will be #1 again. It reminded me of Aerosmith and Bon Jovi in the late 1990’s: A great song, darker than the original (more “rock” than “pop”), and performed very well.

My take on it is this: While David A. is talented vocally and a hit with the “teeny bopper” girls, he lacks one thing that David C. has. Yes, both have great voices, a great stage presence, and great careers ahead of them. David A. lacks a certain flare and originality.

David C. (boy its confusing marking who’s who…even I get confused typing it) has the ability to take a song, here it through his ears, and make it a hit. The other David just sings really, really, REALLY well.

By the way, this is a great point in marketing. David A. has a great voice and a great following, but he has yet to really brand himself. David C. brands each performance with his own touch (other than great vocals). You hear in marketing of anything that you should always brand yourself and not just your products or company. This is a great example of just this.

David C. has managed to brand “David Cook” as a future star, regardless of how the voting turns out. Tonight’s performance is just one great example of that. His voice, his arrangements, his personality on stage, everything about him sets him apart from just a singer or just a guy with looks. He has set “David Cook” up for a successful run in the music business.