For someone who has been in the computing business for over 25 years, I’m pretty suspicious about storing data anywhere I can’t see it or physically touch it (or at least touch the hard drive case). But for almost 3 years now, I’ve been trusting my precious content to Amazon’s Simple Storage Service, and I have to say that I am utterly delighted. They have been incredibly reliable and very, very inexpensive to use.

I’ve done a fair amount of experimenting with Amazon S3 because I run a membership program. My members pay a monthly fee to get access to content that needs to be protected from prying eyes, and Amazon S3 satisfies that requirement quite nicely. How so? Well, Amazon S3 is not a web server. It’s “storage in the cloud.”

You’ve probably heard the term “cloud computing” and have a vision of  big computers floating on wisps of air. Well, not exactly, but not that far off. Yes, the computers are sitting in big, secured rooms with raised floors in rows and rows of racks of servers. Our only view of the data is through some kind of access tool that lists the contents of the server we’re “renting.” What makes Amazon S3 special is that it is NOT indexed by the search engines.

Wait a minute, isn’t that what we want? Don’t we want our content found? Well yes and no. If you’re providing content to a group of clients that are paying for it, you don’t want the search engines to stumble upon it and put it into search results for everyone to see. And believe me, the search engines do find everything. I was stunned to find a reference in Google Scholar to the masters thesis I wrote back in 1986, and it’s not even in digital format!

Amazon S3 (along with other Amazon services) was originally intended to provide storage to web developers who wanted to provide services over the Internet without hosting the content themselves. Internet marketers subsequently found Amazon S3 and began using it for their own purposes. If you’re not already using it for content storage and delivery, it’s time to get the facts and make a plan.

On Thursday, November 18th at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern, I’m having a webinar on “Using Amazon S3 for Your Business.” This no-cost webinar will explain Amazon S3 in greater detail, and take you through setup, access tool selection, and some of the ways you can leverage the power of Amazon S3 for your content.

Click the blue “Webinar Signup” button at right to sign up for the webinar today.

Toolie

Seven years ago yesterday, I walked out of Microsoft with my last box of personal items. I had been there for 10 years. I have to say though that it was a relief to be free of any employer at that point. I had been ill most of the year, my mother had been placed into hospice (less than 6 months to live), and I had a terrible manager who had made my life hell. But I survived, and I got out as soon as I could.

I was lucky; I had some money saved so that I could spend time with my mother, do some traveling, publish my father’s book after my mother passed away. Then I got involved in my new profession, where I met some key people who got me started with Internet Marketing.

I came into this arena with a technical background, so I basically knew how to put together a website for myself. Entrepreneurship and marketing took much longer to grasp; setting goals, methodically building up my infrastructure, learning how to write sales copy.

Later I took a different direction with my business and it felt like I was starting over: building a new list, experimenting with different content, learning more skills. I finally feel like I’ve found my place in the world, with a specific message to deliver, and people I can help.

What amazes me is that throughout these 7 years is that “get-rich-quick” programs continue to be offered, year after year. If you’re an Internet Marketer with a specific message to deliver, it can feel like you’re a failure because you’re not getting rich overnight. We who are not content to simply “find a hot niche and milk it” are ignored by those who might teach us something because we’re not a hot prospect for them. We may buy their programs a few times, but sooner or later, we realize that they’re simply telling us to find the latest fad and work on that. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t feed my soul. I’ve already been a small cog in a big wheel. I became an entrepreneur because I wanted a chance to put my own ideas into the marketplace and benefit from them directly. I don’t want to sell anyone else’s fad.

Now, I am certain that fortunes have been made milking the latest fad. But what about those of us with specific intellectual property to sell? We have expertise, we know we can help people, and we’re not interested in selling a one-off program. We want to provide products and services that people can count on year after year. Does that mean that we’re doomed to only make money occasionally instead of a regular, even a recurring, income?

I am living proof that it’s possible to make money over the Internet selling MY products and services. Did it take time? Yes. Is it possible for you? Yes, it is. Do you need skills to make this happen? YES you do. And this is where I differ from most of the Internet Marketers you’ll talk to: they’ll gladly tell you that you don’t need to learn any technical stuff to market online. Why? Because they are selling you something that requires that you have an infrastructure in place (like a website), and they want you to buy NOW, whether you have that infrastructure or not.

I’m here to tell you that the longer you put off learning at least some technical knowledge about online marketing, the sooner you will be stymied in your ability to make money online. It just makes sense; if you’re going to depend on your website or blog to make you money, you’ll be happier, more in control, and more profitable if you learn how it works so you can repair it in a crunch.

I am here to help. My job is to make it possible for people with purpose to get their message out into the world. I didn’t start out as a techie, far from it. But I grew into it, and you can too. 

• Others will tell you that you need a website or blog. I will show you HOW.
• Others will tell you to put an opt-in box on your site: I will show you step-by-step how to it.
• Others will encourage you to add video to your website. I can help you figure out what to say, show you exactly how to put a video together, how to edit it, how to install it on your site.

Do you have to learn everything there is to know about websites and blogs? NO, you don’t, unless you want to become a web designer. But there exists a core set of knowledge that is helpful to Internet Marketing that you should learn — the beautiful 20% that affects about 80% of what you do with a website or blog. I have figured out what that 20% is, and I can help you learn what is needed immediately. The rest you can learn if you want to, or just let it go.

So as I celebrate my 7th year of entrepreneurship, I invite you to join your fellow Internet Marketing People with Purpose. Stick around, and I will show you how to become a Web-Savvy Entrepreneur. Let’s make money together, doing what we know we were born to do.  Get started by adding yourself to my Website and Blog Tips mailing list (see sidebar), and I’ll start teaching you what you need to know.

Toolie®

It’s Back-to-School time and your clients will be returning from their vacations any day now. Wouldn’t it be great to have some fresh content for them when they come back to visit your website? Maybe you’ve got some new podcasts to add to your site; or you are ready to create an introductory video; or you have some articles that you want to add to increase your website content; or you have a new service that needs new pages.

Perhaps you’re ready for a new look to your site; a change of colors, a new logo, a new layout, adding a news feed. Now is the time to take advantage of discounted prices on website and blog projects, on individual coaching sessions, or a new Internet strategy.

I’m extending my World Wide Web 20% Off Sale a few extra days because a change of plans. Originally the sale was going to end on September 6th, but now that I’ll be out of town Labor Day weekend, I wanted to give you a few more days to secure your discount before prices go back up.

You’re welcome to book a free 30-minute consulation to talk over what your websites and blogs need, and we can make a plan. For projects over $400, we can work out a payment schedule.

To make an appointment for help, just visit www.ToolieCoaching.com and read about the variety of ways I can help you with websites, blogs, and Internet Marketing stategy. Then click on Make Appointment, and follow the instructions to choose your appointment time and pay online.

Step into autumn with a site that is ready for your customers. Make your To-Do list and then make an appointment today!

Talk to you soon!

Toolie®

Today’s webinar is entitled “Selling Products and Services over the Internet”, which starts at 6 pm Pacific/9 pm Eastern. We’re going to go through the nuts and bolts of making your services available, including using an online appointment system, voice-over-Internet, and having some method for recording your phone sessions.

Investing in a high-quality microphone and audio/video editing software means you can turn your intellectual property into digital and physical products for sale. In this webinar I will have lists of software, hardware, and services that can support your business.

You can sign up for the webinar at www.WorkOnYourWebsite.com.

The Internet Marketing 101 series I’m conducting from the www.WorkOnYourWebsite.com site is a success! The recording for the first webinar of that series is available now. Simply visit the site and sign up for the series, and you’ll receive both the link to the recording, and GoToWebinar registration links for the remaining webinars.

Even if you can’t attend in person, I recommend that you sign up so that I can send you email when the recordings are ready.

Toolie®

It’s been an incredibly busy 3 weeks for me. I got a ton of new info about social media marketing at the National Speakers Association National Convention that I will share with you over the next few months.

Then I decided to consolidate my products onto one website (this one), including pulling all my past free webinars into one location AND moving this blog from www.FixMyWebsitePlease.com to this website (shortcut: www.WSEBlog.com).

Then I fulfilled a dream of mine to set up a website with as many of my pre-tested, low-cost and free resources as I could, and to conduct some webinars on Internet Marketing 101. I’m calling it the “Internet Business Literacy Project,” and I aim to draw attention to the needs of people who could benefit from learning web skills that can improve their employment situation.

Did you know that the World Wide Web started 20 years ago this month? I was still in Los Angeles at the time, working as a technical writer. I’ve been teaching computer stuff ever since. Now, thanks to that World Wide Web, you and I can enhance our business-reach over that Web. But there is a price of admission.

If I have learned anything about computing (and about how adults learn) in the last 20 years, it’s that it draws you in. First you’re happy with any website that gives you visibility. Then you realize you need to market yourself, so you start blogging. Pretty soon you start to care that your sites reflect your company logo, brand, colors, products, services.

You keep bumping into HTML, Cascading Style Sheets, graphics, video, etc. but you’re thinking you don’t really have to learn or understand them. You’ll get by, just as you have so far. But I’m here to tell you that making time to learn them will open up new business opportunities to you. You can decide one day that you’re tired of putting off a really important dream like the Internet Business Literacy Project and just put up that website in a few days, instead of weeks or months.

I’m not asking you to learn all there is to know about HTML and CSS. I challenging you to learn the 20% of HTML/CSS that affects 80% of what you can do with a website or blog. Having that key knowledge gives you tremendous leverage — you can create attractive, useable, maintainable sites that support your business and help other people too.

That’s what it means to be a Web-Savvy Entrepreneur. I’m talking to all of you who have something important to say to the world, and are ready and willing to do what it takes to make this happen.

Welcome, Web-Savvy Entrepreneurs!

Toolie

Well it’s the middle of summer, and we here in Seattle are FINALLY enjoying summer weather. I found the top of my desk again (after digging through a week’s snail mail), and I am starting to put into motion the cool things I learned while I was at the NSA Convention.

It feels really good to know that whatever website, blog, or Internet Marketing-related ideas I get from a learning experience like that, I can implement them immediately. If it means I add more pages to a website, no problem. If it means I start a whole new blog, I can do that. If it means create a new email campaign, or add an opt-in box, NO PROBLEM. I’m not waiting for anyone else’s schedule; I can set things up now and benefit NOW.

At the core of my confidence is my knowledge of HTML and CSS (by the way, I learned most of it AFTER leaving Microsoft). Even if you decide to use software like WordPress to set up your website, you’re going to bump into HTML and CSS over and over and over again! It’s time to stop hiding from them, and really learn the 20% of HTML and CSS that will get you 80% of the way.

My “I Can Fix My Website Monthly Membership” program is a low-cost, effective way to get started. In fact, on Tuesday, July 27th at 4 pm Pacific, we’re having the first of 2 webinars this week — an Open Q&A where you can bring your questions about ANYTHING related to websites, blogs, and Internet Marketing (yes, including Social Media).

http://www.toolieforums.com/zmember/signup.php

Then on Thursday at 4 pm Pacific, I’m demonstrating how to create an Offline Marketing piece that can drive traffic to your website or blog. You get both of these calls PLUS access to our private Technical Support Forum for just $27/month. Both webinars are recorded and added to our soon-to-be-released how-to Video Library. Sign up today, and you’ll immediately receive the GoToWebinar registration links so you can join us for both calls.

Make this summer the one when you finally take charge of your websites and blogs. I’ll be here to help you succeed.

http://www.toolieforums.com/zmember/signup.php

Have a great week!

Toolie®

We had a great time on Monday talking about setting up an Affiliate Program in 1ShoppingCart. The recording is now available; you can click the blue View Recording button at right, or visit http://www.toolie.com/links/icfmwrecording to sign up for the recording.

I’m in Orlando, Florida this for the next week, attending the National Speakers Association National Convention. I’m looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues, and gathering new ideas to share with you for your own businesses.

Toolie®

Kickstart Cart/1ShoppingCart is a very powerful tool with lots of built-in features for Internet Marketing. One of the least implemented features and potentially most profitable ways to promote your business is through the use of the Affiliate Program module in 1ShoppingCart.

In answer to my clients’ requests, I’m conducting a no-cost webinar on Monday, July 12 at 4 pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern called “Setting Up Your 1ShoppingCart Affiliate Program.” I’ll walk you through each phase of the setup, and show you how you can encourage your affiliates’ participation by providing materials they can use right away.

Here are some of the topics we’ll cover:

• The single most important thing you can do to help your Affiliates get credit for their referrals
• Determining commission rates for your products and services
• Setting up individual Affiliate programs
• Creating “media” that your Affiliates can use
• Customizing the “boilerplate” text
• And much, much more.

Simply click on the big red button at right to go to the sign-up page.

I’ll be using Kickstart Cart (a private label brand of 1ShoppingCart) for my demonstrations. If you don’t have a Kickstart Cart account, I encourage you to sign up for or upgrade to their Professional Plan before the webinar begins so that you can follow along. Just click on the banner below to get started.

So sign up for the webinar by putting clicking the red button at right, and I’ll see you Monday, July 12th at 4 pm Pacific time, 7 pm Eastern time!

Thanks!

Toolie®

P.S. If you need help setting up your cart, you can use my Kickstart Cart/1ShoppingCart Setup and Training service. Remember, you can get 30% off that service if you sign up before my sale ends on July 14th.