Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Westin WakeCup Single Serving Coffee Maker EIBOS

Our EIBOS item of the day you can’t buy, so it’s a pleasure only meant for the road, the Westin WakeCup.

This single serving coffee maker co-branded with Starbucks brews what seems to be Tassimo T-Disc of Starbucks coffee into a 12 oz cup. The coffee tastes almost as good as if you bought it from a Barista at a regular Starbucks, and the convenience is unmatched among coffee makers.

What makes this thing so exceptional is its low footprint, it can fit on a small tray easily, as well as its clean-free system that allows you to literally clean it in 10 seconds, simply unplug, toss out the disc, and you’re done.

I’m all about simplicity, and this one button machine is truly perfect for the internet marketer that chooses to consume copious amounts of caffeine on their own schedule, next time you are ready to build a website, visit a Westin for the evening, indulge in a WakeCup brewing experience, and next thing you know your website will be polished and ready to sell.

Friday, June 26, 2009

100th Facebook Fan to Win a Free Rockstar T-Shirt and Mini Messenger Bag

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Be a fan, and help somebody look a little fresher this summer by telling your friends about the promotion. The 100th fan wins an amazing mini messenger bag and a tagless Internet Marketing Rockstar tee. Only 33 more people to go! Sign up to be a fan HERE.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Essential Internet Business Owner Stuff (EIBOS): STM Duplex

I’m starting a new series that I’ve been thinking about for some time now, called essential Internet Business Owner Stuff, EIBOS for short. As more people start living the lifestyle of an Internet company owner, or even team member, things change. Leather briefcases aren’t needed, nor are expensive suits. When you work online, you can really start buying things for function, colors you like, and even the cheap price. Rock a Wal-Mart laptop bag, it’s all good, wear some shoes from the thrift store, the coffee shop owner won’t kick you out. Basically in this world, your vibe is what you make of it, and EIBOS aims to help you get some ideas going towards making the most out of your day to day life as an Internet business person. I'll review stuff I own since I know those things well, bags, apparel, coffee mugs, flip flops, no comfortable thing is out of bounds in this series.

So first up is The Duplex, a laptop bag by the company STM. This bag not only has a fresh name, it’s got two components to help justify it. Most laptop bags are slim, think laptop sleeves, while most messenger bags aren’t padded, so it’s tough task to find a bag that can hold all your crap, and keep your $2,000 Macbook Pro safe. Welcome to The Duplex.

The Duplex offers a padded sleeve that comes out of the bag and works as a micro briefcase, it also fits snug in the bag when needed. The bag can fit 13 and 15 inch laptops, and I've squeezed a windscreen 15 incher in there a few times when traveling for work.

Another neat feature of this funky hybrid messenger laptop bag is the pivoting clips for the shoulder strap. Most straps get extended in different directions when you use them, this often causes the bag to sit uncomfortably on your side or back. With the STM Duplex a plastic pivoting clip on both ends of the shoulder strap curb this from happening, making even the wildest of bag swings a tangle-free experience.

Today these sturdy bags are 20% off, so go for it, I use mine all the time and love it.

Click the pic for a link to eBags. No I'm not an affiliate of them, just dig there efficient retailing of bags online.

STM Bags 13

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Looking for a Few Good Affiliates

I was wondering if you wanted to help me sell our low priced SEO / PUBLICITY / INTERNET MARKETING services for a share of the profits? The risk on your end is 0, and the reward can be pretty big, since our sites convert fairly well. With over 40 unique services on the web today we really do offer something for nearly anyone that is trying to get attention online.

It's never easy to sell anything, but it's easier to sell our stuff than most online, even our affiliate program is totally unique and personal.

In a nutshell we are after 20 qualified people to help promote what we do, and will be building them a custom website, creating tracking methods for them to keep up with sales, and helping train them in what we do.

Details

Your site will have a brief intro about your (our) services, and then links to each Buy Now page. On the Buy Now page you'll have specially custom coded PayPal buttons that track your sales.

We can also put your logo at the top of the site, or if you wish we'll just use your name and /or company name.

Your site will look something like this -

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In Short

We are going to build custom websites for 20 people to help promote our services

We are only looking for people that have the ability to promote this regularly and are committed to a long term relationship

We don’t want people that just want to buy for themselves at a discount, as that’s not allowed

This can be a way you can make a lot of money each month and look smart in the process

Get Started

Please fill out my form.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Definitive Guide to Making Money Online With Your Writing Hits #1 on Amazon

I seriously dreamed about the day this book would be on page 1 when someone searched the term freelance writing. Doing a quick search this morning on Amazon.com I had to do a double take when my book was sitting at the top spot.

For those considering writing a book, use this as inspiration. The book had no big publishing house behind it, nor did it have any type of major marketing budget.

I know this isn’t the number 1 slot of all books, but I celebrate small victories, and this my friend is exactly that.

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Friday, June 19, 2009

Strange Business TV Episode 4: Internet Business Money Saving Tips

Why pay for things your business needs when you can trade something that costs you little to no money for them? Learn how to save money on the one thing your business needs the most to survive, exposure, in this awesome SBTV episode.

Clark Covington also discusses the power of giving stuff away for free, and how restaurants bribe their customers with chocolate cake when things go wrong.

Get Strange Business HERE.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Best Footprint Online is Often The One Never Created

Working online these past few years almost exclusively has given me a great deal of experience in the power of online footprints. Those things you do online that others can see, which happens to be virtually anything you do online. Comment on a forum post, argue with someone over a Facebook page, or celebrate a birthday on Twitter, it all shows up if searched correctly. Good or bad, it all shows up, because Google has no conscience, no sense of right or wrong, it's a computer based algorithm, not exactly a set of warm open arms to fall into at night. Google is indifferent to your issues.

In Strange Business I write about the satellites that are always aware of where we are, and more importantly, what we are saying. While the Internet has the capability for being constantly aware of where we are on this earth through things like IP addresses, GPS locators, and our own admissions, that leaves us basically helpless in hiding ourselves for long, we do have a choice about what we say online.

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. If you are attacked online, your gut reaction is to defend yourself, just as if you were attacked in your home, you'd grab the first thing you could to knock the intruder over the head. Should you not be reaching for the digital table lamp or the virtual gun in the lockbox when attacked online?

I argue no. In fact, the less you say sometimes the better the result. As you deal with issues over the years online like yours truly has, you realize that often keeping quiet is the best remedy to the problem at hand. I could go into a lengthy explanation of why this is the case, but I'd rather spare you the specifics, just apply your own circumstances to this theory and see if it doesn't end up making a whole bunch of sense.

Monday, June 15, 2009

This Saturday We Giveaway a Netbook

***UPDATE WE HAVE A WINNER***

After an eventful contest Leigh Webster won a brand new MSI Wind with her famous pekingese baby's butt tweet! Congrats Leigh!

Howdy,

So you want to win a brand new $350 netbook of your choice? The odds right now are pretty darn good, currently sitting at about 1 in 1,750 which isn't too bad at all.

All you have to do is RT follow @ClarkCovington to win a free netbook and use the word tomfoolery with the remaining characters that you've got. The more creative the better. The more you do it the more chances you have at winning. It's that simple!

We'll pick a winner this Saturday morning June 20th at 11 am EST. We will select a winner based on who used the word tomfoolery in the most clever / funny way.

Get started now! Go to Twitter and tweet away by following me www.Twitter.com/ClarkCovington and then tweeting about the contest!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Strange Business TV Episode 3: Bizarre Internet Marketing

Buying kidney stones for publicity? Streaking across a golf course? Learn how internet marketing has come a long way from the days of the banner ad. Clark Covington describes his theories on internet marketing, capturing leads, and office decor in this awesome edition of SBTV!

Coconut Records
http://www.myspace.com/coconutrecords

Carl's Jr.
http://mashable.com/2009/06/11/carls-jr-viral-ad/

Strange Business
http://www.strangebusinessbook.com/

Dirt
http://dirt.com/

Wes Donehue
http://wesleydonehue.com/

Golden Palace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldenPalace.com

Springbok
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springbok_(antelope)

Monday, June 8, 2009

Social Media Management Service Launch

For months now I’ve been contemplating the question, how can my company help people in the social media space. I tweeted, friended, updated my status, and kept up with others. I even attended a few talks on the subject. What I learned was that listening is paramount on these networks. Listen, engage, and then, way down the line, when it’s apparent you care to give more than to receive, that’s when you ask for something. This is what I’ve learned.

What now? What next? What do you do with the knowledge that listening is the first step if your marketing on the internet. Well unless you have all day to play around on these networks, you best find someone to help you.

I’ve hired someone to help me listen, help me engage, and help me get more out of these tools each day. I encourage you to do the same. I’ve modeled this service after what our in house social media person does for me each day. Check out our Social Media Management Service for details.

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Sunday, June 7, 2009

I Don’t Put Enough Pictures On My Posts

So here’s a recent one to make up for it. Me in NYC fully caffeinated.

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Friday, June 5, 2009

Plan Ahead and Stick To It

Getting things done in a chaotic environment is never easy. We all tend to live and work in chaos, so this blog post is for pretty much anybody that has a goal to do anything in life.

Lately I’ve personally been extra busy, my normal routine of writing each morning, and working on marketing / support issues in the afternoon and evenings has been turned upside down to the point where it seems like all I’m doing these days is dealing with client support. The lesson that emerges from running a business like mine in times like these is the effectiveness of planning.

The artful organization and implementation of a simple, direct, straight forward plan can, and should not be underestimated. Use your notebook paper to write a plan, or draft up a formal plan MS Word, it doesn’t matter, as long as wherever you put your plan is somewhere you frequent often throughout the day.

The notion of not having enough time in the day is akin to saying there is not enough water in the river. There is an infinite amount of time for the things you want to get done, not need, but want to get done if you plan ahead before attempting to do them.

Here is the crux of this post, the one sentence if you had to stop multitasking while reading; here is what you need to know. Create a shortlist of things you want to do, budget an hour or two for them each day no matter how busy you are, and in a few weeks you’ll be able to accomplish your normal routine, as well as enjoy the satisfaction of finishing whatever you thought you were too busy to do to begin with.

Let’s say you want to write a book, but “have no time” to do it because your 9 am to 9 pm job is insanely busy, and after working 12 hours your mind is mush. Fair enough, that’s a tough circumstance. Here’s my proposal to getting the book accomplished in a month, yes, 1 month.

Start by getting up early, each day at say 6 am for the first week. Don’t do anything at that time other than work on staying awake, being productive, etc. After a week write out a rough outline of your book, see if you can come up with chapter titles. Keep it simple; make the book 20 chapters each 10 pages long.

As week 2 begins spend that time you are alone and awake from 6 am to 8 am attempting to write 1 chapter per day. Don’t worry if every day you aren’t completing the entire thing, there will be always a new day ahead to revise, edit, and add on to incomplete chapters.

If you’ve followed my plan above in just 20 days, roughly a month if you just work on business days, you’ll have a 200 page book written and finished, you’ll also have not missed any work, had to “squeeze” in time throughout your day, or anything else that people use as an excuse to not get things done. Is it easy? No, but it’s damn effective. Getting things done is all about planning ahead, and more importantly, sticking to that plan as if your life depended on it.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

One of the best nuggets of business wisdom I’ve ever gleaned from all the books I’ve read is to get out of your comfort zone.

The phrase itself struck me as a bit odd, if you are to work at what you are best at, and outsource everything else like many successful businessmen have noted over the years, under such a strategy would you not be comfortable all the time? Apparently not.

Getting out of your comfort zone means doing things you wouldn’t normally do in the name of your business.

It seems as if virtually every time I’ve felt anxious or nervous about doing something for my business that I wasn’t comfortable with, it has benefited me. Not always immediately, but in the long run doing things you aren’t comfortable with can make a whole heck of a lot of sense.

A Personal Example

A year or so ago I owned a company that was 100% virtual, no local employees, no office, nothing. In fact, if you were my neighbor you’d probably think I was dealing drugs out of my house, how else could I earn a living if there was no noticeable sign of an incoming earner at my home. I’d park my Saab convertible in the driveway, hop out with a big smile on my face, and spend the next hour hanging out with my dogs in the backyard. If I were my neighbor I’d have been skeptical! Life was nice, it was predictable, it was comfortable.

Not much less than a year ago I decided to truly grow my company from a million dollar operation to a ten, or dare I write, hundred million dollar company I had to get out of my comfort zone. Those that know me, know I’m never satisfied, even with the life as good as mine had been for the past few years.

So the time had come, I had to try new things, make myself feel a bit odd, by, gasp, hiring a local staff and getting a real office. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but my business had become too mature to run out of my living room, or even a storage unit. In the short time that I’ve had an office and a local staff member we’ve grown substantially, cemented new relationships that would otherwise be moot ones, and best yet, we’re hiring again.

So the moral of the story is even if something feels awkward or stressful, get yourself out of the comfort zone that you’ve built around your business with the internet. Marathon runners probably don’t always feel like running 10 miles a day to train, yet the good ones nearly always do.

Take a risk, make yourself uncomfortable today.