A successful Internet Marketing business requires a solid foundation be built under it. And like any foundation, having the right tool for the job makes the entire process much smoother.

You, as an online business owner, must have the right tools to build the foundation for your business. But, what you need, where to get the tools, and how to use them can be a time, resource, and money consuming endeavor.

Some of the basic software you will need is an office suite, image manipulation software, an html editor, an ftp client and audio and video editing software. Then you have software for content management, storefronts, and the list goes on.

The cost of premium software for your business often is enough to discourage many people from starting their own online business. Added to the cost of education and training, software can really push your out of pocket start-up costs through the roof.

So, what I want to do is introduce you to some of the free and open source software that can help keep your initial start-up costs to a reasonable level.

Free software is all around us and in many cases we are unaware of it and it works for us just as well. For instance, Java runs in our watches and automobiles as well as in our computers, websites and web browsers.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit corporation formed to educate about and advocate for the benefits of open source and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open source community.

Now let’s get a better understanding of what ‘FREE’ software is, as described at the gnu.org website:

““Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech”, not as in “free beer”.

Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.”

That said here are some other considerations for the use of open source software. Unlike premium software, most do not have a direct line to a support team. Some do have direct support available. However, the majority have links to forums where you can interact with the developers and end users, like yourself, to work out issues.

Also, if you are a slick coder and can take the available source code and create something new and decide to sell it, support for the newly created product, in most cases, falls to you not the original project team.

Remember, most of the folks on these project teams have other jobs and work on the projects in their spare time. So, when you stat raking in the cash, go back to the project website and click on that icon to support the project. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated and you will be helping to keep the project moving forward.

And speaking of contribution, there are other ways that you might support the project. Some projects need translations, persons to check for bugs in the software, and even coordinators for different aspects of the projects.

Now, here is another tool for your Internet marketing arsenal, using the “No Net Cost”, as coined by Doug Champigny, method of acquiring premium software and services for your business.

In this model, you find the software or service that you feel you need that has an affiliate program attached to it. You send traffic to the providers’ website and as sales are made, your software or service has no net cost.

Now, sit back and hang on. We’ll begin our discussion on software for your Internet Marketing business with the basic tool that everyone who browses the Internet already has. Your web browser!

Technorati Tags: Doug Champigny, free and open source software, free software foundation, gnu, Internet marketing business, online business owner, open source initiative, source code

In February, Doug Champigny launched his PowerStart Marketing 2010 4-Week Intensive Coaching Program. I was fortunate to have been a part
of the launch and participate in the program.

Since that time, after several months of gathering questions and comments
from participants, Doug has revamped the program and extended it to an 8 week format.

The topics covered during the program remain basically the same. But, the content is much more in depth as a result of the feedback.

Some of the topics covered in the PowerStart Marketing Program include:

How to correctly install your WordPress blog, including plug-ins and connecting it to Web 2.0 sites to build your online presence.

Setting up your list building funnels.

Product creation, getting targeted traffic to you site, networking and much, much more.

And, of course, Doug provides step-by-step how-to training videos for each week along with weekly webinars to get you through any problems you may face and answer any questions.

If you are currently an online business owner or you are ready to take action to start your own online business, I highly recommend this program.

The same goes for anyone with an offline business who is ready to take advantage of the benefits of taking part in the online business community.

Deadline for the October 8 week program is Sunday, October 10, at midnight.

You’ve heard me say it before, the quickest way to online success is to get a proven system and follow it. And get yourself a mentor. Doing these two things will cut as much as years off the time it takes you to become successful.

With Doug’s PowerStart Marketing 2010 Coaching Program, you get the best of both.

You need this! Your business will love you for it. Your competition will not!

[Tags] PowerStart Marketing 2010 Coaching Program,Doug Champigny,mentor,Wordpress,Web 2.0,list building,product creation,targeted traffic,how-to training videos,online business,offline business [/Tags]

Technorati Tags: Doug Champigny, how-to training videos, list building, mentor, offline business, online business, PowerStart Marketing 2010 Coaching Program, product creation, Targeted Traffic, Web 2.0, WordPress

On March 18th Doug Champigny held a webinar titled ‘Super Affiliate Success Strategies’. If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen that I promoted it on all of my Twitter accounts. Why? Because it was that important!

There were a couple of things that set this webinar apart from many that you may have attended, aside from the fact that you were getting Affiliate Marketing Strategies from a Super Affiliate. One was the level of content. Doug held everyone’s attention with strategies and ideas for improving your affiliate marketing program that cut straight to the chase. No fluff, no time outs.

I got 6 pages of notes from this webinar! Doug broke things down to 3 basic phases; Phase One, Doug discussed what Affiliate Marketing is and what it is not. He talked about the using affiliate directories, the types of products available and how to choose which is best for your particular market.

Phase Two is running your business. Doug covered list building, branding yourself and your authority status. The biggest mistakes that most affiliates make. Setting up your confirm and download pages correctly and using your affiliate tool, such as blogging, social media, audio and video and the ‘Lost Marketing Tools’.

Phase Three is the more advanced strategies and tools. Setting up marketing funnels for yours or someone else’s products. How to use and be part of Joint Ventures, Product Launches and Live Events. How to keep your business from becoming a J.O.B. using planning and automation strategies in basic steps and once these are in place, set up new ones. Doug also covered his ‘No Net Cost’ process for getting the best tools available to run your business.

The second thing that set Doug’s webinar apart from others. When the webinar started, there were over 150 attendees. Over two and a half hours later, there were still 150 attendees present on the call. Yes! Still one hundred and fifty. Holding the attention of that many people for that long, and these persons not be in a closed room, is just a testimony in itself as to the quality of what Doug was teaching.

Well, I know that you hate that you missed it! But, all is not lost to you. He has created an 8 week coaching program to teach you, in detail, all of the things I mentioned and a whole lot more. It’s called PowerStart Affiliate Marketing Coaching. This is another in a line of programs under the PowerStart Marketing umbrella, which began with the 4Week intensive PowerStart 2010 Internet Marketing Coaching and Mentoring Program.

The deadline for registering for the April session of the the PowerStart Affiliate Marketing Coaching has been extended through tomorrow night, April 6. I strongly urge you to go and get registered for this program if you are doing or considering doing any Affiliate Marketing as a business model.

I mean really, where else would you go to get Affiliate Marketing Coaching except from a Super Affiliate?

Remember, ‘You Are Successful!’

[tags] Affiliate Marketing Coaching, Doug Champigny, PowerStart Marketing, Super Affiliate, PowerStart Affiliate Marketing Coaching, branding yourself, affiliate marketing how-to [/tags]

Technorati Tags: Affiliate Marketing Coaching, Affiliate Marketing how-to, branding yourself, Doug Champigny, PowerStart Affiliate Marketing Coaching, PowerStart Marketing, Super Affiliate

As you may know from my previous posts and Blog Talk Radio Show recordings, February was the launch of Doug Champigny’s PowerStart 2010 Internet Marketing Coaching Program, of which, I was privileged to be student.

To give you a little background on Doug, he is a 25 year marketing and and advertising expert. A business consultant, super affiliate, joint venture expert, author, speaker, an excellent instructor and a heck of a nice guy.

Now, I want to reinforce for you that this coaching program was not just another Internet Marketing ‘thing’. Obviously, given the current economic conditions, many people are turning to the Internet as a means to supplement their income or, as in many cases, create an income to support themselves and their families.

The problem is that there is just too much bad or incomplete information available to newcomers to our industry and Doug created this program and set it at a price point to get these folks going, without all the none sense.

As well as helping those who have already begun online to move forward confidently by teaching them the skills and providing resources to move their business forward.

Oh look! There’s a pop-up, with a question mark! Yes! You are wondering what we have done this past month. Well, fasten your seatbelts!

The first week we did keyword research to identify a niche, bought a domain name for it, set up our hosting, installed WordPress blog platform(from scratch, not thru Fantastico), installed a theme, added the plugins, connected the blog to social media sites, wrote articles, posted to our new blog, created a report from these articles, created and uploaded our squeeze page and set up our autoresponder.

Week two, he took it easy on us(yeah, right!), all we did was generate two products to sell, prepare the squeeze, thank you and download pages, upload to our hosting and put it all online.

Week three, we wrote more articles and submitted them to directories, learned to set up pod casts for our blogs and submit to directories. Learned how to create video and submit to directories. BTW, all of this is done using free tools. How cool is that!?

Week four was affiliate products, adding them to our blogs(in the coding, not widgets) and setting up redirects.

Can you feel the burn? All of this is done with step by step videos, audio, and a lot of patience and hand holding from Doug, which he is very good at.

Doug is an excellent taskmaster. Always there to answer questions and provide support. He doesn’t hold a gun to your head and that’s a good thing because, if he did, I would have some flow through ventilation going on right now.

So, there really only remains two questions:

1) What did you do last month? and

2) What are you going to do this month?

Yes, I very highly recommend Doug’s PowerStart 2010 Coaching Program. Whether you are just getting started or having trouble moving forward with your business.

You not only get all of this excellent training, you also meet some really cool people in the program. And when you are there, in the program, and wondering who you might do a joint venture or network with? Just look around at the other members.

Opportunity is constantly knocking. All you have to do is open the door!

Thanks for your time!

As always, at your service,

Jim

Technorati Tags: coaching and mentoring, coaching program, Doug Champigny, internet marketing, marketing