Theresa Cahill's Article Library

THE FIRST SET OF ARTICLES ARE AVAILABLE IN EBOOK FORM:
Marketing Tips 1: Taking Individual Power Seriously
Download It Here

Would You Eat With Your Feet?
Sitting here at the computer running through our email, the thought came into my head, "Would you eat with your feet?" Now, you've got to be wondering what the heck does this have to do with anything online? The answer is simple: Net Etiquette.

Dear Sirs - or - Is Anybody Home?
You've read all about the all-important need to provide quality customer service - follow up - if you're selling ANYTHING online (or off). Now, before you groan and flip further into this ezine, take a moment and read on!

You Talkin' to Me?
Last night while watching stand up comedy on television, we listened to a comedian do a hilarious routine about wavering in and out while listening to someone else speak. At the time, it was funny - just as a comic routine is meant to be, but it got me wondering. How often do we really listen?

Just a Pinch of Reality... Please!
In all honesty, haven't we all, in our heart of hearts, wished that that "magic wand" would somehow drop into our laps and make us instantly famous, instantly successful, instantly rich... especially online?

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...
Wow, the most amazing thing happened today... Someone tried to scam us! Now, I know that sounds horribly naive, but never fear, the scammer did not win, our internal instincts said WHOA! and we listened!

Does Your Site Scream "NEWBIE!?"
Are you like me? The term "newbie" sort of drives me crazy, but there really isn't another one that comes readily to mind that says it in quite the same manner. You ARE a newbie? Or have you been online long enough to feel you've left that "newbie" status behind?

What's Your Point?
Not to get off on a rant here, but today's inbox is filled with subject lines of misleading topics. One came today from a well-known program labelled, "Question."

What ARE You Saying?
As most of my articles evolve, todays was no exception. A good friend of mine contacted me asking if everything was okay between me and Person X. I was surprised at the question! To the best of my knowledge nary a problem existed.

Are You Organized?
The key to all successful endeavors is, of course, organization. Whether you have your own business, are involved in affiliate programs, publish your own ezine, etc., if you're not organized you are fighting an uphill, and ultimately unwinnable, battle. BUT, WHERE TO BEGIN?

Are You Missing the Boat?
You have at your fingertips one of THE most valuable resources on the net, the ezine! Are you making good use of it?

What Should I Sell?
The most frequently asked question has got to be, "WHAT should I sell?" Well here's an idea to consider:

A Bird in the Hand...
Today I was on the phone for over an hour with one of our newest advertisers discussing his solo ad. Though by no means a newbie to marketing, it was apparent that he was missing the key PURPOSE to effectively using ezine publications.

Bread, Mayo, Turkey, Mailing List!
My good friend Raymond McNally of RTD Websolutions, http://www.mywizardads.com/RD/RTD.htm recently compared online marketing to visiting a grocery store. Forget what you came there to BUY, there's more at work here then meets the eye.

Monster or Mighty Mouse? Solve Those URL Problems!
You've heard the expression, "The Great American Novel?" If not, a short explanation is in order before I continue. The "Great American Novel" is that "quick email" you start to write that goes on for two screens. Or the short memo that turns into a business letter, or the solo that takes three complete window scrolls to read. Or an article that runs on a tad too long... or...

HELP! HAVE I BEEN SCAMMED?!
There's a plus and a minus to doing business on the net. The plus is instant gratification. The minus? Instant gratification! Let's face it, people begin to "expect" certain things...

AMAZING? NO! FLABBERGASTING!
For those of you reading right now that DO have a clue I can't possibly offend you since you'll automatically understand what I'm about to say.

Has This Happened to You?
Has this happened to you? You're surfing along, or reading an ezine and click through to a website, and lo and behold there are YOUR WORDS on their webpage!

Picky, Picky, Picky
The secret to making money online is…

You Gotta Wonder
Man oh man! You know I'd like to think I'm smarter than the average bear, but sometimes I amaze myself with my lack of common sense and good judgment.

Do You REALLY Know Your AntiVirus Program?
This morning talking with a fellow publisher, the topic of antivirus programs came up. Seems someone somewhere is always talking about them. Why?

Head For Home - The Right Way!
When you click HOME where is it taking you? Mega-giants online would love to persuade you to have their site loading each time you go HOME, but is that an efficient way to use it? No, it is not.

Don't Shoot the Messenger
Recently our website had one of the "gurus" test out our Solo Sweepstakes program. Frankly, it was sort of exciting to know we were about to be, or could possibly be, put on the hot seat. We didn't hold our breath LOL, but truly it was a kick!

Why Is That?
Last night the news reported the third day in a row of slipping stock prices - no surprise there. Ever since we bought stock, the price has fallen and fallen and fallen. We have the same luck with buying houses! However, the reporter also told us...

Taking Individual Power Seriously
Recently I accompanied my mother to a "specialist" in our area, a man who has studied the Bowen Technique for years and is quite successful with it. It's a hands-on way of making your body help itself, healing minor to major problems. In fact, I took a first-level course about two years ago and, yes, it works. So what does this have to do with anything? Just this...

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THIS SECOND SET OF ARTICLES ARE AVAILABLE IN EBOOK FORM:
Marketing Tips 2:
Download It Here

To Subscribe or Not to Subscribe, Is There Even a Question?
On occasion I receive phone calls and emails asking about the services at My Wizard Ads. Sometimes the low prices are questioned, and other times it's why the need to subscribe. The first, of course, is easy to answer. We set our prices so advertising is available for everyone. The second is just a tad more complex and needs exploring, so let's take a quick look :)

Are We Devaluing a Great Resource? The Musings of a Concerned Publisher
When I started earlier today to write this article, it ended up three pages long while I tried to "tip toe around" what really just needed to be said.

How Much Is Too Little
As a publisher and ezine co-op owner, I've been studying ezines and co-ops for some time now, and I've arrived at the following conclusion: How much IS too little?

Do YOU Know The Difference?
It appears that the true definition of a certain type of online advertising is becoming a bit blurry around the edges, and I'm wondering, "Do you know the difference?"

Co-Op...eration
Read the true purpose and value to an ezine co-op plus a whole lot more :)

Use Your Head!
I know we'd all like to be able to stumble onto that special something that will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams, and the internet sure is doing it's fair share of making us think that is possible. But...

You're Building What?
I've been giving a lot of thought lately to what works online and what doesn't. You must have noticed it, too. Tons and tons of people are willing to jump on the bandwagon with dreams of getting rich - virtually overnight.

The Martial Arts of Marketing
Last night, just as I was dozing off, it occurred to me how like the martial arts is the fine art of marketing. A true practioner of the martial arts knows he or she must continuously work to achieve and maintain body, mind, and spirit “oneness" or they are doomed to fail. So, too, the online marketer. Hence, the mantra of marketing goes something like this...

How to Increase the Value of Your Mailing List
109 in 20 days
61 in 9 days
43 in 24 days
33 in 20 days
Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what the above numbers signify? If you guessed mailings from any one source - bingo! You win! When exactly is enough enough? When does something cross the fine line from useful to ridiculous? ...

Is There Still Room for Me?
I'm over at one of my newly discovered and now favorite quick search sites, mikes-marketing-tools.com, and I decided to check out the search terms submitted to the search engines within the past 24 hours.

Are You a Day Late, Dollar Short...? As you sit at your computer reading this somewhere in the back of your mind may be the little words, "Back me up!" floating around trying to alert you to something truly important.

What's Your Niche?
Everyone tells you to find a niche, which is fine, but what niche and how?

Don't Be Too Smart
A good friend of mine, Pam Splitt of the Beginners Guide to Internet Marketing, wrote to me yesterday. She mentioned reading the Whole Truth, the ebook by Stephen Pierce. Both of us agree, it is an ebook worth reading. Both of us agree that he tends to bash ezines. Both of us agree that, in this instance, he is wrong about ezines *smile* but the world is full of differing opinions.

Thy Name is Mud
My own ezine, TheWizWorld MRC Newsletter, focuses on the positive side of building an ebusiness. It stresses the importance of personal name branding. It also stresses that by helping others, we do help ourselves - our businesses grow, our name value grows. By displaying ones own understanding of business, it helps others build theirs - and provides them with a resource to turn to to ask for help, inquire about joint ventures, and more... you.

WAKE UP!
I understand that when people are told something over and over they take at least three different roads...

What's In An Ad... The Advantages of Ad Testing
Hello and good morning! I've got something truly useful to share with you today about your ezine advertising. The other day...

What's Your Ad Doing For You?
Do you know what your ezine ad needs to do for you? Forget the idea of "make the sale" because that's NOT it at all!

Courage - A deviation from the norm
In the movie, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, there's a great line. It comes at the end of the movie, when they are deciding who wins the House Cup. Dumbledorf, the head wizard, awards 10 points to a little boy named Nevel, stating...

Separating the Men from the Boys
Business IS a matter of separating the "men from the boys." The expression, "Separating the women from the girls" doesn't exist, but even with the lack of an appropriate colloquialism, we all know that business transcends gender. Professionalism above all else is the key to winning the game! And, it's so easy to tell the difference...

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THIS THIRD SET OF ARTICLES IS AVAILABLE IN PDF FORMAT:
Marketing Tips 3:
Download It Here

How to Handle a Hungry Ad
Whether you publish or not, work overload hits us all sooner or later. But, with just a bit of forethought, you can crawl out from under... read on!

Is There a Word Doctor in the House?
I ran across the above quote earlier today and loved it so much it's going to appear inside my Marketing Tips 2 ebook...

You Call It a What?
Tonight I received a great offer, one I probably will not accept. It's an invitation to listen in on a teleconference. Between two well-known people. Something I could possibly benefit from... ** IF **

First Impressions Are Lasting
I received an email today from a long-standing subscriber and someone I consider a good friend though we will probably never meet face to face.

When More Is Better
When I first started publishing, I ran not only my newsletter, but classifieds and solos, too. At some point it did occur to me that not everyone on my primary, or better put "sole," list fully appreciated, nor wanted, every mailing I was sending...

Don't Be Scared
While I can safely say that I'm against excessive internet marketing interference, sometimes even the worst change can have a beneficial impact...

How to Survive Marketing Quicksand
Have you had this experience? You join a program and everything starts out so well. You're convinced you've found what you've been looking for online. The upline, all the way to the owner, seems to know what's up and what the next step will be...

Are You A Hobbit or a Dwarf?
Okay, I confess! With the release of the Lord of the Rings series, I'm hooked once again. Thirty some years later and out come the books, including the one that started it all, The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Search Engines & People Want the Same Thing
When your website visitors arrive, they are looking for, and need to find, very specific things. They enter your "front door" thinking:

Clean It Up!
Sometimes it pays to get back to basics. No, in this case I'm not talking about marketing, but the "let's take care of the equipment that takes care of us" basics.

Who's Doing What to Who?
Last night, just before calling it quits and turning off the computer, I received an email from a gentleman who wondered how in the world his email address had ended up in "my" classified ad board program.

Which Way Is Up?
Many moons ago I joined a program called Link Partners. I confess it was back at a time when I really did not have a clue about reciprocal linking, the best methods, the right way to go about it.

Size Matters... Webpage Size This Is
Putting together a website? Wondering if everyone will get a good look at the entire presentation when they arrive? One way to ensure they do is in your initial page setup.

The Law of Physics is Wrong
One law of physics tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Well I'm here to tell you that, in the case of the internet, that is all wrong.

How To Code Your Email Address To Avoid Spam Spiders
Recently I had the wonderful fortune of coming across the PERFECT script that is unreadable on your webpage by all those roving 'bots out there - you know the ones just waiting to harvest your email address - all variations of it - throughout your website and then spam the daylights out of you.
[Editor's Note: Okay turns out nothing is perfect, but I still think this will slow them down...]

When "Old" is New
Have you seen the ebook Scientific Advertising by Claude C. Hopkins circulating on the net? I bet you have. Have you downloaded it? Did you read it?

What's Out Your Window?
The most amazing thing has happened since we moved from a small town in Nevada into the greater Las Vegas area - my whole perspective has changed and not in a way you'd typically expect.

The Little Golden Book
When I was in the second grade, I was invited to a birthday party. I remember this particular party because the boys' mother had purchased and wrapped individual parting gifts for each child.

A Complete Fiasco
I thought long and hard about writing this article because I'm merely reinventing wheels that not only have I written about before, but others have also. Yet, it is one of those "marketing themes" that bears repeating - so what the heck :)

Quick? Maybe Not
We've all been plagued by the affiliate or website url that's so long it's ridiculous, and there are services available, such as tinyurl.com, to help you out. But...

RSVP? To What?
I'm so excited, I've been invited to a wedding! Or have I? Not the wedding itself, but the "reception" to follow it turns out - but it gets even better.

Relevant? More Often Than Not... NO
This morning I'm combining one of my favorite activities (catching up on my ezine reading) and one of my no-longer favorite activities, trying to figure out the search engines.

Someone Please Help Me... Where Do I Start?
Have you recently joined a new program, bought a new product, know of a great service to offer to others? Are you also sitting there wondering, "Where do I start?"

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ARTICLES FOR FUTURE MARKETING TIPS 4
Download Marketing Tips 1, 2, or 3 (or all) and I'll inform you when it's ready! Advertising opportunites available inside each new book - your chance to place your ad inside and benefit from it's circulation when the time comes, but I've got to be able to contact you when the time comes so download any or all of the previous Tips books :)

The Next Invasion?
After Microsoft's glitchy update to Service Pack 2 (which as of this writing I still have yet to download), I prefer things to be out there and bug free by the time I put them on my hard drive. However, the latest and greatest appears to be Google's attempt to "help you" find stuff online and inside your own hard drive. They are preparing to release a "desktop helper" program (maybe the beta is out at the time of this writing?).

The Humble Classified Just Makes Good Cents
Ever wonder which form of a.dvertising is best for you? The answer is the method you can afford that will gain you the greatest bang for your buck. Over the past several years, I've had a.dvertisers call wondering which service would I choose if I were them.

Invasion Revisited... And With Good Reason
If you read my previous article located now at http://www.mywizardads.com/articles/article75.txt and soon at .../article75.html, you will already be familiar with my warning regarding Google's latest desktop helper. And today I received further proof that issuing that warning was the correct thing to do.

You Have to Think Like Them
Target your traffic. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, think again. Just as your text ads and solo advertising must be written from the other guy's point of view, your selection of targeted traffic needs this very same attention.

Health Coverage For Self-employed and/or Those On A Limited Budget
Up until the beginning of 2005, our family has always had health insurance provided through an employer. Frankly, it's been one of those necessary evils. Easier to get through the employer than to hunt on our own, BUT the costs are staggering - especially when you consider it's suppose to be a GROUP rate.

2005 Reality Check
It's all well and good for someone with a mailing list of a quarter of a million or more to tell you that advertising is easy on the net. Their lists are filled to overflowing with a huge handful of individuals that, no matter what they sell, push, or announce, jump on the bandwagon and buy, buy, buy.

A BRAND NEW [INTERNET] WORLD
A while back I heard the statistic that every 20 minutes 400 people begin using the internet for the very first time. 400 people every 20 minutes... wow. For the veteran marketer...

WHAT'S NEW FOR YOUR SUMMER?
Ah summer! You're either getting ready to enjoy the carefree possibilities at home, at the shore, in the mountains... or like millions of home-based business people, you'll be working hard on your online endeavors ... right? Business as usual.

Knowing Your Options
New to online promoting? Wondering where to start and what to start with...? Here's an easy explanation, along with a few pros and cons for "standard" online a.dvertising fare:

Why Call?
This morning my father asked me, "Do people really call you?" and "Why would they call you?"

Land Of The Free?
February 25, 2006 - Let me begin by making the statement that the issues below deal specifically with the United States, but I personally feel they apply to the world as a whole. Individuals make up this planet, and we have responsibilities.

Time To Regroup? Think Checks Not Charge It!
If your family is anything like mine, you've probably been in a similar situation. You get all your "time to pay" bills together and think, "Holy Cow!"

Do You Think for Yourself or Do You Just Think You Do?
I just got off the phone and, as often happens, the urge to write was like a tidal wave. I get my best inspiration that way :) Due to this conversation...

Social Bookmarking... Confused? You're Not Alone
The word is out that social bookmarking is the thing, that special flavor of the month (or year or decade?), but only by taking it in small steps have I been able to figure out some of its ins and outs.

Should You Be Here?
If you follow any of my articles (and if you do a big thank you!), you'll know much of my writing comes from business situations or phone calls or emails or casual conversations. This is one of those... It actually started as the ravings of a mad woman, but numerous revisions later I believe I've got a valid article to present. Something that needs to be said. Something that must be said.

A Basic Analysis of the Free-to-Join Program
So you've just found that perfect program and you're all fired up to join! The greatest part (you say to yourself) is it's not going to cost me a penny! You just know in two-weeks time your total investment of zero dollars is going to net you $1000, $2000, $5000 or more. That's what the website said...

Why I Switched Exclusively to ZoneLab After Years of Using Only Symantec's Norton Products
After last night, I (a diehard Symantec Norton Antivirus user) have forever cast Norton and Symantec products into the bottom-less pit of never-to-be-retrieved online products. You would not believe the hell I went through last night!

Effective Marketing Means More Than Advertising
Online web site owners know that buyers don't just come to their sites, they must be enticed to visit and purchase. In a nutshell, "... if it doesn't facilitiate a "sale" then it's not marketing."

Developing the Best Internet Marketing Strategy
Cost effective internet marketing and a solid online marketing strategy are key elements to your online business success. Developing the best internet marketing strategy can be difficult. It must encompass a wide variety of services, methods, and techniques to even begin to show results.

Marketing - When You're onto Something HOT!
To market one's own business, you need to key in on the search engines themselves. Warm markets for home businesses are always advisable. "Advertising," cold marketing, becomes a sideline, an adjunct to a good internet marketing strategy.

The Atkins Diet
From the time I was a child, right through the glorious 20s (thankfully behind me no pun intended) and into the early 30s (before I had my son), maintaining my weight was never a problem. I always trusted to the fact that by watching what I ate, if my weight drifted upwards, a bit of non-stressful exercise would be all that I needed to get back to my ideal weight.

The Art of Forensics - Are You Sure?
Based on a contemporary article in the August 2009 edition of Popular Mechanics, forensic science may not be as reliable as we would like to believe. "The Truth About Forensics" goes into great length about the very shaky ground on which the science of ballistics, finger printing, fiber analysis, and more, now stands.

Click for more articles on a wide range of subjects by Theresa Cahill