Just recently, Google posted a press release of their partnership with CNN; that allows CNN.com to display Google Adsense advertisements throughout their website.

According to the press release, “…the AdSense service places contextually relevant ads alongside CNN.com content, allowing both small and large advertisers to target CNN.com specifically and connect with high quality content and traffic. Under the terms of the deal, Google will serve as the exclusive provider of auction-based text advertisements throughout CNN.com.”

So what does this all mean? If your an Adwords advertiser, this is certainly good news! With high traffic volume and an Alexa Ranking of #81*, CNN.com Adsense ads should expect click-throughs to convert much better than your average Adsense monetized websites.

We will have further updates as information becomes available.
*This number may change

“Are You the Next Internet Millionaire?”

:: In other news, what happens when you mix internet marketing and reality television? You get “The Next Internet Millionaire.” Think “The Apprentice” without Donald Trump; and without all the sponsorships; and without all the in-house drama. Instead of using the patented “You’re Fired!” slogan, cast members of TNIM have to hear Joel Comm’s (The TNIM Host) dreaded words, “You’ve Been Sandboxed!” You can watch the full series at www.nextinternetmillionaire.com.

“YouTube Artists Getting Paid?”

:: If you’re a well-known music artist on Youtube, there’s some good news. Apparently, over 50,000 music artists will receive royalties when their song is played on Youtube. “Neither Google or the Alliance would say how much money will be paid through the deal for the Alliance to distribute to rights owners, but it is likely to stretch into the tens of millions of pounds.” You can read more here.

*Try Googling it.

-IC

Check out my personal blog at BusinessShakers.com/ivan

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I have been reading a lot lately about the Barack Obama’s Myspace incident. For those of you who don’t know Barrack Obama may very well be the next president of the United States. Before he announced his candidacy for president a man named Joe Anthony started a Barack Obama Myspace page to show his support for the politician. The page soon surpassed 160,000 friends which was the largest following for any politician on Myspace. Obama’s team and Anthony were working together to update the page. That was until Obama’s team decided it was necessary to take ownership of the page.

Anthony wanted $39,000 for his time and efforts that he put in over the last 2 years. Obama’s team went to Myspace and asked them to turn over the site. Myspace went along with Obama even though the page was never an official site.

Are you telling me that Obama’s team didn’t have enough funds to pay Anthony for the effort he put in for the last two years? Was Anthony’s sum too high? Hell no! If we do the math Anthony is asking 0.24 cents a friend. We all know that these presidential candidates have millions of dollars in advertising funds alone.

Let this be a lesson to all of us out there. When you sign up to run a page with Myspace and other social networking site you are putting up content on a 3^rd party site. This means that the content can be taken down at any time. I truly believe that Obama’s team could have been more reasonable during this whole situation. Couldn’t they have created a separate Myspace page that linked to Anthony’s unofficial page? The last I heard was that Obama’s team does not have it in their budget to give Anthony any money. Barack Obama’s space: http://www.myspace.com/barackobama

Errol Potok
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Web 2.0 is nothing new. Yet, I’m surprised of how many people I talk to still have never heard of this new “Semantic Web”, or commonly known as Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is currently known for its user-friendly applications, features and services. These apps and features are utilized by users to form online relationships, user interaction and socialization (ala Social Media). You may have seen or even used these apps and services on websites such as Wikipedia, Facebook, Myspace, Blogs, etc…

So, how exactly can a website like Myspace or Wikipedia help promote your online business? These websites can be a form of cheap media or advertising for your products or services. Although these social networking or web 2.0 websites are focused on developing online relationships/friendships, you can also leverage them to allow you to share your online business with others.

However, because Web 2.0 involves much more interaction and sharing, be cautious of “over-soliciting” your business through this new media. People may be repelled by your objectives - your goal is to form relationships, not hard-sell.

I’m a big believer that the web 2.0 interface will be the requirement for every online entrepreneur to implement into their website within the next few years. The power of this new technology will help your online business engage and connect better with your online customers and clients.

-IC
Check out my personal blog at BusinessShakers.com/ivan

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Imagine a social networking site that actually allows you to make money by showcasing your expertise in any area. That’s what Seth Godin had in mind when he created Squidoo last year. Squidoo basically allows you to create a mini website on whatever topic you want. These mini websites are called Squidoo “lenses” and not pages.

Squidoo is a great resource for all affiliate marketers. When you create your own lens you gain credibility as a lensmaster. You are recognized as an expert on a specific subject. You have the ability to share your expertise with the entire world.

Squidoo is sure to bring traffic to your website or blog because Squidoo lenses are filled with “google juice”.

The next time you create an affiliate marketing project try experimenting with Squido. Use Squidoo to create a landing page for a product you wish to promote (example landing page: http://www.squidoo.com/sit-n-go-proreview/). You should get picked up by Google pretty fast.

Errol Potok
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Social media is changing the way we live our day to day lives. People are signing on to their Facebook or Myspace accounts before they begin to check their email. Never before has it been easier to creep into someone’s personal life.

Companies have begun to venture into the social network terrain. In fact interactive agencies all around the world are using the latest technology that exists today to milk the social media phenomenon for every penny. Companies now realize the many social media outlets they have to showcase their talents to potential clients.

Take a look at this video I found.

Social media allows content to be distributed around the world faster than ever.
How you utilize it is up to you!

Errol Potok
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Traffic, Yum I want some! So you have a new product or service and have just finished paying a web designer hundreds if not thousands of dollars so that you can wow your visitors. What’s next you may ask? That’s easy. Now you have to figure out how to get those hordes of people to your site.

Most people starting out usually wonder how much money they will have to spend in order to get people to see their web site. I am here to tell you that you can generate top quality targeted traffic for free!

Free Traffic Method #1 – Utilizing social media. This is the most powerful way to generate free traffic because it groups together the many practices people use to share all kinds of content amongst themselves. Social media is quite simply massive and there are tons of resources you can use to drive traffic to your website. Think about all the social networking sites there are out there (ie. myspace and facebook). What about all the video sharing websites around the net. I have seen some really bad videos of people advertising their products that have gotten thousands of plays. Oh and let’s not forget about all of those social bookmarking sites. In fact I remember posting a poker article that got dugg over a thousand times. Photo sites, podcasting sites and even virtual reality sites are used by thousands as methods of free advertising. Trust you can generate hundreds if not thousands of unique visitors to your site by mean of using social media.

Free Traffic Method #2 – Create a blog. Simply put if you have a product or service online and you don’t have a blog you are missing out. If you are an expert in a field people generally want to read about what you have to say. And if these people like what you have to say and want to hear more they might even purchase a product you have created of endorsed. You can generate traffic to your blog by maximizing your build in RSS feeds, creating a blogroll, creating articles (ie content), and by leaving comments on other blogs.

Free Traffic Method #3 – Search Engine Optimization. If you know what you are doing SEO can be the most powerful free traffic source for your website. If you doubt me then ask yourself this. What is the first thing you do when you go looking for information on a subject? I thought so. You go to your favourite search engine. While staying on top of the search engines can be tough you won’t be complaining if your website is up on the first 2 or 3 pages of google for a major searched keyword.

There are many other free traffic methods that I suggest you consider when promoting your product, however I didn’t consider them as fitting into my top 3 methods. Some of these methods include: creating and submitting articles, press release distribution, and posting in forums.

So what about the paid methods? Sure you spend money on press release distributions and by posting your banner on targeted websites (blogs and content sites). But can’t you use free press release distribution services? And if you have a great product shouldn`t your affiliate program persuade someone to advertise your product on their site for free. To be honest I believe you should set aside some money for marketing, however I would spend wisely. Unless you have a niche product that runs you a very low PPC (pay per click) cost you could be spending a lot of money without even knowing it!

Can you sugest any other free traffic methods?

Errol Potok
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