VernonGirl

Four things comedian Steve Martin can teach us about success

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life is the book funny man Steve Martin authored. It was published in 2007, but I just read it, so it's new to me. An excellent read. Martin recounts his love interests, a complicated relationship with his father, encounters with famous celebrities like Elvis Presley, and how he persevered through being broke, being rejected, delivering comedy to empty theatres and, even, being famous to become the man he is today (or when his book was released).

There are at least four key messages from Martin that can teach us how to be more successful:

1. Dress differently to be seen.

When Martin began seeing three thousand people come to his stand-up comedy performances, he bought a white suit to wear onstage for visibility.

"I was afraid it might seem derivative, but I stayed with it for practical reasons, and it didn't seem to matter to the audience or critics. The suit was made of gabardine, which always stayed fresh and flowed smoothly with my body. It got noticed in the press because it was three-piece, which appeared to be a symbol of conservatism, but I really wore the vest so my shirt would stay tucked into my pants."¹

2. Invent a new way to get paid.

Martin observed that opening acts never got noticed, mentioned or reviewed because the headliner got all the glory. He decided to exclusively pursue headline gigs and in one year he was completely broke. His travel costs were about three hundred dollars, and he was getting a flat fee of five hundred dollars per show. Netting just two hundred dollars wasn't cutting it.

Wisely, Martin called a show business friend for advice.

"He told me the deal he always proposed to club owners. He would take the door, and they would take the bar."....."I would be paid according to how many people I drew.."⁵

3. Be encouraged by naysayers.

When Martin concluded that the audition process was a dead end, he decided to resign from his television writing career and go on the road to do stand up comedy. His agent told him his stand up comedy was headed nowhere and that he should "Stick to writing". Martin says that he "took this warning with a strange delight" and it was a "necessary ingredient in any young career".³

When Martin was doing stand up comedy to over eighteen thousand people, regularly appearing on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show, he definitely proved his agent wrong.

4. Do the opposite of what everyone is doing.

When Steve Martin observed that "a skillful comedian could coax a laugh with tiny indicators such as a vocal tic (Bob Hope's "But I wanna tell ya") or even a slight body shift"⁴ like slapping a stomach, he decided to do the opposite. Rather than giving audiences a punchline, he let the audience pick their own place to laugh. This type of anti-climactic tension-induced comedy was completely revolutionary and even Rick Moranis, another comedic actor, called it anti-comedy.

Martin writes, "My goal was to make the audience laugh but leave them unable to describe what it was that made them laugh."

One of Martin's techniques was to end his comedy routine in an unexpected way, so that the audience never really knew what to expect. He led his audience outside, hailed a taxi, went around the block, returned and waved to the audience - and drove off and never came back. This led to a review in The Miami Herald saying "Steve Martin is the brightest, cleverest, wackiest new comedian around."²

Martin's book also comes in an audio cd. If you have long commutes and want something inspiring to listen to, I recommend Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life (Audio CD)

(Disclosure: Amazon.com affiliate links mean I get paid when you buy through these links.) If you don't want to buy the book, you can probably borrow it from your local library like I did.

Thanks for reading,

Courtenay

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Super Affiliate Handbook Review - Monetize and supercharge your website or blog

Have you been writing articles and posting them on your blog and not getting enough traffic to it?

Are you a traditional brick and mortar business who has a website, but wants to add revenue streams to it?

Are you an entrepreneur thinking about starting a blog?

Do you have a website with good traffic, but are you having a difficult time selling advertising on it?

Do you want to start a business with minimal risk and financial investment?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll want to purchase and read the Super Affiliate Handbook, by the “Affiliate Queen”, Rosalind Gardner.

What percentage of visitors to your site will become your customers?

How much is each visitor to your blog or website worth?

How much does it cost to bring a new visitor to your site?

This book teaches you how to answer those questions.

I’ve been marketing on the internet since the late nineties, but this is the first book I’ve read that really explains in detail how to profit from a website or blog and how to promote a website or blog with software I had not considered.

The Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner was published in 2003, but it has been recently updated. Since internet marketing is evolving with the addition of social media and new technology, I was happy to know that the book wasn’t a dinosaur. It’s current and relevant. In fact, the book even lists changes and improvements since 2003.

First, you’ll learn seventeen benefits of being an affiliate. What stands out for me in this section, is how inexpensive, simple and virtually risk free it is to begin an affiliate progam.

Gardner explains:

 “An affiliate program is a program that facilitates the relationship between online merchants and their affiliates – allowing the affiliate to promote that company’s products or services for a commission. Affiliate programs may also be referred to as:
    *Associate programs
    *Referral programs
    *Bounty Programs
    *Partner Programs
    *Revenue Sharing Programs."

In the book, Gardner, who is a successful webmaster, online entrepreneur and affiliate marketer, shows and links to her own website examples so you can see live working affiliate websites. The well-written book reads like a full-fledged business and marketing plan. She tells you the software and tools needed, the process and steps to take, ways to stay organized, ways to identify a profitable niche, short-cuts, how to evaluate market demand and competition, how to choose a domain name, how to choose a web or blog host, design rules-of-thumb and how to build a website or blog with, or without, a webmaster.

Software she reviews in enough detail to really understand them are: Google Adsense and Keyword Tool, Wordtracker, Google Toolbar, Microsoft Excel, Eudora Email Client, File Transfer Software, Paypal, Wordpress, and Aweber Enewsletter Software to name only a few.

She explains how to create or find content, which content is essential for an affiliate blog or website, how to write product endorsements, secret ingredients every article needs, and how to make your site “Google” friendly. 

The meat of the book is in the middle where she goes into ways to monetize your site simply by adding small snippets of code to them. And, she shows you step by step how to do it and which ones to add. She explains how to evaluate affiliate programs and which ones are profitable and easy to work with. Recurring sales, commissions, lifetime commissions, multiple-tier programs, sales tools and sales statistics are covered. Page 132 of her book has a gem so good, I was too excited to sleep the night I read about it.

After she explains how to fill your site with content, she details thirty-one ways to market your site on-line. I’ve known about many of the tools and strategies she lists here, but she goes into them in detailed ways that shifted my perspective. Also, she reveals software on page 138 so powerful and effective (I watched the video) that I’m scheming of ways to afford it. After all, my internet marketing plan is ever-evolving too. That’s why I read great books like this one.

Like adding icing to a delicious cake, she puts a section at the back of the book called “Evaluate Your Site’s Performance” which explains how to determine:
1.    What percentage of visitors to your site will become your customers.
2.    The conversion rate for each Affiliate program.
3.    How much each visitor is worth.
4.    How much it costs to bring a new visitor to your site.

This section also teaches you how to assess individual product performance (clickthroughs, number of sales, commission amounts), compare products side-by-side for performance, evaluate monthly trends, grow commissions and profit from error pages and exchange rates. The number crunching techniques on these pages will keep your Banker and Accountant happy for sure!

The book is topped off with problem-solving and prevention tips plus a glossary of terms. “Twenty-five mistakes to avoid” is the maraschino cherry of this affiliate marketing masterpiece.

Rosalind Gardner lives in Penticton, B.C. Canada, just down the road (two hours) from me. Her book is 210 pages long and it took me six hours to read. I jumped over some sections I already felt I knew, but took longer on some of the links. This book comes as an e-book. After reading it, I printed it and put it into a binder that I will keep on my shelf and refer to often.

At just $47 USD, this book is excellent value. I give it 10 out of 10.

Buy a copy of The Super Affiliate Handbook here


Thanks for reading.

Courtenay Pitcher, Aspiring Affiliate Marketer

My book-The Secrets of Internet Marketing

 
My book, Secrets of Internet Marketing: Streamline, promote, communicate and sell more effectively on-line is a 170 page paperback. It's now available in .pdf, with chapter links, for cheap. Just $1.95 USD. Yes, that's under two bucks.

Yesterday, I was looking this book over, that I wrote and published in 2003, and it is still a great read. I originally only printed 100 books. Today, those original books sell through used booksellers online (for more than triple what I originally sold them for) as rare, out-of-print books. 

The introduction to the book gives a little history about me. It tells you how I began selling adult novelties (a.k.a. marital aids, bedroom toys, sex toys) on-line in the early internet days, twelve years ago. This part is really quite revealing (so to speak). If I've already captured your attention, there is a buy button at the bottom of this story. If not, read on (if you can concentrate that is, ha ha ha).

The book is somewhat historical, because it has some references to people getting started in using email and the internet that seem kind of funny today. It also has a very good overview of H'obbe's Internet Timeline, written in layperson's language. As well as other details, this timeline includes when the Queen of England sent her first email, when Amazon launched its business plan for an online store, and when "surfing" the internet became available for everyone through browsers.

What I also still like about my book is the section on analytics (Strategy eight: tracking your success) and how you can use them to track your website traffic and make improvements to your internet marketing. Now, I use Google Analytics for free and it gives me great daily reports on my blog traffic, traffic coming in from search engines, traffic coming in from Twitter, the types of searches people are finding me from, and so on. If you have a website or a blog, I highly recommend that you incorporate Google Analytics. If you want insight into what their reports mean, you should read that section of my book.

Strategy One: Determine your objectives, is still relevant and helpful. It talks about your overall marketing strategy and what you want your internet marketing to achieve. These concepts still apply today, whether you are marketing on Twitter, Facebook, blogs or through your website and traditional media.

The section about Strategy Three: Gather text, is also still a great one for giving you ideas on how to get content for your website. I've personally seen how new content gets me Twitter followers and traffic and increases my credibility. In fact, just this week, I did a lucrative training session with a Kelowna business on how to use social media tools. I attribute it solely to publishing new stories on my blog this past month. They were so happy with the training, they gave me a nummy almond flavoured coffee on my way out the door, a hug, and a cheque. Now, those are the kind of results you want from putting good content on your blog or website. (Okanagan wine and dark chocolate would be good too.)

If you are a brand new internet marketer, you will find that this book will give you many ideas on how to develop your website. Even experienced professional internet marketers will find Strategy Seven: Promotion helpful. In that section, I talk about media relations and how to feed the press with stories about your business. There is nothing better than good press to push your site traffic and Twitter followers up.

If you are a professional internet marketer, you'll probably get a kick out of reading this book. It will take you back a few years and you'll say to yourself, "I remember that. Wow, that's different now". If you do read it, I'd love your comments about it on how things have changed, or what sections you think are still helpful and relevant to those new (and old) to internet marketing.

The .pdf is $1.95 USD, and I will email it to you. It is laid out in chapters and you can connect to various parts of the book from the table of contents through links. (There is a buy button at the bottom of this Table of Contents.)

Here is the Table of Contents:

Introduction
Internet Marketing History

Strategy One Determine Your Objective

What is Internet Marketing?
The Web
Intranet
Extranet
The Webmaster
Leave it to the pros!
Internet Marketing Manager
Give Your Customer A Reason To Visit
Who Benefits From Internet Marketing
Website Objectives
Realistic Expectations
Website Advantages
Website Disadvantages
Consider Your Timeline
Don’t get e-screwed!
Budget
Target Market
Revenue
Expenses
Price
Summary of Strategy One Determine Your Objective

Strategy Two Gather Images
Digital Assets
Images – Graphics
Image Speed
Hire a Photographer
How to choose a Photographer
Setting Up a Photo Shoot With Models
Getting Extra Mileage From Your Images
Dressing your models for a photo shoot
Using the right model for your target market
Don’t point
Stock Imagery
Supplier Images
Go digital and do it yourself
Product shots with a digital camera
Touch Ups
Maintain a portfolio
Illustrations
Give credit where credit is due
Graphic Formats
JPEG/JPG
GIF
Resolution
Supplying Files To The Webmaster
Size – Bigger is Better
Scan
Not all scanners are made equal
Logo
Repurpose
Summary of Strategy Two Gather Images

Strategy Three Gather Text
How To Get Text
Hire a copywriter
Supplier brochures
What Text To Include
Contact
About Us
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Staff
Company Structure
Products
Services
Prices
Shipping
Testimonials
Warranties
Employment Information
Business, Training or Franchise Opportunities
Vision Statement
Values
Mission Statement
Sample Mission Statements
Upcoming Events
Community Involvement and Sponsorships
Media Releases
Investor Relations
Packages
Partners
Resources
Promotions
Customer Care
Awards
Owner’s Manuals
Electronic Newsletter
Design
Name
Format & Content
Story Ideas
Photos
Subscription
Track Response
Call-to-Action
Time Sensitive
Issue, Volume Number & Date
Idea File
More Information
Summary of Strategy Three Gather Text

Strategy Four Digital Asset Management & Delivery Systems

Digital Asset Management
MetaData
Content Management
Rich Media
Games
Surveys
Webinars
Streaming Media
PDF
Flash
E-Commerce
Shopping Carts
Security
Databases
Database Program
Search Tool
Store Finder or Store Locator
Site Map
Forms
Listings
Web-Based Interface
Summary of Strategy Four Digital Asset Management & Delivery Systems

Strategy Five Send it to Bid

Qualifications
Graphic Design For A Static Site
Flash
Photography and Illustrations
Copywriting
Domain Name
Databases (shopping carts, etc.)
Credit Card Processing
Internet Marketing
Website Tracking & Statistics
Hosting
Connectivity Speed
Virtual Server
Growth Capabilities
Dedicated Server
Disk Space
Disk Transmission
Detailed Web Statistics
POP3 Email Aliases
Email Aliases
Catchall Feature
Email Virus Scanner
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP Mail)
Email Control Panel
Shell Accounts
CGI Bin
Free Scripts
Raw Log Files
Perl Support & PHP Support
Password Protect Directories
MSQL
Weekly and Daily Backup
24-Hour monitoring
30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Support
Maintenance
Checklist

Summary of Strategy Five Send It To Bid

Strategy Six Construction & Presentation

Navigation
Font
Meeting With The Web Design Team
Incorporating all Images and Text
Under Construction Process
Meta-Tags
Back It Up
Ownership
Timeline, Pricing, Terms
Summary of Strategy Six Construction & Presentation

Strategy Seven Promotion

Domain Names
What Is A Domain Name
How To Register A Domain Name
How To Choose A Good Domain Name
How To Purchase A Domain Name
How To Park A Domain Name
Business Cards
Staff
Email Addresses
SPAM
Search Engines
Top Search Engines
Submitting To Search Engines
Checking Your Rank
What is a good Rank?
Ranking high – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Fixing Low Rankings
Doorway Pages
Banner Advertising
Questions To Ask To Determine The Best Banner
Advertising For Your Company
Ask Customers To Bookmark Your Page
Involve Your Audience
Sell Something New For Cheap
Pop Ups
Community Portals
Ebay.com
Community Shopping Malls On-Line
Cooperative Marketing
Associations – Trade Related Sites
Coupons
Classifieds
Exchanging Links
Media Release To Announce The Site

Summary of Strategy Seven Promotion

Strategy Eight Tracking Your Success

Tracking Programs
Hits
Page Views
Search Engine Reports
Keyword Reports
Referring URLs
Most Requested Pages
Average time spent on the site
Unique Visitors
Path Reports
Return Frequency
Other Items Which Can Be Tracked
Summary of Strategy Eight Tracking Your Success

Strategy Nine Maintenance
Useful Information, Resources & Suggested Surfing

Thank you for reading.

Courtenay Pitcher

http://twitter.com/vernongirl

http://www.vernongirl.com

let's give thanks we don't have cancer

Yesterday I heard an inspiring message from Shelley Haslett, a friend of mine. She spoke at Vernon Women in Business about her experience of surving cancer, not once, but twice. Shelley is a Mary Kay Sales Director. She constantly volunteers in the community and she is an amazing mentor when it comes to how to lead in your personal and business life with integrity. I've been lucky to experience her mentorship on several occasions working on the Woman of the Year committee, and prior to that when she was Past President of Women in Business and I was President.

She is truly an inspiring woman and a double masectomy survivor. She told our captivated group of ladies that when her second breast was lopped off, she thought it would be a piece of cake to have reconstructive surgery and essentially get a new body. In fact, the surgeons moved her fatty tissue from her stomach to reconstruct her breasts. She said she was wrong. It took more than six months of recovery after some complications, and left her with a lot of scars.

Although she is healthy now and looked smashing in the very bright pink suit jacket she was wearing, her point was to tell us what we can do for a friend or family member who is going through cancer. Paraphrasing, these are Shelley's suggestions:

You can make them a meal and drop it off in a dish that doesn't have to be returned, offer to drive them to their chemo treatment, send a card, give a phone call, go for a short visit, pick up a few groceries, wash their hair, massage their feet or take them cookies. If you're a good friend, offer to clean their bathrooms or vacuum, and don't take no for an answer. The one thing that cancer patients also appreciate is getting invitations to events or dinner parties, even though they probably won't be feeling good enough to attend. They just want to know that life is going on normally, and they want to feel included. (That part always tears me up, even in writing this.)

At the end of her speech, Shelley gave away a book called Chicken Soup for the Cancer Survivor's Soul.

During Shelley's speech yesterday, I was thinking of a man who I sent a used book to and wondered how he was doing with his cancer treatment. Ironically in the timing, last night after an early Thanksgiving supper with my family he emailed me. 

I had sent him Lance Armstrong's book "It's not about the bike" as a source of inspiration quite a number of months ago. I've never met this man in person. He is our newspaper advertising rep and I've only spoken to him on the phone or emailed him. But when I emailed him to do some advertising about six to nine months ago, he emailed back that he would be away from the office for a while to undergo cancer treatment. His email said he would be checking his messages periodically. So I decided to ask him for his home address so I could send him a copy of an inspiring book about surviving cancer by Lance Armstrong.

Quite honestly, it took me a good two months after that to locate the book. I bought two copies of it at a used book store in Kelowna. One copy for me and one for him. I attached a note to it that said something like, "hope you don't mind that it's gently used, ha ha." Then, I mailed it off quietly wondering if he was well, sick, or even alive.

Here is what his email said to me yesterday (it has been edited slightly and his name removed for privacy):

"I am sorry I have not acknowledged the gift of the book till now but it arrived back in the summer when I was staying at my parents and I put it aside on one of my brief visits home.

I started chemo today and I rediscovered it back on the weekend while I was cleaning up.

I read some then and decided to take it with me to my first session today. I am now on Chapter 8. I have just read 2 chapters at home and I am not much of a reader as such.

I also have not been all that big on Lance in the past as he was my definition of a wise ass american. He tells a good story though and he has my attention.

Actually it is the best I have come across in telling the experience I  am going through. Our experiences are similar, his is just a higher level of an  experience.

But I think the effects and the prognosis of a new leaf, a new life  after cancer is the same.

I read his 3 chapters on the cancer treatment during mine today and it was interesting timing.

It helped me get through it. My last session was back in May so it has been a while. I have been dreading today and the return to the cancer ward.

I overheard this today about chemo. Let me set it up first though.

Some of us take a bottle with a pressure flow thing to administer chemo over 24 or 48 hours to attack the cells that were asleep when you get the IV drip master dose at the hospital. It is attached with  an IV.

They told the guy that if he drops it and it breaks, to put a bag around it and bring it in right away. Do not get any on your skin or it will burn you.

Burn our skin, yet it is running through our body. It just seems wrong. As Lance put it, the chemo hurts more than the cancer.

I want to thank you so much for sending this, even if this book has been experienced before, ha ha. A good story should be shared more than once. I will pass it on as well.

So thank you Courtenay for this gift and the clarity it is giving me. I sure appreciate it. Thanks."

When I got this email yesterday, I shared it with my family. My husband shed a tear, and we were all moved, inspired, and humbled.

To all of my friends and family, and even business associates whom I've never met in person, before we sit down to a turkey dinner, let's give thanks for our health and for each other. I appreciate all of the people in my life and wish them good health. If you read this post, please send me a message. I would love to hear from you, truly.

cheers, Courtenay

my blog: http://www.vernongirl.com

my Lava Marketing business website: http://www.lavamarketing.ca