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Good day to everyone, and I hope that each of you made the most of last week and weekend to spend time with family and friends vs. in front of the computer. I know I did. On the 4th, a few friends and I managed to go out to the lakes and enjoy the beautiful sunny day and nice weather. I got to brush up on my kayaking skills (by that I mean I have no skills, so anything is an improvement). Needless to say, I didn’t get sun burned thanks to some SPF 50 :). Overall it was a lot of fun, and I wish every weekend this summer was like that.

Over the past two weeks, blogging for me has slowed as I have been working on other projects. Don’t worry, I will be back on track very shortly as the dust settles a bit, but until then I am making the most of the nice weather.

HBO series on John Adams

I rented the 3 disc HBO series about one of America’s founding fathers and 2nd president of the United States. If you have never seen the series, I would highly recommend watching it. I do not think I could have picked a better time to watch that series with the 4th of July in full swing and remembering our (America’s) stand against tyranny. It is not often that a country and government is formed conscientiously (prior to wars and coups). The best part of the series if recognizing that our founding fathers were no more perfect as humans than any of us today. Experience History.

Have a happy 4th, and I hope everyone blew things up responsibly.

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This last two weeks have been quite busy for me and my business. It would seem that everything happens about the same time and for that I am thankful. I have secured a number of contracts with local businesses and have a  few more pending. As I was remembering everyone who has commented on this blog, I felt like listing everyone on a page dedicated to my supporters. I will be updating the page as new people become a part of the Unconventional Marketing blog. Some may recall that I did a post similar to this a little while ago, here. I really would like to keep the list updated and more accessible for visitors to find. All it takes to get listed on the Supporters page is to comment or guest post on this blog, starting with guest posters.

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A new milestone

Two days ago I broke my goal of 225 RSS subscribers for the Month of June. Once again thank you to all who have subscribed. If you did not get your Entrecard credits for subscribing, you must let me know by email or message in order to get them.

First post series

This week was the first time I ran a post series and I enjoyed it very much. I got a lot of feedback and enjoyed the input that everyone gave. I will be working on another series for the upcoming week. In case you missed it here are the links:

• How to make the switch to working online Part 1
• How to make the switch to working online Part 2
• How to make the switch to working online Part 3
• How to make the switch to working online Part 4 

New blog theme

Recently I ran a poll asking whether or not it was time to change the blog theme and as the results came in, the majority voted to change. Let me know what you think of the new look.

Upcoming week

This next week is going to be very busy for me, and I would like to wish you all an early Happy 4th of July.

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*Note: This was not a paid review nor are the links affiliate links. I am supporting Marcus and his product because I feel that both are of great value.

About two months ago, Marcus Hochstadt from the blog Internet Business Guide For First Class Progress asked if I would review a new product he was about to launch. Marcus sells and promotes tutorial videos and other helpful products for people who are new to making money online. So, onwards and upwards.

The home study course, International Market & Keyword Research, was designed by Marcus to help people understand how to properly find and select keyword marketing. If you have ever tried your luck at Google Adwords without putting much thought into it, you have probably spent a fair amount of money doing it. It would not be hard in the least to drop $1,000 on Adwords and not even get a measurable return from it. Marcus aimed to solve the issue of wasting money on Adword campaigns and did a good job.

What you will find is a step-by-step process for targeting the exact audience you are seeking with the exact keywords necessary to net the biggest conversions. Marcus laid everything out in a well thought out manner that will allow even the most novice Adword users to understand completely. I have used Adsense and Adwords before and was blown away by how the course guided me through the whole process. I have to admit, while watching the tutorial, I did some reverse research to look up the kind of content I wanted to provide on another blog in order to net the most per click off the Adsense ads running on that site. After finding the keywords that paid the most, it was a matter of researching which keywords in that category received the most clicks. Just using that information will pay for the series all by itself in no time at all.

I would not promote a product unless I felt it would benefit people, but also benefit people for a reasonable price. Marcus has informed me that he will be running a 72-hour special of the same International Market & Keyword Research home study course for $35. After the 72 hours, it will jump to $100. If you remember from my post the other day when I mention waiting before purchasing anything online, I would do the same here. Although I wouldn’t wait more than 72 hours, because the price will go up considerably after that. I can tell you that this course will pay for itself in a short timeframe either by saving you money that could have been wasted on Adword campaigns or by using knowledge and research techniques to promote targeted content on your blog to earn the most possible from your Adsense ads. I saw a significant jump in Adsense revenue on another one of our blogs by triggering those specific keywords.

Give it some thought and analyze if earning greater revenue from Adsense of saving money on Adwords is the thing you are looking for. If it is, I would invest in this tutorial.

Popularity: 7% [?]

My last post was about switching from a traditional job to working for yourself online. I touched on some basics needed to accomplish this task. For me, all of this started when I quit my day job and set out to work for myself online, inspiring me to write about The Top 10 Reasons to Quit Your Job. There are countless reasons to quit your job and start having fun, but how does someone make that jump from the rat race to living out a dream?

November 2006 is where my dream started. I was driving beet truck for a local farmer during harvest season, looking for jobs to apply to and setting up interviews. I listened to the radio a lot while driving and picked up a show by Dave Ramsey, the get out of debt guru. He inspired me to make life changes in order to get out of debt and live a more fulfilled life. After reading some of the books he recommended, including some of his own, I came across a book called, 48 Days to the Work You Love. I have mentioned this book a couple of times because I will gladly buy this for anyone graduating from high school or college. The book doesn’t give you any answers about what jobs you should work, but it does ask the right questions. Over the next year and half, I worked to achieve my goal and quest to pursuit the career of my choice.

When I say I tried all the wrong ways to make money online, I mean it. I did the blog with Adsense, tried to sell ebooks, eBay drop shipping (including the book), and many others. I thought because others were successful at doing those things that I would be able to replicate their work. I was able to an extent do what they did but ultimately it cost me much more time and effort than I ever got out of those ideas. I always knew I wanted the flexibility and lifestyle that the Internet business could provide, but I was doing the business of others and not myself. It wasn’t until I figured out that doing what you are really passionate about is the key to succeeding both on and offline in business. You truly have to love what you do and be willing to do it even without a paycheck. If you can honestly wake up in the morning and want nothing more than to get to work you have found what you love. I can’t even sleep in anymore because I will just lay there thinking about the things I can do for the day.

For myself, I found that I love solving problems. I have know this for a long time but never capitalized on that ability to help negotiate my way through the situation until its resolve was complete. I also knew that I love working with people and helping to meet their needs (the go to person). What I did was merge offline business with business online. I have been helping local groups and businesses be found online. Most have a website but that site is not easily found in their local markets. I help define people’s goals and target for their businesses online. In our local market, this is a completely untapped niche. I can’t name anyone in town who really has a clue to accomplish these tasks for a business (some claim but don’t deliver). The last two months have brought a lot of business in for me and I find that each day I love what I do more and more. I think it is so much fun to help people like this and in an untapped market there is a lot of opportunity to grow.

The biggest part to remember with all of the information you digest while beginning your quest to work online is to live out your dream, not the successes of another. Unless you can separate your quest for money apart from a fulfilled career, it will have a short lifespan. Ask yourself the right questions:

• What are my favorite hobbies? (Passions)
• What do I know a lot about or seek to know a lot about (investing, housing, SEO, puppies)?  (Drive / Motivation)
• What are my talents (talking, writing, production, media, technologies)? (Leverages)
• What do I get fulfillment out of (helping others, adding value, sharing, teaching)? (Purpose)
• Who do I most want to work with (kids, businesses, charities, sports, car enthusiasts)? (Market)

Find your target market and build a product for it. Always have a plan and a goal before you start something online. My goal for this blog was to reach others and build a network. Don’t build a blog and try 10 different methods of making money from it, you’ll waste your time. Build a product or service for your target market, not a market for your product or service.

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