Twitter and Twhirl

I have learnt so much in these past few weeks that I can hardly believe it and yet I know that there is so much more to learn.

I’ve been spending a litle bit of time getting to know Twitter and I found this useful description of it in one of Mike Filsaime’s emails which has helped me to understand it better and may give you some help too:

“Why is Twitter one of the most revolutionary communications tools?

Well, imagine if you combined the following:

- Blogging (Twitter is actually Micro Blogging)
- SMS text messaging
- Instant Messaging
- Chat Rooms
- Communities Forums and Social Networks
- Personal Email
- Email Broadcasting
- Search
- Viral Marketing

What would you have?

You would have the most addicting, most powerful, and most incredible communication tool ever made.”

Like Alex, Mike recommends that we get on and use it so I have been getting going with it – please follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HilaryDickinson and I will follow you back.  This is another great way to build our community and link with so many other people too.  Who knows where these roads will lead?

Mike also recommended Twhirl:

“I also HIGHLY recommend you install “Twhirl” (Google it)

Twhirl allows you to use Twitter more effectively, sort of like a an Instant Messenger Client like Yahoo Instant Messenger or AIM etc…”

I’ve just done that so now I need to use it and get to understand its features.  Mike also has other sugestions if you check out his tweets today on Twitter.  I need to go and follow those suggestions as soon as I can.

So much I want to do – I really must plan it all in to make sure that I don’t miss anything out.

I’m also now making a note of whose blogs I visit and where I leave comments so that I can go back and check if there has been a reply to any questions I leave – I was having difficulty remembering which blogs I had been to .  It is also a useful way of keeping track of where there have been good ideas and suggestions to follow up.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the future and here’s wishing us all an exciting and productive 2009.

Alex’s $1,000 challenge

I’ve been hit by the dreaded cold this weekend, which has put me back a few days as I have been so washed out.  I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to post or visit other blogs, so it’s time to start catching up now.

However, before the cold really hit me I managed to listen to Alex’s 4th module on Social Media Money and there was some great information as ever on that session.

He’s set us a challenge to see who can drive the most traffic to their blog. 

Now I know that there are lots of the other students who are much further on than I am in terms of being set up, having a bigger readership and having lots of other ways of driving traffic to their blogs.

But am I worried by this?  No!

Each one of us is different, thank goodness!

We each have a different way of doing things and those of us who are further behind needn’t worry as long as we keep on going. 

Maybe I’m a tortoise at the moment rather than a hare, but I know I will get there and that is the most important thing to me in the end.

So how am I getting traffic to my blog?

Well one of the things I have done is put a link to my blog in all the Christmas letters I have sent out to my family and friends.

I’ve been telling people at work what I am doing.

But until I finally get my ppp up and running (and thanks to everyone who is giving me a hand with that) I haven’t got the free report to give them.

So I’m going to concentrate on getting that sorted out and then I’ll work on generating traffic.  I’ll let you know what I’m doing when I really get going.

In the meantime I’ll keep going with visiting blogs, learning from others and preparing for Christmas.

I’ll update you soon!

Are you one of the Fortunate 500?

I’ve just found the social networking site called Fortunate 500 which has been set up for students of Alex Jeffreys by Thomas Northrop.  I’m sure that it will be a great resource where we can interact with one another without having to keep asking the same questions on several blogs or try to find the answers to those questions!

I’ve just signed up at http://www.fortunate500.ning.com/ so maybe you would like to do the same. 

Let’s keep on building this supportive community together.

Please help me with setting up my Profit Pulling Platform!

Arghhhh!

It’s beginning to get to me that I can’t seem to get my ppp up and running. 

I’ve been through Alex’s videos several times and it seems to be at the Filezilla bit that I get stuck.  I have transferred files as he suggests, but after following step by step he then says that we don’t need to put it into ‘testforvideo’ but straight into the public_html file. (He could do with making that clearer at the start of that particular video.)

This is interesting, because he says that we can leave this blank and this will eventually go straight into the website.  My public-html file has other files in it – I assume because I already have my blog running in it.

I decided then to put it into a subdirectory called ‘listbuildingwithalex’ and tried to set it up with the rest of the information.

I can see it if I log in directly to that page, but how do I get people to access it from my main page?  Lots of people seem to have just a small email opt-in box on their front page, which seems ideal as I don’t really want to have my main page as the squeeze page!

I assume again (though I’m checking for advice really as I know I shouldn’t assume – that was drilled into me when I was in the military!) that my ppp is now a subdirectory of my main website blog page.  How can I link it? 

I really feel a bit like I am being left behind when I read of others building their lists and getting sales and I don’t want to be at the back!! 

I know that I could get others to do it for me, but I would really like to know how to do it so that I can do it myself more easily again next time.  I’m sure that there will be plenty more next times…  Lots of new products including, I hope, some of my own.

There is probably further information about how to do this somewhere, but I can’t find it at the moment, so if any of you technically-minded people can give me a link or any advice I would be eternally grateful!  I really can’t afford to spend anymore time with this – I want to move on.

I’m looking forward to the next module with trepidation as I’m not even up to that level yet.  I know that some people are chomping at the bit to move on, but some of us aren’t even at that stage yet and I have been trying to do it – honestly!  Thanks.

Hilary

I’m catching up – slowly!

Well I spent quite a bit of yesterday working on both my blog and my profit pulling platform, though I still don’t have the latter on my front page – can anyone give me a hand with that please?  (I have it in testforvideo but can’t seem to get a small box on my front page).

I also managed to buy our Christmas tree yesterday and my daughter did most of the decorating, so at least we are starting to feel Christmassy in our home.  I’ve just got to do the cake, the cards, the rest of the presents and the food shopping as well as a good tidy up before we have visitors…  All I want to do is get on with this online journey, but I know that home life still has to go on.

Anyway, I’ve been reading around the blogs again to get more helpful information and I’ve found that Garry Parkes is leading the way again by getting ready to send out a regular weekly newsletter to help all the students of Alex Jeffreys get in on the branding.  He really has some great ideas that man – where does he get the time from to do it all?!

Anyway, if you haven’t already looked at it go and check out his post at http://garryparkes.com/alex-jeffreys/get-a-slice-of-the-1-million-up-for-grabs/ it is definitely worth getting in on this so that we can all help one another .  I’m sure that you want to be in Garry’s book too.

Now I need to carry on doing what I can to catch up and I’ll visit as many blogs as I can and add you to my list, so please leave me a comment and I’ll add you on.

Thanks!

Hilary

I’ve done it!

Thanks to everyone who has told me to get my own hosting and the help that they have offered I have managed finally to export my blog to my own website.

I particularly found Dean Holland’s Blog Setup Guide which you can download free at www.deanholland.com really useful for doing that and following the video guide at www.Mat4.com helped me with the fantastico software.  Dean has just posted that due to a wordpress update he needs to update his book, but I have just used it and managed to do what I needed to by clicking on the tools dropdown on the left hand side to find the export button and it worked OK for me.

I love these video guides!  For a newbie like me I can have two tabs open, one with the video guide and one with my page so that I can follow each step, pause the video and do exactly what I’m told to do.  Occasionally, I have to look a little further for some information but it is so good to have this kind of help.  This is what a community is all about – picking up on things that we comment about and passing on the information to one another.

Right, I just need to sort out my theme again and how I set up a blogroll and other such things and then I shall be ready to go…

Hilary

My first blog post!

Well, I’ve finally got my blog started, so welcome to my world!

I’m really excited to have found Alex Jeffreys and his mentoring package at just the right time for me.

I had been a teaching and learning assistant for nearly 5 years at our local FE college and after some hard work interrupted by illness I finally qualified as a teacher this summer.

I took a new job at another college in October but, found that I really did not enjoy it and as I had a journey of nearly an hour each way, I was so tired at the end of the day that I couldn’t give the attention to my family that I wanted to.

I made the decision to leave my new job, which given the economic situation at the moment was quite scary.  I have managed to get some hourly paid teaching back at my local college, but there is not too much before Christmas and then I will have to wait until the following month before I am paid.

So – I took a deep breath and thought – now is the time to increase my home businesses and do some more work on the Internet.

I have been selling second-hand books on Amazon and greetings cards through a network marketing company, both of which I enjoy, but at the moment do not make me much money.

I have spent the last couple of years on email lists, listening and learning to others and I thought that now was the ideal time to move forward in this venture.

How was I going to do this?  I wasn’t sure so I bought a couple of other eBooks the day after I left my job and started looking through them and implementing some of the things I was told to do.

I still wasn’t sure about it and then on the Monday I found Alex Jeffreys’ mentoring programme, watched the video and signed up there and then.

Why?

I know that one of the most important things in moving forward is to have a mentor.  I knew that it would help me to avoid long hours going down the wrong track, searching in the wrong place, losing money and probably resulting in giving up.

Why Alex?

I liked what he said about giving away in order to get something in return.  This is very much my philosophy.  I liked the fact that it wasn’t purely a money grabbing exercise as I don’t believe the ‘get rich quick’ claims and know that hard work is required to move forward.

I also liked the fact that he is British and that as I am British myself I felt that there was some sort of connection, as sometimes the gurus in America seem more remote both in their location and in understanding how the British mind ticks.

So if you are looking for some good down to earth common sense advice and a way to get started on the Internet do check Alex out:

http://marketingwithyou.com/

you’ll be glad that you did.

So what are my goals now?

To get this blog up and running.

To get my website up and running

To build my profit pulling platform

Most of all to make enough money so that I can work from home and be around for my children.  To support them as they enter their teenage years (more about that in a later post) and to not be so tired that I cannot enjoy the time I have with them and the rest of my family.

I look forward to your support and comments and I hope that I can grow with fellow students of Alex both those who are on his programme now and those who will benefit from his experience and teaching in the future.

Let’s move forward together.

“We don’t have to get it right, we just have to get it going.” 

 I have had that on the wall over my computer for nearly a year now – and I finally have got it going.

To our journey!

Hilary