I joined Jon Leger’s NicheHorde and have been having a jolly good poke around inside the site these last few days, so here is my review of Niche Horde for you.

You’ve probably read what it says at his site…

Niche Horde will help you…

	Find niche markets and keywords that you can easily rank for in the search engines.
	Discover new keywords in your current niches that you can target.
	Find high paying AdSense keywords and markets to focus your efforts on.

So what I’d like to do is take you behind the scenes, so I’ve loaded the NicheHorde application (to make it run on my home computer – you have to do that before you can log in), then I’ve logged in.

By the way the “app” is lightweight. You hardly notice it running. It isnt slowing my machine down in any noticeable way at all… in case you were wondering.

Let’s take a look at what NicheHorde shows you.

Think of a niche. Read the rest of this entry

UPDATED 8 OCT 2009. See the footer for news from the FTC that will help you relax.

Okay, so you want to comply with the new FTC rule that says affiliates must now disclose that they get paid for sales but HOW BEST TO SAY THIS?

http://arindamchakraborty.com/beware-of-posting-affiliate-links-on-your-blog-part-2 has posted a good sized list of options. Different ways to state the fact these are affiliate links.

It’s a long-ish post so look for the red headline that says… My Personal “Nuttie” Views-Affiliate Marketing. That’s where he gives his suggestions on compensation disclosure statements.

Another good thing about this post is that Arindam links through to a substantial list of sites that also deal with this new FTC ruling.

Cheers,
Gary Harvey.

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Update 11 October.

Here’s what Joel Comm’s lawyer says about all this. He is a “Creative Business Lawyer™” and he writes some of the most easy-to-read legal stuff I’ve ever seen from a lawyer. At the end of the article, there are 8 action steps.

http://www.joelcomm.com/new_ftc_rules_for_testimonials_1.html

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Update 18 October.

Someone from the FTC has responded to the fears and panic that is spreading among some internet marketers. I think this short piece on the FastCompany blog will help you relax. This puts the matter into perspective — and it includes quotes from the FTC representative. Read the rest of this entry

If you’re having trouble finding PROFITABLE NICHES, there are 5 short clear videos available to view online at no cost. They explain 5 different ways to ferret out niche markets where you can promote and make money online.

So here’s the link to the free niche finding videos. Yes, there’s a software tool you can buy if you wish (and yes, that’s my affiliate link) but the videos are free and informative.

Enjoy.

Gary Harvey

Before I make any significant online purchase, especially IM (internet marketing) products, I do my own online research to see what other users have had to say about the product or service I’m thinking of buying.

You probably do too.

Most of the “reviews” that come up are undisguised sales pitches. In fact, if you’ve been around IM for any time at all, you’ll know that there are sites which supply these pre-packaged reviews.

So when I ran across http://www.imreportcard.com/r/GaryH half an hour ago, it was a most pleasant find. The site is set up to provide non-incentivized reviews of products in the internet marketing realm. Product buyers can post reviews or comments. Product owners can respond. There is a discussion thread for every product.

If you want a product reviewed, you can request it.

Some kind soul wrote a review of my Find Hot Markets (http://findhotmarkets.com) site. And yes, it was delightfully positive. Here’s their review of Find Hot Markets.

And here’s the IMReportCard discussion thread about Find Hot Markets.

So… if you’re in the Internet Marketing world, this is a site to get to know. My referral link again is…

http://www.imreportcard.com/r/GaryH

If you join through me, I get some kind of brownie points (and I think that can even be cash but I dont imagine it’s much), so I hope you will. It’s free and could save you from wasting time or money on DUD PRODUCTS. Read the rest of this entry

On Oct 5, 2009, the FTC released new guidelines about the use of testimonials. If you’re a product creator or an affiliate marketer, you should know about this one.

Here’s the easy-to-read Frank Kern version…
http://masscontrolsite.com/blog/?p=59

Here’s the FTC page…
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

The FTC headlines say “FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials.
Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements“.

As Frank says, “New FTC Thing Is A Bigger Deal Than You Might Think”.

Best wishes,
Gary

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Update 10 October:

“The long and short of it is that you need to make sure that you’re
not at risk of being “carpet-bombed” by the upcoming affiliate-squashing
campaign that the FTC is rolling out with its new ultra-unclear guidelines.

And this directly affects ALL affiliates.

And the cost of violation (including inadvertant, well-meaning
violations) rings in at a crippling $11,000 PER INCIDENT.”

That’s from Chris Rempel’s email this morning. You can read his full blog post at

http://www.thelazymarketer.com/blog/2009/10/09/the-sky-is-not-falling-but-this-is-definitely-a-game-changer Read the rest of this entry