Homework students and general trivia buffs the world over were greeted with a blacked-out Wikipedia screen this week; the protest by the online encyclopaedia was a reaction to the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) bills currently going through the United States Congress. 

Opponents to the bill were trying to raise awareness that if it passed, the Internet as we know it would be drastically curtailed. Of these, Wikipedia was by far the highest-profile website to protest and its action gained press coverage the world over. The reason is of course that Wikipedia is one of the most-visited websites on the Internet; no matter what the topic you are searching for (no doubt using Google, probably the most-visited site) a Wikipedia page relating to that topic will very likely appear high in the search results. 

That ranking comes from the authority Wikipedia has gained over the decade or so that it has grown, it is the first point of call for most of us when looking up a given subject. Wikipedia argues that the SOPA bill, although intended to combat online piracy such as illegal file-sharing (a battle that has raged almost since the Internet became generally available), would have consequences that are further-reaching than merely stopping the ability to access copyrighted content illegally.

One of the original proposals was to compel Internet service providers (ISPs) to block their own users from accessing sites that were deemed to be in breach of copyright; this was revised after it was pointed out that the very structure of the Web would be compromised if that happened (effectively, all the Web is, is a lot of computers connected together). However the bill still would require ISPs, as well as advertisers and sites such as PayPal to cease trading with anyone who is alleged to have breached copyright. In addition, search engines would be compelled to remove from their search results any sites that are accused of copyright infringement.

That would seriously impact on Google as well as other search engines; Google has attained its present dominant position because it was so much more effective at giving relevant results than any other search engine, when it first came on the scene in the late 1990s. Google would have to alter radically its own algorithms and if that includes inserting artificial means to filter out what authorities deem is unsuitable, the trust factor of Google’s search results is forever lost. 

Wikipedia claims that its own integrity would be compromised also; the ethos of the site is that it is both accessible and editable by anyone. The site’s integrity is maintained by a team of administrators whose job it is to ensure that entries are factual and neutral. This team works on a voluntary basis and were the SOPA bill in place now, the site would either have to hand its adminstration over to a team authorised by the United States government, or be blocked altogether. Once again, trust would be sacrificed. 

The protest by the online encyclopaedia was effective in so far as it made everybody aware that the Web as we know it is under threat, and lawmakers in the United States are now making noises about backtracking on some of the proposals. Ironically, the blackout itself was actually quite simple to circumvent (one way was to use cached pages from Google), which, if nothing else, illustrates the drawback of rushing through laws without sufficient understanding of the technology. Content can be and is cached on many more servers than those which are shut down by authorities, so the logical conclusion would be that access to the Internet itself would ultimately be restricted only to those ‘authorised’ to use it by the powers that be. 

For those of us who use the Internet for marketing, this is something we must all be aware of. Internet marketers themselves are more interested in getting the word out there about whatever business niche they are promoting, but if the tools to make that possible are placed out of reach by a draconian bill which has consequences far beyond its stated purpose, the way for people to take back control of their own lives is in danger of being taken away from us.

For that reason, it is the responsibility of all of us to oppose this bill – although they are backtracking, the danger remains that measures will come into effect while attention is diverted elsewhere, when it is not so newsworthy.  

If you use Google, YouTube, Facebook or any other social media site to promote your business, this affects you. 

A link is provided here for those who wish to register their disapproval.

Do we 

I hope everyone has had a very happy Christmas and New Year.

The start of any new year is always a time for looking forward, and perhaps making plans for the coming 12 months. Most of you will be returning to work after the holiday, to the traffic jams, the crowded buses or trains, and the daily grind. You might even find that the bus or train fares have risen, eating further into your salary.

The past two years have seen severe economic turmoil and 2012 promises to be just as turbulent. Many more people are waking up to the realities about the global money system, and much of what is unfolding now has been foreseen by many of the experts that I am currently studying under. At a conference I attended in Las Vegas, my eyes were opened by what I heard from some very eminent speakers, some of whom came from an investment banking background.

If you are working for a monthly paycheck and finding it is having to stretch further and further, if you are burdened by debt, taxes, if you are finding that planning for your retirement is getting tougher and tougher, or if you have been looking at a franchise business and found that the start-up costs are prohibitive, the business of financial education could be for you. One thing is clear, a storm is brewing and when it comes there will be two groups of people: those who are financially educated and those who are not.

The company I am with (Wealth Masters) offers several levels of financial education; from a multimedia course encompassing audio, video and the Internet, to conferences held in locations worldwide.

I would like to invite you to watch the video presentation which I have linked here and if you have any questions, please contact me.

For further details please see the site linked at the bottom of this post and I look forward to seeing you on the inside!

Map Your Life

 

My thanks to Adam Jones who posted this to his Facebook page today. 

Which one do you agree with – it has to be RBS venture capitalism, for me!

 

SOCIALISM

You have 2 cows.

You give one to your neighbour.

 

COMMUNISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both and gives you some milk.

 

FASCISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both and sells you some milk.

 

NAZISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both and shoots you.

 

BUREAUCRATISM

You have 2 cows.

The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.

 

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM

You have two cows.

You sell one and buy a bull.

Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.

You sell them and retire on the income.

 

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM

You have two cows.

You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.

The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.

The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.

You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.

No balance sheet provided with the release.

The public then buys your bull.

 

SURREALISM

You have two giraffes.

The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

 

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.

Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

 

A FRENCH CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you

want three cows.

 

A JAPANESE CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.

You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and market it worldwide.

 

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.

You decide to have lunch.

 

A SWISS CORPORATION

You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.

You charge the owners for storing them.

 

A CHINESE CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You have 300 people milking them.

You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.

You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

 

AN INDIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.

You worship them.

 

A BRITISH CORPORATION

You have two cows.

Both are mad.

 

AN IRAQI CORPORATION

Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.

You tell them that you have none.

No-one believes you, so they bomb the ** out of you and invade your country.

You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

 

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION

You have two cows.

Business seems pretty good.

You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

 

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION

You have two cows.

The one on the left looks very attractive.

 

We've all been to networking meetings I'm sure, where the person you are talking to is eager to get straight into whatever it is he or she is pitching. They talk at length about the product and what it can do, without ever thinking first what it is the person that they are talking to actually does.

If you've ever been to a corporate presentation, or perhaps if you are working and your company has outsourced the department off to a contractor, you will have seen all the slides about the new company's history and their achievements. Whether you are being sold something, or are being sold off yourself, the chances are you did not care two hoots about the company's history!

In both scenarios the selling is pushed on you, and you are naturally put straight onto the defensive. Who is this man/woman, what do they want from me and why are they pitching their product so hard? When people come to networking meetings, or even network online, it is because they are looking for something, most likely a solution to their problem. They don't care about the history of the vendor, they only care whether or not you can help them in the way they are looking for.

In short, they are looking for a leader. Someone who can show them how they can achieve their goals, not someone who wants to sell them yet another product. They want to be pointed in the right direction, not simply parted from their cash. The best marketers understand that before people will buy from them, they have to sell themselves as a leader, as an expert, first.

When you are able to show yourself as a leader, then people will come to you instead of you chasing after them. This is the basic principle behind Attraction Marketing.

In attraction marketing, you first of all need to have your own presence on the World Wide Web. This usually means a blog, and you can either use a free online platform like Blogger or Posterous, or you could self-host using Wordpress. The latter involves a little more setting up, but you have greater flexibility. Your home page should be branded to announce yourself to the world, that means a picture of yourself and a short tagline. Say who you are, and what you are about (an 'About Me' page is usually the way to achieve this). Alternatively, if you are on Facebook, why not link to your profile or page? (Your profile would need to be professionally-oriented, which is a subject for another blog).

Make sure your site is clean, well-laid out and easy to read. Templates are readily available for Wordpress which fulfil all these requirements, or you can choose a similarly-clean template for Blogger or Posterous from their selection. If you are feeling adventurous, you could design one yourself or have it made for you professionally. Remember – keep it simple!

Avoid pushing your product onto people – this can't be stressed enough! Attraction marketing works by providing value, leadership, to your visitors and this can be anything from regular tips given from your blog, perhaps a downloadable PDF file with some helpful information on it, or a short video clip with useful content. The essential thing is content – provide good, helpful content and you will be seen as a leader who provides value.

Anyone who comes across your site is likely to be a new internet marketer themselves. They're almost certainly confused, and are looking for someone who can help them understand the way the industry works. You should become that someone! Even if you yourself are a newbie, if you have something of value to share, then share it! All people want is a way to make their life easier, a way to work smarter and perhaps to save some money. Rather than pitch your latest whizzo product at them, you will get their attention more easily by offering them something of value.

In short, you are selling yourself first, not your product. Once you are established as a leader, it won't matter what you are selling – provided you are continuing to offer value people will naturally be interested in what you have to offer. Attraction marketing is a skill-set that not too many understand, but those who do, are the ones who are the highest earners.

Now that you understand the principle of attraction marketing, you can learn more about how to take advantage of this strategy with a free webinar. Yes, I said 'Free' (remember – offer value!) If you would like to know more about Attraction Marketing from some of the industry's top producers please follow the link by clicking the image below.

If you watched the video of the speech by G. Edward Griffin (I know, it was lengthy) which I posted in an earlier blog, you may have heard him mention fractional reserve banking.

When I first heard about this myself it shocked me how easy it is for money to be created out of nothing. The fact that money is no longer backed by precious metals such as gold or silver but instead is simply conjured up, was actually quite hard for me to grasp. Most people are totally unaware this is going on; they are not educated about finance.

For those who didn't watch the whole thing, or have not read Griffin's book 'The Creature from Jekyll Island' then I'll attempt to explain the fractional reserve system.

Essentially, a bank which has, say, $100 deposited in it from a customer, can then loan out a multiple of that $100 to other customers. The limit it can loan out is determined by how much it holds in its vault; so if, say, the amount it can loan out is at a ratio of 9 to 1, it can loan out $900 for every $100 it actually holds. The animated short I am posting here is a simplifed history of how banking started, and it also explains fractional reserve banking:

The last part I found particularly interesting: in the event of a run on a bank, the central bank would support them with emergency infusions of gold. The United States is no longer on the gold standard, so what do the central banks support the smaller member banks with now? Bailouts? Ultimately they're paid for by the taxpayer. So whenever a bank fails, the taxpayer picks up the tab to replenish it. Marvellous (!)

For an eye-opening documentary on the conspiracy against your money, please click the image.

I've recently become aware of a powerful new platform called TribePRO, which uses social networks to gain rapid exposure for your website, through something they call 'The Tribe'.

What do they mean by the Tribe? Essentially, it is a grouping of like-minded internet entrepreneurs, which helps you to spread around your website, blog posts, videos, or other content to their social networks which are already built. The upshot is that your brand becomes expanded, you generate more of a 'buzz' online and therefore increase traffic to your website.

The whole point is to leverage the use of social networking (which we all know is essential to market online these days) and save you time. Instead of trying to syndicate your content yourself, let the Tribe do the work!  In the words of the people from TribePRO themselves, Socialise, Share, and Succeed!

There are three pricing platforms which offer more features the higher you go, but you can sign up as a free member right now and see for yourself what TribePRO can offer you.

See how you can share your message across social networks with minimal effort! Just follow the linked image and join the Tribe:

Of course you would. This script is provided by one of the leading lights in the network marketing industry, Todd Falcone. All he is asking for is an email address and he will send you the download, which you can use right away. For explosive growth, results and ultimately more money, just follow the link provided and help yourself to the free download from The Fearless Networker himself – Todd Falcone.

Click For Access To Todd Falcone’s Little Black Book

 

 

I saw a report today that a company importing bananas has been fined over £7million because it was involved in a price-fixing cartel.

 

 

Such cartels are of course illegal, and are rightly punished by anti-trust authorities (in this case, the European Union). However, there is another, long-established cartel which operates quite freely and with the co-operation of the government with which is it partnered: the US Federal Reserve.

A little background on how the Fed came into being, for which I am indebted to G. Edward Griffin (The Creature from Jekyll Island, ISBN 978-0912986456).

The Fed is not, as many believe, a US government agency. It is no more 'Federal' than Federal Express! It came into being in 1910, at a highly-secret meeting between leading bankers at a place called Jekyll Island, Georgia. The banks were concerned because whenever there was a run on a bank, and people wanted their money but could not pay (a consequence of Fractional Reserve banking, a subject which is for another blog), the banks went bust. So several of these banks met up, in total secrecy, and got together and agreed to set up the cartel.

Now as I said before, cartels are illegal. The reason this one is not, is because they actually went into partnership with the US government and had their agreement passed into law by Congress. And so, by 1913, the Federal Reserve Act came into being. It was sold to the people as a way of actually protecting them against the large banks and their grip on the economy – but it was actually created by the same large banks!

So we have the situation whereby it is not the government who controls the money supply of the United States, it is the banks in a cosy cartel. Understand that and it begins to become clear why there is always a 'bailout' or 'stimulus package', whenever one of these banks gets into trouble. The cost is always placed on the taxpayer, i.e. the ordinary person, however.

Of course, whoever controls the supply of money is effectively in charge of the country, no matter who is elected as 'President'.

Back to our banana cartel: it was exposed because one company blew the whistle to the authorities. That's never going to happen with the banking cartel called the Federal Reserve though: it is in partnership with the government, therefore all parties are committed to the system.

Besides, if a fine was imposed, given what we know – who would pay? The taxpayer, of course!

Mr Griffin's book is still available and is recommended reading, but you can hear much of what he says at a speech he gave in 1994. This was several years before the crisis which is now upon us, and it was entirely predictable.

Put simply: There is a conspiracy against your money. It is better to be educated about the financial reality than not, and for more about this please either put in your details in the box to the right (on ronniesoo.com), or click this link:

The Conspiracy Against Your Money

Image: Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the old days before there was such a thing as the Information Superhighway, businesses needed to be able to get people through their doors. The amount of 'traffic' they generated was vital, so placement of their premises was important. A business sited on a busy street would always get more people than one tucked away in a quiet side street.

The difference today is that everyone on the Internet can live on the same virtual 'street'. Therefore it is easier to get traffic through your virtual door than it was in the old days, but although there are more potential eyeballs for your business, you still have to attract them to your site.

To get traffic through to your website, you need to rank well in the search engines. This is so obvious, yet 99 percent of websites fail because they fall foul of just one of four "golden rules" of search engine optimisation.

You may have your website all ready to go, articles, content and everything all set up, yet you're not getting the traffic you hoped for. A great piece of software which I've been using for some time now helps even the internet marketing newbie generate more traffic to their websites, and as we all know, more traffic means more leads, more purchases!

The software is available as a free trial and you can go ahead and try it out for yourself right now. In addition, you will also get sent 4 short video tutorials which will show you how to get much more visitors to your site.

I have this software myself and can attest to how powerful it is – you can see what keywords give a good search ranking, what do not, and which has low competition. This is absolutely essential stuff!

To get your hands on your free trial download and training videos, just click this link.
Market Samurai Traffic Hunting Software

 

One of the key concepts for the new internet marketer to grasp is search engine optimisation (SEO) or, put simply, how to get your site to appear in the search engine rankings for a given search term.

There are many ways to tweak your site so that it is search-engine friendly; making sure your chosen keyword appears in the title, the body text, even in any image titles are basics for what is known as on-page SEO.

However the real benefit is in off-page SEO, and that entails generating backlinks TO your website from other websites. The common method of achieving this is through Article Marketing; that is to write an article relating to whichever niche it is you are marketing and to submit that to article directories along with a backlink to your own site, with the link suitably titled to include your keyword of course (something known as 'anchor text').

At this point you may be thinking: "oh no, does this mean I have to write lots of articles and submit them to a raft of different websites to get the backlinks?" Yes it does, but there are ways to make the process easier. 

One such way is to use the Article Marketing Robot. You can find out more by clicking the link, but essentially what it does is take a lot of the drudgery out of the process, by using the tool to submit your article automatically to a whole variety of article hosting sites out there. It can schedule your articles to go up when you want, or it can 'blast' them. One other feature which the new marketer will find essential is the 'spin' feature. This allows you to change aspects of the article text so that the exact same wording doesn't appear everywhere. For search engines to recognise the links, this is vital.

Presently they are offering the tool as a 30-day no quibble trial; try it out for 30 days and if unsatisfied, they will refund your money. The tool is already available at a discounted rate and is a highly-recommended tool if you need to boost your search engine rankings.  Click the image to order: