BIZ-BANANA.COM

If ever there was an evocative title, Napoleon Hill’s landmark book “Think and Grow Rich” certainly fitted the bill.

Easily the best motivational book bar none, it has been reworked, regurgitated and resurfaced in many different disguises by lesser authors, but rarely – if ever – improved.

First published in 1937, it is the end product of two decades of research.

That research started when Andrew Carnegie (the steel tycoon who was then the richest man on earth) gave him the assignment of organizing a Philosophy of Personal Achievement.

Hill, who was an impoverished journalist, armed with just an introductory letter from Carnegie, set out to interview over five hundred successful people. They included Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, John D. Rockefeller, George Eastman, William Wrigley Jr. and Charles M. Schwab.

He then revealed the priceless wisdom of his research in the form of the thirteen steps to success (in Think and Grow Rich) and the seventeen principles of success (in courses and lectures he conducted).

Now in the public domain, here is your chance to download and read our free version in PDF format. If you don’t have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader there is a link to their site on the left menu.

Click to download Think and Grow Rich

It is certainly an enlightening read!

You'll never get rich doing this
back to headlines

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I’d bought “Work-at-home” from Michael Cheney. As the page gradually filled up, I took a look at some of the other sites and the keywords they’d bought – and boy was I in for a shock.

I stumped up my seventy quid in the hopes of getting some quick results in the way of getting some more traffic. I knew it would be a short term “fix” and that’s exactly the way it turned out.

Sure, I did get more than 100 new visitors a day for a couple of weeks but mostly they clicked on the B-B link and wafted away like a butterfly on the breeze.

Anyway, some of the sites I visited were enough make you cry.

I don’t intend to pinpoint any particular sites by name, but if you click on Michael’s link further down you’ll quickly grasp what I mean. I was really only interested in the ‘home business’ related keywords and what I found was mostly a mixture of sites that I guarantee will NEVER make a profit in a million years!

There were boilerplate cloned sites where the only difference was the domain name. As for the site "content", none of it was unique and consisted of ads to similar business opportunities.

They included auction sites, so-called turnkey businesses - I call them turkeys - assuring you of instant success and a few thinly-veiled pyramid scams. There’s even one which baldly states you can make $77 million in two years! I mean, come on!

With complete rubbish like that, it’s no wonder people are reluctant to take the plunge and start on their own. So how do you beat the scammers and save yourself from being ripped-off?

Believe it or not, most of the answers are right there on our Home page.

• Build a profitable niche website that WORKS
• Provides Great Content
• Drives lots of Targeted Traffic to your site
• Pre-sells to warm willing customers who are ready to buy
• Monetizes all that’s gone before into sales, commissions or finders fees.

What's the point of me doing link exchanges?
back to headlines

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had used SiteSell’s free Value-Exchange to find possible link partners. At first I thought it would be very useful, but the truth is it was more a hindrance than a help.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly the fault of the program. The free version - and only one of a set of tools belonging to their flagship product Site Build It! - has its limitations. For instance, the only option is to supply your home page url, enter your keywords and let the program get to work.

The keywords I started with when I signed with the program were:

• homeworking
• home business ideas
• work at home
• work from home

Just as a quick aside, I got an email today asking for a link. The topic of their site was car spare parts. The topic of this site is about home business ideas so it's some jump to make any meaningful connection and I declined the offer.

I'm just a big old spendthrift
back to headlines

A few weeks back I decided to buy yet another ebook called “Make Your Content PRE-sell”

I wanted it for a couple of reasons:

It cost next to nothing (USD $9.95 - GBP £5.38.) - But I also wanted to ask an important question, too.

As a “converted” SiteSell affiliate since 1999, I’ve always believed that to be able to recommend any product wholeheartedly you should both buy and use the product yourself.

So now, you are saying: “Here comes the old sales pitch.” Well, actually, there is NO sales pitch. At BIZ-Banana.com we NEVER try to sell you anything.

What we have always tried to do is PRE-Sell you on the idea that you can succeed with your own home-based business, which kind of gives the game away on the topic of the book. Our aim is simply to give you a gentle nudge towards the right path. If we can lead you away from the crooks and all the other nonsense stuff, so much the better.

The final decision is yours but you can make a serious income – but only if you are really willing to work hard on your business.

Hang on a minute while I jump off this high horse! ;-)

Now where was I? Oh yes, I mentioned something about using the product, and that’s where I have more problems than most other people.

I had a stroke in 2000 which left me unable to read or write. Six years later, I’m back writing again, but reading is still a problem. When I see a lot of writing in a printed book or something on my computer screen, my mind just seems to go blank and smartly wanders elsewhere. I can understand the individual words okay, but it can be a pain trying to grasp the meaning of what is on the page.

My solution now is to cut and paste the words into a little text-to-speech program, which cuts out the middleman (my befuddled brain) and lets me listen to and understand what’s being said.

My daughter Sheila, who runs her own Virtual Assistant business, Sheila Logan VA.co.uk says that I evangelise too much about SiteSell and I guess it’s true because over the years I’ve bought all of Ken Evoy’s products. What makes it even stranger is that, apart from the first book from 1999, I’ve never had a chance to properly read any of his other information products.

Because, all the PDF files are security protected, the cut and paste option was a non-starter and that was when I asked my question:

“If I buy MYCPS!, do you think it would be possible to have a version I could cut and paste into my speech program?”

And then, while I was at it, I asked another question:

“Is there any chance you could do the same for all the other books I’ve bought and had no prospect of ever being able to read?”

Well, if you don't ask you'll never get!

It took a while to get the answers, but finally the very nice people at Support said they could give me what I needed. Now that problem is resolved, I have a lot of catching up to do but now I can listen at leisure.

To all the team at SiteSell Support you have my everlasting gratitude, especially Linda who patiently walked me through any problems encountered in achieving my happy ending.

Last night I listened to my new book in just a couple hours. And my verdict? I can safely say that in its own way it is as groundbreaking as "Think and Grow Rich".

Anyone, and I really do mean anyone, who has even the slightest notion of ever starting their own online business needs this little gem of a book. Maybe you are not ready right now, but you owe it to yourself to at least take a look.

“Make Your Content PRE-sell”

As with all his products, Ken offers a 100% guarantee if the customer is in any way dissatisfied -- and believe me he means it!

I should know, because...

I asked Ken Evoy for my money back!
back to headlines

In early 2004, I decided I was well enough to start working on the site again after an interlude of nearly three years. My last project, from 2001, was the Virtual Assistants report. It took me more than four months to write – something I would have done in days had it not been for that pesky stroke – and the end result certainly wasn’t my best work, so I…

…walked away!

Three years later I thought I’d have another go. I’d also wanted to get my own SBI! site and told myself I could easily work on BIZ-Banana and Home-business-ideas-that-work.com
(My SBI! Site) at the same time.

You know when you do something and quickly realise you’ve made a BIG mistake? Well, the things I thought I could manage quite easily… I couldn’t!

The end result?...

… I walked away, AGAIN!!

And that’s when I asked Ken for my money back.

Believe me, it was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. I wrote and explained my situation – I didn’t have to. There are no preconditions, “unconditional” means just that – and within a day or two I received a full refund.

I never had much chance to use SBI! but I know for a certainty that the SiteSell Support Staff is second-to-none, and that Ken Evoy honours his guarantees.

Now it’s 2006, and I have a great business idea for a new website. When I get around to finishing my B-B update I’ll be taking the same route again, but this time I won’t be asking for my money back!

I just blinked and it was July
back to headlines

What happen to June? Where do the days go?

I announced in my post of 14/3/06 that B-B was getting a facelift. That was my first mistake. The guy who made the offer has obviously decided against it because he never got back to me. Do you think the fact that my minuscule traffic stats have any do with it?

My second mistake was in thinking nobody cared one way or another. Ahh! As it turns out, it seems that a lot of you say they don’t want to see a slick version of this site. So, by popular request, the look and feel stays the same.

Fact is, though, the site really needs some serious work.

The Multi-level Marketing section, for example needs, a complete makeover. Actually, I'd been thinking of losing it altogether but for the moment it gets a reprieve. Take look at the individual 'opportunities' and you'll see what I mean.

• Changes – now Goldshield Elite
• Telecomplus – in early 2000 they only offered cheaper phone bills now you can get a whole new range of services including gas electricity and even broadband!
• Kleeneze – this one also dates from 1999 and the ‘interview’ is well outdated because the interviewees probably moved on to their next ‘opportunity’ within a few weeks.

Yet another free download
back to headlines

I’ve been completely out of the ‘loop’ for the last couple of years – at least on the home business front – and the Google AdWords and AdSense revolution passed me by.

My first inkling was through Ken Evoy’s Site Build It! Express newsletter which helped me to understand why being involved in this venture could be very lucrative indeed.

http://adsense.sitesell.com/

Over the last few months I’ve been making gradual changes to the site and I can tell you now that I’ve been working towards incorporating my own AdWords strategy and AdSense rewards.

As Ken says, though, wait until you are sure Google will accept your site and allow you to run their ads. In his words:

“Google AdSense rewards you for creating sites rich in high-quality, focused content... the sort of sites that make the Net a better place!”

What they definitely DON’T want are sites that are ‘under construction’ and as B-B will be a work in progress I’ll wait a while longer until I’ve made the necessary alternations before signing up.

In the meantime I’ll be looking for as much information on the subject as I can find and I’ve already found a great FREE ebook called:

AdWords Made Easy by Brad Callen.

If you want to look behind all the hype about AdWords and eventually run a campaign on your own website you should definitely take a look.

I bought a word today... Oh boy!
back to headlines

I bought a word today... Oh boy! (apologies to John Lennon.)

Actually, I got three words for the price of one.

They cost me $126 (£70)

And the words? ‘Work-At-Home’... EH?

I suppose I'd better start at the beginning. Yesterday I got a message from marketer Michael Cheney offering me a chance to buy a link to a new website called:

http://www.michaelcheneytop500.com

Here are a few extracts from that email. (My bolding.)

"You are reading this email which is being sent to 42,000 people so if you claim your word link QUICKLY you will be seen by tens of thousands of people who visit the site!"

"You can claim your word link from 500 possibles (or suggest your own word) but once they're gone, they're gone!"

"You are getting your very own direct word link from my site to yours that is yours on my website for at least 2 years (and I am promoting this site widely in emails like this, at conferences, on my blog and as a case study too - you will be seen by thousands!")

You've heard the term 'no-brainer' before, right? Say no more!

A freebie for... ME!
back to headlines

I got my first 'reward' in two years from Amazon.co.uk recently.

It came the form of a voucher for £11.10.

To most people it might seem like a small thing, but you know what they say about small beginnings. By the way, I spent it right away on the latest album by the brilliant Dixie Chicks.

You're never too young to start
back to headlines

Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes – and all ages, too.

Meet Sara Stark, a 14 year-old schoolgirl who has been running an Avon agency for more than a year, but has even bigger ambitions.

Now she’s branching out and has just started a new Betterware business. She pushes catalogues through letter boxes, sends her orders to the company and delivers the goods to her customers.

She’s putting the commissions from her sales towards some new “stuff” for a forthcoming family holiday.

She says it’s hard work juggling between both businesses and of course there is also the other necessary stuff like school, but says there is still time for having fun with her friends.

For me, the “hard work” aspect is crucial and any business – be it a full-time career or, like Sara, doing it for pocket money – will only succeed by working at it.

I’ll let you know how she gets on and in the meantime I’ll be looking at both Avon and Betterware to see what they are all about. When I’ve done that I’ll, post a new report and you will be able to judge for yourself whether it’s something you would like to try yourself.

Search me
back to headlines

I’ve been investigating ways to get more traffic to BIZ-Banana but it’s been hard going. This site started more than five years ago, but in real terms I’ve only been working on it for a few months due to the after-effects of a stroke I had in 2000.

What really surprises me, though, is that after all this time I still score well for some of my pages with the Search Engines. Here is just one example:

Proofreading and Copyediting

Yahoo! Page 1 - 4 of 120,000
Google Page 1 - 8 of 434,000

You might think I’d be happy with those listings but only if someone searches for that exact phrase. For some of the other variations I’m invisible!

Proofreading and copy editing
Proofreading and copy-editing
Proof reading and copyediting
Proof reading and copy editing
Proof reading and copy-editing

Obviously, for this site to be successful I need to explore different ways to attract visitors. I’ve been looking at a few programs that might help and also the different price ranges.

The Keywords on any webpage are critical.

Here are just a few options I’ve looked at through Yahoo.co.uk. With one exception, they all have an affiliate program, although I’ve only joined one – and that’s because I bought the software. Details further down the page.

Wordtracker http://www.wordtracker.com/

I took the free trial and used the Proofreading and Copyediting example above and I was impressed with the results, although at $255 \ £140 per annum it was a bit steep for me at the moment.

It may be an option later on and I’ll certainly keep it in mind.

Keyword Avalanche http://www.keywordavalanche.com/

This one costs $57 \ £31 per month although I don’t see any link to an affiliate program.

Keyword Elite http://www.keywordelite.com/

This software comes in at $167 \ £93 as a one-off payment and promises free future upgrades

Traffic Secrets http://www.trafficsecrets.com/

Now we’re playing with the big boys; only for people with very large wallets! At $997 \ £543, take a look at this if you want to be overwhelmed.

The package includes: 8 DVDs, 6 CDs and loads of printed materials. Mind you, at that price I’d be looking for additional bonuses, too.

Maybe something like a months holiday in the South of France AND a season ticket to a Premiership football ground!

1stsearchranking http://www.1stsearchranking.com/

Samantra Roy has long been THE expert in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and here is the daddy of them all. He guarantees your results or your money back but with packages ranging from $999 \ £543 to a whopping great $3499 \ £1902 I guess it’s really only for BIG BUSINESS!

Link Explore http://www.linkexplore.com/index_webpg.php

His Link Explore software is probably a really good deal at $49.95 \ £27 a month to someone running a serious online business, but as B-B is still just a part-time (a very part-time) hobby I’ll pass for now.

Value Exchange http://value-exchange.sitesell.com/ on the other hand, is completely free. If you already have a website with very few links, you have absolutely nothing to lose by trying it out.

I signed up recently and from the keyword list on my home page I found 380+ possible link partners and I’m negotiating with some of them at the moment.

In addition, there is a free ebook “Make Your Links Work” which you can download for much more information.

Webposition 4 http://www.webposition.com/

This one is my personal choice and I’ve purchased the “Standard” Edition at $149 \ £81. Part of that package includes the cut down version of Wordtracker so for me the price is a great bargain.

They also have an affiliate program and I’ve signed up for that, too. I don’t expect to make much in the way of commissions but you never know.

All I’m really interested in is seeing if it works and if I get a lot more visitors. I’ll keep you posted on that score.

Before you decide which option (if any) best suits you – in other words what your budget can stand – you need to actually have a a website to promote your goods\services - and that’s another “make your mind up” decision to ponder.

Remember the old song “Do you know the way to San Jose?” You know, where all the would-be stars end up pumping gas – and that’s just a break for the lucky ones.

New arrivals to cyberspace are sometimes like that; once they have dipped into that smorgasbord a few times and see what’s available in the web, many people ask themselves:

“How can I make money on the Net?”

I suppose for most it’s just a passing thought, but for the ones who want to do something about it the next question is usually:

“What can I do, and how do I do it?”

Here is a great new FREE tool that might help you decide what kind of home business would ideal for you. It's just brand new today so why not be one of the very first to try it?

http://chooseit.sitesell.com/

Kiss your money goodbye
back to headlines

Someone once said “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

The other day I receive an email from a lady called Carrie who had been just about to send £30 for an envelope scam. Thankfully, she found BIZ-Banana first and kept her money for another day.

It’s familiar story but in essence it boils down to these simple facts.

Many people like Carrie are pretty desperate for money

They see an ad in reputable publications – In my case it was Exchange & Mart (1999) - that you can make money by simply addressing lots of envelopes. In Carrie’s case, incredibly, she says:

“… the funny thing is I got the ad from a recruitment magazine from a the local job centre.”

Usually the ad will tell you that you’ll be well paid for every batch of envelopes you send them - exactly how much depends on the con artist running the scheme.

All you have to do is send £30 as a ‘registration’ fee to stop time wasters

Then, I say, before you stick down the envelope, kiss the money goodbye because you’ll never see any return on your investment.

I make no apology for putting another link to my Envelope Stuffing Scam. on this blog because if I can persuade even just one person each day to steer clear of this type of scam I’ll be very happy.

In my reply to her email I said:

“Unfortunately, more and more people fall for this scam every day (and remember, I was one of them :-;) and until the Government brings in new legislation to outlaw this sort of thing there is really nothing to be done.”

In 2001, a private member’s bill was by tabled by Richard Burden, MP but failed to get a second reading and as far as I know that’s the current situation.

As a postscript to a second email, Carrie said: "If you find any good scams let me know."

Well, Carrie, it just so happens...

There's a scam for everyone!
back to headlines

Here are just a few facts from the March edition of Office of Fair Trading magazine:

1. Twenty million people in Britain have been targeted by scams.

2. Nearly one in ten of those in the biggest target group – 35 to 54 year-olds – have fallen victim.

3. Premium phone line scams are the most wide-reaching scam in Britain, approximately two million people in the UK have responded to a scam by phone.

4. Eight million adults in Britain have received mailings promoting a foreign lottery.

5. Even if you don't send any money, you could still be a victim by simply confirming your name, address, telephone number and in certain circumstances your bank details. You may be providing information that can be used to carry out identity fraud.

6. Western Union has joined forces with the police and the OFT to warn consumers of scams before they wire money. Customers have to sign a form confirming they are sure they’re not being defrauded.

7. If you are targeted by a scam, no matter how small the amount of money you send to claim your 'winnings', you will always be asked to send more money.

8. If the company is legitimate you will usually not have to pay the postage stamp to claim your winnings.

9. If you are unsure you are doing the right thing, before you send off money call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 for free impartial advice.

10. The Office of Fair Trading has a dedicated Scambusters team cracking down on mass marketing scams.

Why I DON'T recommend this book!
back to headlines

Recently I posted an item in this blog about a new ebook I'd bought called "How To Write A Book on Anything in 14 Days or Less..."

I said that at first glance it looked like being a quality product. Well, now that I've delved a little deeper, I'm afraid those first impressions proved to be wrong.

There are three versions – I won’t go into any more detail, except to say that I bought the “cheap” one. It came in the form of a 182 page downloadable PDF file and cost $49.95 U.S (£28 approx).

For someone who purports to be an “expert” in the field, I found it to be, basically, a load of drivel!

Here are just some of the reasons why I won’t be recommending it:

• There is NO Table of Contents, a basic requirement in ANY book, printed otherwise. So when he talks in the book about "salting" your TOC with juicy come-ons for every chapter it all looks a bit daft.
• It’s full of spelling errors; I doubt if it has ever been proofread.
• Grammatically it's horrendous! I better not cite examples because I might get sued.
• It waffles on for nearly 50 pages before he finally reveals his big secret writing method. I won't mention any details but I'd liken it to something a thirteen year-old would do for a high school project

My advice to you is - give it a miss!

Carpool dummy sells on eBay for $15,000
back to headlines

Here’s a link to an item at Yahoo! News about a guy from Denver, USA who auctioned off a dummy passenger on eBay for $15,000. Apparently he was trying to use the car-pool lane using the mannequin as a passenger. Guess what? He got caught!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060324/ap_on_fe_st/fake_passenger_auction

eBay auctions are the best way to make money online, according to Sydney Johnson who wrote “Make Your Net Auction Sell!” - now available as a free downloadable PDF file. I’ve been interested for years in internet auctions but never got the chance to do anything about it.

I’ve finally found something that may make up for lost time, get back on track and eventually make me realise my ambitions.

It’s another one of Sydney’s products called "The Auction Genius Course" and although it’s been around for a while it’s really tweaked my interest.

It’s been quite a few years since I joined an affiliate program of any kind, but I signed up today because, personally, this something I want to do myself!

And another very important reason is to do with my health.

You know I had a stroke six years ago and that I still have issues from that time. I’m able to write again (thanks for spellcheckers) but I still have problems with reading. My biggest troubles are trying to understanding and interpreting instructions – so I was really delighted to see that the course comes in three different flavours. And all of them come in audio format.

It might be a while, though, before I can stump up the cash to buy even the lowest priced version, but I’ll be working at it.

RSS Feeds
back to headlines

See that little orange button below? Do you know what it means?

This webmaster thinks it is the most revolutionary concept since the advent of email!

Check it out and see if you agree.

If you’ve been here before and subscribed to the old newsletter, I’ve got some news.

The first thing to notice is the absence of the ‘subs’ form where you must supply:

• your name
• email address

On the left menu you’ll see this little button in its place with an invitation to subscribe.

Subscribe to My RSS Feed

If you already know about RSS feeds and how they work, please subscribe to my feed. :-)

If you don't, click on the link below to find out the full information on RSS feeds.

What Are RSS Feeds?

Here’s the bottom line, at least as far as this blog is concerned: there is NO MORE newsletter!

Why?

With RSS there is:

• NO Need to give your name
• NO Need to give your email address
• NO Waiting for the next newsletter.
• NO SPAM messages.
• NO Viruses
• NO Spyware

Hello!? Or as Homer Simpson would say: "DOH!"

On the subject of SPAM
back to headlines

While we are on the subject of SPAM, here is someone who has first hand knowledge and knows to her cost the damage caused by spammers. In the early days of the Web, SPAM was no more than the online version of the junk mail most of us get regularly through the letterbox. You know, the stuff you usually bin right away and rarely even gets opened.

Then things took a sinister and malicious turn. Some supposedly ‘smart’ people decided to add a few nasty things in the messages - just because they could - and since then things have completely spiralled out of control.

In 1999, Caroline Tresman started Homeworking.com because, in her words

“In an initial search for some information about working from home in early 1999, very little UK based info was found. As a result, Homeworking.com was born.”

I asked her recently if she would consent to a short Q&A interview, by email. I specifically wanted to ask, among other things, why she had given up her once popular newsletter.

As soon as we arrange that interview, I'll post it on the blog.

I bought ANOTHER book!
back to headlines

In 1999 I bought an ebook called Make Your Site Sell! The impact it had then and the subsequent products it spawned became the stuff of legend. The book was completely revamped in 2002 and here's a link if you are interested.

Also, here is a FREE Trial Download to give you more information if you need it

A few days ago I bought another book which I hope will have the same long-term, life-changing consequences for me. It’s called:

"How To Write A Book on Anything in 14 Days or Less... Guaranteed!"

Most people with any life experience have at some time thought about writing a book on their specialized subject, and I include myself in that category. Thinking and actually doing, however, is a different thing altogether. They say “procrastination is the thief of time” which basically means DO IT NOW!

Personally, I’ve mostly followed the signpost that says:

“Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow!”

I've just started reading it – 182 pages – I’ll do a comprehensive review and let you know if it’s something I’d recommend. From what I’ve seen so far it looks like quality product, but I’ll reserve judgement until later.

We're getting a facelift
back to headlines

You know the old adage that says “if something seems too good to be true, it usually is,” well I think I’m about to find a notable exception to that rule.

Paul Hudson made me an intriguing offer recently of a FREE facelift for BIZ-Banana and I’m taking him up on it.

Here is that first letter:

---

"Hello,

I hope you don't mind the unusual approach.

I was browsing your site and thought that we could work together.

I am a designer based in Essex and believe I could offer you a professional new design for no fee.

The main reasons I would be prepared to do this are that your site already has a lot of content and would simply benefit from a new design. Also your site is ranked highly by Google, and this would provide a beneficial link to my site.

My website address is www.website-design-essex.com.

I hope you don't mind me asking and I look forward to hearing from you.

Paul Hudson

P.S I hope that you don't consider this to be spam, I just feel we could both mutually benefit without spending any money, which is always nice. ;-)"

---

Well, what would you have done? Answers on a post card, please...

I'll let you know how it all pans out.

Drop me a line about any of the above (or anything else for that matter) John@biz-banana.com

Back to top

© Biz-Banana.com 1999-2006 - All Rights Reserved.

BIZ-BANANA.COM - DON'T SLIP UP!