Uncategorized

How to gain more MarketHive subscribers on a daily, weekly and monthly basis?

How do you increase your number of MarketHive subscribers, or "children" if you will?

I think LinkedIn is one of the best ways to accomplish this.  It seems at though, I may have finally cracked the LinkedIn code to do this, well sort of.  Today, I got 12 new invitations to connect with me this morning in my inbox, and I have added 981 connections so far this month.  This is a fairly rapid increase, that I believe few people are currently doing now, on LinkedIn.  

In addition, all of those new connections have been invited to join MarketHive.  (I am currently getting nearly a 1% response rate on invitations to MarketHive). I am actively trying to find a way to increase that percentage, but it is resulting in nearly one new MarketHive sign-up per day.

I don't know how many entrepreneurs realize that their first level connections are already in their sales funnel?  Everyone looking to market on LinkedIn needs to think this way.  Ok, it may not be exactly the same, but it is very close to it.  Everything depends on what you do with those connections.  

Some kind of automation is needed here for sure.  The manual way of messaging in LinkedIn will take you nearly forever to send a message to thousands of first level connections.  Btw, the LinkedIn limit for invitation requests per day is 40 maximum with a free account or a paid account, (Sales Navigator has a limite of 100 per day).  There is a limit of 250 messages per day to your 1st level connections on all LinkedIn accounts.  If you do that every day manually, that is a very time consuming process, for sure!

I am in the process of setting up a step-by-step training program on how to use LinkedIn to promote Markethive.  I may also expand it to a complete LinkedIn training as well, depending on the level of interest.  In any case, this is something anyone can do.  It can be done, even with a free LinkedIn account.  With additional low-cost automation software solutions, the process can be greatly accelerated.  

All for now.  Thanks for your interest.  

Best possible sucess in all your endeavors!

John Lombaerde

Al Zibluk

Crockpot Recipes, Markethive, Personal

Crock-Pot Chunky Vegetable Chili

Typically Sundays are the days where I plan out my week. I prefer to make my own lunch instead of going out where I am not always sure what I am getting. There is a certain satisfaction of making something yourself. I should also mention I am saving money by only going out to lunch on Fridays and Saturdays.

My Brother Jack noticed some of the different things I was making and bought me a Crock-Pot. That was the perfect early Christmas present. I like experimenting with Brown Rice, Lentils, Quinoa and Chickpeas as they are all healthy.

This past Sunday I made a recipe that came with the Crock-Pot called “Chunky Vegetable Chili”. The ingredient list and instructions are below.

Chunky Vegetable Chili
2 15 oz. cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies, undrained
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. salt
1 cup water

In the Crock-Pot Slow cooker, combine the beans, corn, onion, celery, tomato paste, green chilies, carrot, garlic, chili powder, oregano and salt. Stir in the water. Cover; cook on Low for 5½ to 6 hours, or until the vegetables are tender.

Below is a picture of what it looked like before I turned on the power. I should mention I use Himalayan Pink salt anytime a recipe calls for salt.

The picture below is my “6 hours later” photo. I threw in an avocado in the middle of the cooking time. The recipe didn’t need it but I wanted to use it up and I am a big fan of avocados. I also threw in some shredded cheddar cheese the last ten minutes of it. This made four meals.

As mentioned in this blog post I experiment. During this week I would cut up pieces of eggplant, mushrooms and tomatoes and put them in a saucepan with coconut oil in it. I would cook them on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. I wanted them cooked. I then added some of the Chunky Vegetable Chili into it for another 5 to 10 minutes.

My favorite combination was adding Sriracha sauce, olives and blue cheese crumbs to it. I was satisfied on a taste bud level of it. It wasn’t the best tasting chili ever but I thought it was pretty good and as I mentioned earlier, it is satisfying making something yourself. Below is a picture of that combination.

All the best,

Alan
Alan Zibluk
http://alanzibluk.com
e-mail: alan@internetguy.ws

 

Al Zibluk

Uncategorized

How are Elon Musk and Orbital Velocity like the life of an Entrepreneur?

 

Strange title, this one, I know. I remember a famous tweet by Elon Musk saying that getting to space is relatively easy. He explained that you need to achieve Mach 3 to be able to reach space and escape the earth's atmosphere. Then you would come back down to earth again.

In order to stay in orbit, however, you need to be going much, much faster. You need to be traveling at Mach 30 in order to propel yourself fast enough to stay in orbit around the earth.

Here is a link that provides some explanation about this phenomenon.

https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/

I thought, this is similar to many Internet Marketing hype headlines. You know, the ones that say "Newbie Internet marketer makes $20,117.30 in 60 days with no previous Internet experience!" Well, maybe this headline is all hype, but again, maybe this person did achieve this result in 60 days.

Ok, sounds good, but what happened after that? Did that person fall back to earth again, after achieving that success and never managed to make a dime again after that? No one wants that kind of "one-hit wonder" success, right?

The headline would be so much more impressive if it said, "Newbie Internet marketer achieves 6-figure sustainable income, within 60 days, and is still going strong after 3 years". The headlines never say anything like that do they? They are always about the push-button, easy way to success, right?

So don't bother to open that email with a fantastic rags to riches headline. Who cares about flash in the pan success? To be truly successful, any start-up must exceed their intial altitude and achieve a self-sustaining orbit. Isn't that the goal?

In his book Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas into Successful Enterprises — Derek Lidow has studied this phenomenon, and currently teaches Entrepreneurial Leadership at Princeton University. He uncovers the gems of principles that can be applied universally across industries, cultures, and geographies. He separates those that are merely entrepreneurs from those that can be considered entrepreneurial leaders that are able to create self-sustaining businesses.

There are unique skills required to nurture a start-up, and there are additional skills needed to navigate any company beyond the initial phase into continued success. Derek Lidow's book is highly recommended. (Available on Amazon and elsewhere)

Best of success in all your entrepreneurial endeavors!

John Lombaerde

Al Zibluk

Uncategorized

Using Tumblr, Yelp and Pinterest with MarketHive

I have wanted to write this blog post for a while showing people how I share pictures from popular sites like Yelp, Pinterest, Tumblr with MarketHive. I assume everyone is using MarketHive for their WordPress websites. If you have not signed up please feel free to visit my site at https://markethive.com/alzibluk or go to my own personal website at the end of this article to click on the widget on the top right.

I like pictures as a picture says a thousand words . I am a better photographer than writer. Pictures tell stories.

I use Instagram for all my pictures (userid alzibluk). The sundial really enhances them. Unfortunately with Instagram it uses embedded scripts in sharing with other sites which will not show up with the MarketHive Plugin. I have a similar problem with Pinterest but there is a way around this. I will show you later.

With Instagram I can immediately post my pictures to Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare,Facebook and Twitter. Later I will go to my gallery on my phone to post to Pinterest and Yelp (only if it is involving dining).

The first thing when I am ready to write a blog post is find the pictures I want to use. I currently use Google Chrome as my main browser. Once I find the picture I want to use I will have my mouse on the picture. Then I click right mouse button which opens a new window where I select Open Image in new tab. I then proceed to go to that tab to copy the url address of it which I will copy and paste into my notepad. I did this three times for this post.

The second thing I do is have my text all typed out. I want my hyperlinks all set up. I do know basic html and still use EditPlus. I then go my MarketHive account, click Blogs and Write a new Blog Post. I click the source button and copy/paste my html text. I then hit source button a second time. I move my cursor between the paragraphs where I want to Insert image. Hitting the image button will open up a new dialog box. I will paste the image url where it says url at the top. I don t like going higher than 500 for my Width and Height settings.

My first picture I am taking from my Tumblr account. As I mentioned earlier when I publish in Instagram it publishes in Tumblr. This picture is Ordinary in New Haven, Connecticut. I like to go there on a Friday night after the end of the work week. Ordinary was listed in Conde Nast Traveler — Drink Up: The Greatest Bars in the World. While I am there I like thinking about content for my blogs. It is where I go to think.

My second picture I am taking from my Yelp account. I like to go to the Dew Drop Inn in Derby, Connecticut for Buffalo Wings on Saturday mornings. This picture is the JD BBC Cucumber Wasabi Wings which is probably my third favorite.My favorite so far are the Buttery BBQ Montreal Wings. While I am at the Dew Drop Inn I continue on thinking about what I want to post in my blogs.

My last picture I am taking from my Pinterest account. It is a foliage picture I took on Saturday October 31, 2015 in Bethany, Connecticut. It is part of the West Rock Trail that ends in New Haven. As you can guess while there I think about my blog posts.

I hope this blog post helps. If you believe that my message is worth spreading,please use the share buttons if they are visible on this page. I am borrowing that line from Stephen Hodgkiss, Chief Engineer at MarketHive.

All the best,

Alan
Alan Zibluk
http://alanzibluk.com
e-mail: alan@internetguy.ws

 

Al Zibluk

Uncategorized

How To Manage Time Off for the Holidays when you are Self-Employed

'Tis the season to be jolly…and busy! Here are six tips to help you enjoy the holidays. 

work at home

The holiday season is here — and hopefully, amid the big dinners, shopping, decorating and parties, is, somewhere in there, a break. But taking some time off is a bit different when you are self-employed. For one, there's often no one to pick up the slack when you take a vacation, and you probably have to plan ahead so there's no slack in the budget either.

Keep Family in the Loop

Before you plan your time off for the holidays, chat with your family. What days will your spouse have off from work? Does little Johnny's Christmas play fall during the hours you would normally be working? Will you go on any special family outings, perhaps to pick out the Christmas tree or visit Santa? Knowing all your families activities ahead of time will help you plan how much time you'll need off, and when.

Stay Organized

Organization is an essential quality for a work-at-home-mom, and it certainly comes in handy when you are preparing for time off. Create task lists that outline what you need to accomplish both before and after your break. Block out time on a calendar so you know what you need to be working on and when. Find a system that works best for you — just remember to stay organized.

Notify Consistent Clients

You probably don't need to notify clients when you are taking a national holiday off — but if you plan on taking the whole week off or a few extra days, be sure to let your consistent clients know ahead of time so you can make sure you'll both be prepared.

Set Up an Automated Email and Phone Message Response

Whenever you take a vacation, it's a good idea to set up an away message in your email so no one gets upset when you don't respond right away. And if you use a phone for business calls, change your voicemail as well if you don't plan on picking up for business calls during your time off.

Arrange Extra Work Time Before and After

Depending on the type of work you do, you may need to make up for the time you take off. Plan extra slots of time both before and after the holidays. Schedule when you'll take care of the extra work, so you're not stressing about when everything will be done. Ask for help with the kids and housework if you need.

Embrace Technology

Thanks to technology, there are a few ways to be present without actually being present. Schedule social media posts during your time off — try a social media management system such as Hootsuite if you haven't already. The scheduling feature makes it easy to ensure there isn't a big lapse in posts while you're away. If you use a blog to promote your business, most platforms will allow you to schedule entire posts as well.

Holidays should be spent enjoying time with family — not worrying about work. With some organization and planning ahead, you can take some time off without a drastic impact on your business. Chances are, you started working from home so you could spend more time with your family — don't let your work interfere with enjoying the season with your loved ones.

If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they are visible on this page.

Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive
markethive.com

Al Zibluk

Uncategorized

Using The Markethive Plugin ( version 1.7 Update}

News:

Hello to all my subscribers.

WordPress released ver.4.4 recently and It is mobile friendly. Please updagrade the Markethive Plugin to Version 1.7 when using WordPress 4.4 otherwise the postings will stop both manually and automatically

This pdf can help with using the Markethive plugin with your Domain.

http://brian-walters-online.com/flyers/WP-and-Blogging.pdf

 

Here is a timely post about the importance of creating your own Blog for your Business.

Blogging could be the fastest way to build one way permanent backlinks for better rankings and massive traffic! Listed below are some reasons why your business is important.

Anyway about the business you are in. The very first question that you must ask yourself before anything else. You got to demand yourself to an answer to this. Why the heck on earth would anybody pay for what you're selling?

1. Why should there be anyone would do business with you?
This could be the very first question that you must ask yourself before anything else. You got to demand yourself to an answer to this. Why the heck on earth would anybody pay for this "Junk" you're selling? Yup, "Junk", as I phrased it. It doesn't matter how good your product is to be, to the eye of others, it's just another piece of product in a sea pool of other similar products. So, still be very proud of your product or service? Truly you're 100% proud of it? You truthfully and deeply believe people would be dumb by NOT buying from you?

Well…you passed the first barrier! You're ready to start go to next stage.

2. The basic business needs 3 things:
Lawyer, CPA, and Creative or crazy fellow, which could very well be you.
Almost every business gets themselves for the first two. It's understandably so. Good creative people are really hard to find, hard to manage, and you'll never sure of what you're paying for.

Every established and sizeable business knows the creative side plays a heavier weight than the lawyer and CPA. CPA's and lawyers can help you when you are up there. But at the early stage when your business is still an infant, your business live or die depending on it's business branding activities in areas like business identities, logos, marketing campaign, advertising copy and business slogans.

Have people been calling you NUTS?  Now, are you NUTS enough?
If so, you are ready for the next stage! Do give yourself a "Cheer"!

3. Singing for Your Own? You Got To Promote Yourself In Every Possible Way.
Do all of them. Yes, do whatever possible to get your business name to be up there! Get your Business Brand being noticed by others. There more the merrier!

Businesses can just come and goes so fast before anybody could hears of them. People are busy, what do they care? They don't care about you and your business. Why should they care? Get serious. Do everything you can possibly and reasonably afford to do. But beware; you must not mislead others because it'll backfire quickly enough to wipe your business off.
Do you "Sing for your own self"? Then you've passed! Move on to next stage.

4. Big Decision: Could You Win The Competition.
It's very likely that you're entering a crowded business market when you first started. Take a hard and closer look at what other fellows are doing; what your competitors are doing right now could affect your business greatly.
At this stage, you got to decide: Are you going for "Head to Head" fight? Competing on better quality? Crazier pricing strategy? Extra Mile Service Level? Better Marketing Campaign? or what else? Or you would avoid all that, and create your own niche, where you are the leader?

If you decided to be offering the same or very much similar product at the same price, but your marketing materials doesn't look half as good as your competitors…hey, you're in deep trouble! If you're charging half compare to others, then it's still alright to "Look" cheap, simply because you are the "Cheaper" alternative where people are looking for.

5. Do Love Your Business, just like you love yourself.
Without visitors to your website acquiring Leads is nearly impossible. Here I am talking about Internet Leads and not the people you used to get leads by cold calling on the phone. Increasing traffic brings extra visitors to your website which in turn creates leads.

The Importance Of Visitors
Without visitors to your website acquiring Leads is nearly impossible. Here I am talking about Internet Leads and not the people you used to get leads by cold calling on the phone. Increasing traffic brings extra visitors to your website which in turn creates leads.

So without website traffic the business you do on the Internet will be zero. Sure you may get people buying from your website because you handed out a few hundred business cards at a Home Show or a Convention but huge volumes of traffic; well you need to make other arrangements. Anyone can sell just about anything with enough traffic. Although one thousand hits maybe sound like a good number but in advertising as in life you have to maintain the interest of the visitor. Some campaigns require many thousands of ongoing hits to achieve reasonable results. Remember once the leads have arrived, the information must be captured. This can only happen if the form is filled out and unless there is a benefit in this activity (a tangible gift of some description) why would a person type in personal information on the form to you.

It is essential when creating your Online presence that both the online and offline advertising activities you design are supported when the visitor arrives at your website. The numbers game here also plays a critical part in retaining visitors and getting new ones. The more your different forms of advertising are seen the greater potential for results. And if you are building an Internet business, ongoing daily traffic is essential.

After all a potential customer is the person who originally responded to your web site lead generation page, flyer, mailing, newspaper advertisement or some other means you employed to capture this original information. The important thing here is, has enough interest has been sparked in the lead to respond back to you.

In other words, did the information you supplied in your ads bring the appropriate response from the client, was it relevant to your business or are you getting leads from people who misunderstood your message.

The average Internet user that enters your keyword may see your advertisement multiple times in different places before landing on your Website. This branding and consistency in advertising is important as the information being supplied is a consistent message both in the ad and is again supported when they arrive at your Website. Only at this time are they ready to get more info, signup, and/or make a purchase.
 

Enjoy

Article by:
Brian Walters SEO

Skype: tuneup_bj

Brian Walters MarketHive
http://brian-walters-online.com/

http://briansmarketing.net/

Al Zibluk

Uncategorized

MarketHive December Special

MarketHive the social meeting place for entrepreneurs invites you to attend a free webinar this week to discover more about how the system can help you build your business, together with an insight into its affiliate program which launches in January.

The new single level BeTheAlpha affiliate program will enable those who upgrade from the free system to earn money from introducing fellow members and helping them develop as entrepeneurs

, there are seven achievment ranks leading up to Alpha founder.

A special offer has recently been launched and runs to the end of the year allowing members to purchase an existing Alpha Founder Legacy position for a substantial discount which provides both advertising and also a share in revenue from MarketHive prior to the launch of BeTheAlpha.

Thus being the coming Alpha Affiliate Program in 2016

The new Alpha Founder position @ $5000.00 in the new affiliate program will offer the following:

  1. One time deposit of $10,000 in ad credits

  2. $200 per month ad credits for life

  3. 50% commissions on all financial transactions by your children

  4. 1 share of 5% of the company’s revenue pool shared with unlimited Founder members.

The current 2015 Alpha Founder, now referred as Alpha Legacy @ $1200.00 offers the following:

  1. One time deposit of $3000 in ad credits

  2. $200 per month ad credits for life

  3. 50% commissions on all financial transactions by your children

  4. 1 share of 5% of the company’s pool (limited to 250 shares; members)

  5. Share of new children (customers) from corporate marketing and advertising campaigns
     

Alpha Legacy Year End 50% off sale. There are a limited number left and we are selling the contracts for $600 each. You can use these contracts to apply the terms to any number of Markethive Accounts, yours or someone you transfer the contract to or sell it to.

 

Al Zibluk

General

Video Marketing Tips, Trends, Strategy & Best Practices

Content Samurai is a tool that instantly generates hundreds of content related pages and thousands of relevant targeted in bound links. This utility also creates effortless high rankings with just four clicks of your mouse. Content Samurai allows you to quickly and easily dominate the search engines by giving you exactly what you are looking for — high quality content and targeted links.

Crank Out Traffic-Pumping Videos On-Demand!

Have you been struggling to get Google rankings lately?

What Is Content Samurai Software All About?

Content Samurai is a video creation software that allows you to create engaging videos within a few clicks of the mouse.

The software comes loaded with features designed to make the entire recording process as simple as possible, without dealing with Photoshop, crazy codecs or any of that video jargon.

How Does It Work?

Content Samurai can create videos from your content and scripts and it does it with a 5 step process.

Here's the steps to creating your very first video within minutes

Step 1 : Scripts — Paste in your content into the software starting with the headline then following with the content. The best part is that you can use pretty much ANY kind of content you want including articles, blog posts, advertisements, and sales letters.

Step 2 : Slides — The software will analyze your content and automatically break it up into bite sized chunks with visuals to make it pop. You can change the look and feel by adding images from the millions of stock photos included, or choose one of your own photos.

Step 3 : Audio — Next is recording your audio, and this is where Content Samurai really shines. The software breaks software into easily recordable chunks. Simply hit record and record each part of your content section by section. Adding music is a great way to spice up your video and you can choose from the audio pre-loaded into the software.

Step 4 : Preview — Now, hit the play button to preview your masterpiece. You can make changes and adjust where each slide starts and ends to perfect your video.

Step 5 : Download — Click the download button and now you're ready to upload your content on all of the top websites on the planet including Youtube, Facebook, Vimeo, and the list goes on and on. Start driving MORE traffic from the content you already created once.

If you believe that my message is worth spreading, please use the share buttons if they are visible on this page.

Stephen Hodgkiss
Chief Engineer at MarketHive
markethive.com

Al Zibluk

General

Discovering Your Why

10 Ways to Live a More Meaningful Life

It can be easy to run through the maze of life without pausing to think of its meaning.

Does what I’m doing matter?

More importantly, discovering your WHY.

Feeling that what you’re doing has a real purpose and meaning that matters to you can make a huge difference in your life. It makes getting up each day the most exciting thing in the world. You can’t wait to get started. Forget trying to force yourself to work hard, it becomes more important to remind yourself to take breaks to eat!

But how can we cultivate a more meaningful life? The answer is usually complicated. It can depend on many factors. I’ve written down 10 ideas that I believe will help you find meaning in your life every day, so that you can’t wait to get up in the morning and see what the day will bring.

1. Know What’s Important

Know what’s important for you. Write down your top 5 things that you believe are the essence of how you want to live life. This can include things like “family time,” or “sing every day.” It could also include more complex ideas, like “honesty” and “simplicity.”

2. Pursue Your Passion

I believe everyone should pursue their passion in life. It’s what makes life worth living, and gives our lives true meaning and purpose. Each time you work on something you love, it creates joy inside you like nothing else. Finding a way to use your passions to give back to the world will give your life ultimate meaning.

If you can’t manage (or aren’t ready) to work on your passion for a living, be sure and make time for it every day. By working on your passion and becoming an expert in it, you will eventually have the opportunity to make money from it. Be ready to seize that opportunity!

3. Discover Your Life’s Purpose

If you had to give yourself a reason to live, what would it be? What would you stand for? What principles do you hold highest? Is your life’s purpose to help others? Is it to inspire others with great works of art, or you words? Finding your life’s purpose is a daunting task, and when I first heard the idea, I had no idea where to start. For methods on discovering your life’s purpose, I recommend Steve Pavlina’s blog entries on the subject. I also recommend reading the article What Makes Life Worth Living.

4. Be Self-Aware

Be aware of yourself and your actions. Remain mindful of what you do at all times, and make sure you are living life according to your principles, your life’s purpose, and what you are passionate about. Review your actions each day, taking stock of those that strayed from your path. Work towards correcting any incidents in the future. Meditation is a great tool for accomplishing this task. It helps us increase our self-awareness throughout the day.

5. Focus

Rather than chasing 3 or 4 goals and making very little progress on them, place all of your energy on one thing. Focus. Not only will you alleviate some of the stress associated with trying to juggle so many tasks, you will be much more successful. Try and align your goal with something you are passionate about, so that there will be an intrinsic drive to work hard and do well.

6. People More Than Things

Often, we are faced with wanting to buy material goods. I recommend you consider carefully what you purchase, and think more about spending your money on experiences with friends and family. Not only will this give deeper meaning to your life by focusing on your relationships rather than material wealth, but you will be a happier person as a result.

7. Live With Compassion

Both for yourself, and others. Keep in mind the following quote:

"One must be compassionate to one's self before external compassion" — Dalai Lama

For some, compassion is the purpose of life, what gives it meaning, and what leads to ultimate happiness.

8. Find a Way to Give Back

Do something that both honors your beliefs and passions, while giving something back to the world. By giving something back, we inevitably find purpose in the act. By cultivating more of these activities, you will find your life has more meaning and purpose behind it.

9. Simplify Your Life

By simplifying your life, you’ll have more time to do what fulfills you and gives your life meaning. It can also help reduce stress and make your overall life easier to manage. It can also greatly improve your productivity. If you’ve never tried to simplify things before, it really is a great feeling.

10. Set Daily Goals

In the morning, before you start your day, create a list of 3 goals that you find fulfilling and meaningful. Make sure they adhere to your set of principles and beliefs. Tackle the hardest things first! Don’t make this list too long. By placing too many things on the list, you’ll feel the urge to multi-task, which is not good, or you’ll feel overwhelmed, which isn’t good either. By trying to do less, you’ll end up doing more.

Doing all of these things at once may seem daunting, but you can pick one thing at a time and slowly incorporate the ideas into your life. Life is about the journey, not the destination. Living a life of purpose gives both fulfillment and meaning to your journey.

Markethive membership by invitation only:

http://markethive.com/marketing

Al Zibluk