Yet Another Way to Make Money Freelancing!

THIS JUST IN!

I just figured out yet another way to make money freelancing that is just pure genius! This idea is in test mode as we speak (type). I'm already getting a good reaction from those that I have secretly allowed to see the test project.

So thus far, this makes 5 different methods that writers, bloggers, or freelancers can use to create a very decent cashflow just by monetizing newsletters and closely related products. My only regret is that each time I develop a new idea, it pushes out my launch date a bit further. But it will be well worth it.

With the state of the economy slipping further each day into a seemingly never-ending pit, now is the time for people to start thinking of ways to generate income outside of a job. I'm going to be working my buns off for the next several months on my very own newsletters, using the exact methods that I am teaching in the seminar product. Don't wait until its too late, or for someone else in your local area to pick up on this idea and run away with it before you get started. Be proactive, and stay in touch with me up until the release date, and then be ready to move on it.

I've got a link to my most recent Utterli post where you can hear my special update audio message. Just click here to get to the post, and press play on the audio widget. Write back and give me some feedback!

We'll talk to you soon!

Carlton

Major Experiment in Self-Blogging

I am in the middle of a test project. I'm going to test and see if I can re-create the positive effects of a blog but by making my own blog, without a blog. Let me explain...

On my website, http://www.microbusinessplans.com, I am creating a series of articles called "hot tips". Each article will have its own page and name, just like blog posts do. The nomenclature will be /hot-tips1.html, /hot-tips2.html, and so on. You get the picture. But what I am going to do is tag each article and try to include keywords within the text, and see if the pages jump up the search engine rankings as quickly as normal blog sites do.

I am also going to be testing out my newest marketing idea on these article sites. This method will be taught in the "Fast Newsletter Cash" program. It is a variation that I think will get good results. but I will not include it in the seminar product unless it produces cash for me like I think it will. If it works, the method is in. If not, I'm dumping it, and it won't be included in Fast Newsletter Cash.

I really have high hopes for this whole idea. I'm thinking that I should get the same SEO benefits as a blog. Oh, also, I am going to do some research and find out what the structural difference would be between a blog, like this, and my self-created blog without a a blog site. I will report the results in the future as soon as I know how well it does (or not well!).

Check out the first and second posts by clicking the links for hot-tip1 and hot-tip2. See ya there!

Why It's So Hard to do Television

THE CARLTON ZONE IS COMING BACK! BUT IT'S LIKE PULLING TEETH...

It's going on 2 years now since we have been on the air with The Carlton Zone via the Jefferson City Local Access television service. I made the decision this summer to bring back the show. But getting back into "camera mode" isn't such an easy task, I'm finding.

September was my original goal for airing the comeback. Then I changed it to October. "Yeah, definitely October", I said to many people. Well, October blew by, and it was the same reason why I didn't get the show started the previous month. I'm camera rusty.

Even though my show is very "natural", as-in unscripted, it is so hard to get back into the mode of shooting. Nothing about my show is fake or "showy". But when you are shooting for television, you have to be in the right frame of mind, or your footage will be sloppy, ameteur, and most of all, un-watchable. You have to have the magical sticky formula to make a successful show. Otherwise, no matter how well-rehearsed it may be, it won't fly. You can take a 100% scripted and rehearsed show and put it up against a home-made documentary, and the low-tech home-made product may do leagues better than the high-production counterpart if it has the magic formula.

The good thing is, I remember my own magic formula, what made my show so watchable before. I know what mode I need to be in, what frame of mind. I know what tone of voice to use. I understand which angles are best for viewing purposes, which colors I should wear, and how the audio and lighting should be strategized. Not that any of these technical things ever work out like they are supposed to, because they don't, but I am at least aware of all the aspects that make the show better.

The hardest part of shooting is that you have to be natural, and in an up-beat frame of mind. Each time I have sat down to try to think about possible subject matter, and shooting practice footage, I'm faced with not having the right "feeling", not being in the mood to be "on". I've used that as an excuse to put off shooting that first show.

But what I've come to realize is that it isn't about waiting and waiting to be in the right mood... you have to get up and make yourself get in the right frame of mind. There isn't any room for excuses in successful television production. When it is time to shoot, it doesn't matter if I'm having a bummer of a day. To make this work, I have to get up off my duff and make the decision that I am going to be in a good mood, and in the right frame of mind to broadcast happiness, joy, and laughter to others.

Once you put your "self" aside and dedicate yourself to doing the work necessary to make the show go on, it will continue to be a success!

Now all I have to do is read this article and take my own advice... haha.

New Product Release for Writers & Freelancers!

OFFLINE PRODUCT TO BE RELEASED SOON - WRITER'S SEMINAR PACK!

Hi folks, I have an exciting announcement! To bridge the gap between now and when the "Fast Newsletter Cash" product gets done (which could be well into the next century), I will be testing out a product that I just completed called "Writer's Seminar Pack".

This is a compilation of 5 of my most favorite eBooks that cover writing, blogging, and how to get free traffic to your web articles and/or blog with the goal of making money online. The package also includes bonus information from me, in the form of an audio seminar product, a very special social media launch pad that I sell for $100 elsewhere, and a bonus eBook on how to start a business and get a state and federal license.

I will be selling this product mainly offline, through the Stonehenge media sources. However, for those that don't live in this area, you can get it here. The product will not be a download. It will come to you on a CD-ROM in the mail.

I will be testing out this method and reporting on the results. Anyone interested in the product will really stand to gain from the methods that are taught. The biggest advantage, it is SIMPLE! Anyone can do these things, and I highly recommend that you look into it.

That's all for now, and stay tuned for further info!

Carlton
The Carlton Zone
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Social Media Marketing in Jefferson City Missouri - Update!

I have a post on my professional blog talking about the status of social media marketing in Jefferson City. You can read about it here.

I am still standing firm on my prediction that the social media revolution will hit hard in Jefferson City, and will happen almost overnight. People will be able to come back to my articles and say, "ya know what, that Carlton Flowers guy had this right from the beginning".

Folks, you can say that you heard it here first when it happens! Everyone is still sound asleep at this point, but I guarantee you that the alarm clock will go off once business owners figure this out. Until they come to realize that the majority of their market uses social media sites day and night, they will let the clock continue to tick while still advertising with the Stonehenge media sources. But when the ball drops and the clock runs short, watch for the fireworks!

Carlton

The Plasma TV Wholesale List Rippoffs!

PLASMA TV WHOLESALE LIST RIPOFF REPORT

I don't get it...

People are still buying TONS of "wholesale source lists" on eBay. That's not shocking information. But what IS shocking is the fact that people re blindly paying $10, $20, $30 or more for wholesale lists that don't even disclose the prices of the items they are giving you wholesale access to!

Why do people fall for this? I don't know. I have bought several supposed "wholesale lists" on eBay just to satisfy my curiosity and prove that the majority of them are bogus. There are a few, and I mean only a handful, of sellers that have legitimate wholesale lists. But you have to dig through THOUSANDS of listings to get to the good ones.

I did see one person that has tried to battle this scam who came up with a unique solution. He offers a master wholesale list for the majority of the products offered on other eBay wholesale list auctions, but for FREE. Yes, free of charge. I got the list and noticed that several of my own wholesalers that I used for my tool store business were on this guy's list. That's commendable.

But the best wholesalers were not on the list. I wasn't satisfied. He made a good effort, but this was not the cure-all.

Since I am much more adept in the art of finding wholesalers (I stay up until all hours of the night scouring the internet for true wholesalers that I can use as suppliers for my businesses), I have decided that I can combat the current wave of scam artists by selling the FIRST INFO PRODUCT THAT DISCLOSES THE PRICES OF THE ITEMS I CLAIM TO GIVE ACCESS TO!

That is important! Nobody else is doing this. I have searched for months on end to find a seller that lists the prices of the items instead of saying "you can save 50%, 60%, 70% or more!" in their listings. What a load of nonsense they are!

So instead, I am disclosing exactly what you will get with my list. I give pictures of the actual products being sold (most do not do this), and the actual pricing from that supplier (absolutely nobody is doing this). Therefore, if a person feels that the prices are the best they have ever seen, they can make an informed decision to buy my information product.

I have also raised the bar by offering my $9.95 eBook entitled "Small Business Startup Secrets" as a bonus for each and every wholesale source info product that I sell. This eBook tells you how to get a business license, a state tax identification number, and a federal EIN which gives you access to buying wholesale. Nobody else does that either.

Most sellers don't admit that their wholesale lists are just low retail. Some will admit that you will never buy wholesale unless you have a business license and tax ID. Well, now it's time to tell the truth.

I'm testing an eBay classified at which is located here. I'm also getting back into the habit of auctioning my wholesale source CD's for laptops and In-Dash Car DVD players. Click the links to check them out.

Stay tuned because I have much more coming. I plan on busting out the entire wholesale list business by disclosing pricing for everything that is offered out there! Wish me luck, and power to the informed people!

Carlton
The Carlton Zone

A huge wave of free info products coming soon!

I'm about to take the law into my own hands. I'm just about ready to start building my email list (for people who want to follow my updates), and I will be doing this in a unique way.

For those of you that sign up for my "Renegade Writers" free writing tips series, I will not only turn you into a totally effective writer, but I will hook you up with a ton of free business resources and money-making eBooks for free, just as a "thank you".

"Renegade Writers" will be my free series to build up to the release of "Fast Newsletter Cash", my first large-scale seminar product that will show you how to make serious cash flow from local home-made newsletters.

I am going to be giving away a free money-making eBook on a variety of subjects once per week for about 3 months straight. I have some great eBooks lined up that I purchased resell rights to, but I have the right to give them away for free.

Stay tuned, and I will be posting messages about the eBooks that I'll be including in my list signup giveaway. They will be posted over on my professional blog, The Carlton Zone, along with some audio and videos describing what they are.

Nobody is going to come close to what I am about to do for my readers! I want to make sure that everyone gets something out of this in exchange for my right to send notifications about my new seminar products in the future.

An update, "Fast Newsletter Cash" is coming along just fine. I am adding so much new info to this product that I really am worried about putting too much in it. But every day, it seems like I come up with a new idea or enhancement for it. It all started with a way to make a local newsletter and monetize it in a creative way. Now I have so many ways of monetizing newsletters and even creating them for clients to market their companies that it is not even funny.

This is going to go a long way, and I PILE of people are going to benefit from this greatly. I can't wait to get the product launched, but I will not even THINK about releasing it until it is ready, and until all of my list followers are set up to maximize their profits by using all of my free writing resources and other free eBooks!

Questions about the free stuff I'm about to throw out there? Let me know. I'll be glad to answer! Just add a post!

Carlton

Wholesale Plasma & LCD TVs... Real, or Sham?

By now you might have seen the eBay auctions promising 80% off for plasma & LCD TVs from the seller's secret wholesale list. Is it real, or is it a scam?

Well, after my research, I have found that most of them are shams. A few are legit, but they are hard to find. With Christmas coming soon, and with the February 2009 HDTV changeover, plasma & LCD TVs are selling like hotcakes. Most consumers go to Walmart or Circuit City to buy them at low retail prices. But many consumers are scouring the internet to find the best deals, or to "luck up" and find a wholesale source.

That's why you see so many auctions on eBay for wholesale sources. But what I have found with many of the supposed "wholesale source lists" being offered is this:

-the sources are really retail, and not true wholesale
-they list hundreds of “wholesalers” on a CD, most of which aren’t even in business
-no disclosure of the actual pricing you will get from the alleged wholesalers
-prices from a list of “wholesalers” that are more expensive than Walmart’s retail
-some are simply a list of Chinese manufacturers copied from Alibaba.com that anyone can search for and find

That's the long and short of it. I've studied this for months, and I notice that tons of people are buying these bogus lists day after day. This motivated me to come up with my own information product, which gives the ONE BEST SOURCE for wholesale plasma & LCD TVs available on the net.

No fluff, no hundreds of companies to sift through, no bogus companies that don't even sell TVs, no disconnected phone numbers. Just a fantastic report and the best wholesale source that money can buy. Along with the wholesale source for plasma TVs, I am throwing in a bonus source for the cheapest prices on laptop and notebook computers in the country.

Where can you find the eBook, you ask? It's right here on my eBay classified ad listing. Just click the link and go see it for yourself, and you will be glad that you did. You'll be able to get that big 42" TV for Christmas, save a PILE of money, and be able to buy a bunch of gifts for your family with the money that you save!

For more great information on this and other wholesale sources, making money on the web, and small business ideas, visit my blog site, The Carlton Zone!

Social Media Consulting in Jefferson City Missouri

Jefferson City Gets New Social Media Expert!

Folks, I am spending some serious woodshed time getting my new products written for local business social media marketing strategy. As of today, I have not found one consultant out there who has a step-by-step guide on social media marketing for businesses. Everyone seems to be writing super-long dissertations on social media marketing in general, but nothing that cuts straight to the point.

If you're anything like me, you don't have time to read a 400-page book on social media marketing. You want the Cliff's Notes version. Well you will be happy to know that my middle name is Cliff! Actually, my middle name is Scott, but I will certainly be your best shortcut to figuring out local social media marketing.

First, I will get your business showing up in the local search engine results. This is very important, because this is the first year EVER that studies show people are using the search engines to locate businesses in their home towns over using the Yellow Pages. Can you imagine that? The big fat Yellow Book has now taken a second seat to internet searching! I think this spells the demise of the big fat phone book.

Instead of depending on the aging phone book, you need to make sure that your business is showing up on the first page (or as close to that as possible) on the search engines for your key business services. I have perfected a method of doing this, and have achieved page 1 results in as little as 2 hours with my proprietary method.

Second, you need to launch a winning social media campaign to connect and interact with the people of the community. You want to become the "expert" in your field in the eyes of your potential clients and customers. A social media campaign will do just that. Time is of the essence, and it's not a question of whether or not this will work for you, but whether or not you will allow your competitors to beat you to the punch and steal your current market.

I'm ready to help local businesses right now, and the plans that I create are trackable. You will know whether or not the marketing campaign is working by exact measurements using special tools available on the internet.

Call me today at (573) 893-9498, or write carlton.flowers@gmail.com for more information. Don't hesitate. Every day you let this go by is another day that your competitors will step ahead of you.

Click here for information on local internet marketing on my blog site!

Click here to follow me on Twitter, and watch my every move!

Carlton

Renegade Writers, Mount Up!

The gloves are OFF! I'm about to launch an all-out battle with the zillion-dollar advertisement industry! I'm about to pull an Obama and "spread the wealth around".

I'm sick and tired of the big guy newspapers and magazines hogging up all of the local business ad revenue while squeezing out the little guys like me.

I just figured out a way to tap in to the gazillion-dollar industry right up under their noses! My process is simple, and it doesn't take a second mortgage to fund.

My stealth method will not only draw all special events and organizations your way, but it will also turn the heads of local businesses. They'll notice and realize very quickly that what you have produced is a far more focused and fertile advertisement opportunity than the local newspaper, ad sheet, or city showcase magazine.

In 5 minutes, I have business owners pulling out their checkbooks and plopping down $50, $100, and even $300 for my advertisement opportunities. And I haven't even grown this to what it truly can produce yet!

My system is called "Fast Newsletter Cash", and I'm not going to release it until I have enough followers that will help me bring the traditional advertisement market to its knees (either that, or they will run me out of town for screwing with the market they have locked up).

I'm going to start writing articles teaching people how to become good freelance writers. Once everyone is up to speed and knows exactly how to write articles that grab attention, shake things up, and make people think, then I will release the Fast Newsletter Cash program.

Go to my professional blog page and sign up for my newsletter now. I'll be changing it soon. If you are reading this, you are the first to know about my plan. I don't even mention this on my blog page yet. I'll be updating it this week to let everyone know what is going on!

Click here to get to the update page and sign up for the newsletter now!

"You Wouldn't Believe What Happened At Work Today..."

How many times have you had some outrageous experience at work that left you feeling like you were in the twilight zone?

I work for a state agency, and I have seen some strange things happen. So strange, that I am contemplating writing a mini-ezine to share them. The stories are just too good to keep to myself. For example, I was at work one morning a few years ago, during the winter time. One of my co-workers was asleep at his desk. This was a normal activity. The snoring was getting louder by the minute, as it usually did. But what happened next I truly was not prepared for.

We heard a big crash and a loud THUD. "Jimmy", as we'll call him, was sleeping so soundly that he fell out of his chair and hit the floor. He snorted, then passed gas, and struggled to get up. But he couldn't. We walked over to his cube, and asked him if he needed any help. Embarrassed, he declined. It took him about 2 or 3 minutes to gather his composure and get himself pulled up off the floor.

We didn't know what to do or say. Should we let loose and laugh, and lighten the embarrasing moment? Or be serious and professional to help him salvage his dignity? Well, we just stood there looking dumbfounded for a minute or two, then we quickly left to go out to the cafeteria and laugh our fool heads off.

Knowing that Jimmy didn't hurt himself, we couldn't stop laughing if we tried. I don't know what was funnier... the loud progressive snoring, the big boom and crash to the floor, or Jimmy waking up shocked and farting out loud?

I guess it was just the combination of the entire sequence that made it so entertaining.

I've told a few people that I am kicking around the idea of a mini mag or newsletter called "Cube Life". Everyone that I have told about it is practically begging me to go through with it. Then I came up with an ingenious idea. I'll let people submit their whacky experiences to be shared with everyone! In fact, I already have 3 people waiting in line to be included on that note.

We'll see what happens. It promises to be an attention-getter!

Until then, start logging those "I-can't-believe-what-just-happened" office stories!

Carlton

Why Engineers Make Great Writers

Let’s face it folks… I love to write. It started in college. I went to Mizzou (home of the Tigers) from 1985 to 1990 to major in Civil Engineering. For those of you who do not know, Civil Engineers are responsible for designing and maintaining your infrastructure. Think of me the next time you are driving through a highway interchange, a structural steel bridge, that multi-level parking garage, or when you wonder where your water comes from and ends up. These things and many more come from Civil Engineering.

I thought Civil Engineering would be all about math, science, physics, and crunching out calculations. I found out that a big part of Civil Engineering is honing your ability to communicate. You can design the greatest highway on earth. But if you can’t communicate why it should cut through the back yard of several retired citizens, then your project may never be built. This was an actual experience of mine. It was either cut through the yards of several houses on one street, or continue forcing the fire department and ambulance service to have to respond through a school zone when needing to race out for emergencies.

Being swift with the calculator and geometric highway design software wasn’t good enough. Writing a convincing summary of the project to be presented at a public meeting and sent out to the local newspapers was the only way this project was going to gain approval. It’s for reasons such as this that Civil Engineering invovles several writing-intensive courses.

This is what gave me the burn to write. I graduated and went on to work 8 years for the highway and transportation department, and 10 years at the Department of Natural Resources, where I continue to work and utilize my writing skills.

I think the reason I truly love to write is that I love to talk, relate to people, and teach others. I’ve been a training seminar speaker now for 15 years, and I write the majority of my materials. When you get a chance to use your writing in a face-to-face manner, it is even more enjoyable. But either way, whether it is writing a technical letter to a regulated manufacturer telling them how to comply with certain EPA regulations or writing a speech or training session for my job, I just love to write.

Something that many people don’t know is the fact that I truly love writing humorous or flat-out silly pieces. What I have noticed is that you have a better chance of getting your point across and affecting peoples’ lives when you tickle their funny bone. This winter, I hope to launch a new newsletter called “Cube Life” which will help employees deal with living in cramped quarters 8 hours a day and 52 weeks a year by writing satirisitic and humorous stories that make an underlying point.

You can look for it soon. I’ll be blogging about it here once it is ready to roll out. It will be sent out in PDF format to state agencies in Missouri, and a few of our high-population corporate employers. I plan on having a lot of fun with this project, and I have a feeling that the readers might enjoy it even more than I do!

Let me encourage you to write. It doesn’t have to be professionally done. Just write something. You can write about your life experiences, things that you are passionate about, or even the history of your life and family. Go to a free blog site like Blogspot (www.blogspot.com) and start expressing yourself with words. Just think… somebody’s life might be changed because you were willing to share experiences of your own!

That’s all for now. I’m putting down my pen and turning off the calculator for the night.

Studying Search Engine Optimization Using Social Media

I've been fooling around with my social media sites trying to test out what methods work best for getting high rankings in the google search engine results. It's been an interesting and enlightening journey.

What I have noticed thus far is that by using my name as an ID or login, I have been able to break into page one of google for "Carlton Flowers". When you do a search on my name, you will get quite a few pages of hits for "Carlton's Flowers", which evidently is a flower company. I have never been able to get on page 1 with my name alone.

Previously, I had successfully generated page 1 and number 1 position results for "Carlton Flowers, trainer" and "Carlton Flowers, consultant". But I never did achieve page one and kick down the flower shop without typing "consultant" and "trainer" on the end. I had spent a lot of time on my public speaking and training seminar website for about 5 years, and this is why I ranked #1 with my name and one additional word.

To my surprise, the website that kicked me into the first page on my name alone was Utterli. I have been working for weeks trying to break into page one using various methods, but then one day, without even trying, after making an Utterli post, I achieved page 1 ranking. I still haven't figured out why Utterli has overcome all of the other social media websites like Facebook that I have been using for years on end.

It may be due to micro blogging. Therefore, I'm going to really focus on using Utterli (and also Twitter) to try to achieve the same results for some of the projects that I am currently working on for release.

Doing some research on Google Suggest, I noticed that the search term "make money writing online" generates a huge amount of traffic. Being that I am working on a business package entitled "Fast Newsletter Cash", which basically is a seminar on how to make much better income from writing by using my newsletter process instead of constantly publishing articles, I decided to use the search term "make money writing online" as the focus of the search engine optimization for this product.

I am not finished writing the guide, and I still have to record the audio instruction CD and training videos. But while I am working on finishing everything, I will be promoting the product on my formal blog website. Check it out here, at the Fast Newsletter Cash page on the Carlton Zone.

I am going to target people who love to write, and focus in on the freelancers, authors, staff writers, and bloggers of the world for this project. At first, I was going to market it to the general population, and make the seminar geared towards anyone, even those who have poor writing skills. I changed my mind in the middle of the process, and decided it would be far better to focus in on a target group and not "water down" the guide for those who can't write well.

You can click here for my latest audio update on the project development, and check back often as I add more audio posts.

I will be blogging about the entire process and reporting what I learn on what will be my biggest product release in my life. It promises to be fun, and educational!

See ya soon.

Carlton

http://www.twitter.com/carltonf
http://www.utterli.com/carlton

I just proclaimed myself as an official expert!

Folks, I just made a bold move. I proclaimed myself as a social media expert. I had to do it. My knowledge is growing exponentially, and I have businesses asking me to do consulting work for them (creating social media marketing campaigns). Well, you can't ethically do consulting work unless you are an expert. I had to act quickly and expeditiously to help my prospective clients, and was forced to upgrade my status to "expert" level.

You can read all about why I have rightfully deemed myself as an expert on my professional blog right here. Click that link and check it out on the Carlton Zone blog site!

Can Twitter Penetrate the Local Markets?

Twitter is steamrolling the social media society. In my opinion, it is the hottest social site on the internet today. What started as just an idea to get attention on a broad scale has morphed into a possible tool that can be used to enhance local prospects for entrepreneurs.

With all of the new Twitter accessory sites popping up on a daily basis, you have a plethora of tools that can be used to actually help develop a business, and even do market research. But what I find most interesting is that practically nobody in my local area is aware of this.

Jefferson City Missouri boasts about a dozen twitter users to my knowledge. I only see one politician (Peter Kinder), and one business owner using the service to their advantage. It appears that the market is wide open. But once the word gets out, there will be a mad dash by local area businesses to gain the biggest influence from using the social sites. I predict an overnight explosion of small business Twitter use.

What I really find exciting is the fact that the first business in each particular sector will stand to gain the most by jumping into the social community before their competitors. The first movers will reap the biggest rewards. All others will have to fight long and hard, and use creativity to put a dent in the market influence of the first movers.

What is really intriguing is the fact that the first movers will be able to establish themselves as the reigning authorities in their field of expertise, just by their own designation. It's human nature that we follow the ground breakers and give them respect as authoritative experts, simply because they arrived on the scene first. That is why companies like Nike and IBM still sit atop the roost to this day, because they were of the first to break through in their fields.

I've been studying the social media phenomenon on a daily basis, but my focus has mainly been on the benefits of using these sites to expand and conquer market share with a small business. I have found that even some of the Fortune 500 companies have successfully implemented social media campaigns to launch new products and services. For example, Cisco just completed a long social media campaign to launch their new routers nationwide.

What these large companies have effectively done is to set the groundwork for small businesses to reproduce their positive results. It's jsut a matter of having the right strategy for each individual sector.

Do you have a question about social media use in business that I can answer? Comment on this posting, or send an email to carlton.flowers@gmail.com and I will be glad to look into your question and provide an educated answer!

Information Product Overload! Help!

I've had it... my head is going to explode if I see one more excellent info product that I can't afford!!!

What's going on, Carlton, you ask? Well, let me tell you...

I have been studying internet marketing and web 2.0 stuff like a mad man for the past year. There is so much information out there that you could literally study for decades on end. I've found so many fantastic teachers lately, and I mean they have absolutely great products. But I've been lured into a never-ending trap!

Many of the "gurus" of social networking and internet marketing get you hooked by offering a free eBook. You have to sign up for their email list in order to get the free eBook. But the eBook isn't just some crappy freebie that has no value. It's usually an excellent read with tons of totally in-depth information in it on various methods that you can spend weeks on end perfecting.

What happens is, every time I get a free eBook (or even some that are offered for $10 or less), I start getting other promotions from the guru on yet another breakthrough product that they just released. Then they start cross-promoting products by the other gurus, and you are inundated with a flurry of top-notch offers, videos, eBooks, training courses, and software products.

You get so much thrown at you from just a handful of gurus that you end up getting swallowed up by buying eBook after eBook without ever having the time to implement the methods taught in any of them. It can be financially draining, and mentally draining.

What hurts the most is that you can't calm down and focus on any one product, because you are bombarded with the "latest great thing" on a daily basis. And to add insult to injury, the gurus make these "One Time OFfer" releases, where you get a cheap price only at that particular instant, or suffer paying double the next time you visit their site. Some even have incremental offerings, where the price goes up $10 or even $100 each time a person buys the product. It's all done to force you into making a buying decision right then and there, and it works well!

You end up having so much stuff thrown at you that you feel a need to back away from it all, just to be able to focus and calm your mind. What I have noticed is that these marketers are perfecting the art of shoving sales down your throat but by your own choice. Their greatest talent is making you get to that buying decision. A lot of times, the actual product is nowhere near as interesting as the advertisement copy. But even for the products that are worth it, it's still a trap.

The bottom line is that you have to be careful and watch what you sign up for. If you are weak like me, you will get stuck in a never-ending cycle of getting fleeced for your money. The sliver-tongued super slick-talking sales gurus are professionals at getting you to buy. They use excitement, and the best sales speech possible to get a rise out of you, get your adrenaline pumping, and get you thinking about how good you will feel after you have bought their product RIGHT NOW.

So the best advice for the impulsive eBook addicts like myself, stay away from them until you finish the project or training course that you are on! Take them one guru at a time and live YOUR life!

Comments? Anyone have a similar experience?

Visit my main blog here.

Feds to the Rescue - What About Inflation?

As the market continues to take a nose dive, the government is working as fast as they can to start injecting portions of the $700 billion into the failing banking system with hopes to unfreeze credit. But while all the pundits, economists, politicians, and experts scream "PUMP IN MORE MONEY!", has anyone stopped for even one minute to think about the possibility of inflation?

I read a silly response to a Yahoo Financial news story the other day. Someone posted that the solution to this problem is that the government should bail out the people, not Wall Street. This poster went on to suggest that the government should give all people somewhere around $400,000 each, which would solve the credit crunch immediately and give everyone enough money to pump into the stagnant system. I can't tell you how many people I see suggesting the same. So the question is, what would happen if the government would do such a thing?

Prices would go sky-high, that's what. If everyone had money to burn, there would be a mad rush on every shopping mall and car lot in the country. With the immediate spike in demand, prices would shoot up like rockets.

So what makes everyone think that printing $700 billion in fiat money is going to solve this crisis without consequences? The more money pumped into the system, the lower the value of our currency will be. It's a direct trade-off. Either we need to start calling our congressmen to stop them from this deep spending spree, or get ready for a massive rise in prices.

The next big economic surprise...

So the stock market tanked yet again today. I thought it was going to hold at around -150, but boy was I surprised when it took the nose dive in the last hour. Wow... 678 points in the hole? Amazing. That's over a trillion dollars moving out of the market, if I'm not mistaken. But if you think that's big, just you wait. There's another mega-flop coming, in my opinion...

Remember when corn was $1.50 a bushel, and farm land was around $1,500 an acre? Well, as we all now know, thanks to ethanol fuel, the demand for corn has gone way up. It's at $7 a bushel. The big spike in demand for corn has caused the value of farm land to go on a meteoric rise to around $10,000 an acre as a result. Here's what most of you missed...

When the land value jumped like it did, the farmers saw an opportunity to refinance their land and hedge their income against taxation. We all know that the best tax shelter is real estate. So they refinanced their $1,500 an acre land with mega-loans at $10,000 an acre. Well guess what? The demand on fuel is dropping like a rock. Travel demand is down globally. The proof? The price of oil per barrel dropped from the record-breaking peak of $145 to $86.80 today (Thursday, October 9th, 2008).

Mark my words, the price of corn will go down along with the decrease in travel demand. Biofuel demand must go down as travel demand goes down. With the demand on the decline, the price per bushel for corn is going to take a vacation.

Now here's the $10,000 question: What do you think the value of the farm land will be once the corn market softens up and returns to normal levels?

If you guessed NOT $10,000 to the $10,000 question, you guessed right! So let's say farmer Bob has a $10,000,000 loan on his super duper corn kingdom, and the price of corn drops through the bucket. How is he going to make his loan payment? He can't, because his revenue stream will be hacked back down to the ground. And who is going to bail him out? Yes, the government. Just like we always do. Traditionally, this country has bailed out farmers throughout history because we can't live without them.

So if you think the defaults on the $200,000 to $400,000 home loans was bad, wait and see what happens when our farmers get caught in the trick bag of the falling markets.

Then you can say you heard it here... on the Carlton Zone!

I hope I'm wrong!

Search Engine Optimization in Jefferson City, Missouri!

URGENT! Businesses and professionals in Jefferson City, Missouri:

I am rolling out my search engine optimization service for local businesses! I am also launching a blog service that will allow professionals to post articles about their product or service on a daily basis which will add to the power of your search engine rankings! Local search engine results are up for grabs. The first businesses or professionals in each particular field are going to have the highest rankings, so time will be of the essence. Check out my brief page to get an idea of how urgent this is. Click here for details of my consulting service. When you get to the site, click the tab on the top of the page labeled "Web 2.0 & SMO". It will tell you what you need to know! I'll be back soon! Time to go to church. I'm on drum set duty for youth band.

See yawl!

Carlton Flowers
www.carltonzone.com
www.microbusinessplans.com

Rapid learning on SEO and blogging!

I'm trying to cram in a 2-hour learning session on search engine optimization and blogging before I got to church. Search engine optimization, or "SEO" for short, is the new thing... but now, people are going after the LOCAL MARKET. I am studying this like a mad man, and have figured out how to achieve top local search listings. More on this later!

The start of something big?

Folks, I think this is it...

I have decided that this, social media consulting, is what I am supposed to be doing. I am networking with some of the biggest names in the field, and I am so blessed to be able to just have brief conversations with them online. I am going to stick to these new friends like glue, and learn everything I possibly can learn from them. I'm about to put the pedal to the metal, and get this thing done once and for all. It looks like I will be working in 3 key areas:

1. Social Media Consulting
I have branded my own service, which is "Web 2.0 SMO" (stands for "Social Media Optimization"). I will help businesses, professionals, and organizations OPTIMIZE what they do by leveraging themselves through the social networks. I have started a page for this on my professional site, CarltonZone.com.

2. Information Product Creation
I have been working for 8 years on my own line of information products. They center upon crafty and innovative business ideas which can be carried out with minimal investment, and without a store front. All of the ideas that I have presented are field-tested. I learned them by experience. I am now learning how to focus and pare down my ideas into usable chunks. My first product had 19 business ideas. It was too much to swallow. I have since pulled 2 ideas from the original 19, and am in the middle of finalizing production. I am considering doing a joint venture with a partner who will help market the products that I have created. This way, I can focus on the quality of my products until I get a firm foothold in the field of info product sales.

3. Website Commerce
I have 3 websites. One is MicroBusinessPlans.com. On this site, I will be selling small business ideas. Right now, I am selling small information products that give the wholesale sources that I used when I had my brick-and-mortar businesses. I also will be selling product-related information products on this site. I have a brief guide that I have written that shows people how to get a business license, how to market and advertise, and several tips and tricks of the small business trade. Plus, there are links to tons of resources on my site. It's a work in progress, but this will continue on as I learn. I also am toying with a couple of money-making website ideas that will pull in advertisement revenues. Once successful, I will sell them as internet business plans with full details of how to reproduce what I successfully built.

I am assembling a great team to help me. I have picked out who my "mentors" are going to be, and they don't have any choice in the matter! I also have 2 young men who are looking for experience that will be helping in 2 key areas: 1, creative writing, and 2, programming. I also have a good friend at work that I will be joint-venturing a product that we are both passionate about. TO ice the cake, I am pulling in a lifelong friend of mine who is living in Japan to co-author some info products on healthy living and longevity.

This is the start of something big. I can feel it down to the depths of my soul, and I am excited! I have no idea of exactly where this will go, but I have a clear plan in-mind. I'll let the Lord work out the details! In the meantime, I will keep everyone posted as my journey progresses!

Good night, and God bless!

Carlton

The Carlton Zone

Playing with Utterli

I have just discovered the social media site "Utterli", and boy is it fun! You can post plain ole text messages like Twitter, but the big difference here is that you can add pictures, post audio files, and even upload video files.

You can tell Utterli to post your messages to other social networks, and you can even create a web link to post on your web page that will direct people to your post. It's totally amazing! I'm going to spend a lot of time with this site and experiment around with it.

I'm thinking about using it to create a "mini radio show". What I would like to do is learn how to embed the posts into other websites. I don't know if that is possible though.

One of the neatest things you can do is call Utterli on the telephone, and you can leave an audio posting without actually having access to your computer! Now that is cool! So if you are out and about, you can give live updates for others to hear on the website. So check out my latest Utterli post and listen to the audio by clicking the link below, and we'll talk about this more very soon!

CZ Utterli Post

God Bless,

Carlton

Visit the Carlton Zone Here!

For excellent small business information and ideas, click here!

Forging a New Career in Social Media

Folks, I think I have "stumbled upon" a new career here... no pun intended!

Way back in the old days, I had a computer business for 10 years. I was known as "the computer man" in Jefferson City, Missouri. My phone used to ring off the hook day and night. I'd get customers bringing me computers that the big shot consultants in town couldn't fix or figure out. I custom-built machines for home use and business use. I stayed on top of computer hardware and knew everything there was to know about troubleshooting. But then Dell entered the market and sapped all of the profit margins right out of the game, so I quit.

My next foray was retail, and service. I started an auto repair shop. Within a year, I expanded and built an auto body shop. Later that year, I bought a retail tool store. At one point, I had 14 full and part-time employees and was working around the clock trying to manage everything. However, in February of 2007, at the exact time that the first mortgage crisis hit, my businesses started losing ground. Each and every month, sales dropped. This carried on until I had to close the auto business in December of 2007, and by August 2008 I had to let go of the tool store. It was the hardest decision I have ever made. But hindsight being 20/20, I should have cut them all loose long before I did. I held on so long and dumped so much money (that I didn't have) to keep them going, while praying and hoping that the economic downtrend was only temporary. Well, it wasn't.

But out of hardship comes many blessings. After closing the businesses, I returned to my engineering career with the State of Missouri. I thought I would never return to a traditional job. But during these tough economic times, I am so happy to be employed once again. I thought I would miss my freedom, but I am actually more free now that I am back in a job. I don't have to worry day and night about what employees are stealing, which ones aren't showing up for work, or which customers are complaining about the craziest things. I never realized how much I was in total captivity while I was "free" from a job.

After settling down in my new job and enjoying much needed rest and play time with my wife and 4 kids, I have returned to my original love for technology. I have also melded another previous area of expertise with my new endeavor.

I have been involved in training, personal development, keynote speaking, and organizational consulting for over 15 years. The experience in this area has provided the perfect foundation for my newest venture, which is social media training and consulting. I am currently writing training modules, articles, guides, and information for social media marketing, and will soon start providing consulting for businesses and governmental agencies. I will also be providing coaching and consulting for business professionals individually.

My own term that I have coined for my service is "Web 2.0 Social Media Optimization". You can read about it on my blog home page. This is an exploding field, and it is changing the way we relate as a society, and also in the business world. Each and every day I learn something new that could be beneficial for businesses and organizations. I am very anxious about getting started in this field, but I want to make sure that I have a firm footing before I roll out my business. I've already got a waiting list at this point, so I won't be able to spend much time perfecting everything! I guess at some point, you just have to get off the drafting stool and start on construction!

Well folks, that's my story... the short version anyway! I'll be rambling more and reporting on all of my other projects, including my newsletters and information products. Until then, God bless, and seize the day!

The Carlton Zone comes to Google!

Hello everyone! Carlton Flowers here, and I want to let everyone know that I will be using Blogspot on Google to post random thoughts, tips, tricks, advice, and to also unleash some of my rants. Sometimes, I may just use this blog to post silly things that make me laugh. Whatever the case, it promises to be interesting and entertaining!

While you can add this blog to your favorites, don't forget to follow me on twitter using the following Twitter address:

http://www.twitter.com/carltonf

Come on over to Twitter and follow me, and I will tweet when I have new Blogspot posts for everyone to read!

Until then, have a fantastic day, and happy reading!



Currently in development:
http://www.microbusinessplans.com

My main blog page:
http://www.carltonzone.com