I know, I know it has been a long time since I last wrote. I have been busy with filmmaking and other projects but I’m back.

Onto the good stuff…

I often run tests on pages of my site through crazyegg.com. They show you exactly where visitors are clicking on your website. It is very useful to see if your visitors are doing what you want them to do.

So on the home page of LawnCareDirectory.com I have a section that pushes people who want to start a lawn care business to a kit that I sell. I have a picture of the kit and 2 buttons one that goes to the kit and one that goes to a free lawn business course.

When I created this part of the site the button that went to the kit said “Lawn Business Kit” which I mainly did so I could fit the text on the button.

So I ran a crazyegg report on the home page and had it track about 1600 visitors to that page. Here is a snapshot of that section of the home page. The little colorful dots are individual clicks:

So as you can see with over 1600 visitors to the site that part of the page only got 3 random clicks not one of which was on one of the buttons.

So when I realized how ineffective that button was I knew right away why. I learned a long time ago that if you want someone to click on something you need to tell them why they should.

You need to make a call to action. Don’t try to be un-intrusive with your visitors. They don’t know their way around your site. They need guidance.

So I changed the top button from “Lawn Business Kit” to say “Start Your Business Now” and ran another report through crazy egg. This time I only did 500 visitors but the difference was stunning:

Not only did people actually click on that button, but by changing the text it also got visitors to click on the button below it as well. It’s amazing what one minor tweak can do to your website’s usability.

I should probably keep playing with the text on these buttons until I find what generates the most click through.

I know, I know, this has nothing to do with internet marketing. But since I have an audience I want to share this anyway.

A year ago my wife and I took a trip to New York City for our 10th wedding anniversary. Prior to the trip we bought tickets to see Lion King on Broadway.

I knew it was going to be a crazy time with a lot going on so I bought the insurance that Ticketmaster offers (Event Ticket Protector) in case you can’t make the show.

The insurance is offered through Mondial Assistance. So I paid for the insurance and then we took our trip. Sure enough we ended up coming home a day early and missed the show.

I promptly filed the claim through their Event Ticket Protector website and submitted everything they asked me for.

Fast forward a year and I get a letter in the mail from Mondial Assistance saying they have closed my case because they never got any documentation.

So I called them up and spoke with one of their reps. I was amazed at how prepared she was to come back at anything I said to her. It was clear I was not the first person to call them with concerns.

She told me I never sent in the tickets for the event. I told her since it was a year ago I don’t remember what I sent them but I know I sent them everything they asked for when I filed the claim.

She then told me that if I didn’t miss the show for a family death or medical emergency then it wouldn’t be covered anyway.

I told her they needed to make that much more clear when you sign up for the product because the way they sold it was Protect Yourself In Case You Cant Make The Show.

She said the confirmation email they send out clearly states what is covered and what isn’t. So in other words they tell you after you already paid for it. But you do have 10 days to get a refund…if you decided to read the 4 page small font document they send in the email they sent you when you signed up.

She then went on to question why I was just now calling Event Ticket Protector after a year and I said “because I just got a letter from you saying the case was closed.”
Her – “Well you should have called earlier and checked the status.”
Me – “Im not going to do this with you. I know you don’t own the company but Event Ticket Protector is a scam.” Then I hung up.

Companies like Mondial Assistance can only make money if your claim gets denied. They are in the business of denying claims. Don’t waste your money. It’s better to risk missing a show and losing the money than to go through the hassle of dealing with them.

Well, I have good news to report. I just sold a website that I bought last year. The website was in a very very competitive yet lucrative industry and based on the success I have had in other industries I decided to try my hand in this one.

I bought the website (I paid 5 figures for it which is the first time I have ever gone that high for a site) and started optimizing it. Really all I did was build links for the site since it was ranking on Google pretty well but just needed a little boost to start doing really well.

Well I got wrapped up working on other websites and never got around to changing anything on the website. The SEO on the site was not bad but conversions could have used some help. So for almost a year all that was happening on the site was link building. Now if you have ever read Prosperly before you know my take on SEO and link building.

The rankings did slowly improve (and I mean slowly) but I was patient. Well apparently that was enough to get someone interested in buying the site because in December I received an email offering to buy the site for more than I paid for it without knowing anything else about it. I countered with a much higher price and eventually we settled on a price that was more than double what I paid for it.

Not bad for a years worth of link building and nothing else. Let this be a witness to you that SEO is the key to building websites people want to buy and that there is money to be made in 2011.

I was recently at my in-laws home during the holidays and happened to pick up the local newspaper. On the front page was a feature story of new years resolutions of some of the local residents of this small town.

I started reading some of them and was shocked. Here are a couple of excerpts from their resolutions:

“All the things that I accomplished this past year, I want to try to keep them going. Like I got help with my rent. I got a better place to live. I stopped using substances, stopped drinking. Going to my groups and stuff like that…”

“I forget them about a week later. I decided not to do one anytime anymore, I did quit smoking. That was about 30 years ago. That was probably the only one I remember I ever did. I used to smoke two, three packs of cigarettes a day. I just decided it was time to quit. I didn’t know if I was going to do it or not, but I did do it. I’m glad I did do it. If people want to smoke, that’s up to them. It pays off if you don’t smoke; I can tell you that.”

See full article here

There were other resolutions that were just as bad in the newspaper and I thought to myself, no wonder so many people go through life and don’t fulfill their dreams.

My key to success: If you want to be successful in life set very specific goals and then work towards those goals every single day.

One of the goals I set for myself several years ago was to make $8333 a month from my online businesses. I then broke down each website that I owned and set a goal to how much I wanted each site to make every month to help me get to that goal.

Then I created a daily tasks list for each site that would help me reach the goal for each website. As I did those daily tasks I watched as my income continued to grow to the point that I was making a great full time living online.

The other great thing that happened is that because I had a goal for myself i built momentum and eventually surpassed that goal with ease and had to set new goals.

My advice to you is this: No matter what you are trying to accomplish in life, whether it be in business, religion, personal life etc, set specific goals and you will be more successful and have a much more fulfilled life.

I know you’re thinking, what in the world? That was literally part of a comment I received on one of my posts. I was going through all of the comments and approving the legitimate ones and deleting the spam.

So many comments come from people in other countries where English is not their primary language. Some of the sayings are so ridiculous I felt I had to share them with you.

These are actual comments I sorted through:

What if I start website flipping now? This is really an awesome idea. Brilliant people doesn’t view a situation in the negative side.

My reaction: You know you’re right, brilliant people doesn’t view a situation in the negative side, at least I doesn’t.

I really enjoy it! Your report feels like an A. Your artical is great! I have been to your posts before. Great post. I really appreciate the information. Thank you so much for the wonderful content you have created! I admire you. Your artical is great! After read it, I think a lot. The content is very exciting and I can almost understand. Please keep going on and continue to add excellent posts. That’s big help for me. You are tops.Great! You have done a terrific job communicating your message. I totally agree with your opinion. Thanks! Your atical is really surprising.The article is very helpful to me. The more I read, the more I keep coming back!

My reaction: Your enthusiasm! Is contagious! You are one of those brilliant people who doesn’t view a situation in the negative side!

The situation goes like whenever I get out they pull me back in. I hate myself for commenting sometimes but think I have to say woot to this overall. Been a a long day. Peace out.

My reaction: Long day doesn’t adequately describe it.

i love this post. i have alerted my friend harry about it because he loves this kind of info as well!

My reaction: Thanks. I was hoping you would tell harry.

hey!,I like yourblog so much! share we discuss more about your post on MSN? Looking forward to see you.

My reaction: Yes, we share discuss it.

Hi very best place inside the globe is this. finest in world.I have no words for my country.. I am fan of Indian music.I have lived in Indian Cities.

My reaction: As far as I know the inside of a globe is hollow space. I have no words either.

I like to read nice things!

My reaction: Thank you for taking the time to post this.

Fantastic blog! I definitely love how it is easy on my eyes and also the information are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!

My reaction: Dang it, I was trying to use my blog to hurt your eyes, thus partially blinding you and causing you to trip on your dog. I guess my plot to take over the world was foiled…again.

i had invested in a cleaning business and of course, this is a great business :`.

My reaction: Sounds great by how you’re describing it. Although I am not sure what to make of the trailing alien script.

Now before you judge me as being harsh on people that struggle with English I just want you to know these were not real readers and fans of Prosperly, they were people trying to post spammy links in the comments of my site. If someone gives me a legitimate comment not obviously just trying to get a spam link out of it, I will gladly post it.

Please Prosperly readers, or non-readers I should say, keep the spammy comments coming. It gives me material for new posts.