Tag Archives: Building Your Business

Customer Service — Where Did It Go?

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Remember when you could walk into a business without immediately being pressured to buy something?

Someone greeted you. They gave you time to look around. If you needed help, they helped you. And before you left, they thanked you for stopping in.

Today, too many businesses—especially online—seem to have forgotten that customers are people.

Log into almost any advertising site and what do you see?

Upgrade now.
Buy credits.
Purchase this special.
Get more exposure.
Don’t miss this offer.

You haven’t even had time to look around yet.

Imagine walking into a neighborhood shop and having the owner run toward you before the door has even closed:

“Here is today’s special! Would you like to upgrade? Would you like to buy more? This offer ends soon!”

How many times would you go back to that store?

It simply starts with remembering that behind every username is a real person walking through your door.

We simply stopped looking customers in the eye—and somewhere along the way, some businesses began treating people like usernames, clicks and dollar signs.

Customer service didn’t stop mattering when businesses moved online.

Every click.

Every email.

Every referral.

Every support ticket.

Every new member.

Every longtime friend.

They’re not just numbers on a report.

They’re people.

And people remember how you made them feel.

Maybe that’s something online businesses need to remember a little more often.

Because before someone becomes your best customer…

They are simply a person who walked through your door.



Customer service didn’t disappear.

It simply starts with remembering that behind every username is a real person walking through your door. 💙

⭐ Stop Limiting Me From Reading Emails

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…and why mailer owners need to rethink this outdated rule

If you’ve been around mailers as long as I have (giggle), you’ve seen a lot of strange ideas come and go. But one thing I’ve never understood — not in 2008, not in 2015, not today — is why mailer owners insist on limiting how many emails a member can open at once.

I mean really… why?

On one mailer, I get this message:

“You can open a maximum of 3 credit links at a time.”

Cute. Except I only have 2 open. Not 3. Not even close.

And when that message pops up, you know what happens? I stop clicking. Period. Momentum gone. Interest gone. Bye‑bye engagement.

🌟 The logic just isn’t there

Why would an owner limit people from reading emails? It’s backwards. It’s upside‑down. It’s the opposite of what a mailer is supposed to do.

Owners don’t create the engagement — members do.

It’s the people writing the emails who make them interesting enough to click. It’s their responsibility to grab attention, spark curiosity, and stand out from the crowd.

If an email is boring, limiting clicks won’t magically make it better. If an email is great, limiting clicks just means fewer people get to see it.

🌟 Let them click away

If someone wants to open 5 emails at once, let them. If someone wants to open 10, let them. If someone wants to click through 50 in a row, LET THEM.

That’s literally the point of a mailer.

The owner’s job is to keep the system running smoothly. The member’s job is to write something worth clicking. The reader’s job is to click whatever catches their eye.

Limits don’t help any of those roles.

🌟 The real issue: outdated settings that never got updated

A lot of owners run multiple sites — sometimes dozens. And when you’re juggling that many, little things slip through the cracks:

  • Old settings stay in place
  • Outdated limits never get reviewed
  • Nobody notices… except the people actually clicking

And trust me, when you click as fast as I do, you notice everything.

🌟 A simple fix that helps everyone

Raise the limit. Or remove it entirely.

Let people read the emails. Let them click freely. Let the system breathe a little.

Because when you stop me from reading emails, I stop clicking. And I’m not the only one.

🌟 Final sparkle

Mailer owners: If you want engagement, don’t block it. If you want clicks, don’t limit them. If you want members to stay active, make it easy for them to stay active.

Let us click. Let us read. Let us surf. Let us enjoy the mailer the way it was meant to be used.

Stop limiting me from reading emails — and watch your engagement go up.

A Moment I Hope More People Get to Feel

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I was going through my inbox today and saw something that made me stop for a second…

A few “New Referral” messages — just from the last couple of days.

And one of them showed exactly where the member came from:

👉 Joined From Site: newmailalert.com

I’m not sharing this to show off.

I’m sharing it because I want more people to experience this moment.

That quiet little spark where you realize:

“Oh… this really does work.”

Not because you spent hours surfing.
Not because you clicked until your eyes crossed.
But because of the small, steady things you kept doing:

  • Showing up
  • Placing ads
  • Letting people see you over time

A lot of people are still just going through the motions — and honestly, most of us start that way.

But something shifts when you begin seeing results like this. It’s not loud. It’s not flashy. It’s just a simple reminder that your effort is adding up.

You don’t have to do everything. You just have to do a few things with intention.

This didn’t happen overnight. It came from consistency — even on the days it felt like nothing was happening.

And one day…

You’ll open your inbox and feel this moment too.

If your ads aren’t converting… this might be why 👀

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I wasn’t planning on writing this today…

But something happened while I was surfing that I just can’t ignore.

I clicked through 25 ads on one site.

👉 16 of them showed this message:

This tracker link has expired!

Now let that sink in for a second…
That’s more than half.
More than half of the ads I clicked…
…went nowhere.

And here’s the part that matters:
This isn’t about one site.
This is happening everywhere.

And I’ll be honest…

This was on one of a well-known owners sites —
and her sites are usually really good.

That’s what surprised me the most.
But here’s the part that really made me stop and think…
👉 If I didn’t need the credits to mail out…
…I probably would have stopped clicking.

And if I’m thinking that…
There’s a good chance other people are too.

Not because they’re impatient.
Not because they don’t want to support others.
But because after hitting dead link… after dead link…
👉 it starts to feel like it’s not worth the time.

💭 What does that mean?

If someone is taking the time to click your ad…
And they land on a dead page…
You didn’t just lose a click.

👉 You lost a moment.
👉 You lost curiosity.
👉 You lost trust.

And chances are…
They’re not coming back.

💡 The hard truth (but said kindly)

A lot of people are still promoting things like:

• Expired trackers
• Old rotators
• Pages they haven’t checked in months
• Links that used to work

Not because they don’t care…
…but because they haven’t looked.

👀 Here’s something simple you can do today

Take 5 minutes.
Click your own ads.
Not just one…
👉 Click several.
See what others are seeing.

🌱 This isn’t about perfection

It’s about presence.

It’s about showing up and making sure what you’re sharing…
…still works.

💬 Final thought

You can tell a lot about a site…
Just by watching how it’s being taken care of.
And the same is true for our ads.

Have you checked yours lately? 😊

If Your Link Looks Like This… You’re Losing Traffic 💔

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You know how we’re all out there clicking, supporting each other’s splash pages, mailers, and traffic exchanges…

And then this pops up:

If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve probably seen it.

I see it more often than most people realize — because I really am everywhere clicking. 😉

And every time it happens, I think the same thing:

That click just got wasted.

What This Usually Means

Most of the time, it’s not anything dramatic.

It usually means:

  • The SSL certificate isn’t set up properly
  • A subdomain doesn’t have SSL attached
  • The site moved servers and something didn’t follow
  • Someone shared an https:// link when the site only works on http://
  • Or a tracking link is pointing to the wrong version

It’s rarely intentional.

But it does cost traffic.

Why It Matters

In TE and mailer land, every click matters.

When someone clicks your link and sees that error:

  • You lose exposure
  • They lose time
  • Credits may not register
  • Trust quietly drops

And the sad part?

Many owners don’t even know it’s happening.

A Simple 60-Second Check (For Owners)

If you run a site or promote splash pages, here’s something easy you can do:

✔ Open your link in a private/incognito browser
✔ Test both http:// and https://
✔ Test any subdomains
✔ Test your tracking links — not just your homepage
✔ Ask a friend to test from outside your network

Don’t assume because your homepage works that every link works.

For Members

If you see this error repeatedly from the same site, gently let the owner know.

Most of us would much rather fix something than lose traffic and not know why.

We All Work Hard for Our Clicks

We promote.
We surf.
We mail.
We rotate splash pages.

Let’s make sure our links actually land somewhere.

A working link shows professionalism.
A broken one quietly loses opportunity.

Just something to check today.💙

Basics of Your Online Business

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It’s really been strange over the years listening to people wanting to earn online but yet they are looking for the BIG RED EASY BUTTON and that does now exist.  Having run an offline business for more than 25 years and online business for more than 10 years – I want to explain what I feel is the Basics of Your Online Business.

It’s sad listening to people complain about not making any money but yet when you ask them some questions and find out that they are not really treating what they are doing like a business.  So I’m going to run through some of the basics that I think anyone reading this and wanting  to earn online needs to hear.

Think about it – in the offline world if you wanted to earn money and have your own business – what would you do first – you would need a NAME, building, budget for the utilities, budget for advertising, inventory, customers, etc. – you get the idea

Now keep this in mind with your online business and the NAME – that is your domain name of your business.  How do YOU want people to find YOU  you could buy the domain of yourname.com and become a blogger.  If you want to invest in a script and have a traffic exchange, mailer, safelist, etc. then you need to still get your domain name.

You bought domain and now what – well you need to get your site out on the internet and this is no different than paying for a building for your offline business – see I relate the online this way – you need HOSTING – your online building

Now that you have your building you have to have a budget for the utilities and in my “zaney” mind – to me that was the autoresponder, tracker, etc.  As you are growing your business you need a way to talk to your members (customers) and you need to a way to track what is working for you – otherwise you are just throwing money out the door.

Talking about budget for advertising, I don’t know if you have ever dealt with offline advertisers but ads are prime real estate with the prices they charge,  This is where graphics come in for your site and where you are going to advertise.

AND if you think that having your own business is rolling in money – think again and thus the reason for this article.  If you are serious about having your own business, then you need to have money to invest in YOUR business.

Without these things you are going to be one of the people wondering WHY I’m not earning.  Remember this is just my way of looking at things but if you want to earn online these are things that you need to think about.

ONE more thing as I’m see that I’m getting long winded – you have your business open for business – don’t just open the doors and expect people to flood in without getting the word out AND don’t leave the doors open and never be around.

OK ONE more thing – people want to see the owner, they want to get to know you and see that you are serious about your business.  So take the time to update the default pages that came with your script – otherwise your members are just going to think this is same ole same ole.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT is not something you ignore – this is how you build that relationship with your members.  Bottom line, you are going to have to learn to wear many hats and some can handle it but if you think you can’t then maybe you should just become a shopper (affiliate) and yes offline people do earn money for just being a shoppers.

Hope this opens some eyes and you – ONLY YOU – have to decide do you really want an online business.  Remember online businesses are open 365 days a year – 24/7

 

Prioritize With Income Producing Activities

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This is a subject that I hear so many talk about all the time – Prioritize.  First I would like to give you the definition of Prioritize to list or rate (projects, goals, etc.) in order of priority.  Now you are wondering How To Prioritize – well let me tell you a story that opened my eye the other day.

During a webinar the other day, there was ONE thing that was so important and a real eye opener for me – yea even me – as we all can get distracted and loose our focus and then wonder why the money is not coming in like it use to.

When this happens to you, the things that you need to do is go back and see what you are doing and the Prioritize it starting with Income Producing Activities.  Ouch, I know that hurt, huh?  It did for me as I was watching what I was doing and got in the rut of just clicking, doing promos, and keeping Zaney Clicks out there.  Now don’t get me wrong that is very important BUT is is not where most of my income was coming from.

Bet that one shocked you also as most think that because you own a Traffic Exchange that you are rolling in money.  Most of the time the money you bring in goes right back out for the operating costs but that could be another whole blog post.

If you ask other, each will have a different list of Income Producing Activities.  So how do you get this list – it’s simple – go back to your payment processor and click on payments received and then put those sites on YOUR Prioritize List.  I think after you do this you will be surprised just like I was and will then realize what YOU need to do.

Now for me this was a real eye-opener and I have been working very hard this week to get back on focus – thus the reason for this over-due blog post.  Now your Income Producing Activity could be as simple as clicking your PTC sites like Your PTC Biz  like a friend of mine – that is the first thing he does everyday before reading any emails, chat messages or going to Facebook.

So like I said everyone has their own Income Producing Activities – now take a look at what you have been doing and find out if the non-money making things have distracted you.

 

5 Things That Motivate Me

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So often I get asked How do I put in all the hours that I do and don’t I ever get tired – well thought I would try and do a post about the 5 things that motivate me.  Actually, as I was preparing for this post I had a hard time narrowing it down to 5 as I so love working online that much.

change2As most of you know, I love helping others and that is probably the most enjoyable thing and believe me my number one that motivates me.  You see there is nothing more rewarding than having someone in your downline come to you and tell you how they are succeeding for the first time – their first referral, their first sale, etc. That will sure gets my adrenalin going and I want to help more and more and more.

With that in mind, I would have to say the 2nd would be being asked for help.  Why would that motivate me – it tells me that people have been watching, listening and trust me to even ask and that by far goes a long way in today’s world.  Do I know all the answers – NO but I do know enough people online that when I don’t know – I can ask around and will find an answer for you.

happycatSpeaking of trust, the same thing happens when I see people supporting my sites, promoting the sites.  You all have no idea what I look at behind the scenes at the sites and it’s not what the site brought in for money wise today – it’s who joined, where did they join from and why did they join.  All that info is important to me and motivates me to keep going, keep doing what I’m doing as it’s working – now that is motivation for me.

Now I know most of you reading this are wondering how I can know the why when someone joins that site – well this is just me but I have taken the time to set up a series of emails to new members and they get sent out about ever three days.  This is a teaching series that I have done up explaining the site, suggesting tools they will be needing etc. and from the response to those emails tells me what the person is looking for and how I can help them even more.

AND last but not least, most of you know by now that I love quotes, I love finding the positive out of everything – so yes I find motivation in reading quotes and wanted to share some of my favorites and believe me this was hard to narrow down to a few lol

”Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” –Audrey Hepburn

“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” – Eric Thomas

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
– Og Mandino

“You don’t have to be great at something to start, but you have to start to be great at something”
– Zig Ziglar

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
– Lao Tzu

 kick2And if you are someone that just needs one of these now and then – well here is yours .

DECIDE

COMMIT

SUCCEED