My 12 Confessions: Why I Belong to Portalfeeder and How Portal Feeder Membership May Benefit You
I have a confession to make. In fact, I have several confessions to make. Twelve to be precise. No, I didn't commit a serious, unlawful crime. But I have violated some rules of successful online affiliate internet marketing that I didn't even know about.
Success in affiliate internet marketing is hard work. And it takes more than an electronic library of ebooks collecting space on your hard drive, belonging to free or cheap membership sites that provide content, advice and strategies from three years ago or the latest script that everyone rushes to buy. It takes commitment, having current strategies and effective tools for researching, publishing, promoting and monetizing a website. And it takes a community to be successful.
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Confession 12: Portalfeeder is Reopening its Doors to New Members for a Very Short Time
Portalfeeder is offering membership and access to its tools, resources, software, training and community on December 4, 2007. From what I understand, in order to support those new members, membership will be limited. If you are looking to increase your success in online affiliate internet marketing, I encourage you to get on their pre-notification list. Click here to get on their list: Tell Me More About Joining Portalfeeder. Tip: Sign Up Today!
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From my time on-line, I have bought plenty of software, ebooks, video programs and tools. I had to figure out how to use them by myself or wait days or even weeks to get an answer to what turned out to be a simple question. Simple for the experts, that is.
Then, I came across Portalfeeder. Just what is Portalfeeder? I had read posts about it in a couple of other forums, especially in the ThemeZoom community. I read reviews about Jason Potash and his commitment to providing quality content. I had purchased Jason's Content Composer product and found it very effective and user friendly to create articles. I heard of the programming prowess of Jason Katzenback and Mark Quarles. I learned of the highly interactive forum community and its reputation for supporting its own membership.
So, when the opportunity came to join when the newest version of Portalfeeder reopened its doors, I took the leap of faith to find out more. There was a money-back guarantee, so I figured the only risk I was taking was the time I would invest in exploring what Portalfeeder 2.0 had to offer.
I was amazed at what I discovered. Right away, my membership in Portalfeeder offered a series of orientation e-mails and a comprehensive bootcamp to learn about how to use the system. Since Portalfeeder gets better every day, I'd like to share with you some of main benefits that I've experienced since I joined.
Confession 1: I Went from Being Overwhelmed to Taking a 22 Day Bootcamp to Shorten the Learning Curve
Before I joined Portal feeder, I tended to jump into building a website without thinking. There is a tremendous amount of planning that goes into creating, promoting and maintaining a successful portal. A portal is an asset that grows with value when you do it right. Study and learning a new system take an investment of time and energy. The step-by-step Bootcamp that new Portalfeeder members go through make it easier to understand the system and then follow it.
When I went through the Bootcamp, I learned a lot about building an online business that I did not know before. The entire Portalfeeder educational and training system gave me a solid foundation from identifying my interests, learning what other people are looking for and how to match affiliate products to the wants and desires of those searching for them. The good thing about the Bootcamp is that I can progress at my own pace or speed it up if I want. The information is always available for review and improving my awareness of the process. Tip: It's worth the time to exercise in Bootcamp.
Confession 2: I Went From "I Think It Will Work This Way" to "Seeing is Believing"
As I mentioned earlier, it is so easy to spend hours of time to figure out the most basic methods of building portals. The written word goes only so far with me. I need to see an example and then try it out. The Portalfeeder software offers a powerful process to build a portal or feed a blog. There is an 18 step course of Portalfeeder videos that shows how to use the software, step-by-step that I downloaded and watched at my schedule. That really helped me get up and running quickly and effectively. Of course, this is a skill set that needs to be developed, so the first time took longer than the second time. Portal feeder offers templates for portals, too, as part of the membership, so I didn't have to waste time trying to create ones from scratch. Tip: Take the time you need to learn, it is a wise investment.
Confession 3: I Went From "Keyword Stuffing" to Keyword Wisdom
Portalfeeder 2 offers a complete system for building and maintaining portals, but it is all based upon the understanding that people are searching for products and information. Keywords and keyword phrases are their way of asking to obtain those products and that information. I learned how to strategically create content that incorporates keywords into articles, product pages, and blog posts that meet the search demand of visitors. Portalfeeder has a unique system of building and organizing keyword lists from market research to associate with product pages and other content quickly and purposely. The system automatically optimizes those web pages using the keyword lists. This resource and a wiser strategy of sprinkling keywords helps me get higher search engine rankings for those pages. Tip: Stuffing is good for turkey, but not for keywords.
Confession 4: I Went from "Creating Lazy Content" to Structuring Unique Content and Repurposing Other's Content to Serve My Visitors
Where to get good content? That was always one of my challenges. I started out internet marketing buying and posting PLR content that wasn't very good. Along the way, I learned to improve my articles. Portalfeeder allows me to plan all of my content in advance, assign keywords, repurpose and research OPC (other people's content) in a meaningful way for my visitors. That helps visitors have access to additional resources while still being on my site. Tip: Use resources that bring the best content together for those you serve.
Confession 5: I Went from "Pushing Out Many Quick and Easy Sites" to a System That Can Build Authority Sites for Drawing In Visitors to Return Again and Again
Have you ever created a portal hoping it would draw traffic of repeat visitors who recommend your site to others? I have and I wasn't getting the return visitors in the numbers I wanted. When I joined Portalfeeder, I learned how to provide fresh and useful content to visitors through RSS feeds and creating resource lists. Portalfeeder has a built in mechanism to incorporate relevant RSS feeds of other sources into my own portals. That way my portal has more content from more sources, almost like a newspaper that collects and distributes more news (an aggregator.)
Portalfeeder has a List Packs feature that allows me to easily create directories of information resources that are totally customizable for whatever information or content that my visitors want.
Portalfeeder offers a system of templates and tokens that can help build a themed or siloed site quickly and effectively. The ability to "clone" portals or blogs with the same settings, design, look and feel has saved me hours in development time. There is no limit as to how wide and deep I can build content for a given topic. I expect that this process alone will help visitors recommend my portals to others. Tip: Don't be a lone author; offer relevant information from a variety of trusted sources.
Confession 6: I Went From "Offering a Few of My Own Products" to Offering Affiliate Products that Correspond to Popular and Long-Tail Searches
It is work to build sales pages, write copy, take photos, format pages, create and link up the payment and delivery process. When I joined Portalfeeder, I learned an efficient process to create product packs, product directories and product pre-sales pages for affiliate internet marketing. The product pack function within Portalfeeder is especially nifty – I can click on a button, search Clickbank for digital products, review the relevant products and add the pre-sales and sales information. Viola! A new product page that is part of my portal and available to serve the information needs of my visitors. Just think of how easy it can be to add a number of themed products to a directory and show that to portal visitors. Tip: Use a proven process to make product pages quickly and effectively.
Confession 7: I Went from Minimal Promotion to Learning and Using Better Tools and Strategies to Promote Portals and Blogs
Quickly indexing and getting traffic to my portals and blogs is much easier using the tools and resources that are a part of the Portalfeeder system. There is a Portalfeeder blog network that Portalfeeder members maintain. I can post quality content to their blogs, which helps them build a better site and which provides me with a back link for reverse traffic and search engine awareness. I can use the Portalfeeder article network, create an article pack that other Portalfeeder members can access which includes my signature and link back to my portals.
Not only that, some of the Mentors of Portalfeeder are experts in promotion and create ongoing education and processes to take advantage of new evolutions in Internet traffic. Traffic comes from where people hang out online. For example, one mentor created a comprehensive, step-by-step PDF guide to promote content to Web 2.0 social communities. Another mentor created a PDF guide on using Gather.com and social bookmarketing as a way to attract visitors and search engines. What I really love about this, is that this ongoing education is part of my membership, in addition to the access to the software and tools. Tip: Even if you have to pay to get specialized information, get it today. Fortunately at Portalfeeder, much is included in the membership price.
Confession 8: I Went from "Build It and Move On" to Maintaining My Portals and Blogs Easily and Effectively
One of the biggest problems of maintaining a blog or portal is "feeding it." That is, providing up-to-date content for new and returning visitors. Before I joined Portalfeeder, I really struggled with existing sites with new content on a consistent basis. It is easy to forget the last time which sites got a new page was added. Keeping track was a chore.The Portalfeeder software offers an ingenious methodology to "drip" new content, such as articles or blog posts, into my site. I can schedule new content delivery along with the speed and frequency of sharing it publicly. Not only will visitors come back to see new things on my site, search engines like to recommend websites that have fresh information. Tip: Slow and consistent dripping beats quick and inconsistent publishing.
Confession 9: I Went from a Lone Ranger to an Interactive Community and Mentors
One of the biggest benefits that I've received as part of my membership in Portalfeeder is learning from others, exchanging ideas, strategies and belonging to a community. Although my success depends on my efforts to create and promote portals to serve others, I have found it easier and more motivating when I have like-minded colleagues to meet in the discussion forum. It's like having a large mastermind group that creates a synergy benefiting those who participate. When I first got started, I was having a dickens of a time figuring out what was a routine matter for the more experienced Portalfeeder members. I didn't quite understand the solution that was posted. After a Private Message, one of the leading members actually called me and we talked for about 45 minutes to straighten out my understanding. That gesture of good will really blew me away and is something I never would have working solo, without an interactive community.
The other aspect of this benefit is the presence and activity of Portalfeeder mentors. Each mentor has an area of expertise and posts at least one new educational topic each month. Some of the recent mentor trainings include market research and affiliate products, using templates and tokens, SEO, project management, linking, social networking, and more. I like the fact that past trainings are archived and fully available to read. Tip: Get in with the big hitters. They know what is going on.
Confession 10: I Went from "Trying to Figure It Out, Not Figuring It Out and Quitting" to Needing Help, Asking for Help and Receiving Responsive Support
As I mentioned earlier, I'm not the swiftest programmer in the world. When I encounter problems, I submit a help ticket and sometimes even an email to the Support team. I've had turnaround often in hours. The support team actually has logged into my account and found a problem in the HTML code that caused all of my text to align center instead of the left. I have belonged to a number of other membership sites; the support I receive through Portalfeeder is timely and responsive. Tip: Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Good help is a benefit of an excellent membership service.
Confession 11: I Went from "I Know Enough" to I'm Still Learning
There are many other areas about Portalfeeder that I am still learning. That is one of its limitations – it keeps getting better and I have to keep working to keep learning. Which is okay. I don't know everything. I'd rather make progress by learning more. But then again, that is one of the beauties of belonging – I can help others and they can help me. What's even better, a new and improved version of Portalfeeder is coming soon. Tip: The only time you stop learning is when you or your business are dead.
Confession 12: Portalfeeder is Reopening its Doors to New Members for a Very Short Time
Portalfeeder is offering membership and access to its tools, resources, software, training and community on December 4, 2007. From what I understand, in order to support those new members, membership will be limited. If you are looking to increase your success in online affiliate internet marketing, I encourage you to get on their pre-notification list. Click here to get on their list: Tell Me More About Joining Portalfeeder Tip: Sign up today!
My username in Portalfeeder is pdave. I look forward to meeting you in Portalfeeder's discussion forum when you join the community.
I wish you all the best with your affiliate internet marketing,
Dave Pipitone, http://www.portal-profits.com