Simple Internet Marketing Process

Conduct Research

The first part is all about gathering the information that will help you to perform the following step. Most internet marketers will use keyword research tools (free or paid services) such as Google’s AdWords keyword tool to find out what people are searching for and how many websites are currently listed by the search engines.

Identify a Hungry Market

Once you’ve got your list of keywords along with search and site volumes, the next step is to decide where there are enough people looking for the keyword combinations to make up a sufficiently hungry market.

Source Product Or Service

Next, you’ll need to identify a product or service that the market might be willing to buy. Whether you create it yourself, outsource its creation or purchase something ready made with resale rights is something that you’ll need to decide upon yourself. This will depend on your own technical or writing skills, your financial resources and the time it’s likely to take to get ready for market.

Tell The Market

You might have an absolutely brilliant product, that will have eager buyers beating down your door – if only they knew about it. So before they can start buying, you need to get the message out. There are a number of ways you can do this – again, some are free and some will cost.

Rake In The Money

And now that everyone who might be remotely interested in what you’re selling knows about it, you’re having to tell them to form an orderly queue while your many hired assistants take their money and hand over the goods. Alternatively, you just need to tell your internet service provider to give you extra bandwidth so that customers can download your electronic offerings while you sip something cool at your favourite holiday destination.

Rinse and Repeat

Finally, all you need to do is repeat the previous steps to set up more and more income streams that will keep your personal wealth and associated lifestyle on a continuous upward curve.

Simple, Right?

So there they are. Five simple steps. So why isn’t everybody who picks up a “how to make money” ebook, or signs up to a guru’s “get rich in your pyjamas” mentoring course selling lots of stuff and making lots of money?

Because, while it is simple, it certainly isn’t easy. There’s a whole lot more that needs to happen within each of the boxes in the above diagram. And each of those subprocesses needs to work with 100% effectiveness and many other questions need to be answered. For example:

• You might manage to gather a really great set of keywords - but are they being used by potential customers looking for something to buy? Or are they just doing some research?
• You’ve managed to source a really great product that people want - but are you competing with an army of other sellers?
• You’ve managed to compete successfully and managed to tell more people about your product than your competitors have – but has it cost you more in advertising than you’ve gained in sales?
• You’ve spent money on the “best thing since sliced bread” from a “guru” who claims he/she has made $millions from it, but you can’t seem to make a penny. Are you just not doing it right, or has the “guru” ripped you off?

I think that the answers are much more complex and wide-ranging than I’ve got time and space for in this post, but I’ll be using my old process moelling skills to see whether I can get some solid answers to these and other questions.

In the meantime, if there’s any other angle you’d like me to look at, then please leave a reply.

The Grace Spitfire ML407

One Beautiful Merlin

First, on Saturday when I attended the Grace Spitfire Supporters’ Annual Gathering at Bentwaters. Carloyn flew the Spitfire Mk IX (T) lovingly restored by her late husband Nick Grace and gave us the pleasure of seeing that graceful (no other word comes to mind) sight and hearing that inspiring sound during two private displays.

ML407's Rear Cockpit

Just one of the many benefits of belonging to the Supporters’ Club is the chance to view ML407 up close while socialising with like minded folks. If you’re into aviation and really into Spitfires, then why not think about joining. Visit the ML407 website and take a look and email Carolyn for the forms.

There’s also a lot of really exclusive merchandise that you’ll not find anywhere else. And you can find out where the Grace Spitfire is being displayed next.

Four Beautiful Merlins

Then on Sunday there was on open day hosted by Bentwaters Parks and the Bentwaters Cold War Museum. This time it was four Merlins – not only did Carolyn fly again, but Maurice Hammond brought along three immaculately restored P51D Mustangs.

Maurice Hammond's Private Airforce - Mariell, Janie and Big Beautiful Doll

 One more Mustang and he’ll have his own section. I guess that when you’re a very successful business owner you can afford to reap some of the rewards. And if I was in his place, I’d do exactly the same (except I’d add a Spitfire and Hurricane to the collection as well).

There were more aircraft there, including several more from Maurice’s collection (Stearman and Auster, I believe) and Carolyn’s son with the three Dukes of Cassutt racers.

A big thank you to the owners of Bentwaters Business Park for providing the venue. And also to the crew at the Bentwaters Cold War Museum - I understand that they also had a big hand in the event’s organisation.

And finally, an extra special thanks to the guys at Falcon Fire & Rescue Services who provided the crash cover on both days. Without them, many events like these could not take place. They can provide cover to Special CAT, CAT 1 or H1 Airfield standards, plus CAT 2 cover with prior notice for any aviation event.

So that I can do a better job, I thought I’d better provide somewhere for you to submit comments and questions if you feel so inclined. I’ll respond as quickly as I can.

Now, as far a can remember, a bounce would normally occur if either:

1. your mainwheels  hit before your speed has reduced sufficiently close to the stall for a smooth rollout to occur, or
2. the landing surface is rough and your undercarriage isn’t compliant and damped (I’m thinking Cessna 150/172 cartspring here)

Both of the above would be exacerbated if your angle of attack increased just after the mainwheels touched the ground.

A balloon on the other hand might occur if either:

1. you flare a bit too much and too early, or
2. a gust gives you a sudden increase in lift just when you don’t want it.

In either case, if you take no remedial action the outcome is likely to be a rough landing at best or damage to the aircraft (and maybe you and your passengers) at worst.

But… what set me thinking was the advice given. As far as I can recall, it was to hold the control column where it was and apply a burst of power. The object being to arrest the sudden increase in rate of descent that normally follows a bounce or balloon.

This is certainly along the lines of what I was taught when flying nosewheel aeroplanes like the C150, C172, Rallye and Pup that I’ve got in my log. In fact, I can recall using this technique on more than one occasion – my home airfield had grass runways and was near the coast (hence prone to gusty wind).

The big BUT comes when I look at the earliest entries in my log which were for the venerable  Auster Autocrat – a tailwheel layout. These were lovely old aeroplanes to fly, with a real stick and something approaching a throttle quadrant rather than a mock column and something resembling a plunger sticking out of the instrument panel!

However, the rubber bungee “springing” on the undercarriage and the tailwheel layout seemed to make them much more prone to bouncing on landing unless you got the flare/round out absolutely right. The technique taught to me for this type of aircraft did not necessarily involve a burst of throttle and it certainly did not involve holding the stick where it was in pitch just before the bounce. I was told in no uncertain terms that it was vital to check forward on the stick briefly to avoid entering a stall. The consequences would have been a very hard landing and possibly nosing over.

So, the cautionary bit of this little tale is to always consider the advice you are given in the appropriate context. And better still, ask someone who really knows why you are asking and what you are going to fly. In other words… your instructor.

May you walk away from all of your landings.

But there’s no denying the unique emotional effects of their sights and sounds. It may well be very different for different people, but the roar of a Merlin makes my scalp tingle, especially when it’s low and fast overhead. And to watch a Spitfire pull up into an aileron roll adds a lump in the throat to that. So until that dreamed of day when I can write the £2 million (plus) cheque, I’ll just have to see them as often as possible at air displays. Or hope to spot Carolyn Grace’s Spitfire and Maurice Hammond’s P51 Mustang overhead my home town in Suffolk. But if that day ever came, I’d get out my huge list list of places I might visit with the chequebook and my best lines in persuasion… “how much do you want for the one with the D-day stripes then?”

1. Aviate
2. Navigate
3. Communicate

in that order, as my old instructor used to say!

Anyway, here’s a little story about that which I found the other day

…………………………

Original Title : Almost Upside Down At Night
 
During your flight training, there may be times when you get the notion that your instructor is mean or does not know what they are talking about. Perhaps not in an obvious way, but it’ll occur.

The flight I’m going to talk about goes from Mesa Falcon Field to Wickenberg, Arizona. I have personally put this flight in my syllabus for lots of reasons. I have got into many discussions with instructors who worked for me about this route. Several of them refused to do the flight and instead ended up taking the their student down to Tucson. Now, following a massive lit-up road between 2 bright major towns does not really reveal you to the genuine eventualities that may occur on a night cross-country. Yes, you need to ensure the instructor knows where he’s going to land in the event of an engine failure, but you must be on a flight that will get you into a little bit of difficulty if you are not listening.

Back to my story. I am going to call the student John. You know that I am fully against using all these high-tech things for personal pilot coaching and even instrument ratings. Even then, a difficult situation will be a battle between many parts of your brain at the same time. John called me in the afternoon about his night flight. We determined the time, and at the end of the call, John stated that he had just gotten his new Garmin 95 latest-and-greatest GPS device and asked if he could bring it along. Before we strode out of the office, out came that glossy new Garmin box. Fred, you want to check this out. This is the new Garmin 95, top-of-theline, latest-and-greatest. This was back in 1996. Garmin was a no-name back then and was just getting into the market.

‘Please, please, please can we take it with us?’ After all of the begging, I ultimately gave in. Deep in my mind somewhere, I had a little smile, and a voice just said, “Okay”. Before John even started his pre-flight, he set up his new Garmin 95 on the control column. I knew right then that we were in for a good time! I told John that he couldn’t turn it on till we got out of Phoenix airspace, which is right where it starts to get nice and dark. He agreed, “Okay, no problem”. We took off and headed west as planned. John was right on the money with all his checkpoints and times. Flight plan opened at the right time. He was getting an A+ at this stage of the ball game.

Finally, we got about 5 miles west of Deer Valley airfield, where it starts to get nice and dark. John looked at me with those puppy eyes and asked, “Am I allowed to turn it on yet?” at about that point. I just looked at him and said, “Yes”. The small voice in my head spoke to me again, “Now it’s time for the actual lesson to begin”. John turned on the new best present to humankind. The screen came on, and he said,”Look, Fred, isn’t this great? It tells you everything!” The tiny voice in my head announced,”Yeah. Right. It tells you everything except what your one job in a plane is”.

John kept playing with his new toy. I learned back in 1989 that there are occasions when the flight instructor’s job is to clam up and just let the student carry on. He was following his track on the screen and was okay, but I knew that at some point, it was going to distract him from his number one job.

I knew now the giant lesson had started, so I just sat there. Slowly, his altitude started to go up and down. Not much at first, but I knew it was just going to deterioriate. I looked at John, and his head was down looking right at the GPS. In reality, the time-frame of this whole lesson was doubtless less than a minute. John continued to look down and announced,”Hm, I can’t find the screen I am looking for”. I just sat there and didn’t say anything.

Slowly, he started a right turn, just a few degrees bank, heading right into the mountains. The plane started to slowly lose altitude as the right turn started to get steeper. There wasn’t any horizon at all, so John had no idea of what was going on. Fortunately, he was one of the scholars that took my aerobatic option before solo, so he was acquainted with extreme unusual attitudes. Slowly but surely, the airplane had entered the feared graveyard spiral at cruise power setting. The aeroplane kept going into a steeper bank. If it had been daytime, I might have let him get the wrong way up, but not at night. “Anything wrong?” John looked up, and the string of four-letter words started to flow. He got the aeroplane in hand. Power back wings level and nose level. However, he was still heading on the swiftest path to meet God, right into the mountains some miles north of the dimly lit road I normally plan as my emergency landing spot. I asked him,”What are you able to see in front of you?”. He answered with,”Nothing.” I asked, “So that implies?” I got the answer, “I am flying right into the ground”. That answer was just about correct. with his new heading, he was flying right into the hills. Since we lost about 1,500 feet, our altitude was perfect for the large smack. We needed to find some light, start climbing, and head in the other direction.

John got the aeroplane in order, turned the GPS off, and we had an uneventful flight to Wickenberg and then back home to Falcon Field.

When we got back on the ground, John said, “I think I’m going to need to be taught how to fly before I fret about that GPS”. He also asked for some night strange perspective coaching. I also highly recommend this. So again, the essential lesson is to fly the airplane! John got distracted from that job by his little GPS. If you insist on using this stuff, ensure you understand how to use it, and do not try and learn it in the plane, particularly at night!

As far as disorientation goes, it can happen extremely quickly, and when it does, it’s not pleasant. It has occurred to me in solid instrument conditions. I had all my ratings, and it just took a short while before the blood pressure went down.

Just remember this essential check, which you should be able to copy at the bar when you’re about to fall on the floor:

Airspeed High (Or,”I Hear the Wind Hollering outside of the Plane”…

One   : Power Back
Two   : Wings Level
Three : Nose of the plane Level
Four  : when you have the airplane in hand, then bring the power back in, and get back to your altitude and heading

Airspeed Low…

One   : Nose Forward
Two   : Wings Level
Three : Once you’ve got the nose at descent attitute, then add power.

If you are out on a dark night, you’re going to be fighting that attitude indicator. Get some coaching on night unusual angles.

Then come back a fortnight later and do it again till you mechanically react, particularly after a little time has gone by.

One of the things that proved a bit difficult for me when I was studing ground school material for the PPL exams was testing my knowledge. It’s always difficult getting meaningful questions (and verification of correct answers) if you have to rely on a non-flyer (maybe your spouse, unless you’re both enthusiastic about flying.

So I’m trying to set up a series of quizzes on all aspects of the required knowledge. There’s a very short sample here: http://www.howtogetpilotslicence.com/

As we were strolling around the stands before the flying display, I spotted an ultralight  aeroplane next to the Light Aircraft Association’s caravan and thought I’d take a closer look. But I’ll come back to this in a minute.

Now, what I hadn’t mentioned in my previous post was that the events surrounding my inner ear problem had left me with an unexpected additional problem. Because the inner ear problem had manifested itself as a rapidly declining hearing ability in one ear, there was an initial suspicion of a tumour withing the ear’s nerve pathway. So I was subjected to a number of medical tests (some not very pleasant) which happily discounted the initial tumour diagnosis, but which resulted in an operation to repair a suspected perilymph leak. The operation went well, but had no effect on my hearing ability in the affected ear. However, I ended up with severe claustrophobia.

My own pet theory is that the massive magnetic fields that my head was subjected to during the MRI scans, combined with the enclosed space and an adverse reaction to the injected contrast medium, somehow rewired my brain. Whatever the cause, I became prone to panic attacks whenever I found myself in a confined space or if I had no immediate control of my location. As you can probably imaging, lifts (elevators) were a considerable problem and travelling on London’s underground transport system (the Tube) would make me feel close to vomiting. In fact, even travelling in the back of a 2 door car was very unpleasant. And sitting in a dentist’s chair having a tooth filled became an impossibility. Even flying in a light aircraft or as a passenger on a scheduled flight became something for me to dread rather than enjoy. So I stopped my club flying and let my PPL lapse.

But life continues and I had to do something about the claustrophobia and panic attacks. Now as I sit here and write this, I’m struck by how interconnected many things are in out lives. This is why this blog appears to contain more than one focussed theme. You see conventional medicine, for all of its wonders, had not cured my ear problem and in fact it had given me another. While I was struggling with this after-effect, one of my partner’s friends was undergoing treatment for arthritis. The person treating her was a practitioner of traditional chinese medicine and she suggested that it might be worth me talking to him about my problem.

Traditional chinese medicine doesn’t seem to have the same immediate impact as western medicine, but gradually the tai chi forms and breathing techniques I was taught helped me to restore equilibrium. A simple acupressure technique enabled me to sit in the dentist’s chair again and to undergo that much needed tooth filling. In fact, I was also able to handle a later 2-hour root canal filling – something that I regard as a considerable personal triumph.

But although I’d managed to conquer the claustrophobia and control problems, I still was aprehensive about resuming my flying activities. Eventually, I screwed up the courage and booked a dual session with my old flying club just to see how things would work out. And something quite unexpected happened.

We’d strapped in to my favourite aircraft in the club (the Cessna 152 Aerobat), started up and taxied out. The tension and anxiety continued to creep up as we did our checks and lined up. As we took off and climbed away from the runway I decided that I really couldn’t stand being trapped in the aeroplane for much longer. I told the instructor, who I’d made aware of my problem, that I just wanted to get around the circuit, land and get out as quickly as possible. He expressed sympathy and told me just to retain control of the aircraft and turn onto the cross-wind leg of the circuit while he made the necessary radio call. And that’s when the unexpected happened.

Even though I’d run consciencously through all of my pre-takeoff checks and made certain that all “harnesses and hatches were tight and secure” suddenly the door window on my side banged open. If you’ve flow a Cessna 150/152 you’ll be aware that the window is secured by a turn-catch at the bottom and hinged at the top. I’d made absolutely certain that the catch was secured properly under the gaze of my instructor. But the window still opened. And open it certainly did. Because of the airflow and the higher pressure underneath the wing, it opened with quite a loud and sudden bang. Air swirled around the cabin and I just managed to prevent my map from being sucked out of the now wide open window.

And that’s when something switched in my brain. Suddenly, all of the apprehension and anxiety was gone. I quite calmly handed over control to the instructor and closed the window, making trebly sure that it was secured. When I’d completed that task and resumed control, I realised that I no longer had those negative feelings. My instructor praised me for handling the incident calmly and effectively and I began to feel really good about myself and about flying. In fact we spent well over the hour just re-acquainting me with the local area and the feel of flying a light aircraft again. All-in-all an excellent result from what had been just an attemt to see whether I wanted to resume flying again.

If you’ve managed to read this far, thanks for listening and I will get to the bit about the Light Aircraft Association very soon.

Well, I’d like to say that the Cessna window incident was the start of my re-birth as a PPL holder, but unfortunately the demands of a freelance IT Business Analyst’s life got in the way. After a week’s worth of commuting and working I didn’t feel able to do justice to the flying experience. In any case, I was sure that because I was now deaf in one ear I would never be able to pass the PPL medical again. Finally, the local airport was closed and turned into a dense housing estate – something that sadly happens a lot here in England.

So any dreams I might have had of getting airborne again went very much on the back burner. Until, that sighting of the LAA caravan and ultra-light aeroplane at Farnborough. I just occurred to me that the medical requirements for flying an ultra-light might be a lot less than for the category of aircraft (Landplanes Group A) that I had been flying. So I got chatting about this with the LAA representative and he told me about the National Private Pilot’s Licence (NPPL). Strangely, I hadn’t known of this before, but it seemed that I only have to prove to my doctor (GP) that I am fit enough to drive a vehicle to professional driving standards and I will be granted a medical certificate entitling me (with a valid PPL) to fly solo and in-command within the UK.

That was last year and life was still getting in the way a bit, so I didn’t take things any further. Then two weeks ago a friend took me up again and I actually took control and flew some aerobatics again – and all of the elation came flooding back. My desire to return to the skies more regularly is getting stronger daily and as soon as I’ve gathered enough funds I’m going to set all of the necessary wheels in motion. All I can say now is “I’ll keep you posted”.