If you have been thinking about email list building and visited some list building blogs in order to learn how to build your email list, you may have come across some posts about Online Giveaways.

There is a post on Online Giveaways which I wrote some months ago on this blog which is fast becoming to be known as the list building blog.

The post is about what giveaways are and what one needs to participate in them as a contributor which is a good way to build your list.

I highly recommend that you read the post Email List Building, Online Giveaways.

If you are like me then you have probably been intrigued and a bit unclear as to what online giveaways really are and how using them could advance your list building efforts even after reading a number of good list building blogs and articles on the subject.

Generally the best way to understand something fully is to get closely involved with it.

It is very likely that unless you participate in a good giveaway there will always be some doubt about them in your mind.

There is a tremendous giveaway taking place right now which you can take a close look at from the inside.

By participating in an online giveaway as a member first you can get a good understanding of how giveaways are presented.

While doing that you can find some incredibly helpful products that are free and ready to be downloaded right away.

After taking a closer look at a good and well presented online giveaway such as the current Original Products Giveaway you’ll be better prepared for using online giveaways to build your list as a contributor.

If you haven’t read my post where I describe what the contributor to an online giveaway needs to have please click on online giveaway contributor needs.

I hope that this will help you to take the plunge very soon and that you’ll start building your list using online giveaways.

If you haven’t yet followed the link to the current giveaway which will go on only till July 15, 2010 please do so here.

There are over 500 contributors and just to see what is on offer and how it is presented will be well worth it.

Your comment on this post is needed and appreciated. Have you participated in any online giveaway yet? Did you have a look at the one suggested here?

Are you going to use online giveaways as a way to build your email list?

Please tweet and bookmark the post for others to have a chance to find it now and to share their views.

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Authored by Vance Sova

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What should one use as the main tool for internet marketing? There seem to be really only two computer system choices: Windows PC and Apple Mac.

If you already have a working computer that is updated and working in all the areas you need it for, you may not need to think about this for a while.

But as with everything, your computer will get eventually too old for the ever coming new software or operating systems and this question will face you as it has been facing me for some time now.

The processor inside my computer is not fast enough and can’t handle an increasing number of applications that I need to use. In one of my previous posts focused on traffic Get Traffic To Your Website I have mentioned that one of the great ways to get traffic is through videos and YouTube.

In my recent ebook, which you can find in my post Email List Building Ebook, How To Build Email List In Any Market as well as at the top of this blog’s sidebar, I have included a whole section devoted to traffic and the importance of using YouTube and videos to drive traffic.

The camera I had been using for close to four years for still pictures as well as for video stopped functioning properly some months back when it lost the blue color out of the spectrum and the pictures became greenish and unacceptable.

Recently I’ve bought a new HD video camera and none of the computers I have access to will work with it. Since video is becoming increasingly important in internet marketing I have to decide soon what kind of new computer to buy so that I can use and process video without which internet marketing is limited.

In any decision as to which computer to buy it’s the video capabilities that will matter a lot to most internet marketers.

I’m no computer expert and I have a considerable distaste for the Mac vs PC biased camps. I’ve used both PC and Mac in the past and continue to do so currently. But both types of computers I have are aging, getting obsolete and I need a new computer no matter whether PC or Mac in order to be able to do what I need to be doing with my internet marketing.

Until fairly recently, I’d say that most people in general as well as those involved in internet marketing had been predominantly using Windows PC.

Most people in general, close to 90% still use PC. But the use among internet marketing enthusiasts has been undergoing a shift.

While it may not always be wise to do what other people are doing, when it comes to internet marketing I think that it is very useful to ask the question below.

What Kind of Computers Do Successful Internet Marketers Use ?

I don’t claim to know what kind of computer every successful internet marketer uses.

Even if I knew, things are probably changing from day to day. But I do know of a few marketers that have been using PC exclusively and they are hugely successful, like Mark Ling and Brian Johnson.

On the other hand there are those who use Mac for the most part, like John Chow, who recently published a new physical book Make Money Online, famous blogger Yaro Starak, video marketing expert and a buddy of Yaro Starak Gideon Shalwick, and many more.

Then there are plenty of internet marketers like Alex Jeffreys, Alex Goad and loads of others who use both Mac and PC.

It’s very clear that the kind of computer one uses is not in and of itself the reason for internet marketing success.

As with any other tool, while it may help, it is not the predominant factor in any person’s success. It is the person who uses the tool and their skills that count the most.

Much of Internet Marketing Software Is Still Made Only for PC

When thinking about which computer system to use and buy, it is important to realize that most internet marketing software is still made and is available only for PC.

This is a big enough reason to stick with PC for many people. There is a way to solve this though if you are wanting to get a Mac. I’ll get back to that later.

Mac Is Said to Work Much Better With Graphics and Video

If you visit almost any company that works with computer graphics, animation and videos, you will find that they are using Apple Macs.

There is very little doubt that if you are thinking of using your computer for graphics and video that Mac will be a better choice for you.

In one of the interviews with Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick that I had been listening to it was said that as far as video is concerned Mac is 10 times faster and 10 times better than PC. Please keep in mind that the interview took place about 6 months ago but what was said has stuck firmly in my mind.

Can Apple Mac Be Used For Both Its Own and Windows PC Operating System?

The answer to this question is very crucial in light of what I said above, which is that most internet marketing software is still made only for PC.

And the answer is yes. The new Macs are capable of working both as Apple Mac and as Windows PC operating systems.

I’m not talking about using Parallels software which has been around for some time and which while quite good has had its imperfections when allowing both systems to work simultaneously.

Using Parallels is advantageous for some people and the way they work even with the newest Macs. But there are some issues especially with games and perhaps some applications.

What I meant to mention is the way the new Macs are able to work either as Apple Mac or as Windows PC according to what you need them for. You can switch between the two operating systems on the same computer.

Thus if you need to use a particular software which won’t work on the Apple Mac side you can switch to the Windows PC side and install and use it there.

To see how it can be done you may want to watch the following videos:

Run Windows on a Mac Video

Boot Camp Tips and Tricks (Switch between Windows PC and Apple Mac) Video

Considering the latest developments in the operating systems options I tend to lean towards choosing a Mac for my new computer because it seems to give the best of both worlds. In fact it gives both complete worlds according to what I have found.

The new Windows 7 is said to be so much better than the problems ridden Windows Vista and is a considerable improvement on Windows XP.

As one review put it, both Windows and Apple are getting better and seem to be converging slowly. Why not use both of them since neither is perfect and both have some advantages and disadvantages?

The new Macs work with both systems so getting the new Mac should be like getting both a Mac and a PC.

I hope this post has been helpful to you in considering your options for the time when you’ll need to get a new computer.

I couldn’t cover everything that needs to be taken into account when making a big decision like this.

I need your help in adding what I have missed to the comment section. Please leave your comments for me and the readers of this blog.

Tell us what you think about the advantages and disadvantages of Windows PC and Mac and what you’d do now if you had to buy a new computer.

All views are valid and I really need to know yours to balance, contradict or to confirm the views expressed above.

After you’ve made your comments, please tweet and bookmark the post to help others find it and share their views.

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Authored by Vance Sova

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Make Money Online: Roadmap of a Dot Com Mogul Book Review

Make Money Online is the title of a brand new physical book by John Chow who to me is the embodiment of The e-Marketer.

The “e” can stand both for internet or e-commerce and also for evil, the word included in his nickname by which he is known in the online marketing circles.

John Chow accepts being called and even calls himself “the root of all evil” which is part of his branding strategy.

Do not be alarmed though. John is actually as far away from being evil as you can imagine.

When I first met him in person I was really surprised at how helpful and down to earth he really is. Not stuffy at all but on the contrary. He treats you like a long time friend right off the bat.

Don’t believe the rumors about how stuck up and unapproachable all the A bloggers are. Some may be that way but certainly not John Chow.

I was very fortunate to get his Make Money Online brand new book as one of the first people because I pre-ordered it right after he wrote a post about this book to be published shortly saying it could be pre-ordered from Amazon.

He published the announcement post on his blog on April 01, 2010 and many of his readers thought that it was an April Fool’s Day joke. They were incredulous and admired his elaborate “joke”.

It always pays to examine things for yourself and it paid off for me yet again.

Having read the book I feel an overwhelming desire to share my impressions of it with you.

Whether you are making oodles of money online or not this book is for you

Even if you don’t have a blog I think that you will want one after reading Make Money Online: Roadmap of a Dot Com Mogul by John Chow.

Failing that you’ll still enjoy finding out about how John is making over $40,000 per month from a blog that was originally meant only for close friends and family.

You will read about how the Dot Com Bubble came and went and what it looked like from the inside. When the burst of the Dot Com Bubble took place it was quite a mystery to me. Reading about it from John’s perspective is very revealing.

You will learn to appreciate the role Google has played and still plays in enabling ordinary people to have the opportunity to make money online.

You can read about making your first dollar online in the post that appeared on this blog before under the heading Make Money Online Now, Your First Online Dollar.

I have also reviewed an ebook on related subject by Daniel Scocco in my post titled Make Money Blogging.

For some reason people like to bash Google and I think that it is more out of envy and ignorance than anything else.

You will learn a lot about blogging and most importantly you will learn what made John so successful and what you can do to become a blogger of John’s caliber.

Nothing is held back. John tells it like it is. He shares many details of what he does.

The book has a smart full color front cover and a full color head shot of John Chow on the back cover where John introduces himself and his $40 K plus blog income saying he can show you how he does it inside the book.

Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to know how he started this money stream from zero and how he continues to rake the money in.

The foreword is written by Joel Comm who is a well known social media expert.

In the preface John introduces you to Michael Kwan who helped put John’s ideas, strategies, techniques and advice together into the book package and is thus listed in the book as the second author. Michael also writes guest posts on John Chow Dot Com occasionally.

The book is written in a friendly style that I think most people will like. It relates things with authority without talking down to you. It is as if a friend was relating to you his or her experiences and the lessons learned.

It is amazing how much John covers in the 149 page book. And that number includes the Appendix and the Free Bonus Page.

The Free Bonus is a video tutorial of a special presentation John gave at the Vancouver Business, Marketing and Entrepreneur meet up and it describes the specifics of his blog model.

This bonus alone could well be worth the price of the book.

The Best of What’s Inside Make Money Online

There are 13 chapters of which I’ll mention only some that each on their own would make me buy the book.

When I read Chapter Two “My Story“ I was real happy I made the purchase. John’s story is fascinating and he covers a lot more in it than just himself.

Chapter Ten “Optimizing Google Adsense” has great information and tips that I haven’t seen in one place anywhere else.

Chapter Eleven “My Top Moneymakers” talks about what makes John the most money. Did you know that he has his own ad network? You’ll find out which one in this chapter.

Chapter Twelve “Private Ad Sales” shows you how you can start monetizing your blog when it becomes bigger and well-known. In this chapter you will learn that direct ad sales is the single largest source of income on John Chow Dot Com.

Only a few wouldn’t want to read Chapter Thirteen “The Formula for Success”.

All the chapters in Make Money Online fit together well and are full of
great value. You may like all of them like I do and probably will like some better than others. I like the above mentioned ones the most and for you that list may be different.

Is the book all it could be? No, but it is a mighty good one.

Some shortcomings and suggestions

I think the book can be improved upon in future editions by including some illustrations. There is not one inside the whole book. And please have the illustrations in full color.

It shouldn’t be like the book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett who in their good book on professional blogging called (who would have ever guessed it?) ProBlogger have plenty of illustrations but they are all in black and white.

It might be worthwhile to consider adding an additional 50 to 75 pages to expand on things already there and to include a few more from the vast reservoir of John’s knowledge and experiences.

Since this a review I believe I should rate the book and below I do just that.

The Make Money Online Book Rated 8/10

(Note: I don’t believe that anything can get a true 10/10 mark and realistically the best mark I can ever give is 9/10 if I at least partially close one eye. This is because there always is and has to be some room for improvement).

Without taking into consideration the Free Bonus I’d say 8/10 – eight out of ten.

That is a very high mark considering that nothing in this world is perfect. Mind you this is the score I give and you may have a different view.

Unless you totally don’t care about blogging, don’t want to know anything about it and aren’t interested in knowing how to make $40,000 per month nor how John Chow manages to make that much from his blog, I recommend that you get the book and read it.

If you don’t like to read get it anyway and watch the free bonus video and give the book to your friend who likes to read and ask her or him to read it to you.

Note: some of the links above may make me less than one dollar if you buy the Make Money Online book through them.

If you wish you can go directly to Amazon or go to John’s Make Money Online blog and buy the book through his links. Either way I hope that you’ll get to read the book and benefit from it.

Now it’s time for you to give me and the other readers here your comment. What do you think about this review? Have you read John’s book already? What part of it did you like the most, what didn’t you like? Are you planning to get Make Money Online right now?

Tweet the post and bookmark it to alert your friends and followers.

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Authored by Vance Sova

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