There is one thing that every website struggles with, and that is trust. Trust in the product, trust in the security of the site, trust in the claims made, trust in the business, trust in the payment processor, etc. Yet for each one of these areas we have a solution:

Trust in the product: Guarantees
Trust in the security: SSL certificate
Trust in the claims: Reviews and testimonials
Trust in the business: BBB membership and seal
Trust in the payments: PayPal verified seal

And then there is our opt-in form, trying to get folks to subscribe to a newsletter or such so we can build our list. And here how we do it (proof coming later):

“I hate spam as much as you do and will never share or sell your email address.” Sound familiar?

Well, if you SAY so, it must be true. Right?
But wait, we don’t SAY our site is SSL secured, we prove it.
We don’t say lots of people love our product, we prove it.
We don’t just say our business is solid, we prove it.

The time has come to stop claiming we will not spam an email address that signs up for our list. It is time to prove it. Another huge trial of an online business owner is setting themselves apart from the competition. Try this, go to Google and type in, “we will never share your email address” with quotations. Guess how many results you get…3.12 MILLION.

I am VERY proud to be part of a project that gives online business owners a chance to set themselves apart from the crowd and build trust in the spam-freeness of their email list at the same time. It’s called the “I Don’t Spam” seal. A simple way to you to prove to your list members that you have a track record of being spam free.

Right now, the membership is free as the system is tested and feedback is gathered. Eventually, new members will have to pay, so if you’d like to get in on the action and try the seal on your site, visit the I Don’t Spam website and sign up.

For this example, I am going to use the idea that you are working in an average field and, after normal operating expenses for your business, you are netting $75,000 a year. Not bad. Right?

1) Insurance & Benefits
It has been said that when a corporation hires a new employee, it costs them $100,000 a year to keep him/her on. A huge chunk of that is benefits. While many companies are starting to implement a sharing system where they cover the $3000-$5000 health costs before coverage kicks in, it still costs a company a boat load of cash to offer these benefits. In 2008 the costs for family coverage were $12,680 for family coverage. I am going to be generous and say for a small family with minimal coverage you’ll pay around $10,000.

2) Business Travel
In almost every industry there is travel. Whether it is to meet with clients or negotiate a new deal, or perhaps to a conference or expo, almost everyone travels for business. Let’s say you travel twice a year. Plane ticket – $500, hotel room – $150, car rental – $200, food – $100, other(round of golf, entertainment, etc) – $50. At $1000 a pop, you are looking at $2000 a year.

3) Taxes
Yes, taxes. I’m just gonna be generous again and say 20% (remember, the $75,000 is after business expenses so I am assuming you have tried every trick in the book to deduct everything but the kitchen sink, unless of course you used that new kitchen sink to wash your hands before a meeting). Total for taxes $15,000.

4) Retirement Matching
Oh yeah, that. So you are living the life of your dreams, but unless you put some of this away, you’ll spend the last 30 years of your life wondering how to use a brainsponderscope (what is surely coming after the computer dies out, you’ll probably have to ask your grandkids how to use it). I remember hearing that the typical 401k deal with most corporations is that they match about 50% of your contributions, up to 6% of your salary. So for you, that would be 50% of $4,500 = $2,250 extra you’ll have to put away.

5) Mortgage Interest Rates
Ah yes, you want to but a house but because you are self employed, you probably wont get those fabulous interest rates advertised in banner ads, even if you put down a down-payment that could feed a third world country for a week. An estimate a realtor friend of mine made was that you’ll pay upwards of $7500 more a year (both in interest paid and lost interest from a giant down-payment not being in an account earning interest).

Ok, so let’s do the math. You are are working your hardest and you tell people you make over $75k a year. Awesome, but after all is said and done…let see, carry the one, subtract 5, and bam, you are actually making ($10,000 + $2,000 + $15,000 + $2,250 + $7,500 = $36,750) a total of $38,250. Not bad, but not that good either.

Self employment is great, but be smart about how much it really costs and how much you will really make.

I recently wrote a review of 5 of the best wordpress plugins that would instantly turn a blog into a membership site. At the time I ranked Wishlish Member as the top plugin…and after a recent purchase from them, I still do. Let me tell you why:

SUPPORT
I had a question about the plugin before i purchased it. I submitted a ticked at midnight and had a response by 11am the next morning. Not only was the response quick, it was incredibly thorough and actually encouraged me to ask more questions if i had them.

TRAINING
Wishlist Member comes with a huge library of not only videos, but step by step screenshot tutorials showing you exactly how to install, setup, and integrate the plugin with payment systems like Clickbank, PayPal, and other shopping carts. Very impressive. Very thorough.

PRICE
At $97 for one license, and $297 for unlimited licenses (there is also a OTO for 3 licenses at $197), it isn’t the cheapest plugin, but the features are well worth the price.

FEATURES
A sidebar login widget, customized redirection for any action imaginable, super fast install, easy PayPal IPN integration, and lots of customizable features make the price seem like chump change when you compare it to other plugins.

I give this plugin 5 stars…not only the software itself, but also the support and guys behind the scene. Awesome.

Click here to get Wishlist Member

My design has been a slow progression. Which is why I am showing you why and how i did what I did to help those that decide to do their new website designs on their own to have a few tips and tricks to help them.

In a world where viral videos are taking more and more time to create and plan. This one takes the cake.

If you’ve never heard of ROWE…well…you probably have but just didn’t know there was an acronym for it.

The abuse of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.

And as formal and lovely as that sounds…I’ve always felt it to be a bit incomplete.

So…how do YOU define SPAM?

PHPAFFILIATE
PHPAffiliate works solely with PayPal, so if you are accepting payments another way and aren’t willing to change, stop reading now. Using PayPal IPN, PHPAffiliate only gives affiliates credit for payments when payments are sent. In other words, no cheating the system. If you don’t get money, they don’t get credit. Simple as that. Let me run down a few of the pros and cons.

PROS

• Fairly easy to install and integrate, basic PHP & HTML knowledge a plus but not necessary
• Simple, straightforward backed admin area
• Easy to remember affiliate links ending with ?xyz=(some number)
• Affordable (like $34 affordable)
• Open source, if you’ve got PHP skills, you can do whatever you’d like with this script
• Able to be integrated into a membership script created by same guy

CONS

• Support is a little slow, just a forum that the owner doesn’t visit as often as he used to
• A few extra features would be nice, but for the price, not bad

For more information on this script visit:
http://www.idevspot.com/PhpAffiliate.php

Stories are powerful emotional marketing tools.

Video is a powerful marketing medium.

Execution is key to proviting a clear message.

The folks down at Johnnie Walker really hit the nail on the head with this one. This is perhaps my favorite marketing video I have seen this year.

1) Wishlist Member
Lots of really great videos showing the integration and use of this plugin make it my top choice. Very user friendly and well organized admin area. Price is on the high end for membership plugins but worth it in my book.
http://member.wishlistproducts.com/

2) MemberWing
Lots of great features and lots of options for various applications. Expect to pay more if you are looking for a license that includes all of the features but definitely one of the more powerful plugins available.
http://www.memberwing.com

3) WP-Member
Not my favorite, but a solid choice. Their site is a bit lacking on details of features and integration and looks a bit too cookie-cutter to build a whole lot of trust in my book but it does seem to cover all the bases as far as basic, membership needs go.
http://wp-member.com/

4) YourMembers
Serious lack of info about this plugin, nothing more than you would find for a free plugin on the Wordpress.org/extend site. It is cheaper but I haven’t taken the plunge to buy this plugin and test it out yet.
http://www.newmedias.co.uk/wordpress-membership/

5) Members-Only
This makes the top 5 because it is free. I tested quite a few of the free plugins for a recent project and found this one to be my favorite. If you have some PHP knowledge that certainly helps but is not 100% necessary.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/members-only/