Hey guys,

If you read my blog in the past couple of weeks you know I’ve had problems finding a good new cell phone. I’m on Cingular service and have 6000 rollover minutes stored in my account so I want to stick with them. So I was limited by the phones available to Cingular.

I got the Cingular 3125 but it sucked. It dropped calls left and right and the user interface for the phone was clunky. I kept hitting the wrong buttons and stuff, so I sent it back. When I returned the old phone I had them send me a Samsung Blackjack.

Wow what an awesome phone. The Blackjack is still pretty small, it’s actually thinner than my buddie’s new BlackBerry. It is a little longer but that’s ok with me. I really like it. The thumbpads look like they wouldn’t work well, but they do. I think they borrowed a lot of ideas from previous phones and even the BlackBerry. So I really enjoy the interface and so far have had no dropped calls. I did have one call which was kinda crappy but I think it was a bad connection. We just hung up and called each other again and it was fine.

So two of my friend’s have also purchased Blackjack’s. We’ve been trying to find the best places to find accessories. I just found another blog that told me instead of buying your Blackjack accessories from Cingular, you should get them direct through Samsung’s web site. The quality of the accessories is still spot on, and you get a better price.

Alternatively you can buy Blackjack accessories on ebay. They come direct from Asia. I bought my original cell phone case there and it was only like $9.95 including the shipping. The quality isn’t the best, but the price is so much cheaper. Some guys suggest buying them on ebay because they go through a lot of accessories and want the cheaper cost…

So if you bought a Samsung BlackJack like me don’t go buy direct from Cingular! Buy from Samsung or Ebay.

- Ben

Popularity: 5% [?]

Merry Christmas!

Today I’m giving away 10 free memberships to say Thank You!

The first 2 people to leave comments to this post will win GOLD Memberships to Instant Buzz Mastery. Those are a normal price of $97. The next 8 people to reply will win SILVER Memberships to Instant Buzz Mastery.

All you have to do is click on the comments link at the bottom of this message. Leave a comment with your full name and email and I’ll send you the information you need to signup for your free account at Instant Buzz Mastery!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 8% [?]

A few days ago I mentioned a site my friend Harris Fellman launched on generating more web traffic. Harris and one of his partners, Nick Dunin have put together these videos covering lots of NEW ways of generating web traffic. This is the kind of step by step video people always ask me for!

If you are in a hurry go check out Web Traffic Videos right now.

Here are some of the videos included.

They have 11 videos (and a PDF) on how to generate traffic to your web site using MySpace! I thought I was pretty good at generating traffic from MySpace but I even learned a few tips.

He has 7 videos and a PDF on cost per action networks. What’s that? Well usually it means cost per sale… Sending thousands of affiliates to your site. Sounds cool, right? Well check out the videos.

He has 8 videos and a PDF on text ads, and how to write effective text ads, and some new text advertising resources you can use to drive traffic to your site.

He has another 8 videos and PDF on contextual traffic. What the heck is that and why is it important? Check out the videos…

He has a bunch of videos on Shareware and how you can use shareware to get traffic. WHAT? I thought shareware was a 1990’s tactic! Well guess what? There are some new tricks and tips you can use…

How about 5 videos and a PDF on Web 2.0. Ever heard that buzzword but wonder what it is and how you can benefit from it? Harris and Nick have the videos.

How about viral traffic? If you are an internet marketer your dream is probably to come up with a viral idea so that your traffic grows and grows and grows. How about 4 videos and a PDF on how to generate viral traffic.

How about Social Bookmarking… There was a big launch about this last year… Have you mastered social bookmarking yet? If not, let Nick expand your thoughts on the ideas, I bet he’ll even teach you some new tricks. (7 videos!)

Another hot topic covered is Paid Inclusion. This is an overlooked strategy that many of us aren’t using. Did you know you can get basically as many listings as you want in Yahoo? Learn how to exploit this strategy in this series of 5 videos.

Lasy but certainly not least is video. Did you know that YouTube is now one of the most popular sites on the internet? And this doesn’t count all the YouTube ripoffs like break.com, Google Video, etc. What if you could harness the power of YouTube (and all it’s competitors) to get more traffic for you business? How about 8 videos on how you can utilize video to grow your business!

Whew! It took me forever just to type this. Hmm. I wonder if I did the math and figured out how much video is included. It would probably be like 5 hours worth of video trainings. Did I mention you can download them all to your computer so you can save them and play them back later? That’s what I’m doing so I can watch them all over the holiday weekend.

Yes Web Traffic Videos will cost a bit, but damn it that’s a lot of quality content. Would the videos be any good if they didn’t cost you something?

Get Your Videos now.

- Ben Fitts

PS. Got the video? Drop me a message using the contact form on the right (by my picture) and let me know what your email address is. If you paid for the videos I’ll give you a bonus SILVER membership to Instant Buzz Mastery free.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Shhh! Keep this a secret for me, ok?

My buddy Harris did it again. He and his team at OMS3 have come up with a hot new video site that teaches you how to get more web traffic. The best part is they show new techniques, new media stuff like how to get web traffic with MySpace.

He’s only been offering it to his list so they could test things, but a little while ago he let me get a look at the members area. Next week all the big name internet guys will be letting you in on our little secret, but because you are a reader of my blog, and because Harris and I are friends, I can give you access to this site TODAY.

The site is called Web Traffic Videos. There are 67!!! That’s right, 67 videos on generating web traffic.

I don’t have a lot of time right now to tell you about all the different videos… Go check out the site now ahead of all the “gurus” and wannabes!

- Ben Fitts

Popularity: 7% [?]

I just got chewed out by a guy who is on one of my mailing lists. He is on that mailing list because he subscribed to my Instant Buzz Mastery ebook. He is 100% justified to email me because he doesn’t feel like he has been getting enough good information. I’ve been fighting this battle the past week or so to get people to email me so I can build a better relationship with them and hopefully help them a bit in their business.

I thought it might make an interesting message to post to the blog because I think a lot of this applies to many of my readers. Many of you are probably advertising on traffic exchanges without luck and you want to know why. Here is my reply. Click the “read more” link to read the full reply.

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the email.

I’ll answer your questions below:

Mark wrote:
> Mark wrote:
> I have been receiving emails from you many, many times a week and have not ever
> really understood what all of this is about … I have tried to send you
> emails, but apparently they do not go you (it looks like thats the way you have
> it set-up - even on your personal website, the Email Me link does not work).

Yeah you are right. I’m working on that personal web site now. However you can always contact me using the support feature within the Instant Buzz Mastery member area.

You also must have missed the last series of emails at Instant Buzz Mastery. In those I gave a special email address people could email me directly for help with their business.

> Before I “Un-Subscribe” I thought I’d do a search on your name (to see if you
> can explain to me better about what this is?) and I found this site that seems
> like I can email you.
Sure, go on ahead and ask… and if you don’t think I’m helping you, please feel free to unsubscribe.
>
>
> Joining your Instant Buzz seems to be joining a group (who all have their own
> programs) who will be paying to be a part of it (and because they are paying,
> it’s somehow better), who will be getting info on other peoples opportunities,
> but if they are like me, I don’t want to hear about other people’s
> opportunities (I don’t have the time), I want to find people who are looking
> for an opportunity to join. This program seems to be marketing opportunities
> to people who have opportunities they want to market to others…

1. Instant Buzz is an advertising network.
2. In order to earn ads on the network you need to be willing to look at other people’s ads. If you aren’t willing to look at other people’s ads then you better break out the checkbook and buy some advertising.

3. You don’t want to hear about other people’s opportunities… I can understand that. I’m a lot like you. That is why when I join a traffic exchange I get a paid membership because they give me some advertising credits every month. I don’t have to surf or view other people’s opportunities. But again this costs money.

4. If you are looking for people who want to join an opportunity then you are looking in the wrong place. Do NOT advertise on traffic exchanges. You are right the people on the traffic exchange all have opportunities already. So you’re going to have the most success selling them tools to help build their existing business, or ebooks that show them how to do it, or some service that compliments their existing business. Most of them aren’t looking for opportunities, and if they are, it’s because they aren’t having any luck with their existing business. Most of these people are going to be quitters and opportunity seekers ready to jump ship to the next best opportunity. They’ve never made any real money, maybe a few hundred bucks.

That’s not the kind of person you want to reach. You’re better off advertising in other places where you can reach the right audience.

> Can you explain better what this is, or do you have a web page I can go to to
> read more about exactly what this is, why I should not “Un-Subscribe”, and how
> this will find me people who want to purchase from me, or join my
> opportunity???
Well I don’t suggest Instant Buzz for reaching people. I’ll be glad to help you learn how to reach the right people.
>
>
> Bottom Line: how does this really benefit me (without any hype or marketing)?
> with so many emails coming each week, and not having the time to actually read
> most of them, it’s just confusing… then there are so many of them in my
> in-box, that I can’t find the one I actually wanted to read.

Mark, you are right 110%.

If you’ve got more email than you can handle, you’ve got to cut back. A lot of us are on information overload because we’ve signed up for all these products from these different “experts”. If you aren’t getting any useful information from them, you should cancel them. And that means me too. If you aren’t getting useful information from me then you might want to unsubscribe. So my job is to help you get the right information and help you make some money.

Let’s start by taking a look at your opportunity and the web site you are promoting. Can you give me a URL?

Then, tell me how you are currently advertising this site to try and get leads.

Feel free to email me back or give me a call. My personal number is attached to this message.

- Ben Fitts
877-236-3488
Email Me Here

Popularity: 5% [?]

I have been working on getting a new smart cellphone. I want to have a phone that allows me to manage my business contacts, my calendar, and possibly email.

For the next few months I still have a job, so I need a better way to manage my contacts without putting that information on my work laptop. Tomorrow for example I have a conference call with a new distributor during my lunch break. I need to remind myself of the call so I don’t forget. I almost for a 5:30 pm call (just after work) yesterday but my phone reminded me. How cool is that!

Well I am an online guy so I ordered my new phone from Cingular’s web site. Basically I just upgraded my existing phone right through my account on Cingular. It worked pretty well, I got my new phone in a matter of a few days. The memory card for it took a bit longer but I got it the next week.

Unfortunately the phone was crap. I bought the Cingular 3125 which is a pretty slick looking smart phone that runs Windows CE. Basically it runs Microsoft Outlook so I can synch it up to my email, contacts, and calendar. It synchs up like a PDA does.

The problem was the phone drops calls a lot. Even in a building that has a cell phone ring installed to improve cell phone connections. When you have 3-5 bars you shouldn’t be dropping calls. I didn’t have this problem with my cheap old Samsung phone on Cingular’s network. So I’m assuming it is this new phone. In addition the Cingular 3125 phone also had some problems with the user interface.

So a friend told me they give me 30 days to return the phone.

Unfortunately I bought the phone online so 30 days isn’t actually 30 days. They need to have the phone in their warehouse by 30 days. So that means you actually need to return the phone at least a full week before the 30th day. You have to call in and talk to support, then they send you a label to mail it back to them. This whole process takes a least a week maybe longer.

In my case I only had 4 days left. So I had to pay to ship the phone back to them overnight to make sure they got it in time.

Oh well. It’s better than being stuck with a crappy phone for the next two years.

If I had bought my phone from a Cingular store I could have taken it back to the store for a replacement.

However if I had bought a phone from the store I probably would have paid too much for it. That is what I like about buying online, you usually get a better deal and don’t have to hassle with sales people or lines.

The downside is when you need to return the phone, you can’t take it to a store and have to deal with the telephone support people.

I’ll keep you posted and let you know how the whole return process goes.

I’ve ordered a Samsung Blackjack as a replacement. My last phone was a Samsung so we’ll see if it works better.

- Ben

PS. I have my own cell phone store if you want to compare rates online to the mall superstores. Check it out at: http://www.findcellphones.com

Popularity: 6% [?]

I know this doesn’t have much to do with Internet Marketing per say… But it is something all of us small business owners should learn more about. The topic today is Time Management.

I attended a time management class a while back and have also been learning from some friends.

These are a few obvious things I try and work on every day:

Keeping a clean email inbox. Thousands of emails don’t help anyone! So I create tons and tons of folders. I probably have 100 or more folders in my email program and sort all my messages by folders. It allows me to save a lot of time when I’m looking for a particular message.

My work area. My work area has a tendancy to get messy. I’m a messy person by nature. However I’ve read that having a messy work area is a sign that I’m not organized and am probably wasting time. So now I try and keep my work area clean.

Those are obvious right?

But how about in your business or at your job. Do you leave instant messenger on all day?

Do you know that this is a big time waster? One of my friends taught me to only turn on instant messenger for small periods of time every day. Or maybe only turn it on once per hour for 15 minutes. That way you can have 45 minutes uninterrupted to get your work done.

The same goes for email. Do you leave your email open all day? Are any messages that urgent that need to be responded to immediately? What if you only checked your email once per hour. That way you can focus the rest of the time on getting work done!

Just these few things allow me to focus my time much more efficiently.

How about you?

Do you have any time management tips you’d like to share with us? Click on the comments link below this message and leave me a comment!

Have a great day,
Ben Fitts

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hey guys,

With the new blog and the idea of making the blog more personalized, I’ve also created methods for you to easily contact me. I want this to be a two way conversation between myself and my readers. I want it to be less like an “article” and more like questions and answers.

With that in mind there are now two ways to contact me.
1. Leave a comment on any of the blog posts you like or have questions about. Just scroll down to the bottom (or click the “read more”) then scroll down to the comments.

2. Click on the link in the right hand column underneath my picture that says “Send Ben an Email“.

I recently started answering questions from people who are struggling in the internet business. I’ve asked them to tell me about their products and show me their web sites, then I offer them some feedback.

Do you want some feedback on your site?
Let me know!
-Ben Fitts

Popularity: 6% [?]

Hey guys,

Today I imported a bunch of messages from my personal blog to Home Business Blogs. I decided to combine the two.

A few people were telling me I need to make my site more personal, and I wanted to change my “BenjaminFitts.com” site. So I came up with the idea of importing all those old messages.

Unfortunately they all got lumped into Today’s date! Sorry about that! So the messages immediately below this one were actually written months, or in some cases years ago.

- Ben

Popularity: 6% [?]

Hi there.
My name is Benjamin Fitts. I usually go by Ben.
I wanted to try out the whole blogging experience. I wanted a place to share my feelings. For example I just had a horrible experience on United Airlines and I wanted to be able to express myself …

Popularity: 3% [?]