Nagel Family Website

Blog changes

Hi, and thanks for stopping by! We've made some big changes to the blog - including shutting it down! With social networking and micro-blogging these days, there's no need for us to blog. So check out the latest on our homepage, and thanks for visiting.

A strange thing happened this week: I found 2 affiliates online, who are both from Buffalo! And I don’t mean just newbies, but 2 guys that actually seem to know what they’re talking about.

This is huge for me, as I feel one of the reasons UK affiliates are so successful is because the majority of them are around London, and they actually (physically) get together and share ideas and success stories. In the US, however, you have the big players in Scranton, PA, Omaha, NB, and Boston, MA (yeah, there are others – if you’re annoyed I left you out, just leave a comment!).

So to have 2 affiliates in Buffalo, along with myself, Steve, and Kyle‘s Jelly idea for the Buffalo area, it sounds like my professional-social life may pick back up! (Sorry, Scout)

This entry was posted by Eric on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Affiliate Marketing, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Yes, I’m a busy guy, but I want to do business with some other companies out there. Do they want to do business with me? Apparently not.

The CPA networks in the affiliate industry are highly competitive. Just ask Danny over at Copeac, who’ll do just about anything for you. Danny saw the potential in me, and we’ve worked well together. However, there are others who just ignore me. I’ve been waiting for 8 days now for a phone call from another network, who said they’d call me in “like an hour”. I’m getting ready to launch another campaign, and guess who’s getting my leads?

Before I “retired” (according to my dad), we had a client that wanted to buy a secure certificate from us. That’s like what, $40? Guess what… they became the 3rd largest client we had.

The one that really ticks me off is a local home-improvement company who had given me a proposal for nearly $40,000 in work to my house. They had their ducks in a row, even aligned with a bank for financing. I was moving along, then the sales kid tell me they’re pulling the storm doors from the proposal, and I should just get them from Lowe’s. HELL NO! If I’m paying you $40,000 to work on my house, you’ll install the $600 storm doors you jerk! You’re leaving $40,000 on the table because of $600 in doors? Idiot.

The point is, unless you’re explicitly told “no”, don’t assume someone doesn’t want to do business with you. Oh, and small fish grow into big fish. Someday I’ll sink your boat.

“How do you like me now?” – Toby Keith

This entry was posted by Eric on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 8:42 am and is filed under Affiliate Marketing, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Google needs to hire me as their Director of Common Sense. They do some pretty stupid things over there.

I first complained about various Google services exporting to Excel, which I then have to import into Google Docs. Then there was Google Reader with no search capabilities.

Today I’m wondering why, when searching Google Images, Picasa Community Photos are not included. Compare this search on Picasa vs. this one on Google Images.

Let’s get a little more technical… Google is a search engine, and part of what they do is rank sites based on authority. Wouldn’t a blog with a lot of RSS subscribers be worth more than a site with little to no subscribers? Now that Google owns Feedburner, those stats should be integrated into their algorithm.

Sorry, Google – I’m not looking for a job. But if you want to send the corporate jet to pick me up and entertain me for a weekend, I’ll consider your offer.

This entry was posted by Eric on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Business, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

The poker game is this weekend (not last, as I mistakenly thought it was) and I have sponsors for many of the food & drink, so I wanted to thank:

• Soceus – for funding the snacks. Specifically, those snacks that end in OS (Doritos, Fritos, Tostitos). Performing across channels – interactive websites & smart print – Soceus’ work builds deeper bonds with consumers, resonates with their clients and speaks for itself.
• One Stop – for BEER! One Stop Printing & Signs – getting the word out… on YOU! All sorts of promotional products & creative marketing ideas.
• WNYPoker.com – for pop. Sure it’s leftover… but it’s still good! If you’re looking for some WNY Poker games, check out WNYPoker.com. They cover Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, and the Southern Tier.
• Eric Nagel & Associates – coffee, what else??? E-Business strategy & consulting… Eric Nagel & Associates.

Looks like we’re going to have a full house… if the “maybes” show up, we’re looking at about 20 people! So bring your $20, $5 for food (if you haven’t yet paid it) and a package of diapers for the new dads Ed & Mark!

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Business, Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

A lot of people ask me what I do, and I tell them I build websites. Jason says, “my Dad builds the Internet.” I’ve been using that answer lately, too.

But it’s all a lie.

Well, maybe not all a lie, but I don’t build websites. I work on certain parts of websites, but I don’t do it all. And, to further complicate things, I’m getting rid of all my clients.

So, how do I run a website business, without building websites, and without having clients? Simple: I’ve shifted my efforts into affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing isn’t hard to understand: it’s a commission-based sales position. My job is to sell things for other people. When I do, they pay me.

So let’s say I decided there was an opportunity selling pet medications online. I’d partner up with 1-800-PetMeds or another online store and we’d agree upon a commission rate (12-16%, depending on the item purchased). I’d then come up with a marketing plan, and earn money whenever one of the customers I send to them makes a purchase. To be profitable, you simply have to spend less money than you make.

There are lots of people that do this as their sole source of income. I’m the “techie” for one of these guys (Paul, ShopperUK.com) so I manage the projects as they’re implemented. Paul does the marketing and idea generation.

So these days, 10% of my time is spent on clients whose projects I’m wrapping up, 5% spent on my own affiliate marketing, and the rest on ShopperUK.

So there – now you know what I do. Steve wanted me to write about some affiliate marketing tips, which I’ll soon start. The first one will be about a little feature in Google AdWords, which I found to really screw up your ROI. I was getting like 130% ROI on a project, then activated this “feature” and dropped to 30%. OUCH! So much for technology… I’m going back to the old-fashioned way to do things… I switched things up yesterday, and am heading back up, with an 85% ROI yesterday.

Stay tuned…

This entry was posted by Eric on Sunday, August 12th, 2007 at 11:42 am and is filed under Affiliate Marketing, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

I’m in the middle of reading The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich and I’m going to implement some of these ideas into my daily life.

It’s not that I want to work only 4 hours / week. I don’t mind working, as long as it’s fun. But I think I can work smarter, and that’s what I hope to get out of this.

For starters, I’m getting a virtual assistant from GetFriday to help take care of tasks that I don’t really need to do myself. There are some other tips from the book I hope to implement, including:

• Adding an autoreponder to my email and changing my voicemail message, so I’m not expected to reply immediately
• Only checking e-mail twice per day: noon and 4pm
• Limiting the amount of information I take in daily… no more streaming stock prices and 8 news channels going while I work
• Practice the 80/20 rule and Parkinson’s Law
• Identify tasks as important or not, and time-consuming or not. Easier to prioritize that way

There are a few things in the book I have no intention of doing: setting up a new business or traveling the world (earning in dollars, paying in rupees, living off pesos) but it has inspired me to create a list of what I want to do in life. Once I get that list compiled, I’ll get it to my virtual assistant to help me get going on it

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 10:07 am and is filed under Books, Business, Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.