I decided to take the weekend off from this site.  I normally post every day and lately I’ve been doing everything in real time as opposed to writing in advance (which is what I was doing before).  I’ve decided to post less frequently although I will post on here almost every day.  I have tons of pre-written notes for different topics but some of them go into so much detail it would take hours to formulate a decent post and frankly I don’t have that much free time to spare.  I use my free time to create new sites and stay on top of the latest trends and techniques.

Did you know that there’s a way to do all of your work and in record time?  Do you have some kind of daily task that’s repetitive and that you do every day or almost every day?  Since this is a blog to help your business I have a solution for you.

It’s called using macros.  A macro is basically a screen recording of some work you’ve done previously, except that instead of it just being a recording it actually does the work for you.  There are many programs available that create macros ranging from free to several thousand dollars.  I’ve compiled a list of several of them and most of them have free trials to see if you can use them in your business.

Here are several different macro creating programs:

Quick Macros

EZ Macros

iMacros for Firefox

iMacros

Smack Macro Recorder

Auto Macro Recorder

Journal Macro

WinAutomation

Automation Anywhere

Desktop Macros

You can save literally hours a day and run your business virtually on autopilot if you create the proper macros.

Some of these programs even create executable files that you can use on any computer without having to install any other programs.  Imagine you own a business and know other companies that have the same needs as you.  You can actually sell the macros to other businesses and help them automate everything.  It can be a side business to create extra income.

I buy a lot of information products.  I mean I put in at least 10 hours per week buying (and reading what I bought) and several hours researching on my own about new techniques.  I’m one to talk right.  The difference is I ask questions before I buy.  Sometimes I read a salespage and email or call the owner and ask them is your item this, this or this?  if they say no, I buy.  Sometimes I’m dissapointed and it’s something I already know, but a lot of times I’m pleasantly surprised and I know most of the techniques, but there is one or two nuggets of wisdom in the whole product that makes it all worth it.

You can buy an education, whether it’s a degree or internet marketing.

You have to try the techniques and actually use them to be successful.  Don’t just buy a product and think, “This sounds like it will work.”  And you’re done.  Actually try the techniques and see if they’re true.  You’ll find a lot of stuff online that makes sense and is complete bullshit.  I have my tried and true techniques and then I have my experimental techniques.  I know when to use each one and at which times.

Don’t get to experimental on your main or money site if you think it might be breaking a lot of search engine rules aka black hat.  The worst thing that can happen is getting your main site banned from the search engines.  I’m not saying don’t use black hat techniques because I fully support a lot of them, but be careful what you’re doing with your main site.

Read reviews if there are any from other buyers.  Don’t read fake review sites with affiliate links.  An affiliate link unless it’s from a trusted source is not to be trusted.  I know it’s all a big shady deal and hard to figure out who’s telling the truth.  I’ll make it easy.  I’ll start posting all the affiliate links you want and of course they are all trustworthy because I’m the best and you can buy from me.

You can also contact me and I’ll send you an affiliate link to whatever you want, don’t worry it’s not a problem for me, I’m a member of every affiliate network out there and if not give me two days and I will be.  Seriously watch your ass.  If you want ask me and if I know about a product I’ll tell you.

I’ve been on every major “gurus” list for the last several years and lately I’ve been unsubscribing from so many lists you wouldn’t believe it.  I’ve done work for several top marketers over the last few years and I’ll tell you a lot of them have dropped the quality of their emails significantly.  They no longer care or they’re just to famous to think people will unsubscribe.

I always look for quality content and if possible good offers in their emails.  When people think a good offer is buying a $2000 product with rehash with their own $1000 product of rehash included and think it’s a good deal, I just laugh at them and unsubscribe.  Back in the day you’d get some quality content and at times an offer to buy a good deal.  Nowadays you get an offer to buy a big $$$$ deal every single time.  Please.  I stayed on some lists because I like to read others copy, but there is so many sales pitches  you can take before you hit that dreaded unsubscribe button.

Here’s a little secret for you guys.  You can buy those same $2000 products from less known marketers with different names for less than $100 most of the time.  The concepts the big name marketers teach aren’t new.  They usually just repackage old stuff and add their name to it.

I buy for value on the dollar and I spend big money on products.  If you can convince me it’s not a waste of money 99% of the time I buy it.  I always keep myself relevant and know all the latest techniques.  Whether I invent them or I buy them.

The saying is true though.  “People buy the brand name not the product.”

For some reason people are scared to negotiate and they are doing their business an injustice.  Everything you can think about is negotiable; whether it be real estate, supplies, inventory…  I’ve saved such an incredible amount of money by negotiating, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

I don’t go to Walmart and try to negotiate a mirror, but if they have one of those open box specials, you can negotiate the price down.  Although you can negotiate with major retailers, it’s not as easy and you can’t always do it, unless it’s stock they really need to get rid of.  Of course there is nothing stopping you from trying.

The most effective places to negotiate are smaller to medium sized businesses.  Believe it or not a lot of companies are expecting you to negotiate so they’ll quote you a higher price than they actually expect.  If you say, “Is this the best price I can get?”  Most likely they will say, “Yes.”  That’s not a good negotiation tactic.

A better way to negotiate is just throwing a number out there after they’ve thrown out there number.  For example you’re buying a bed at the furniture store, the salesperson says the bed is $1000.  You tell him, “I’ll give you $700 for it, I saw another bed that looks similar and that’s what the other company was asking for it.”  (By the way if you’re bluffing sometimes they will call the other company to see if it’s true, but usually they won’t unless it’s an actual price match scenario.)  You might not get that bed for $700 unless you really fight it out, but imagine you got that bed for $800-$900, that would be a $100-200 savings for a couple of minutes of your time.

Another thing don’t pretend like you’re not interested.  If you pretend like you’re not interested in the item the salesperson will think to themselves, “Is this person even going to buy?  I shouldn’t even bother negotiating with this person because they probably aren’t going to buy even if I give them the price and add-on features they want.”  A better way to go about it is telling them you are definitely interested, but the numbers aren’t working for you, or you can’t afford those numbers or you only have a certain amount in your budget allocated for that particular item.  A good salesperson will bend over backwords to try to create a win-win situation.  Sometimes a deal can’t be made, but you have to try.

There are too many tire kickers around that waste a salespersons time with no sincere intentions of purchasing.  If you can distinguish your self from a tire kicker they will be more receptive in hearing what you have to say and will work and negotiate with you.

I have several friends that always take me to the car dealerships with them.  Cars are the same as everything else except you can get much bigger discounts than with most other negotiable products (due to the high mark up). You can get literally thousands of dollars off of the cars asking price by negotiating the price down.  A car dealership will give you a hard time on the pricing and keep coming back with counteroffers.  Only you know what you can pay and if you stick to your guns you’ll be surprised how low these dealers will go.  I’ve had to negotiate with dealers for 3-4 hours straight, but guess what I saved $8,000 off of their asking price and that was just with my last car.  Yes it was time consuming, but is $8,000 worth 4 hours of your time?  It’s definitely worth it for me.  I’ve negotiated several of these deals for myself and for friends and it’s always worth it.  On the same note if the deal is great, I’ll try to get something off the price, but I won’t fight it very hard if I can’t get a steep discount.  Some deals are just so good there is not much room to fiddle with the price.

I’m not telling you to go to McDonald’s and fight for 20 cents off of a burger or going to Walmart and trying to get a discount on most of the items, but for services and physical products especially with smaller companies you can most likely get a discount since a lot of the prices aren’t set in stone.  This is especially helpful if you buy products overseas, those companies are customarily expecting negotiations and won’t give you the best price unless you fight for it.