I was wrestling with the idea of looking at creating a resource for newbies to online marketing. What to do in a step-by-step fashion.

It's pretty daunting and who knows one day I may return but at the moment it doesn't fit in with what JointWinWin will offer to start with.

I can happily recommend something to help newbies get up and running, a series of excellent resources from the guys behind The Thirty Day Challenge

Ed Dale, Dan Raine and their team have as usual surpassed all expectations when it comes to getting people up and running to earn their first $10 online. What follows is the pre-season content designed to get people ready for the main event which took place in August 2008.

The information is fantastic and well worth having a look at even if you are not a newbie.

The Flock Internet Browser

Lesson One - Today we start the official pre-season for the Thirty Day Challenge 2008.

This will be a huge year, and the first step in that is making sure you have the right browser for the job.

Lesson Two - Today we have a look at setting some preferences for getting the best out of the Flock internet browser.

Lesson Three - Today we show you how to install and setup add-ons for Flock, and show you our list of must have add-ons for the Thirty Day Challenge. Remember, 98% of addons created for Firefox work on Flock, and all the addons we show you work.

Get Yourself On Twitter

Lesson Four - One of the biggest things to hit the internet in the last year is Twitter and it will be a crucial part of the Thirty Day Challenge.

Lesson Five - Today is all about the Twitter client Twhirl. Ed shows you how Twhirl can turbocharge your social networking activities and save you a lot of time in the process.

Google Reader

Lesson Six - Today is all about the newsreader Google Reader. Ed shows you how to get your Google account, set yourself up for Google Reader, and start using it straight away.

StumbleUpon

Lesson Seven - Today is all about using the online tool StumbleUpon. Ed takes you through the process of signing up and downloading the StumbleUpon toolbar.

YouTube

Lesson Eight - People refer to YouTube as u tube, utube, yo tube, your tube. Whatever…find out more while Ed takes you through the process of signing up and getting your head around the service.

Google Subscribed Links

Lesson Nine - Ed introduces you today to something called Google Subscribed Links.

FriendFeed

Lesson Ten - Ed introduces us to FriendFeed and gives us an overview of how to sign up, and how to jump in and start using FriendFeed to your advantage straight away

Video Tips

Lesson Eleven - Ed takes us through some tips on how to get best out of the videos for the challenge.

How To Use The Forum

Lesson Twelve - Today is all about the Thirty Day Challenge forum. It's an amazing community that you really should get familiar with.

The 30DC Cheat Sheet

Lesson Thirteen - This is the final lesson leading into the Thirty Day Challenge. If you arrive at the Thirty Day Challenge and want to dive straight in, then this is the place for you.

It may be over for this year but the information available online is a boon for newbies - indeed there are plenty of tricks and tips to keep the seasoned veteran happy too as every year the Thirty Day Challenge (or 30TDC abbreviated) puts its finger on the pulse on the latest and greatest ways to market your business.

This year is no exception with some great information above on Twitter and Google Reader in particular - excellent time savers.

I'm not sure how long this information will stay online or indeed if the training within the 30TDC will be publicly available for much longer but whilst it is - dive in and drink deeply.

All the best,
Tom

Tags: 30tdc, thirty day challenge, where to start online, newbies, flock, ed dale, dan raine, twitter, twhirl, google reader, stumbleupon introduction, youtube introduction, google subscribed links, friendfeed introduction

This is just the first ping to let you all know of a new part of JointWinWin soon to open called the BAR Club.

This will be a paid membership area of JointWinWin which will focus on delivering great value to members to help them grow their business systematically and rapidly. There will still be great information made available to normal JointWinWin members both here on the blog and in the monthly newsletter (this will be launched in October) but the BAR Club will add a whole lot more as you'll see.

So, as the saying goes:

Watch this space, more info soon…

All the best,

Tom

I'm delighted to say the JointWinWin Advantage Rewards Club (JAR Club for short) has now opened it's doors.

Even though JointWinWin businesses are encouraged to provide special offers as part of their own business directory listings, the JAR club is one step further on behalf of member businesses. Simply put, JointWinWin is negotiating special offers and deals on behalf of members for products and services.

The focus on creating these deals is to reward member businesses for their charitable affiliations. These deals have a three fold impact:

1. JointWinWin negotiates special offers on member behalfs (saving them time)
2. These deals save significant amounts of money thus helping with business cashflow
3. These deals are for products and services which will help build member businesses.

There are more than 30,000 business categories in the main directory but the JAR Club has a high level categorization structure where deals can be found so as to avoid information overload to members.

Here is the opening categorization structure:

• Accounting
• Advertising
• Audio
• Business Services
• Consumer Goods
• Consumer Services
• Direct Selling/Network Marketing
• ECommerce
• Education
• Financial
• Fitness
• Health
• Internet Marketing
• Information Technology
• Investing
• Local Business
• Management
• Marketing
• Personal Development
• Presentation
• Printing
• Publishing
• Real Estate
• Small Business
• Telecoms
• Video
• Work At Home

So, what next?

Sign up to become a JointWinWin business - it's free after all - information on the JAR Club will be provided upon successful signup.

Click Here To Join JointWinWin

All the best,

Tom

Just a quickie to ask your opinion on the new Squidoo lens from JointWinWin:

Best Ever Cause Related Marketing Site?

Please rate it and put your comments down - thanks

Tom

A short but important note:

Upon listening to feedback, the terms and conditions of JointWinWin.com has changed. Businesses will no longer be required to provide special offers in their listings.

Whilst it is highly recommended businesses do so (to stimulate more interest from prospects and differentiate themselves from competitors within the same category area), it is no longer required.

The primary goal of JointWinWin is to get as many likeminded businesses as possible on board who believe cause-related marketing on a large scale can make a difference.

All the best,

Tom

Purely for the benefit of the Technorati engine

Technorati Profile

I have just received a question from a concerned business owner (thanks Luisa):

"As a business owner I am concerned that if I listed my business on your site that I will be bombarded by charities asking for a contribution. How do you address this issue? Thank you!"

A fair point and one which has been addressed now in the the following FAQ entry:

Will charities keep contacting me for donations?

Any more questions? Please don't hesitate to ask.

All the best,

Tom

Well, we made it into Alltop under the Marketing category.

Thank you very much Guy Kawasaki and team

All the best,
Tom

We are now officially opened for business.

You can read all about it at PRWeb.

In a nutshell:

You can have unlimited free business website listings in the directory, provided you

#1 Agree to donate a minimum of 0.8% of business gross revenue to a charity of your choice.

#2 Provide JointWinWin visitors a special offer.

It's win/win all round and all you have to do is Register Here .

I look forward to seeing you soon,

Tom

Upon sending out the various press releases today, I was fortunate enough to come across the Business Ethics Pledge Website.

I guess when the time is right you find the right people.

This website is 100% synergistic with the goals of JointWinWin and I heartily encourage all JointWinWin businesses to take the pledge.

Some more info on "Business Ethics":

All the best,

Tom