The 10 Most Influential Internet Marketers (Part 1)

This article is a subjective list of the ten most influential Internet marketers. I could have easily included more than ten marketers, but I had to draw the line somewhere. So, if you don’t see your favorite Internet marketer on the list, please don’t be offended. I purposely excluded individuals whom are known primarily for one particular talent.For example: copywriting and SEO. I wanted to sing the praises of those individuals whom are known as great marketers – first and foremost. And while this list is subjective, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to argue against any of the selections included on the list, as they are all proven excellent and have stood the proverbial test of time.1. Jay Abraham’s uncanny ability to increase business income, wealth and success by uncovering hidden assets, overlooked opportunities and undervalued possibilities has captured the attention and respect of CEOs, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs and marketing experts. Jay’s clients range from business royalty to small business owners. But they all have one thing in common – virtually all have profited greatly from Jay’s expertise. A number of clients each acknowledge that Jay’s efforts and ideas have lead to a profit increase of millions of dollars. [See our Testimonial pages]Jay has identified the patterns that limit and restrict business growth. He’ s one of only a very few people who realize that most industries only know and use one particular marketing approach – even though there may be dozens of more effective and profitable strategies and options available to them.Jay shows his clients how to take different success concepts from different industries and adopt them to their specific business. This gives Jay’s clients a powerful advantage over their competition.Jay has been acknowledged as a unique and distinctive authority in the field of business performance enhancement – and the maximizing and multiplying of business assets. He’s been featured twice in Investors Business Daily ­ both on the front page and in the Leaders & Success Section – saying Jay, “Knows how to maximize results with minimum effort”. The March 6, 2000 issue of Forbes Magazine listed Jay as one of the top 5 executive coaches in the country saying jay’s specialty is, “Turning corporate underperformers into marketing and sales whizzes.”In addition, Jay has been written up in USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, OTC Stock Journal, National Underwriter, Entrepreneur, Success, and Inc. magazine, and many others. [See our Press articles]He has over 10,000 individual business success stories from around the world. Many of the world’s preeminent trainers and consultants have sought out Jay’s advice and counsel in growing their organizations.As a proven business leader with energy and vision, Jay has demonstrated the critical ability to stimulate true breakthrough thinking and execution throughout organizations, in all 4 vital areas of performance enhancement: strategy, innovation, marketing, and management. He understands how to focus on the upside leverage in an organization, while effectively controlling and minimizing the downside risk. He understands the implications, correlations, applications, opportunities and vulnerabilities in a given situation from a “catscan” perspective that is exceedingly rare.He sees overlooked opportunities, hidden assets (both tangible and intangible), and underperforming areas of a business no one else recognizes. His depth and breadth of empirical experience has facilitated exceptional judgment, communication, and collaboration skills, the vitally essential traits necessary to establish, lead and effectively contribute to any organization. These are the prime abilities required to add new life and strategic vision to a company that is struggling, or one that needs to redefine or better distinguish itself in the marketplace.His forte, which is the ability to think “way outside the box” and prepare for multiple potential scenarios, has enabled him to find and successfully implement creative, preemptive solutions to very complex problems in order to generate high-performance results. He has successfully established beneficial relationships with key strategic partners and developed strategic business plans for companies that have consistently been met or exceeded. He has been instrumental in raising performance even while working with adverse business environments.As the founder and CEO of Abraham Group, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, Jay has spent the last 25 years solving problems and significantly increasing the bottom lines of over 10,000 clients in more than 400 industries worldwide. Jay has seen and dealt with every type of business you can imagine. And he’s studied and solved every kind of business question, problem, challenge and opportunityJay has been extremely successful at what he does for others. He’s produced many thousands of success stories and made Billions for others as well as millions himself. He’s spawned an entire generation of marketing consultants and experts who credit him as their primary mentor as a result of his past Protégé and Consultant Training programs. Nearly 2,000 websites reference his impressive work on the Internet alone.2. Mark Joyner is a #1 best-selling author of over a dozen books translated in almost as many languages. He is widely recognized as one of the early pioneers of e-commerce, responsible for inventing, pioneering, and popularizing many of the technologies we take for granted today (including remotely-hosted ad tracking, electronic books, Integration Marketing, and more …)- One of his books (MindControlMarketing.com) shot to #1 within 36 hours of its release.- One of his websites became the 37th most visited website on the planet within 6 weeks of its release.- His pioneering ebook (Search Engine Tactics) was downloaded over 1,000,000 times years before e-books were common.- He turned a fledgling one-man operation into a multi-million-dollar International corporation with customers in every internet-connected country on the planet in two years time.Other Interesting Facts About Mark JoynerEarned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology through independent study while simultaneously serving in the U.S. Army in the Military Intelligence Corp (he speaks Korean fluently graduating at the top of his class at the Defense Language Institute).Is a cold-war veteran of military intelligence and a former U.S. Army Officer. He held a Top Secret SCI clearance (the highest clearance level in the US) for several years.Was awarded for his military service by the U.S. Army, the Republic of Korea Army, the Korean Consulate General, and the President of the United States.3. Dan Kennedy, a Phoenix-based entrepreneur-extraordinaire has won international recognition as a “millionaire-maker,” helping people in dozens of different businesses turn their ideas into fortunesEntrepreneur Magazine says that Dan Kennedy has “at least 101 moneymaking ideas for any business owner.”Dan Kennedy moves with remarkable ease from one very different field to another, working with clients in 62 different businesses, industries and professions, earning as much as $250,000.00 in a single month providing unusual direct-response advertising and direct marketing advice, strategy, copywriting and marketing materials, video production and infomercials, and profit improvement systems.Kennedy’s clients include everything from sole entrepreneurs to huge corporations. Here are just a few examples – there’s the husband-and-wife couple who came to Dan with an idea, a mountain of debt, and failing advertising. Less than two years later, they have zero debt and a home-based mail-order business generating over $200,000.00 a month at about a 40% profit margin. Or, there’s the now-giant Guthy-Renker Corporation, famous for its celebrity infomercials with Victoria Principal and Vanna White, and its Tony Robbins infomercials. Guthy-Renker is a 200-million dollar+ a year business now, and Dan’s been a key member of their brain trust since their very first infomercial (Think And Grow Rich). Or there’s U.S. Gold, a company that has twice increased its sales by millions with Dan Kennedy provided marketing breakthroughs. And the list goes on and on and on.Kennedy is the “hidden genius” behind full-page magazine advertisements you’ve undoubtedly seen, direct-mail campaigns you’ve received and TV infomercials you’ve seen. In addition to all the advertising and direct-mail Dan prepares for his own products, services and businesses, there are hundreds of clients using marketing materials Dan has prepared for them. His full-page ads have appeared and do appear in magazines like Inc., Success, Entrepreneur, Moneymaking Opportunities, Nations Business, the airline magazines, the tabloids, USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, and countless trade magazines. One of his client’s full-page ads is now in its 10th consecutive month, appearing in over a dozen national magazines. In any given month, clients spend over 1/2-million dollars running ads, much more mailing sales letters, and still more airing infomercials that Dan has developed.And, Dan is one of the most popular, in-demand speakers on marketing-related topics. Ironically for a marketing guru, Kennedy gets almost all of his clients with no marketing! Some come to him after hearing him speak – in 1995, he addressed over 200,000 people, including audiences of thousands in many cities, in his 5th year on tour with famous motivationalist ZIG ZIGLAR. Others come after getting and reading one of his books available in bookstores, receiving his newsletter or listening to his cassettes. But most are referred to him.4. Joe Vitale is Founder & President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc. He has written books for the American Marketing Association and the American Management Association. He wrote the only business book on P.T. Barnum, in There’s A Customer Born Every Minute. He also wrote The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising for the American Marketing Association. His most recent book, co-authored with Jo Han Mok, is The E-Code: 47 Secrets for Making Money Online Almost Instantly. Be on the lookout for his next book: Meet and Grow Rich!He recently created a software program to help anyone write better sales letters, articles, news releases, speeches and even entire books. It’s called Hypnotic Writing Wizard. He also has a brand-new membership program for those who are serious about learning marketing at HypnoticGold.com.Besides being one of the five top marketing specialists in the world today, and the world’s first hypnotic writer, Joe is also a certified hypnotherapist, a certified metaphysical practitioner, a certified Chi Kung healer, and an ordained minister. He also holds a doctorate degree in Metaphysical Science and another doctorate degree in Marketing.5. Dr. Jeffrey Lant has been a top achiever for a VERY long time. He published his first article at age 5. An afternoon newsboy, he started his own newspaper at age 10, sold stock and, yes, paid dividends! Even then media and communications intrigued him. This has never stopped!
Editor of his high school newspaper, editor of his class book, editor of the literary magazine, he also wrote a weekly column. That continued in college — and so did the awards accumulated along the way.Graduated with highest honors from University High School, Los Angeles, he graduated summa cum laude (one of only 11) from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Along the way, he spent his junior year at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where he won the University Prize in Philosophy and became the first American ever elected to the Students Representative Council.At UCSB he became the University’s first-ever Woodrow Wilson Fellow and was actively recruited by over 60 graduate schools, each offering him full doctoral fellowships. He chose Harvard, where he also became a Harvard Traveling Fellow, Harvard Teaching Fellow, and winner of a Master’s Award for special achievement, en route to graduating with both a Master’s and Ph.D.Upon graduation he took a third post-graduate degree, the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Higher Education Administration at Northeastern University, where he became the first student to cite his own published work (by now very extensive) in footnotes to his class papers.After a stint as Assistant to the President of Radcliffe College, Dr. Lant decided to set off on his own. He set up a consulting practice for non-profit organizations in 1976 and published his third book, Development Today: A Fund Raising Guide For Nonprofit Organizations. (Previous books had dealt with English Court ceremonial in the age of Queen Victoria. Entitled, Insubstantial Pageant: Ceremony and Confusion at Queen Victoria’s Court, Dr. Lant became the first American ever granted access to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. Another book, Our Harvard, dealt with the memories of eminent Harvard grads, including Dr. Lant himself.)Development Today launched a busy consultancy, international travel, workshops and direct assistance to hundreds of nonprofit organizations nationwide. It also spawned a series of how-to books that turned Dr. Lant into a millionaire and brought his detailed, hard-hitting, practical advice to people worldwide. (Click here for information about all of Dr. Lant’s books.)Along the way, Dr. Lant developed an internationally syndicated column carried by several hundred publications, a syndicated radio show on the Business Radio Network, and a string of special reports on specialized business- building subjects.So it might have continued but for the creation of the Internet and a series of eye-opening phone calls from George Kosch and Sandi Hunter, two Edmonton-Alberta- based entrepreneurs who were way ahead of their time. They persuaded Dr. Lant to come to Edmonton and see the future — the Internet — for himself.He did. And the rest, as they say, is history.What he saw in Edmonton, back in 1993, was that anyone, anywhere in the world with a computer and access to the Internet could transmit unlimited amounts of information to people worldwide. In a moment, the glimmer of an idea took form that is still being developed right now.This new technology opened the possibility of staying at home and helping people worldwide at little or no expense! As a result of that trip, Worldprofit Inc., a company which has opened the Internet to business people worldwide, people who want to enter and profit from new markets across the universe for their products and services, was born!These days Dr. Lant, still publishing articles just like he’s been doing for over 50 years, helps business people worldwide understand how the Internet can benefit them.6. Marlon Sanders, CEO of Higher Response Marketing, Inc. is a prolific internet marketer, with a dozen internet marketing products and services to his name. He uses his Master’s degree in psychology to great effect by writing great ad copy.Marlon’s products and services include The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy, Push Button Sales Letters, Associate Program Marketing Handbook, Gimme My Money Now, Amazing Ad Copy Secrets Revealed, Create Your Own Products In A Flash, How to Automate Your Web Business, The Web Site Power System, Web Business Operations Manual, Secrets of Speed Publicity, The Cash Like Clockwork System, Daily Stats Software, and The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide.Marlon has spoken at over 120, $3,000 one-day marketing seminars and commands $1000 an hour for consulting. His reseller program for The Amazing Formula is one of the top-ranked systems on the Internet.7. Corey Rudl (1970-2005) was an American marketing strategist, and founder and President of the Internet Marketing Center. He was also an author, speaker, and software producer.Rudl started his first online business in 1994, turning it into a multi-million-dollar business based on Internet marketing. In response to the demand for his advice, Corey founded the Internet Marketing Center, where he taught techniques and strategies that stemmed from his own experience. His Internet marketing guide is sometimes described as the “Internet Marketing Bible”.Rudl’s articles appeared in publications such as http://Entrepreneur.com, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s -SCORE.org, the Direct Marketing Association, MarketingProfs, Opportunity World, Money ‘n’ Profits, Dig-IT Now, and Home Business Journal.Before beginning his business career, Rudl was a motocross driver, winning a 2002 Vancouver Molson Indy sports car event.On June 2nd 2005, Rudl was riding in a Porsche Carrera GT driven by Benjamin Miles Keaton, on a track that was also being used by a local Ferrari sports club. Keaton, trying to avoid a queued car, hit a concrete barrier on the passenger side, killing Rudl.8. Joe Robson, owner of “The Newbie Club” is a Brit and lives in the beautiful County of Yorkshire, England.He is responsible for the overall Promotion and Marketing of The Newbie Club, and is deeply involved with his team of Techies, Writers, and Designers on several unique and ground breaking Newbie Club Products and ServicesUntil he went online in 1998, he owned his own Direct Marketing company, and is a professional Advertising Copywriter with 30 years Sales and Marketing experience under his belt. He is widely acknowledged by many Internet Marketers as one of the Internet’s top Sales Copywriters, and his Copywriting Solutions Website is one of the most respected Web Copywriting Tutorial Websites on the Net.One of his strengths is his ability to reduce highly technical marketing copy, into easily understood Plain English. And he is a avid campaigner against the use of Jargon in writing materials. Hence the birth of The Newbie Club.His Copywriting and Internet marketing articles and Tutorials have been widely published across the Web, and he is the author of several books, including the Internet Copywriting blockbuster “Make Your Words SELL!” – MYWS – co-authored with Ken Evoy of MYSS fame.Joe is a Founding Member of iCop – The International Council of Online Professionals, the highly respected organization dedicated to protecting Internet consumers from the dishonest practices of unscrupulous Internet marketers. He is also a Member of the iCop International Advisory Council.9. Dr. Evoy is also the author of a series of widely-acclaimed “best on the Net” e-commerce books and courses for SOHOs (Small Office Home Office) and small businesses (1-10 employees) who sell (or plan to sell) products or services online. The SiteSell product line has empowered hundreds-of-thousands of people and small businesses around the world to succeed on the Web.A successful entrepreneur, Dr. Evoy has designed over 23 products that have sold internationally, generating 100′s of millions of dollars in revenues for various companies. He also developed several software products including one for the stock market sector.Dr. Ken Evoy is also a Canadian physician who formerly taught and practiced emergency medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was born in Montreal, Canada and holds degrees in science and medicine from McGill University.Dr. Evoy’s business philosophy is to offer the absolute best tools and information available on the market in the most accessible format and at the most affordable price. He feels strongly that every small business can be empowered to use the Internet to leverage their income-building potential — whether it is to build an e-business, grow an existing offline business, or create a secondary income stream.It is with this in mind that SiteSell has developed its breakthrough Web site-building, hosting, e-marketing solution that delivers real traffic and guaranteed results to novices and savvy pros alike. Some call Site Build It! “The Next Generation of Web Hosting.”Through Dr. Evoy’s spearheading efforts and fanaticism for quality and customer “OVERdelivery,” the SiteSell brand is highly-respected by top influential Internet business personalities around the world.10. Mel Strocen is CEO of the Jayde Online Network of websites. The Jayde Network currently consists of 12 websites, including ExactSeek.com and SiteProNews.com, two of the most popular sites on the Internet.”SiteProNews” an ezine for business owners and site developers containing articles and advice on how to get the most from your website. SiteProNews (SPN) has a subscriber base of over 500,000!”Another of Mel’s sites – GoArticles – is an immensely popular article directory where you can search for free content for your website.In addition to providing a great resource for webmasters looking to find free content the GoArticles site also provides authors with an excellent platform for promoting their articles. You can submit articles for free that will then be read and used by other websites owners.ExactSeek is a fast-growing search engine and directory and alternative advertising platform that receives over 30,000 new submissions daily.

Alternative Financing Vs. Venture Capital: Which Option Is Best for Boosting Working Capital?

There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.

In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.

But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.

Different Types of Financing

One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.

Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.

But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.

Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.

Alternative Financing Solutions

But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:

1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.

2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.

3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.

In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:

It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.

A Precious Commodity

Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).

Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.

Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?

US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%

US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 1.14%. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 0.98% and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up by 0.71 per cent

Twitter Facebook Linkedin
US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%
Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. Source: Reuters
US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 345.25 points or1.14 per cent. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 35.88 points or 0.98 per cent and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up 75.75 points or 0.71 per cent. A Reuters report said that today’s strength was on the back of a report which said the Federal Reserve will likely debate on signaling plans for a smaller interest rate hike in December, reversing declines set off by social media firms after Snap Inc’s ad warning.

Source: Comex

Nasdaq Top Gainers and Losers

Source: Nasdaq

Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. The BSE Sensex ended at 59,307.15, up by 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent from the Thursday closing level. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 index closed at 17,590.00, higher by 26.05 points or 0.15 per cent. In the 30-share Sensex, 13 stocks gained while the remaining 17 ended on the losing side. In the 50-stock Nifty50, 21 stocks advanced while 29 declined.