As a copywriter I’ve been trained over many years that sales letters follow a vertical format. Not only in shape and form, but in the way the content is presented and the points are made to persuade the reader to buy.

And this tried and tested format has worked marvelously well on the web too. But I just saw a couple of videos by fellow internet marketer Jeff Walker that are making me re-think the whole approach to selling online. He’s now talking about a “sideways” sales letter, and there may be something to it…

Keep reading: Sideways sales letters: trend or new standard?

Today I’m very pleased to announce the launch of a new project that I had been working on for the past couple of months. It is a completely new online training system that will show you how to drive massive online traffic using the best of social networks & web 2.0 viral marketing tactics.

Why am I so excited about it? Well, because for this site, I teamed up with 3 of the smartest internet marketers on the planet. Their names are: Jack Humphrey (a renowned blogging and networking authority), Bryan Winters (owner of the emerging JoePopular.com social network) and Jerome Chapman (relationship marketing specialist).

Keep reading: Driving BIG traffic with Web 2.0 & social networks

Let’s start the year by having fun and playing “what if” for just a minute: If you could have just one super-human power during 2008 and you could use it for whatever you want? Which one would you pick? Flying? Super-strength? Invisibility? Which power of all the ones available would you want to make this new 2008 the best year ever for you and yours?

They’re all fun… but I’d personally pick “mind control”: The ability to influence the masses and persuade them do whatever I want. Yeah… I know it’s a cool power… and yeah, you can pick that one too. As a matter of fact, it was not a random pick. Mass-control is a super-human power that could become a reality for you this year. All you have to do is read along…

Keep reading: Mass mind control revealed! (free video)

There’s a new kid on the block - and it sure looks like a bully that’s getting ready to slap back at Google. Hard. The name of this new kid is Pay-Per-Play and I predict it will be a VERY interesting development in the world of online advertising (for both advertisers and content publishers like us).

So what exactly is “Pay Per Play”? In short, it is a new advertising channel for advertisers to increase their branding through online audio with 5-second sound-bites. Big advertisers are already queued up for it… and by big I mean brands like Coca-Cola, Toyota, Blockbuster and the sorts.

Keep reading: Is PPP the true Google AdSense killer?

We’ve all seen the effects and consequences of a successful social media marketing campaign on the web: Relatively unknown websites melting down their web hosting servers, ordinary people reaching rock-star status overnight (sometimes unwillingly) and new trends becoming mainstream in less than a week.

But what happens when one of Hollywood’s most brilliant minds decides to use social media marketing as the main strategy to promote his upcoming feature film? Enter the secretive world of J.J. Abrams and 01-18-08 (aka Cloverfield / Slusho / Cheese / Chocolate / Overnight). Things are about to get outrageously weird…so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!

Keep reading: Case study: 1-18-08 social media marketing

While doing my weekend rounds searching for interesting stuff in YouTube, I found a couple of fascinating videos that are definitely worth sharing with you today.

Both of these videos are clips from a remarkable TV show that runs in the United Kingdom called “Trick of the mind”. This show features Derren Brown - a true master in psychology, persuasion, hypnosis and magic (an interesting set of skills to say the least). I won’t keep you in suspense about it any longer… take it away Derren:

Keep reading: Hidden commands and NLP - live demo

For the past few days, this fun video has been spreading virally around the web. But there is one very important difference between this and other viral videos: This particular video is part of a carefully planned and brilliantly executed social media marketing campaign by the smart folks over at Connected Ventures (the company behind popular sites like BustedTees and CollegeHumor.)

At first glance it may look like just a fun day at the office, but upon careful inspection, you can see that this seemingly casual video serves various goals for its creators…

Keep reading: Case study: Vimeo social media marketing