Weekly Web Tools

Udemy and Skillfeed are two sites where you can create courses to sell. It doesn't cost you anything to list your course and there are people making a fair amount of money with these sites. Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it. In my case I don't promote my courses (so any money made came from being found on the site). Here is how the money is broken down. Udemy.com You keep 100% of the revenue (minus payment fees) when you bring new students to Udemy. For every student Udemy brings to your course through our marketing efforts, you keep 50% of the sale. Udemy handles all customer service, payment processing and hosting fees, and gives you access to the complete feature set of Udemy including the mobile version of your courses all for no additional cost. You can see more information on our revenue share here. How should I price my course? Some instructors use a metric of around $10 - $30 per hour of course content. Most courses on Udemy are priced between $29 - $99. Skillfeed.com Each month, 30% of Skillfeed's revenue is allocated to instructor earnings. The remaining 70% is used to invest in Skillfeed's mission to help instructors reach the broadest possible audience, with the primary focus being on marketing instructors' courses and building and maintaining a platform that makes it easy to discover and enjoy helpful instructional videos When I first launched my Planning Your Podcast Course I did some promotion at Udemy and made almost $80 (4 sales). That was a while ago. I make one or two sales a month ($5 - $15 take home). I've just started using Skillfeed and in the two months I've used it I've made around $35. Udemy has a cool app for ipads and phones. If you're not looking to get your teach on, there are TONS of courses on all sorts of topics. http://youtu.be/iyW7pD27aaM http://youtu.be/F_zNYy4IIf4 Enjoy this episode?

I went to a conference and saw a presentation from someone at LeadPages. It was really good without being a giant commercial for LeadPages. At the end of the presentation, I asked the rep if he had 4,000 email lists if you are giving away all these ebooks and other incentives for people's email address. Then the lights came on. You can have your list in Aweber (or whatever provider) and LeadPages delivers the incentive, and then adds them to your main list. This way you can have a ton of pages with different incentives, and still noly have one central list (or as many lists as you want). Originally I thought emailing my list after I gave away all these incentives was going to be a nightmare, but after some time with the rep I now see the advantage of LeadPages. Pricing starts at $37. I chose the $67, and there is a $99 package (all per month) if you want to be a super user. Here is a quick video .  

The people who made the Google hangout plugin have come out with a new version with tons more features. You can capture leads, export your attendee list, schedule webinars to run at any time. It really does everything all those big name webinar systems do, except there is not monthly fee.  It's amazing. This video has a brief introduction and then goes into a demonstration. It looks very cool. Check out runclick.com When this was previously released as the Google hangout on Air plugin , it made Hangouts on Air Super easy (from a single dashboard) . This new version allows you to do evergreen webinars, and you can have them scheduled through the day. It now has a built in chat feature and the ability to have optin pages on screen, as well as live polls (Google Hangouts doesn't have that). It's very cool. Right now it's $27, but with no monthly fees, it is a bargain at any price.

We have talked about Contest blitz in the past which is a great tool for growing your email list, today we look at Raffle Plus which is a $19 plugin that allows you to create a prize and allow people to enter via facebook like, G+, twitter, blog comment, or email subscription. You can assign points to each action. When a contestant goes to the contest page they will see their totals. It's an interesting tool, but its hard to get a grasp on as the developer doesn't even have a description tat properly explains what it does (I learned by looking at the screen shots). There is no video explanation, etc. So for developers, there is a lesson to be learned here. I don't think I would buy this just because it looks like ti was designed by some guy in his basement  - because it probably is. Where a system like Contest Blitz  has a bit more pizzazz, and professionalism. I know Raffle Plus has more features (it will randomly pick or winner oyou can manually do it) but I would be more inclined to go with Contest Blitz. Check out Raffle Plus (http://codecanyon.net/item/wp-raffle-plus/8407412)at Code Canyon Check out my previous review (http://weeklywebtools.com/podcast/contest-blitz-grow-your-list-with-contests)of Contest Blitz (http://www.weeklywebtools.com/contestblitz) Momentum Chrome Extension This is a cool free extension that makes the default page when you open a new tab in chrome that shows your time. You type in the ONE THING you need to get done. It also shows your weather and links to a to do list, and apps. It's pretty cool. If you are using chrome check it out. It's free. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/momentum/laookkfknpbbblfpciffpaejjkokdgca) Note to change the clock format, just double click it. Enjoy the Show? Share some love with a donation (https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif)

If you are doing any kind of affiliate marketing through amazon, you have got to check out this plugin. It's called Fresh Bundle Master. (http://jvz5.com/c/59893/105821) It starts at $17. and you can send multiple products to amazon instead of having them click on a single product at a time.   Instead of having your visitors click one product at a time you can make a bundle of products that they click ONE button and ALL the products are added. There are cool ways to make this display, but in the end the ability to recommend productS is way, way, cool. Check out this Video For more information check out Fresh Bundle Master (http://jvz5.com/c/59893/105821) Mentioned in this Episode   (http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00KMFAX0U&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=weeklytool-20)(http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=weeklytool-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00KMFAX0U) Speed up videos with MySpeed (http://www.weeklywebtools.com/myspeed)

We have talked about how scarcity for a product or offer boosts sales. I found a new countdown timer that has some unique features that other tools didn't have. Responsive - this is huge in a world where more and more traffic comes from mobile. It has lots of templates and you can make your own. You can set up evergreen timers (meaning when a visitor refreshes the page, the timer does NOT restart). There is a very cool version of a timer that has a transparent background. Here is a video from the maker explaining the other features. For more information go to countdownrocket.com (http://www.weeklywebtools.com/countdownrocket)    

Today I share a conversation that I had on the Ask the Podcast Coach show with Jim Collison from the Avergae Guy.tv (http://www.theaverageguy.tv) Where I had told him about Buffer, and now he is playing with Social Bro. It's a cool tool that gives you crazy insights into your twitter followers, and it also has a powerful search tool for finding your target audience. I really liked who easy it is to see when the best times to tweet, and it also shows some great insights who the fake followers are, and which of your followers have unsubscribed. The best part is many of these reports are free. If you want to go the premium route it's only $.13.95 a month (no long term agreements and you can try it for 15 days). The free account is free forever. You can check it out at Social Bro.com (http://www.weeklywebtools.com/socialbro)

Easy Sketch pro is yet another very cool video tool. This does more than putting text on the screen, it also sketches items (words, pictures, etc). If this was 1994 this software would be $400. Thanks to what I'm calling the App economy, we can now get this for $39. Watch the video for two things. 1. That's right I'm on a boat (http://youtu.be/avaSdC0QOUM) (explicit) 2. Really cool software.   What's interesting is this software is already spawning other products. You can get a ton of more graphics to "sketch" from another company for $17 (http://jvz6.com/c/59893/108671).

(http://weeklywebtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/RescueTime-Logo.jpg)Today I review a free tool that you can download an install and it will track EVERYTHING you do and EVERY website you go to (you can have it ignore certain types of websites if you wish).  It does one thing, and it does it well. You can install it, setup some categories, and at the end of the day categorize what your actions were (productive or not). Once you have these set, you're done. Now when I use Sound Audio studio, it knows I'm being productive and I'm doing "podcasting." When I'm on youtube, I'm probably not. If I'm on a hangout I am being productive (categorized as podcasting). It's cool. It's free. For the ability to block sites, and receive alerts (hey you've been on facebook too long) it's $9 a month and you get more detailed reports. For me it was amazing on seeing how much wasted time I could rescue. http://youtu.be/_zHNWACOGjk

I've talked about video tools in the past like Lead Player and viewbix, but today I found a tool that I'm not sure how it snuck under the radar as it has everything you need in one place. It's called Super Video Pro (http://weeklywebtools.com/simplevideopro)and while I do not own it now, I know I will in the future.  You've made great videos using Video Maker FX (http://weeklywebtools.com/videomakerfx), but now how do you display them? You can play self hosted, Youtube or Amazon S3 hosted files. There are all sorts of auto play options. You can create templates and then use them on all your videos. You can use a custom opt in background. You can choose what pages the widgets play on. In a nutshell it puts total control in your hands. Check this out. (http://weeklywebtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/supervideopro-300x170.jpg) The best part is that it's $99, or if you want the "Super Jumbo Deluxe"  version it's only $159 and you have some very cool tools. The list is extensive. You can check them out at supervideopro.com (https://www.warriorplus.com/w/a/ymm8b)  

Canva is a great tool that combines a powerful search function (for royalty free images) and a powerful (yet simple) graphic design tool. You can easily create images for blogs, twitter, facebook, etc. you can use standard preset sizes or dial in your own. I just did one for my G+ account at 926 x 523 It's a great tool with very little learning curve. There are a ton of free options, and if you want to use some of the images it will cost you $1. This makes great looking graphics that saves you both time and money.   http://youtu.be/3FZGN7BCs6k   Here are some of the images I made in about 15 minutes for all of them (http://weeklywebtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/logo_150X150_signup.png) (http://weeklywebtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/twitter_banner-300x100.png) (http://weeklywebtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/g_plus_design-300x169.png) Check it out at www.canva.com (http://www.canva.com)

Today we get some help from Scott John of the Computer Tutor show (http://www.computertutorflorida.com). I originally heard about Snip.ly (http://www.Snip.ly) from the Online Marketing and Communication (http://jontusmedia.com/snip-ly-link-shortener/) show with Jon Buscal. When Scott called in with his review, I knew it was time to bring it to you. It is very cool, and its also free. You put in the link that you want to direct people to,and you also put some text for people to see when they land on that page. In addition to the text, there is a link back to your site (or whatever site you want to direct them to).  Now when your visitor goes to that link they see your message along with another link. Check out this Snip.ly for something we will be spotlighting in the future http://snip.ly/pu6/ Snip.ly Also Provides Stats (http://weeklywebtools.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/snip-stats-300x120.jpg)   so you can see what tweets worked the best, and what tweets had people clicking on tehe other text.  http://youtu.be/CglFJU5ifHQ

I heard about this tool from Michael Hyatt. It's pretty cool, its called Similarweb.com I could write a giant blog post about it, but in the end it would take last time to just go use it. You learn all sort of great insights into your website (that in theory you can get from analytics), but you can't get analytics about your competition - and you can enter their URL and find out all sorts of cool stuff about them. You can see if what people are paying on their site, where there traffic is coming from. You can see how their traffic got there and much, much more... It also shows you the top websites (which you can choose different categories). http://youtu.be/8xdfjALcn5I

Everyone and their brother is promoting this tool, and there is a reason for it. This seems very, very cool (I bought it today, but I haven't used it yet). It works on both PC or Mac, and it's super cheap. It's called Video Maker FC. Here is what you get: 240 Animated video slide templates (you can customize  these). 20 Royalty Free Tracks 1 Year of Support and updates Completely edit the background It takes some of the best looking examples that you've seen in other videos and rolls them into one. Check this out. I have camtasia, and I still bought this tool. Why? Because it looks incredibly easy (not that Camtasia is hard), but there seems to be almost no learning curve. The reason this is so inexpensive is they do present an upsell (more template options, and the ability to join a memberhsip site and get 50 more templates each month). It s a pretty cool deal (even without the other templates). Check out Videomakerfx.com (http://weeklywebtools.com/videomakerfx)   Check out Videomakerfx.com (http://weeklywebtools.com/videomakerfx) Check out Videomakerfx.com (http://weeklywebtools.com/videomakerfx) Full Video Maker FX Demo Check out Videomakerfx.com (http://weeklywebtools.com/videomakerfx)

There are some tools I spotlight on this show that I just have to buy and MySpeed (http://www.weeklywebtools.com/myspeed) is one of them. I can't believe how much I'm using it. What does it do? It speed up flash videos or html videos (or audio). It also slows them down if you need to take notes. It works on just about anything (it doesn't work on Quick Time videos, but for me it works on YouTube which is all I needed). MySpeed YouTube (as well as other) Video Speed Up Tool Check out this video If you're interested it's only $29 ($99 if you get the version that works offline). I can't believe how much time this is going to save me. Do the podcast a favor and use my affiliate link www.weeklywebtools.com/myspeed (http://www.weeklywebtools.com/myspeed) and I'll earn a quick commission.