I've started to compile a list of cool planners that I've found this year that you might like for your business. If you have another planner you love, let me know in the comments and I'll add it.

Here you go…

Leonie Dawson's “Create your Shining Business and Life” Planners

I love this planner, and it works really well to plan out not only what next year will look like for your business, and also what you want your life to look like too.

It's definitely a bit woo-woo. A few of my friends got it last year and went “what the heck, Nik?” lol! But, like I said, it's awesome if you want to do a lot of visualization and planning for 2016 – and especially if you're creative and want to have a keepsake to look back on at the end of the year when you go “LOOK AT HOW I ROCKED IT! I'M AWESOME!!!”

Here's my planner in the airport last year as I was working through it during a layover:

This gets a big recommendation from me. The whole system is broken down into weekly, monthly and annual planning and I recommend you work through it with your business coach.

-> Check out the uber-popular Business & Life planners here.

Natalie Collins “Biz Plan Book 2016 Edition”

I'm hearing really good things about this planner. Personally I haven't ordered it yet (but I will be), so I can't tell you too much about it, but I do know Natalie well and she's awesome-sauce, so I expect this is, too.

-> Check out The Biz Plan Book on Amazon

Awesome FREE Blog Planner with Calendar.

Every year, my friend, Lynette Chandler, puts together a big blogging calendar for the entire year. It’s the best blogging calendar that I’ve seen and I’ve printed mine out to put in a binder.

See?  This is a picture I took of the 2011 planning calendar.

You may not be able to tell from my poor photography skills, but there are boxes for all kinds of planning each week –

1. Your own blog posts

2. Guest blog posts

3. What you plan to send to your lists

4. Promotions

So, guess what? The 2016 version is ready to rock and roll — and it's FREE

Grab it here: FREE 2016 Printable Weekly Calendar

Here’s a sample page that I took a screenshot of so you can how nice it is.

This page shows how to use this year’s blog calendar.

And, here’s a sample page from this year showing what the printable planning calendar part looks like.

Here’s that link again:

FREE 2016 Printable Weekly Calendar

Your Very Own Planner that YOU Can Sell? Yep. “Planning your Best Year Ever”.

If you want to have your OWN planner that you can create a coaching program around and sell, we've got that covered for you at CoachGlue.com.

You get the planner in .doc format right away and then you can dig in, add to it, and turn it into a planner that you use when working with clients, create a coaching program around it, and/or sell it from your own website.

How do you make it your own?

• Get a new cover (you can do that on Fiverr)
• Change the colors
• Add an “About you” page
• Infuse some YOU into it. Your stories. Your examples.
• Add a few more exercises
• Insert a few book recommendations (Might I recommend this one?)
• Include a call to action at the end

Voila! You have a totally unique planner that you can use to grow your business.

-> Grab this “Done for Your Business” planner. 

What did I miss?

But what other planners do YOU love? Do tell. I'm excited to hear about them.

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. If you want to grow your list, be sure to watch this free webinar about using LeadPages effectively.

My business partner, Melissa Ingold, and I have been using a new tool called LeadPages for a few months. We've been playing with it to see if it's something we want to recommend.

We do!

What does it do?

LeadPages allows you to quickly and easily create beautiful:

• Squeeze Pages (Optin pages)
• Webinar signup pages
• Sales Pages
• Facebook Optin Pages
• and bunches more.

Melissa shares why she likes it in this video:

-> Click here to try LeadPages.

How Does LeadPages Work?

Here is her demo:

 Click here to learn more about LeadPages.

Want to See an Example of an Optin Page?

Click on the image above or this link to see it in action.

How About an Example of a Lead Page Posted on Facebook?

You can see a sample of one that I've done and posted on Facebook (which was SUPER easy):

Click here to see this page live.

LeadPages Tutorial: How to Create Facebook Optin Forms like the one above

Here's how easy it is to do what I did:

-> You can find more info about LeadPages here.

How about a Sales Page? Yep. It does that, too.

Example of a Sales Page Created with LeadPages:

You can view this page live here.

Interested in learning more and maybe trying it out?

You'll find more demos and you can try LeadPages here.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

This week I asked our panel of experts…

“How do you manage your calendar (both business and personal)?

Special software, outsourcing, or plain old paper and pen?”

I think you'll find the responses interesting.

Connie Ragen Green of Affiliate Marketing Case Studies says:

I manage my personal and business calendar two ways – by using the calendar feature on my iPhone and by using a desk calendar in both of my home offices. This has been the easiest way for me to see what I have coming up, as well as what I've done in the past.

I also use something I call rocks, pebbles, and sand that you may be familiar with. For each month I write in the plans I have with my family and close friends, as well as personal appointments and commitments. These are my rocks. I would almost never change any of these. Next comes my business obligations and my charity and volunteer time, which are my pebbles. These are very important to me, but not nearly as important as my rocks. Everything else is sand. I've done this for almost eight years and it helps me to keep my life and my business in perspective when it comes to what is truly important to me.

Kevin Riley of Maximize Your E-Mail Marketing Profits In 2013  says:

I keep a wall calendar on the wall of my office. I find that writing things down there keeps me much better organized than some app (esp. since I have 5 computers and am always switching where I am working).

I also print out a PDF ToDo list that I created years ago, and I write down important tasks to accomplish the next day.

The wall calendar is my general (long term) planner, and the ToDo list is my specific (short term) planner.

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts Podcast says:

I operate well on the theory that ‘it doesn't get done if it isn't on my calendar' so my calendar is part appointment schedule and part serious to do list.

When something needs to get done this week, it gets a spot on my calendar. By actually putting tasks on the calendar, I have to estimate the amount of time needed and not overbook myself. This practice is called ‘time chunking' and it's a huge part of my ability to focus and get things done.

I'm a Google Calendar fan all the way. It's easy to use and plugs in with other tools I'm taking advantage of, like TimeTrade. TimeTrade is a web based appointment booking tool that gives my coaching clients and podcast guests the freedom to book their own meetings with me. TimeTrade does cost money, but it has actually saved me a few thousand in Virtual Assistant hours in the last year so I'll be paying the annual fee with a smile on my face.

Tiffany Dow of Squidoo Quick Commissions Guide says:

I love offline calendars. I started managing mine separately, since one calendar never seemed to have enough room for everything in my life.

I found a free PDF monthly calendar download site here: http://www.pdfcalendar.com/monthly.

I print out 6 calendars and I label them like this:

• Activities
• Ghostwriting
• Bills
• PLR
• 1 Owner Content
• Project

Activities is for all of our family’s activities – everything from early dismissals from school to doctor’s appointments.

Ghostwriting is where I map out my clients’ projects by page count. So if I have a client who ordered 25 pages, I split it up over the course of a week with 5 pages per day for them.

Bills helps me see how much needs to be earned, by what date, to have everything paid for. I sometimes track earnings on this calendar, too.

PLR and 1 Owner Content is where I list a topic per day on the calendar. I allow myself the flexibility to skip around, but I cross out topics as I create the new PLR or 1 Owner Content packs. It just helps to have 30 topics per month mapped out.

My project calendar is where I map out tasks for major products I’m creating. It might include everything from creating an outline to securing JV partners.

All of these calendars stay by my desk and I just highlight or cross things off as I go. It helps to see all that I’ve accomplished, too. That’s a feel good factor that is important to me. And what's great is, if I get offtrack, I can just reprint quickly and map it out again.

Rachel Rofe of How To Get Every Book You Write Onto The First Page Of Kindle says:

I manage my calendar via Google Calendar. I love it because it's always available either on my computer or on my phone, and I pretty much always have one of those around.

If I am at a doctor's appointment, for example, I can just whip out my phone when looking to schedule a follow up appointment and have all my availability right in front of me.

It's also fantastic because I can share my calendar with my main assistant and then also with MyFancyHands.com.

Every week, MyFancyHands sends me a “Looking Ahead” email with everything I have going on that week, which is very helpful. They get that by syncing into my calendar.

They can also look at my calendar and offer to confirm appointments, etc. Here's a screenshot showing you what I mean:

The arrows are where they offer to give me extra help.

Also, when they schedule appointments for me, they put it right into my calendar. And my assistant can see when to schedule interviews for me because she can see everything too.

In short — Google Calendar rules.

Dr. Mani of How to Set Goals says:

Paper and pen works well for me.

But then, if you see this, you'll know why

I draw circles around dates on a calendar that hangs on my wall.

I also set alarms on my mobile phone to serve as reminders.

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of Plan Your Online Business says:

I use Outlook 2003 for my calendar. Yes, it's old, but it's familiar and my favorite layout. I tried newer versions, but none of them worked for me. I believe that if you have to argue with a tool to get it to do what you want, it's the wrong tool for you.

One of the things I love about my outlook calendar is that I can drag emails into the calendar to schedule appointments or work sessions.

I keep both business and personal on the calendar, using color coding to differentiate. I use colors for personal, travel required, speaking (meaning I have prep to do!), required call (for coaching and consulting), then those other items – birthdays, anniversaries, webinars to attend, meeting to attend, movies I want to see, etc.

Each appointment has all of the details needed for it – program description, links to the webinar, where I filed the notes. I also set reminders to go off 15 minutes before a live event or days in advance of a birthday or trip.

We have a year-long wall calendar that both my husband and I use to schedule trips and important dates. As soon as we know when and where we'll be it's added to the wall calendar. It's an easy visual tool.

To see more of my productivity tools, check Organize Your Online Business

Shannon Cherry of Learn How I Get *Paid* to Attend Events says:

I use a combination of calendar management processes.

First, I use Google Calendar. I like it because I can access it everywhere and on every device I own. And it's easy to schedule on the fly.

I also hook that calendar with my TimeTrade software. I have all my clients book their own time so there is no back and forth about scheduling. And finally, I also have a VA who helps me do my scheduling for those odd scheduling items. (I personally am horrible about scheduling my own things. I often double book or don't give myself enough ‘break' time so for me it's better to outsource.)

Now when it comes to scheduling my marketing campaigns, I use Trello. It's an easy to-do and calendar system so my entire team knows what needs to be done and when.

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Wow. I'm really pretty shocked by the responses. There are a lot  more pen and paper types than I thought there would be.

Our entire family uses Google Calendar along with the apps that ride along with it (iPhone, iPads, iPods, etc).

Each person's activities display as a different color in the calendar and we can all see each other's stuff to keep things straight.

It's a life saver when it comes to me trying to make a doctor's appointment for one of the kiddos or for setting appointments for myself. It keeps our busy family schedule running as smoothly as possible – plus I can safely book travel dates, knowing that everything that we've got going on is already in the calendar so I won't book a speaking engagement during one of my daughter's shows for instance.

Just that one thing has really reduced my stress level. Now, whether I'm in my car or at the beach or in Las Vegas at a sushi restaurant, if someone needs me to check my calendar or schedule something, I can. When I had the pencil and paper method, I would have to jot down a note or say “I'm not near my calendar right now” or call my husband and have him look at the calendar. Now I always have it at my fingertips.

Plus, the beauty of the Google calendar tied to your phone is that you can set reminders. There's been more than one occasion where my phone has beeped and I jumped up and yelled “Crap!” as I had lost track of time and needed to be somewhere in an hour – so in the shower I went. (Thank you Google!)

As for scheduling and coordinating appointments goes – I use Time Trade, too. (Thank you, Kelly, for helping me to set that up.) That way, to schedule a podcast interview, I just send the link to a potential guest and they set their time, based upon my availability. They then receive all of the instructions and the appointment syncs with Google Calendar. Yep. You heard that right…. TimeTrade works with Google Calendar. So, I tell TimeTrade “These are the times and dates when I will do interviews.” But, if I schedule a doctor's appointment during that time block, then TimeTrade won't LET a podcast guest schedule at that time. So there are *usually* no conflicts where I have to juggle more than I want to.

It's POETRY IN MOTION.

One last thing. My “to do” list is not electronic. I keep that separate on paper. So, I am old fashioned in that way. I just love love love the convenience of managing my calendar from the cloud and being able to access it anytime and anywhere. (If you can't tell… I love it!)

What about you?

What are you using to manage your personal and business calendars? Please join the discussion.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Seriously. I can't design my way out of a paper bag. That's why I love easy tools that make it quick and fun for me to create graphics when I need to.

I found this yesterday and have been playing with it.  Easy Infographics Creator

In fact,  you can see the new graphic that I made today below.

It's not perfect by any stretch of the means, but it's DONE. So I'm happy.

So should you get this tool? That depends.
* If you're a creative type. You'll LOVE this.
* If you're a graphically-challenge person like me – but you still want to be able to create infographics – you'll LOVE this.
* If you want more viral traffic. You'll LOVE this.

Here's the link again:  Easy Infographics Creator

Thank YOU so much for sharing your time with me. I appreciate you greatly. Talk soon!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Oh, speaking of graphics, be sure to connect with me on Pinterest. http://pinterest.com/thenicoledean/

If you write a great blog post, people will share it.

Unfortunately… even your biggest fans rarely click the “Share” buttons and instead many will use the good ol' copy & paste buttons.

That used to stink, because they would run off with your content and you would get nothing in return. But now, that's changed.

In fact, as you will see, people are welcome to copy and paste my content into Facebook, email, or even forums as much as they want now – thanks to a new plugin that I've been using on this blog for a few weeks.

Here's a quick video (3 minutes) that shows you how this plugin can help you to get more traffic from your fans.

(Click on the image below to play the very short video.)

If you want to grab this plugin, check it out here

Click here to Get More Traffic with this Plugin

If you don't feel like watching the video, you can understand the gist by reading the sales page at the link above.

What exactly does this plugin do?

Basically, when people copy and paste your content to share via email or Facebook or even on forums, the plugin magically adds a link to your blog inside the pasted text.

Go ahead and try it.

Copy and paste part of this blog post into Facebook to see it in action. I don't mind one bit.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

I started by creating a list of the Best WordPress Plugins for Bloggers.

I started with the WordPress plugin that I use. Did I miss any really good ones? If so, let me know.

Vote for your favorites! Each link is clickable, as well.

Interactive lists make for fun posts. Let's see if I'm right.

Talk to me, please.

1. Are you using List.ly in your business?
2. Did I miss any cool plugins that I must check out?

Thank you in advance!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Speaking of plugins, I have news on two fronts.

1. Two of the plugins on the list above are included if you choose to buy BlogCPR.com to Revive your Blog.

2. I just upgraded my Comment Luv – so you can choose which of your blog posts you would like to feature when leaving a comment. I hope you enjoy the luv!

“How do you know if you've rewritten / edited your PLR enough?

While I don't give a specific answer, since I feel it's best to error on the side of caution, I do have a tool that will help you determine how much you have actually added to and edited the PLR … before you hit the “publish” button. OR you can use it to make sure that your Virtual Assistants are reworking the PLR enough.

Watch this video.

You can grab the plugin here: Duplicate Content Examiner (with PLR rights)

Use coupon:  DUPE10 to save $10 (until Wednesday)

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. That “10 Tools” PLR that I was talking about can be purchased here if you'd like: www.HowtoPLRBundles.com

If you've missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

This week I asked our panel of experts about a topic we hear discussed in the internet marketing world a lot…

One of the most difficult decisions in running an online business is choosing a shopping cart / payment processing system.

So, which one do you use to power your business?

Do you like it? Why or why not?

Note:  There are no right or wrong answers here. Just perception and personal experience.

I hope that this week's expert responses will be helpful in making this decision for your own business.

Terry Dean of My Marketing Coach says:

I've tested and/or have direct experience with a lot of shopping cart systems including 1SC, Clickbank, Paypal, Amember, RAP, Infusionsoft, and others.

1ShoppingCart.

1ShoppingCart

The one I personally use is Netofficetoolbox.com which is a private label of 1shoppingcart. The reason I like it best is it integrates everything into one system including processing both credit cards and Paypal, your affiliate program, upsells, and more.

Since they've been around for years, they have had ups and downs. There were periods where their autoresponders couldn't get delivered and other points where they didn't integrate well with recurring billing on membership software like Amember. For me at least these problems have been solved and have been running well for the past 12 months+.

I use both my own merchant account and Paypal for processing orders through them.

So, that's what I use to run my primary business.

Clickbank.

Clickbank

I also use Clickbank for digital products I release in other markets other than my main one. I've found if you're in niches you can often recruit additional affiliates just by getting into their system and getting a few affiliates selling for you.

This also means I have a secondary system in place in my business in case there were ever problems with one of my accounts. I have money coming in 3 different ways (merchant account, Paypal, and Clickbank) in addition to the affiliate programs I promote.

Be sure to learn more from Terry here:  My Marketing Coach

Ronnie Nijmeh of PLR.me (< -click for a special free offer from Ronnie) says:

I've been through what I affectionately call “Shopping Cart Hell” several times over the years.

I've been with:

1. A “custom” cart – This is crazy and only recommended in very few instances.
2. Infusionsoft – Expensive, always something going wrong
3. 1ShoppingCart – Not my favorite, but workable
4. Amember  – I use this currently for my PLR store where I sell Personal Development PLR
5. Foxycart – I use this currently for Product Creator Pro

Amember.

So let's first talk about Amember.

Amember

It's a useful tool that I've initially disliked, but grown to enjoy.

At first, I found the interface (of the old 3.0 version) pretty intense and daunting… a lot of features are tucked away, and you need to be a bit technical to understand certain things like protecting folders (folder permissions, htaccess, etc). But like anything, once you learn it, it becomes easy.

Also, it's very customizable with lots of plugins which, again, only becomes useful if you're a techie (or you have a technical person on staff).

The bad news is that they've revamped the software to version 4 (which looks very slick, by the way!), but this rendered a lot of old plugins un-useable until the plugin creators update their code. And their support is pretty slow.

I would recommend Amember if you have a lot of products to protect (like a membership or several PLR packs for instance! )

But if you have just one or two products, it's probably not the best solution.

FoxyCart.

FoxyCart

The other cart I'm using is called FoxyCart, which I'm using for my publishing web app called Product Creator Pro (which is really cool and you should check it out).

I actually like this cart in a lot of ways because it “saves” the customer's information on file, so they can just login and never have to enter their billing details or credit card details again.

It is a hosted solution (meaning you have to pay a monthly fee), but that means you don't have to worry about things like “PCI Compliance” and server security. A big deal if you take people's credit card information.

It's pretty extensive and can be highly customized, but it's not going to handle things like email marketing or an affiliate program like 1ShoppingCart or Amember can. They've just focused on building a really good shopping cart.

Check out Ronnie's New Project and Set up a Free Account: Product Creator Pro. It helps you to make Professional Looking Ebooks in Minutes

Alice Seba of  PLR That you Can Resell says:

Over the years, I have tried a lot of different systems. Many people take so much time to decide on a shopping cart, but hold themselves back from getting started. The only way I was able to find out what I liked best was by trying a variety of options, so for anyone looking, I recommend just digging in and figuring it out as you go.

After all this time, I have settled in with Amember as my absolute favorite.

Amember

I like Amember for a few reasons:

* No monthly payment:

While I see the attraction in a 3rd party system that automatically does the software upgrades for you, I don't think the price of many of monthly payment shopping carts is really justified. Sure, profits can pay for this monthly fee, but if I can keep more of that profit back in my pocket, that's good for me.

* All-inclusive:

Amember includes my shopping cart, membership system, affiliate program and mailing lists…all in one place. I have always preferred all-inclusive systems because it allows me to segment lists and ensure better targeting with my market. It also avoids a lot of duplication if you happen to have your bits in pieces all over the place.

* Customization and control:

I love that I can control how Amember looks and functions. I've had a number of customizations developed that have allowed me to improve my email marketing, product delivery and more.

I know Amember isn't for everybody though. It is a little more complex than other systems and some people complain about the “extra steps” they have to do to set up a product. I have no problem with the extra steps because, ultimately, they are the things that allow me to have control over the way Amember functions.

This is cool. Check out Alice's PLR That you Can Resell

David Perdew of NAMS says:

I’ve tried a bunch of cart platforms!

When I built the MyNAMS memberhip community , the search was on for a membership software that also had the flexibility to run my business the way I wanted to do it, not the way the software maker thought I should.

I’m just ending a 7-year relationship with 1ShoppingCart. They have gotten so much better over the years, but the one thing it didn’t do well for me was affiliate tracking. The system required a number of different (and unrelated – hence the problem) links if you had different products.

From an affiliate perspective, that was a nightmare with the type of affiliate relationships I wanted to build. For example:

If an affiliate – say Nicole Dean – refers someone to MyNAMS for the first time, and that referral signs up for a free product or purchases product A, I want Nicole to be rewarded for every purchase from A to Z that person ever makes in MyNAMS going forward. Why?

Well, she said it not long ago:

“David, every time YOU send an email to your lists, I make money!”

I LIKE sending affiliate payments.

For product owners who rely on affiliate relationships, those partnerships are as important as customers are! Good affiliates will hold a product owner like me accountable for many more transgressions if they’re protecting their lists than a customer will. So, affiliates have to be cherished as business partners and rewarded generously.

That’s why I chose aMember even though it was more technical and not quite as up-to-date as, say InfusionSoft.

Amember

aMember 4 – just released is much better and is just the ticket. I’m committed because it gives me great affiliate management tools in a very flexible way.

Cross-product affiliate relationships, first-click affiliate tagging, and database driven affiliate referral system versus cookie affiliate programs were the key for me. Everything else is just standard fare.

Be sure to sign up here for David's Weekly FREE Webinars. (They're good stuff.)

Kelly McCausey of Solo Smarts says:

I've been an Amember fan since 2004 when my partners and I launched our first membership site.  Back then we had to ‘plug in' an autoresponder script and a separate affiliate program script but over the years the company that makes Amember has improved it so much that today it stands alone and does everything I need.

Amember

Important to point out though that I am not using Amember to manage a large mailing list.  That would be a bad idea because Amember is software that runs on your own hosting account. So while I use Amember to manage small product specific customer email lists, I will always use a separate Email Service Provider to take care of my large lists.

I have used other carts.  I used 1ShoppingCart for a couple of years on a project I bought from someone else.  I've also used (Note from Nicole: Name removed by me because they are awful and I don't want to even mention them as it may be construed as an endorsement) in the distant past.  While I don't mind a monthly expense that proves it's worth, I never found the $50 and $99 per month I paid for their system to be all that superior to what I got from Amember without a monthly cost.

Amember is intended to be a membership system that protects member content.  I use it to manage the sale of services and one off products as well as memberships.

This past fall the company released a new version and since I was rebranding and starting over with a new cart I gave the new version a spin.  I am so impressed with it!  They've built in some cool features that have cut down the time it takes to add a new product or update product resources.  There's a built in help desk and it was a snap branding the whole thing to look like the rest of my site.

What would make Amember even more dear in my eyes?  A plugin that makes my Aweber account work with my Amember installation.  (Not currently available for the newest version.)

Are you a woman in business? Check out Kelly's awesome mastermind group.

Susanne Myers of Daily Affiliate Tasks says:

My favorite shopping cart solution is Amember.

I was first introduced to it way back when I ran a meal planning service with Christine Steendahl (The Menu Mom), and we needed something flexible and inexpensive that would allow for recurring payments and an affiliate program. I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with it over the years, but always stuck with it because I have yet to find anything better at a reasonable price.

Amember

One of my favorite things about Amember is how it handles affiliates. ]

Let’s say Nicole sends me a customer over at Affiliate Niche Packs and they end up ordering a pack. Amember creates a customer record and one of the pieces of information it notes is that Nicole sent me this customer in the first place. This means that from here on out, anytime this person buys something else from me, Nicole will get an affiliate commission. There are no cookies that could expire or be deleted. It doesn’t matter what computer the person orders from (or even if they order from their smart phone or iPad), Nicole will still get credit. This makes it much easier to attract and work with super affiliates (like Nicole).

Amember has a bit of a learning curve when you first get started and I’ve had plenty of days when I was ready to pull my hair out because it wouldn’t do what I wanted it to. In the end though, it was well worth the extra effort. Do keep in mind that the developer and support staff are in Eastern Europe. As a result of time difference it usually takes almost a day to get replies back from customer support.

Want to make more money with Affiliate Marketing? Check out Susanne's program –  Daily Affiliate Tasks

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

Well, I asked the question, so you know that I have opinions, too.

Having been an Affiliate Manager for several years, I've worked behind the scenes with most of the carts mentioned above and even a few that weren't mentioned, too.

Plus, with my own infoproducts, I've used … eek! SEVEN different carts.

Which seven? Well, one of them is out of business and two others I do NOT like so they shall remain nameless. But, I will share the ones that pass muster.

There's a lot to take into consideration when choosing a cart, but it really comes down to just three main factors –

1. Your Needs – Now and in the future as you grow
2. Your Customers' Experience – Will the ordering process be positive for them?
3. Your Affiliates – Will They Be Treated as you Wish?

Whew, right?

Let's start at the bottom, since that's the easiest, in my opinion.

1. What's best for your affiliates?

I will tell you this. I earn the MOST money (as an affiliate) when I promote people who are using either Amember or Nanacast. Hands down.

Amember

NanaCast

Disclaimer #1: That is making one big assumption and that's that the person that I'm promoting has multiple products for sale – and they are actually telling their customers about them so that you can get repeat sales. But, I know that the sales track and I get repeat sales – both of which are hugely important in getting and retaining loyal affiliates.

Disclaimer #2: I do not choose what to promote based upon the cart, but if two products are equal in all ways, I will at that point, recommend the one that's running on either Amember or Nanacast.

Most of the other carts do not track referrals as well.

What about Clickbank? Is that attractive to affiliates?

Clickbank

Clickbank can either be really good in this area or really bad. Depending on the niche you're in, it may be more difficult to get loyal affiliates, since affiliate theft is so easy. What this means is that I can, as an affiliate, promote a product on Clickbank. Some people who go to purchase (upon my recommendation) will replace my affiliate ID with theirs to get a discount. While this is frowned upon in most circles, Clickbank does nothing to monitor this. This can make it more difficult to get good affiliates to promote you – if you're on Clickbank.

On the other hand, Clickbank has one very distinct advantage. They DO pay on time, every time. Unfortunately, it's becoming more and more common for people to just think they can NOT pay their affiliates (which is theft) – and get away with it. It's very frustrating as an affiliate when you have to ask where your commissions are – and it just should not have to happen. Plus, affiliates talk with each other. I've been in a number of conversations in the past year about who not to promote – because they don't pay their affiliates. (You'll see another blog post about this next week.) However, when you promote someone on Clickbank – you know you'll get paid – because Clickbank is in control.

2. Customer Experience.

This is another tricky one. If you sell multiple products (and you darned well should) – it's very helpful to have a “members area” where the customer's purchases can be accessed for years to come.  It's also handy if your customers don't have to enter ALL of their information every time they order and can just log in to quickly order from you. Again, Amember wins here, in my opinion.

If you've only got one product at this point, then Clickbank has a nice smooth and easy ordering process. Plus, they automatically process credit cards, which frees you up to not have to have a separate merchant account, which is nice, too.

In fact, most of the carts have a nice ordering process. The only thing that stands out is if you'll have repeat customers – in which case, having a members area is very nice for them to continually order and access their purchases.

3. Your Needs as a Merchant.

Finally, the third big consideration is what you need as the product seller. Here's where it is SO important to know yourself, your resources, and your business.

If you're just getting started, are completely non-techie and/or you are unsure about your niche – then I'd recommend Clickbank. You can always leave that product on Clickbank and also set up a separate cart down the road once you get rockin'. From a merchant perspective, there are a few weaknesses with Clickbank that are easily overcome with Easy Click Mate – a program that I use on three of my sites. It enables you to run several products from one Clickbank account.

-> I created a resource for helping you to get your product up on Clickbank and you can see it here:   How to Sell Your Products on Clickbank

If you've got a solid business (and are totally non-techie) and want something a bit meatier that you have more control on, 1ShoppingCart is solid. It's super easy and can be set up and running very quickly. Plus, as Terry mentioned – the upsell capability is huge. The downside is price, of course, paying monthly for your cart as opposed to paying once. And, affiliate tracking is less than desirably, in my humble opinion.

Of course, there are as many options and scenarios as there are people, but that's just a quick suggestion for you.

There are a few carts that have not been mentioned that are also viable options. E-Junkies is fine for beginners, but is not the best for attracting affiliates. It's a very cumbersome process for affiliates to get links, and you can't get them for the affiliates as there's no clear pattern to how they are created.

So what do I use?

Enough chatter, right? What do I actually use in my business – RIGHT NOW?

On EasyPLR.com, I use Quick Sales which is a reseller of 1ShoppingCart. It's fine, but I do wish I'd gone with Amember.

 
Powered by Quick Sales

On JustAddSweat.com and YummyPLR.com, I use Clickbank along with Easy Click Mate.

Powered by Clickbank & Easy Click Mate

Powered by Clickbank & Easy Click Mate

For the rest of my projects I use Amember (I have three separate installations of it).
 

Powered by Amember

Time for Feedback!

So, what about you? Are you stuck on this decision? Or do you have a cart you recommend? Please join in the discussion!

If you're at the point right now where you need to change carts for some reason – let me know. I'll recommend a cart for you based upon your needs.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Resources RECOMMENDED in this Article:

• Amember – All in One Membership Site Software
• Clickbank – Hands off. For non-techies. Includes a marketplace to recruit affiliates for you. (Use Easy Click Mate to make it more powerful.)
• 1ShoppingCart – Powerful cart.
• Foxycart – I don't know much about this one, but Ronnie recommended it.
• NanaCast – Another powerful options with a lot of features.
• E-Junkies – Fine but very simple.

If you've missed past Expert Briefs, you can click on the undies to see them all –>

Back in 2010, I asked my friends to share their favorite wordpress plugins and I realized that it's about time to ask again.

So, this week I again asked our panel of experts …

“This question is about blog plugins. We all know about Akismet and All in One SEO and the other commonly known favorites.

Of all of the plugins that you've got installed on your own blog, tell us about 1 or 2 gems that you use that aren't as widely known.”

Terry Dean of MyMarketingCoach.com says:

I don't use too many plugins on each of my blogs, as I find the more plugins you add the more problems you create. The normal ones like XML sitemaps, Facebook comments, Social Share, Similar Posts, and Mobile packs are all there. To give you an idea of how many I use, my main blog only has 12 plugins running.

Here are two unique ones which aren't talked about often.

Add to Server

Add to Server allows you to upload content anywhere inside your site and then import that content into your WordPress uploads folder. This is perfect if you for example have a WordPress membership site and want to get a few downloads into the WordPress media folder but your host gives you any problems uploading them there. Upload them with FTP to any folder and import them into WordPress with this.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/add-from-server/

MaxA/B

Since I constantly seek to improve conversion on my pages, here is the easiest split testing plugin I've seen for WordPress. It's called MaxA/B. Simply choose your original page and up to 3 test pages from pages inside your WordPress site. Then choose the thank you page after you get a conversion such as a subscription thank you page. Let the test run and it will do all the tracking for you of which page converts best. Gets rid of any excuses you may have for not testing.

Connie Ragen Green of Huge Profits Tiny List says:

I was taught that ‘less is more' when it comes to plugins, so I was late to the game of finding new ones to help me manage my sites and build my business in a bigger way. I now keep my eyes and ears open to learn which plugins are helping my friends and colleagues with what they are doing online.

Theme Test Drive

One plugin I like very much is Theme Test Drive (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/theme-test-drive) It allows you to test drive any theme as an administrator, while visitors continue to use the default theme. This comes in handy when you're deciding whether or not to make a change.

WordPress Backup to Dropbox

Another one of my favorites is the WordPress Backup to Dropbox plugin from Michael De Wildt. (http://www.mikeyd.com.au/projects/wordpress-backup-to-dropbox) This plugin allows you to automatically create a backup of your blog and uploads it to Dropbox for you. It's secure because it uses OAuth so your Dropbox account details are not made available or stored for the plugin to gain access.

It seems like there's a plugin for everything, so make sure you know what you want and need and then make your life easier by installing the right ones for you.

Lynette Chandler of Tech Based Marketing says:

There are two plugins that are still new but are becoming my fast favorites.

Survey Funnel

First is Survey Funnel. This is brilliant – could it be because I wanted to build one just like that myself? On a more serious note, while I did have plans for a similar plugin, I think Jack & Ryan did well with this one. It lets you ask small questions that lead a prospect to different promotions or different opt-in lists at the end. This helps you build lists or send people to offers that they are truly most interested in right now and you know that because they just told you that's what they are interested in – affirmed by the survey they just completed.

WP Squeeze Pro

Next up is Jason Fladlien and Wil Mattos' WP Squeeze Pro. I've written an extensive post on why at times I prefer this over other more elaborate landing page plugins (http://techbasedmarketing.com/tools/wpsqueezepro/3063/). In short, it removes all the need to prettify and nitpick on your landing page. They have great looking templates, you get in, get out, finish the job and move on. There are times you will want to spend time to craft longer, well thought out copy for your landing pages but a lot of times, you just want it done. That's where WP Squeeze Pro works so nicely. Great for niches and newbies.

One more…

Dynamic Step Process Panels.

This can be found in Code Canyon. It's great for content that should be presented or consumed in a step-by-step manner. You can set it to let people jump from step 1 to 5 or make it where people have to go through each step to reach the end because sometimes you want that so people won't miss important information at every step. We use it at TechBasedTraining since many lessons are step-by-step in nature and this plugin lets us display them in an attractive, space saving, yet functional manner.

Susanne Myers of Daily Affiliate Tasks says:

One of the many things I like about WordPress is that it allows me to automate tasks. With that in mind, I’d like to share two plugins with you that allow me to do just that even more.

Gravity Forms

Gravity forms is a form submission plugin. It’s used quite a bit for contact forms and the like. I like to use it as a content submission form. It’s a great way to get user generated content on your site. Create a form with instructions on what type of content you’re interested in (recipe submissions, questions, guest blog posts etc.). Upon form submission, you can have WordPress create a draft post for you complete with title, content and category. My assistant goes through those submissions, edits as needed and posts them to my sites. Without a lot of work on your part, you can have fresh, original content added to your site on a daily basis.

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin

The second plugin I recommend you take a look at is called YARPP or Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. It creates a little blurp at the bottom of your blog posts with links to about 5 or so related blog posts that your readers may be interested in reading. You can take a look at my blog at AffiliateTreasureChest.com to see the plugin in action. Just click on any of the blog posts and scroll down to the end of the post.

Having those 5 links directly in your content helps with internal linking and SEO. More importantly though, it keeps your readers interested and on your site longer.

Shannon Cherry of Business Charm School says:

I still use all the plug-ins I've mentioned in the past Expert Brief, but have added a couple more to my roster:

Strictly Auto Tags
This plugin finds keywords to use as tags on the post automatically. They literally just show up! It's awesome.

EzineArticles WordPress Plugin
This allows you to post your great content on EzineArticles automatically, with multiple bios etc.

WordPress Backup to Dropbox
After being hacked in November and my blog destroyed this was a true gift. Just set it and (hopefully) forget it!

And I still am asking the question… Why is ‘Hello Dolly' a plug in there at all?

Mark Mason of MasonWorld Internet Marketing Blog says:

The best WordPress plugin in my toolbox that many people don't know about is the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin (http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/)

Key features include overall blog SEO (replacing plugins like All-In-One SEO), on-page SEO per post (keyword optimization), a site map generator (replacing your Google XML site map plugin) and a preview of what your listing will look like in Google. It is awesome, and Yoast is awesome too.

Jeanette S. Cates, PhD of Organize Your Online Business says:

Shortcodes Ultimate

I am in the process of redoing my main blog so haven't activated this on JeanetteCates.com yet but I'm loving the results on my test site. It's a
plugin called Shortcodes Ultimate.

Once installed it adds a new button to your editing screen. When you click the button you can add more than 30 different shortcodes that will generate custom styles, buttons, pull quotes, drop caps, formatted lists, accordian type FAQs, tables, maps, sliders. It is truly amazing! By far the most comprehensive styling plugin I've ever used. And yes, it's free.

Backup Creator

For functionality Backup Creator gets my vote. They have continued to expand this paid plugin so that now it does automatic backups, will save to your S3 account or mail to you, and a whole lot more. I use it a lot when setting up a new site, as I can install a full blog, complete with theme, plugins, standard modifications I use all the time, in just a couple of minutes –
really! Great for client work, too!

Nicole Dean of .. here! .. says:

I love the convenience of plugins. Every time I think “I wish there was a plugin that did _____” – I find one!

Google Analyticator

This plugin makes it super easy to tie your blog into your Google Analytics account. Why is this important? So you can see where your traffic is coming from, find who's linking to you, what terms people are using when finding you through the search engines. And, one of the most important – which of your pages is getting traffic. All important stuff.

Duplicate Posts

I also recently discovered the Duplicate Posts plugin – which I absolutely adore!!!

I recorded a video about it, because that plugin is already saving me hours in time every month.

Here it is:

Two of my long-time favorites are still…

WordPress Editorial Calendar.

Their description says:

The Editorial Calendar makes it possible to see all your posts and drag and drop them to manage your blog.

The Editorial Calendar is basically a way to organize and manage your blog posts.

I’ve found that it’s especially useful if…

• You’re a visual person
• You like to plan your posts and promos in advance
• You’re outsourcing
• You have guest bloggers or a community blog where others are contributing to your blog
• You have theme days (like I do these Expert Briefs)
• You’re doing a challenge or contest of some sort (like my month-long Computer Butt Challenge)

If I didn’t have this plugin, I think I’d have gone crazy(ier) by now.

Page Links To Plugin.

Their description says:

Allows you to point WordPress pages or posts to a URL of your choosing. Good for setting up navigational links to non-WP sections of your site or to off-site resources.

The easiest way to show you how this works is to point you to my navigation bar at the top of my page. If you go to the top navigation where it says “Tools I Use in My Business” – hold your mouse over those words and you’ll see a list of sub-pages.

If you click on some of the pages that display, you’ll be taken to pages here on my blog. If you click on others, you’ll go directly to other sites where you can learn more about the tools. I didn’t have time to create pages for each tool yet, but wanted my readers to know what I personally use in  my business, so I started to list them there.

Here’s what the plugin looks like when you’re using it. This is my settings for my “Contact Me” page under “About Nicole” on my top navigation.

Recommended Resource

Are you Ready to Learn More Tips to Make
Blogging Faster and More Productive?

Click here to check out Blog CPR!

It’s Your Turn.

So, now, I’ll pose this question to you. What are your favorite lesser known plugins? I’d love to hear what you have on your blog!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean