Google Adwords is making an important policy change starting April 1st. The display URL will have to match the landing page URL.

Now you can still use a tracking link, but the domain the visitor is finally redirected to must be the one that is the display URL.

Therefore, you might want to load up on some fresh web hosting accounts.

Dot 5 Hosting is a cheap one. I also use Bluehost, which is great because you can use addon domains and have up to 50 domains hosted on 1 account.

The importance of a display URL in an Adwords ad IS an important part of the ad, because it is almost like an extra line of text you can use in your ad, and if the keyword you are bidding on appears in the ad, you'll get noticed better because the keyword portion of the display URL will be bolded. That means a higher CTR and a lower CPC.

So for strong, tested, profitable Adwords campaigns, think about getting a specific inexpensive domain name and hosting account just for the ad. It could be worth it with the new Adwords rules.

By the way, if you don't track your links, you still can, and it's REALLY important. Otherwise you're just guessing. I use GoTryThis Black-Hat Version to track all of my links from 1 central location. Highly recommended. Comes in handy too if you want to switch affiliate programs on the fly.

PS – GoTryThis was chosen as THE top product in 2006.

I saw a documentary yesterday evening about the direct correlation between Health and a persons Wealth.  The study was done in Louisville, Kentucky, and across the board statistically, a person lived longer and had less negative stress in direct proportion to the amount of money they earned.

It was riveting, because I would not have expected such a clear series of results across multiple income classes.

It was also shocking.

The researchers could tell statistically how long a person would live depending on their zip code. 

People who grew up in an apartment were more likely to catch a cold when the flu virus was injected into their nose than people who grew up in a house owned by their parents! 

One of the factors of this multi-faceted problem is feelings of self-worth.  I think people underestimate how powerful this is.

You owe it to yourself to do everything in your power to increase your wealth.  You’ll end up living longer.

Let me know if you were as shocked by this as I was…

It’s funny, looking back, how some things lead you to where you are right now.

And for me, Phil Town is kinda like that.

I wonder if you have any experiences like that.  I’ll let you in on one of mine so you know what I mean.

As Marie and I were wrapping up selling our houses in Toronto, we popped into Chapters one day.  (Chapters is the Canadian version of Barnes & Noble.)  And I remember I bought Seth Godin’s new book, All Marketers Are Liars.  (Which by the way is about how to tell authentic stories.)

And as we were leaving, I kept getting drawn back to a white book with a big blue title across the whole page.  Now the reason this was strange was that I had never bought a new book on investing in stocks — and I had never read one of the used ones I had picked up previously.  And I kept putting it down, then circling back to it, reading a bit more, and repeating.

Needless to say, I bought the book and it started a whole new path in my life.

And the book was Rule 1 by Phil Town.

It was one of those books that I both savoured and devoured simultaneously.  Really, really great book.

And 6 months later, I saw Phil Town live…. but that’s another story.

So Rule 1 promises to show you how to an annualized compounded 15% return by spending only 15 minutes a day.  That’s the premise.  And it delivers.  And from what I’ve learned since, it has been the perfect starting point.  And hey, if you’re going to be successful you’ll absolutely NEED to learn how to invest your money at some point in the game.  There’s simply no way around it.  It’s one of those skills that everyone needs and few people choose to develop.

Now the math scared me a little bit.  He talks in the book about doubling numbers in your head as he goes through examples.  Yeah right. That was my only hangup, but I chose to pay for a service that gives me clear information rather using the free sites like MSN Finance that he talks about in his book.

As you may or may not know, Marie and I are really great learners.  When we want to learn something, we know how to find and learn the information.  We dig into it obsessively and passionately, and we quickly put it into practice so we internalize the information.  (Right there is a big key to being successful as the economy changes moving forward.)

You need to be careful who you get information from.  Especially on the internet, there are lots of people who give information and advice without really knowing what they are talking about.  And you need to read between the lines to see if you should trust their advice or leave it.  This is why Amazon allows all users to easily RATE if a reviewers comments are useful or not.  But many people are highly skeptical of things like 15% returns, and you need to be aware that given the proper education, it is achieveable.  In fact, you could do even better than that.  I know this is kind of a long point, but be very careful taking advice from people who are only giving an opinion OR have said they have “tried” something.  If you’re going to be successful in anything there is a whole lot more than try.

If you think you can read Rule 1 by Phil Town, and stop there, you’re chances of success are slim.

But if you are an active learner, then this is a wonderful place to start.

By the way, see if you can read through the comments over at Amazon and see if you can pick out some people who you should listen to and some people who you should not.  It will help you make these distinction quicker in the future.

That’s all for now!

Looks like gold has come down a bit from it’s high at just over $1000 an ounce.

The stock market has been manic lately.  So what’s going on?

The Bear Sterns problem that the Fed tossed on the backs of the US Taxpayers is a much deeper problem than people realize.  The selling of gold and commodities is driven by a NEED for some investors to liquidate some holdings and take some profits.  When the big guys need to take profits quickly, it’s a sign of a deeper underlying problem.

I was surprised by the steep drop in gold, which is generally a hedge against a falling dollar and an erratic stock market.  But expect some more volatility as the market tries to recover.  I think it’s clear the US is headed for a longer, steeper recession than they’ve experienced in quite some time.

The US Dollar is falling quickly, and a lot of countries are getting very uncomfortable with commodities pegged to the US Dollar.

It’s the reserve currency of the world, and the major internet currency.  I remember when as a Canadian earning US Dollars, I was getting an extra 1/5th profit.  Now that’s totally been eroded.  (It was a nice little bonus while it lasted!)

I’m working on a report that explains the US dollar is falling so quickly, and what you can do to protect yourself against the falling dollar this weekend.  I’ll let you know when it’s complete.

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