Using Torrent Files To Promote Your Business

A lot of people overlook this obvious free promotional and distribution method so hopefully this article will help those who are unfamiliar with torrents and file sharing applications and introduce a new promotional avenue for your online business.

If you've heard of viral marketing and viral ebooks, you will soon see how using torrents can get your viral marketing products out to a much larger audience.

Most people think of torrent sites as places for sharing music, software and movies illegally, and they are very popular for these purposes, but there also plenty of legitimate file downloads available too. We'll assume that you are not at all familiar with torrents and take this step by step. 

There is a short list of things you are going to need before you can start making and sharing torrent files:-

1) Software to make torrent files -  I use MakeTorrent v2.0 which is a free download and very small.

2) A File Sharing Client - there are several to choose from but I recommend UTorrent 

3) An account with a torrent hosting site such as ThePirateBay.org (again there are lots of others but this will do fine to get you started).

OK, let's assume you have a viral ebook that you want to distribute to the world at large. You have edited the book to include all your referral links, affiliate programs etc. and your raw PDF file is sitting there waiting for you to take action.

Firstly, it is a good idea to compress the book into a zip file. With windows this is very simple, just right click on the file and from the pop up menu select "Send To" and then "Compressed (zipped) Folder". Save the file with the name of your choosing and you're done.

The next thing to do is make a torrent file from the folder you have just zipped. Open MakeTorrent and you will see a screen like the one below.

Select the "Create Torrent" tab and check the "Classic" option. Click on file or dir to navigate your way to the zipped file you just created and ensure the radio button is checked as shown above.

OK, it is vital that before going any further, you put the correct tracker code in the box provided. You will get this from your PirateBay account and you can find the available trackers by logging in and selecting "upload torrent" at the site. You will then see the trackers available. Copy and paste one into the Tracker field in MakeTorrent as shown above. 

Once all this is in order, just click on the "Create Torrent Now" button and presto, you have created your first torrent - congratulations. Save it somewhere safe along with the compressed file.

Next, log into the PirateBay if you aren't already, find and click on "upload torrent" and fill in all the required information. A good description is useful for those searching for files so be descriptive.

As soon as you have successfully uploaded the file, download it. Just click the download link that appears on the site after it is successfully uploaded. uTorrent should automatically open, provided you have associated it with torrent files and this should have been done automatically when you installed the program. 

When UTorrent asks where to save the file, you MUST specify the exact location on your hard drive where you saved the original torrent file. As soon as you do so, the file should show in Utorrent as 100% complete and "seeding" - this means that you are making the file available to others on the web. You must leave uTorrent running to enable others to start downloading the file. If you do not, nobody will be able to get it and start seeding it for others. If your torrent proves popular, you can normally let others take over the seeding after a while, but you should check periodically to make sure that there are not loads of people trying to get it and no seeds available. As the creator of the torrent, it's your job to make it as accessible as possible.

In a nutshell, that's it - your file will now continue to be downloaded and passed around the internet. Hopefully it will bring you traffic, referrals, sales or whatever you hoped to achieve, all virally and with little effort on your part after the initial setup. 

Camtasia Studio - Instructional Ebook

Hopefully my earlier post about how to download Camtasia for free had you rushing to click the link, and if it didn't, well, quite frankly it should have done!

Camtasia is a great piece of video screencasting software that no self respecting webmaster should be without and the more you use it, the more great uses and features you will discover.

To help speed the learining curve for new users, I thought the idea of a free instructional ebook was a good idea, so I went out hunting and found one, which, I'm pleased to say is free and you can download it from the link below.

Camtasia Tutorials and Tips - Download Here

Enjoy and get the best out of a great product.

A Free Ebook For ClickBank Affiliates

Further to my post yesterday I have added a free ebook to show Clickbank affiliates how the portal and associated programs can help you to earn money and how to get the best out of the service. All you need to do is click on the download link below :-)

Clickbank Affiliate Portal - Download Free Ebook

Want A Free Clickbank Portal?

Clickbank can be a very frustrating program, and I've seen several good ideas over the years that aim to help affiliates get the most out of the program.

Despite lacklustre response to some of the free programs and tools I've talked about lately, this one might perhaps kindle a little interest, so I thought I'd give it a little plug.

You can profit from this one with or without a website, although a site of your own will enable you to get more out of it in all probability. Basically it's a cut and paste Clickbank portal for anyone who cares to add a little code into a new or exisitng page that will then display a searchable interface of all of Clickbank's products.

I've added it into a page of mine here at the article directory for illustration purposes. You can also use the service to place PPC style ads in either banner or skyscraper formats, all linking to Clickbank products of your choice, along similar lines to those provided on this blog by DailyPayday. 

If you don't have a site where you can use the code, you can still promote the service and earn commissions by advertising your own Clickbank Affiliate Portal as seen here. Why sell just a handful of products when you can offer the whole invemtory to your visitors? 

As a helpful additional tool in your Clickbank arsenal I thought it worthy of mention, so if you enjoy it let me know - even better, if it increases your conversions, come back and tell everyone!

Hosting and Domain Names From The CaymanHost

I'm very pleased to annnounce here on the blog that I am now able to release details of a brand new shared hosting and domain name registration business just launched today.

I am offering three plans starting in price from just $6.99 - that's less than $85 for a full year.

Full details of these affordable shared hosting plans have been posted at the main TCH website, or, you can just head straight over to the brand new site itself at TCH Shared Web Hosting Services.

What I would also like to mention is that you can now buy and register your domain names through The CaymanHost too, and prices are very reasonable for a full range of domain extensions, so, if you're not looking for a bargain hosting plan right now but would like to pick up some domain names at keen prices, I'd welcome your business.

As regular readers will know, I have been involved with Kiosk.ws hosting for some time and recommend them wholeheartedly as a leader in their field. However, there are many webmasters and potential webmasters out there who seem to feel that their pricing is out of their reach - and yes, they are at the top end of the scale (with good reason).

It is my hope that the introduction of this new independent service will provide for those who are unable or unwilling to invest quite as much in their hosting. I therefore do not see this as a rival to Kiosk, rather a more affordable solution for the budget conscious. That's not to say I have skimped on the features, reliability, service or reputation when setting up this latest deal, as you will see when you visit the site. Please explore and have a good look round - there is a demo control panel for those who want to see what it all looks like on the inside.

TCH

Hosting | Resellers & Affiliates | Residual Income

The Blogging Life and Blog Editors, Firefox Tools, Reseller Deals

Whilst I accept that my rate of posting has slowed down a little since the beginning of the year, it has been disappointing to see a big drop off in the commenting activity and also a reduction in my subscriber base.

This seems to correlate entirely with my own commenting inactivity and makes a blogger wonder whether commenting becomes a bit of a merry-go-round of futility - a kind of you stop, they stop. It's a shame because for the entrepreneurial souls who do read my blog, I think I've provided some pretty good information over the past few weeks and some lnks to some really useful free sites and tools. However, at the risk of sounding like a whiner, let's move swiftly on!

The major reason for my less hearty enjoining in my fellow blogger's cries to the wilderness was a meltdown of the tired old laptop (sob) and the subsequent removal to a less than happy desktop. Clearing the whole system of trojans, malware, spyware, adware and the like was a major task in itself. Then, the slow process of rebuilding a machine that I could work with. Everything was fortunately backed up (well, most of it), but re-installing so many tools is taking a fair while and I'm doing it on a "need to use basis".

One of the casualties was my RSS feeds and that's the next job on my list - amazing how i've come to rely on RSS so much for following blogs.

I was disappointed to see that Post2Blog is no longer being supported by the program owners and will doubtless die a slow death. It was my editor of choice for a long time as it actually worked with Nucleus. You can still download a copy, but, even the program owners recommend a move to Live Writer, which I'm now using for my Wordpress sites, and would recommend to any Wordpress blogger. Can't get it to talk to this blog however!

By way of consolation all the reuilding has led to discoveries of  other interesting and useful things like the Firefox MoneyQuake add on, now residing on my system and the excellent Rating Dominator plugin for Wordpress. Other new Firefox additions include SEOQuake, WordCount (great if you do a lot of writing) and Fireshot (lovely screen cap add on) which are all very worthy tools.

The article directory is growing at a reasonabe rate and still taking up a fair amount of time and sweat, but it's beginning to pay off. I've also been busy writing a few more articles of my own as it was something I had let slip in the latter part of 2007.  Yes, I'm still looking for authors so please drop by and contribute your prose - any subject you like as long as it's suitable for viewers of all ages.

I posted over at the main site regarding a free reseller hosting service which may or may not be of interest to readers of this blog. (original reseller article here).  

Despite my apparent lack of work on these pages, I've actually been busier than ever :-)

I must apoligise to Lin over at TellingItLikeItIs who tagged me for a Media Week Meme, and respectfully make it my first Unmeme (copyright RT) as I just don't have the time to participate this time around.

Nikki and I will shortly be moving to the other end of the island, and there is much else going on at a personal level which I may or may not share in due course ;-) 

TCH

Hosting | Marketing | Residual Income