Last Friday I got an email from D9, my hosting company, to advise they needed to lock everybody out of their wp-admin panels because of massive attacks on their servers.

That was a big problem and wake up call for me because apart from adding content to my websites I am developing and testing new plugin software.

Years ago I used to use software called ‘wamp server’ to run local versions of Apache, MySql and PHP under windows on my PC. That allowed me to develop online content without needing even an internet connection.

Whilst Wamp Severe worked I always seemed to be fiddling with something to get it to do what I needed.

More recently, I’ve heard people praising an alternative to Wamp called Xamp.
So I decided to do a Google search for reviews and comparisons before deciding what to try now.

Eventually I ended up on a wikipedia comparison page that showed me all the information I was looking for.
Right away, I could see that Ampps provided everything I was looking for.
Not only did it include Apache, Mysql and PHP but also other modules that made running WordPress a breeze.
Plus it is GPL licensed – meaning it is open source and available at my favourite price = free.

A single 116Mb file download and quick install later and I was up and running everything on my PC – extremely easy and painless. By the way, I’m still running Windows 7 Pro.

My next job was to install a new local wordpress site – again very simple.
Different to using Fantastico, but just as easy.

Within 15 minutes of downloading Ampps I had a new wordpress blog installed locally and up and running from backup copies from my live site.

Next I decided to search for software that would let me clone wordpress blogs – again at a price I want to pay.
What I wanted to be able to do is maintain and update sites on my PC then quickly and easily transfer them to a live online server.
What I didn’t want to have to do is manually zip up files and create or backup and restore MySql databases – far too fiddly and error prone.

I would have been happy to pay maybe $47 for software that let me copy and restore unlimited copies of wordpress sites.
But I really didn’t want to pay hundreds of $ that Jason Fladlein charges for his WP Twin software.
Or similar prices for Backup Buddy

In the end my persistence paid off and I found a fantastic WP plugin called WP Clone by WP Academy.
WP Clone not only does everything I need but is also listed in the main WP Plugin directory – meaning it is open source and free.
So far over 14,000 people have downloaded this plugin and it has a top 5* rating – something I agree it warrants.

The new way I plan to work is to:

• Create regular WP backups of live sites using WP Clone
• Maintain copies of my WP sites locally using Ampps
• Develop major site updates locally
• Transfer major site updates from local to live using WP Clone

Now I can finally keep control of maintaining and backing up all of my websites.
Then even server crashes will no longer a disaster, because I will be able to quickly and easily transfer complete sites to a server that works.

I’ve just bought a great wordpress plug-in.
One that includes templates to create sales, optin and other pages in a few clicks from your website.

Personally I think it’s much more useful than expensive alternatives – such as optimize press that cost me $97
Why?
Because it lets me keep existing wordpress sites and create extra pages using templates with sample headlines and other text, that’s easy to edit.
So I can quickly add special page templates and continue to use any existing blog posts and pages

Why not check out the demonstration video?

Or, if you can spare the time, it’s worth watching the training webinar:

Here the sales message that got me interested:

************************************************

It's true.  We want to give you are best converting, split tested (over a million dollars in sales) and

copywriting templates for sales pages, optin pages, webinar pages and more...

Never have to worry about the techy BS of online marketing again.

Click a few buttons and have your pages online today.

But don't wait because in 24 hours the price will more than double

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I was lucky enough to get the plugin for only $7 – and if you’re quick, maybe you can as well, before the price jumps to $17!

Should I use Clickbank WarriorPlus or JVZoo for a WSO?

Now that I’ve completed my first Warrior Special Offer I can clearly see some of the differences between using Clickbank, WarriorPlus and JVzoo for sales processing.

There are advantages and disadvantages with each.

Affiliate Commissions

My first gripe is with WarriorPlus.
By default, if visitors have not been sent by an affiliate leaving a cookie on the buyer’s PC, then they keep all the affiliate commission for themselves!
That’s in addition to any upfront or ongoing % fees.

So if I offer 50% commission for my WSO then they grab commission form ALL the traffic on WarriorForum – that have have paid for with my initial $40 or each extra $40 when I ‘bump’ the WSO thread.

I’ve since discovered that I can send additional traffic using my own affiliate link to the offer.
But that also stops me using traffic such as PPC from Google Adwords because they don’t allow redirects for advertising.

Apparently JVzoo do the same.

Only Clickbank don’t engage in such underhand practices – making them the clear winners by allowing vendors to avoid paying out commission when no affiliate has driven traffic to the offer.

Attracting Affiliates

Most of my initial sales came from affiliates driving traffic to my WSO.
The largest affilite made about 50% of the sales.
So attracting affiliates is essential.

I have only made one WSO using WarriorPlus – and the reason I chose them was because of the sheer number of affiliates using the site to find Internet Marketing products they want to offer their lists.
JVzoo and Clickbank also attract affiliates – but I don’t yet know how many affiliates they are likely to help you find , or the volume and quality of traffic they can send.

Costs

Warriorplus offer the choice of paying $19 up front once or 2.9% + $0.10 per sale.
JVZoo have a flat rate 5% per sale fee.
Clickbank have a $50 upfront cost plus a review process that takes much longer than WarriorPlus or JVzoo, plus an ongoing cost about 9% per sale.

An additional ‘problem’ with clickbank is that in the EEC they automatically add VAT (20%) to the product cost.
Now if you have an EEC business that is registered for VAT – that’s great and saves a lot of time and hassle.
But if you are just starting out, customers getting hit with a 20% VAT markup before they pay is a sure way to lose a percentage of them before they buy.
$ prices start looking like £.
Not much of a problem for a $5 product but very off-putting for a $47 product from a USA vendor who shouldn’t be charging me VAT in the first place!

So the winner is …?
Depends on what you are selling, where your traffic is coming from, the price of your product or service, your percentage affiliate commission and whether you need to charge tax or not.

Advatntages of Driving Traffic Directly to a WSO

WSO pages make excellent sales landing pages because of all the useful comments and reviews that appear on the page.
Personally, I think this is the biggest advantage of paying for a WSO – far out-weighing the organic traffic sent there from the forum.
I guess that must be the case, otherwise the biggest marketers would bump their offers far more often?

WarriorPlus is the most restictive – because their system only works with Buy buttons added to WSO pages.
JVzoo is more flexible – because you can add their Buy buttons to any web page.
Clickbank is best because not only can you use their Buy buttons on any web page, but only need to pay commission to affiliates who have earnt it!