Friday, March 28, 2014

The Information Marketing Primer For Helping and Healing Solo-Professionals - Part 5 - Free Audio

By this point in the series, I hope you recognize the importance of creating an Information Marketing business as an addition to your practice or as a means to generate income should you decide to cut back on your direct service hours.

Up to this point, we have covered: identifying your target audience for your information products, the importance of having an Internet presence and writing your first information product - your Free or Special Report. 

As I said in the last installment, you may have a definite preference in terms of writing or speaking, so I am going to offer a second alternative for delivering your free report content - in audio format as a teleclass. But, remember, it's important to offer your customers the options of audio and written formats as they do have strong preferences of how they prefer to consume their content. 

A teleclass is just what it sounds like...a class you offer over the telephone. You will need to have a free telephone bridge (conference) line to record this. To find one, type in "free telephone conference lines" and you will find many of these kinds of lines available. I regularly use Free Conference Pro and No-Cost Conference, but as I said, there are many good ones (that are free) to choose from.  

There are, of course, also paid conference line companies as well. Once you get into some serious information marketing and are recording teleseminars you will charge for, then you will probably want to get a paid conference line service as they do have live help available to assist you if something goes wrong. There is often a significant difference in the quality of the recording with the paid services. In this category, I have used Black & White Communications. 

Ask at least one friend to join you on this call (most conference lines need more than one participant to open the conference). This will also give you the added bonus of moral support. Once you register with the bridge (or conference) line company, they will give you your call-in conference number and a participant pass code; there is usually always a moderator code provided too which, of course, you will be using as the moderator. Your friend can use just the Participant code.  

The bridge line company will also give you a series of codes for recording, muting and unmuting, etc. Make sure to mute your friend when you are ready to begin...these lines pick up a lot of background noise. Make sure that your environment is quiet too as the sounds in your environment will be picked up on the recording. Do not forget to use the code for recording (you will also have to enter it when you wish to stop recording). You don't want to get to the end of speaking and realize you were never recording in the first place! (No matter how many times I have done this, I always keep the sheet with all the codes for the conference call right in front of me as I get ready to record - it's a good reminder).

Once you are finished recording, the bridge line company will provide you with a link to the recording of the call. Most of the time, you get those immediately after signing off of the call. Turn this recording over to your webmaster to upload for you. The link to this recording will go into the email that will be sent to your prospect once they have signed up for your free report and you have captured their name and email address. 

An important note...DO NOT just read your written report into a phone...it will come across just this way. The best way to do this call is to write out your opening and closing and use bullet point for everything in-between. Try to have only 3 to 5 main points. Sound natural and unless you are speaking of something very grave, try to put a smile into your voice. You have to emote and project more than you think. Don't worry, everyone sounds timid on their first try. You'll improve as time goes on. 

Once again, here is the formula for creating content, but this time it will be spoken. 

  • State the problem or the source of pain for your targeted reader
  • Add some real-life examples of this problem or pain - make it more real in their minds. 
  • Explain why this is happening or what the causes are or what is the theory behind this problem 
  • Explain why what your readers have been doing to date hasn't been working 
  • Provide your solution without going into the "How"
  • Then give them the next step 

You can make this teleclass an hour or less. If you go longer, remember that you can only fit 80 minutes of audio on a CD, so if you should you decide to make hard copies of the teleclass, aim for an hour and fifteen minutes maximum. (I'll get into that in more detail when we get to the installment on Teleseminars)

Monday, March 24, 2014

Content - The Lifeblood Of ALL Business Online! Part 1 (of 4)

What Is “Content?” - Two Different Online Business Models.

Generally, anyone who has a venture that is “doing business” online will operate in a manner that will fall into one of two categories

First option is that they will be involved in some kind of “virtual” business, in which all (or almost all) transactions, advertising and so on will take place online. As is often advertised as an asset of such a business, there will be no physical office or shop premises, no inventory to store or deliver and so on.

Indeed, and probably most confusingly, there sometimes appears to be a lack of “product” at all!

This is quite common where, for example, the “product” is some kind of online marketing system, which is marketed and sold online using, well, itself!

In other words, you are sold a marketing system by a marketing system (thus proving that it works!) and then you sell the very same system to someone else, and so on.

It’s a bit of a cliché, but nevertheless true, that things change online very quickly. If you or I have an idea, we can have it out there in the online marketplace tomorrow, if we choose to do so.

Thus, although it can seem odd to buy something as intangible as a marketing system, it can still be of great value, as it has the potential to bring the latest and newest ideas to your PC in an instant.

Informational products represent another example of almost totally intangible products that nevertheless sell well on the internet. Examples might be a “how to” website on, let’s say, crochet or whitewater rafting or website design or the best way of making a chocolate cake. All are totally intangible, but still in huge demand, which means that they are very profitable as well!

More information about the simplest method of creating such products for profit can be found at my site [http://www.hiddentrafficgenerator.com/short.html].

Still with it? Good!

Now, the other type of business will be a “real world” business that probably sells a real tangible product, something that you can touch, smell, see. It could be widgets, Jumbo jets, hairnets, submarines, whatever and the business in question has probably used the power of the net to expand the original localized marketing efforts to go world wide.

They still market “offline” locally and their online efforts are an adjunct to these efforts, not a replacement.

This very broad sweep would probably cover 95% of business that takes place on or through the internet every day.

Yet, even coming from two such widely separated poles, both models of business rely on content to be, or not to be, successful.

So, what exactly is content?

Content – A Definition (or two!)

As suggested by this title, there’s effectively two different ways that you could define “content”.

One way would be to try to establish exactly what it is, so let’s try that first.

Content is “stuff”! It’s the “stuff” that you see every day on the internet…

Now, clearly that’s not really a great deal of help.

It’s an indication rather than a definition.

Trouble is that, in these terms, it’s not at all easy to establish anything that is anywhere concise enough to be a definition, so let’s move on to definition method two, which is in fact a good deal more helpful.

This is, what does “content” do, and, as we shall see, the answer to this goes a long way to clearing up the ambiguity created by our “stuff” definition.

Content is whatever you have on your website that gives your visitor or customer the information that they are looking or when they come to our site.

So, it can be factual information, like a product description, a catalogue or pricing information for the Jumbo jet that you are selling.

It can be less factual and more of an opinion, such as a learned discourse of where mankind is going over the next 500 years.

It can be an article such as this one, part factual and part opinion.

Nor is “content” only written, and increasingly, online audio and video are becoming ever more prominent on the net.

To summarize, content is whatever information you have on your website about your business and products, in whatever form this information takes.

Content is what makes visitors come to your site, it is what drives “traffic” to your homepage. In turn, content and the driven traffic it creates is what makes your business money, it is the engine behind every single cent of profit that you earn online.

Which makes content kind of important, I am sure you will agree…..

Coming in part 2, where to find and how to create great content.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Ebook Creator - Build Your Information Marketing Business Fast

There's never been a better time to be a writer. There are unlimited opportunities for skilled writers online, and building an information marketing business by writing ebooks is a great opportunity.

Let's see how you can get your eBook empire started fast.

1. Get a Free Education at the Outsourcing Sites

Writing and selling your own ebooks can be intimidating. One of the easiest ways to get an education in how it all works, is on the outsourcing sites. By writing for others, you learn what makes a professionally created eBook and you get paid to learn.

If you don't already have an account at an outsourcing site, create one today and start bidding on eBook writing projects.

2. Sell Your Expertise, You're an Expert on Something

Once you've completed at least three eBook projects for other people, you're ready to create your own ebooks and sell them.

Ready? Start by choosing a topic on which people need information.

Perhaps you already have a topic that you know will be a success, if you don't have a topic, think about your own experiences and what you are an expert on. Everyone's an expert on something.

Once you've chosen a topic, write a project brief (a "brief" is just a description) exactly as you'd find on one of the outsourcing sites.

Your project brief is essential even if you're working for yourself. You will find your project will change as you work on it, and having the brief in front of you keeps you on track.

Give yourself a deadline. Without a deadline your project could go on forever.

3. Once You've Completed Your First Ebook, Work on Another

As soon as you've completed the first project, get started on another one. You won't know how successful your first project will be for a while, so get started on another project right away.

Preferably, the topic for your second eBook should be related to the first. This gives you a chance to sell your second eBook to those people who purchased the first one.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Success Affiliate Marketing Business - 14 Reasons Why You Can Not Sell More Affiliate Products

Obviously, you will not earn affiliate commission if you can not sell the affiliate products. Regarding to my extensively experiences, there are some reasons why you can not sell more affiliate products and earn huge affiliate commission. You will discover top 14 reasons why your sales are gone in this article. You will learn practical problems for affiliate entrepreneurs why they are failed in the affiliate marketing business.

Now, I am going to give you top 14 reasons why you can not sell more affiliate products and earn huge affiliate commission in the home based affiliate marketing business. If you are wondering why you are failed and can not earn big affiliate commission in the online affiliate business, I like you to discover top reasons below.

1) Lack of the affiliate marketing business plan and business model. I have communicated with many affiliate entrepreneurs and I found that most of them don't have their own affiliate marketing business plan, marketing plan; even their business model. Personally, I strongly believe that planning is one of the most significant steps in your affiliate marketing business. You must have your own goals and plans. Without planning, you are wasting your time and money for undo and redo tasks to build, grow and run the affiliate business.

2) Lack of well and effective marketing research. The poor marketing research shows that you have no idea about your people in your markets and you have no knowledge enough to solve their problems. Also, you do not know what exactly needs in your market. All you have to do during the marketing research is to discover the exactly problem and solution what people are looking for in the market. There are many approaches to do the most effective marketing research on the internet right now. One of the best effective approaches is to participant in the active and well-known forums.

3) Promote only one affiliate product at a time. As you are the affiliate entrepreneurs, your major task is to drive the quality content of the affiliate products for people who need those products. It is not a great idea to promote only one affiliate product at a time for your market. However, promoting too much affiliate products is not a great idea either. There are no success rules for this. You have to test and track the results by yourself. My experiences show that the rule of thumb for a number of affiliate products, which you should promote, is between 3 and 10 at a time.

4) Advertising the wrong poor affiliate products. How to choose the high profitable affiliate products is the first critical step. You can choose those profitable affiliate products when you have a well and effective research in your markets and products. There are many approaches revealing you how to select the high profitable affiliate products. All you have to do is to avoid the scam programs on the internet.

5) Lack of the quality content. As we know that the quality content is the king. All you have to do is to provide high quality content for each affiliate products for your people in the market. The high quality content could be: your unbiased personal recommendation, hot news, great articles related to the product and up-to-date information for the product.

6) Lack of great relationship with merchants. Working with the merchants is an absolutely great idea for you to start promoting the affiliate products. You can request, build relationship with merchants or even negotiate the affiliate commission structure with your merchants.

7) Lack of quality opt-in list. The opt-in list is the most important asset for affiliate marketing entrepreneurs. Without the list, you are wasting your time and money for selling affiliate products. Think about this way! You drive visitors to merchants' website. If those visitors make a purchase, you will get an affiliate commission. If there are no any purchases, you will not get your commission. With this situation, it is a great idea for affiliate entrepreneurs to capture visitors' information in order to sell other affiliate products later. With capturing the visitors' information, your opportunities to earn more affiliate commission are opened and increased. You can sell other affiliate products later in the future.

8) Lack of strong back-end selling. The strong back-end selling is one of the most effective approaches for affiliate marketing entrepreneurs to sell more affiliate products to the existing buyers or subscribers. The key to success for back-end selling is to focus on both of existing buyers/subscribers and new potential customers.

9) Lack of well-known reputation in the market. The reputation is very important for your creditability and reliability. All you have to do are: advertising yourself all the time in the market and be aware of what affiliate products you are going to promote. With the scam affiliate products, it will hurt your reputation directly.

10) Lack of the consistency in the business and markets. I would love to say that the consistency in your business and markets is one of the most significant elements for your highly successful in long-term. You have to get to know your market, catch-up new technology and stay in your business in the long run. With this sense, you can become an outstanding among your competitors with new technology. Also, you can improve continuously your home based affiliate business all the time and stay on top in your business.

11) Rely on one affiliate internet marketing strategy. Obviously, you can not rely on one affiliate internet marketing strategy. My highest recommendation is to build multiple streams of incomes through multiple affiliate internet marketing strategies. Those strategies can be: article marketing, email promotion internet marketing, blog online marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and join venture partnership.

12) Do not know how to get things done effectively. This is one of the most critical issues for affiliate marketing entrepreneurs. There are a ton of tasks for those affiliate entrepreneurs to build highly profitable & successful in the affiliate marketing business. Those tasks require a lot of time and effort. Prioritizing and scheduling tasks are two basic approaches to help you to get things done!

13) Lack of self-improvement. There is no doubt that you are the best asset in your business. All you have to do is to improve yourself continuously all the time. I am sure that you are the only person who can determine your success and where you want to be in the future. Without self-improvement, it is very difficult to build your own highly profitable home based affiliate business.

14) Give up too quickly. Most new affiliate entrepreneurs expect to get rich with selling affiliate products overnight or short term. My experiences show that the affiliate business is not the get-rich-quick scheme. You have to be determination, motivate and patient for your success in the long future. All I can tell you is that the affiliate business is an extremely powerful business and it is a win-win situation between affiliate marketing entrepreneurs and merchants.

Final thoughts, I am sure that those 14 reasons will be helpful and useful for you to solve your current problems and build highly profitable success affiliate business in the long run. All you have to do is to take action seriously.

Friday, March 14, 2014

How To Find The Most Lucrative Information Marketing Niche Markets

To answer the question of how to find the most lucrative information marketing niche markets you have to be aware of the range of interests that exists in which people not only search for information but are also willing to spend their money getting hold of it. The research is easy to do and must be undertaken so as not to pick the wrong niche to enter.

There is any one of four characteristics that can be labelled on an online niche market and it is the job of an information marketer to examine the evidence and pick the one that is going to provide for them a worthwhile return for the time and money invested. So to kick off, would you be interested if you found a niche market that had lots of prospects and also lots of competitors? Whilst competition is, on the whole, good if there are experienced info marketers already dominating such a market, do you really want to try and carve a thin slice for yourself? It will take a huge effort and most likely some money to be spent. It is probably more sensible to leave such markets to others.

The second characteristic that a niche online market could have is lots of prospects and no competitors. The first thing that you must then do is ask yourself why there are no competitors. The answer will most likely be that you have not unearthed a yet to be discovered gold mine, whereas the reality is more likely to be a black hole of despair as all your effort will probably result in nothing. There will be a good reason why there are no existing competitors, most likely that there are few if any prospects in the market and those that are there probably don't pay for the information they seek.

The third characteristic for an online niche market can be low numbers of prospects and lots of competitors. This should immediately start to ring alarm bells as it presents a challenge far too time consuming and difficult to attempt. There are lots of competitors chasing a small market, therefore the ones with the deepest pockets and most experience will most likely scoop up the majority of the available business. When creating and building an information marketing business, these types of online niche markets are definitely the type to avoid.

There is an opportunity awaiting when you find a niche that has low numbers of prospects and a few competitors. Don't be fooled by the notion that you need a large market. What you do need are prospects that are passionate about the subject and once you demonstrate that you understand their interest and can provide exactly what they want, you will be in a position to dominate such a market and be the go to person. Exploiting such a market is easier when you yourself have an interest in, a passion for, and lots of experience to offer others.

So these are four benchmarks to use to assess potential information marketing niche markets to offer information to. Once you have undertaken this in one niche, you will have the confidence to replicate your successful model into niche markets that you do not have much or any experience of, yet have the skills to differentiate yourself from the existing competition. You can then, with confidence, position yourself as the person to go to for valuable information about the subject.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Information Marketing Secrets - 2 Easy Formulas For Creating Information Products

Creating information products is often a great challenge. It's one of the many questions I often get: How do I create an information product? I don't know what to write about. Well, here are 2 easy formulas that I personally use to create my information products without bursting my brain cells:

Easy Formula #1: The "Tips" Formula

Simply take any topic that people need help with, and compile a set of tips. It can be 10 tips that you cover in detail, or 101 tips. Personally, I have found that the more tips you have, the more people will respond to your offer. People love having the power of choice, and giving something like 101 tips gives them choice.

Easy Formula #2: The Step-By-Step Formula

Another way is to take a set of tips and create a step-by-step formula or system that will help people achieve other goals. This should be a system you use yourself, and you know has given you results. Your steps could consist of 7 steps or even more than 20 steps. Then go through each step in detail, explaining how to do it. People love having a step-by-step plan as it makes things easier to do and follow. Again, I emphasize, this must be a system you use yourself to help solve the problem or achieve the goal.

So that's 2 easy formulas you can start using to create information products. Having these outlines make it easier to plan the creation of your information product. And even if you still can't write it, you have a plan to present to a freelancer to get the job done.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

The Many Aspects of Information Marketing

Selling things to the public is one of the hardest things for some people to do. Others have what is known as a "gift of the gab" and can sell anything to anyone. For those who do not have this natural talent they need to develop information Marketing.

This is where one must take the information they wish to distribute to other people in such a manner that it will not only catch their attention and make them interested in the product or service but have them make a purchase. This is what a successful business is all about and how one makes their own space in the world. This does not happen overnight and needs ingenuity and careful planning.

Having a good and profitable Website is a must in today's world. Almost everyone has a computer nowadays and uses it daily. They look up things they are interested in which means they are in the market to make a purchase. This is one way business people get e-mail names and addresses which are excellent for sending follow-up information.

In looking for a new garage door, for example, people will go from website to website, looking at the different models and types for sale. They will compare the features, the prices, the warranty and, oftentimes, any testimonials that are there. In other words, they are doing comparative shopping on the Internet.

If they come to a website that does not have a good layout with pictures, full description, prices, time of delivery and other information they simply click on to the next site. In addition, a good website is colorful with intelligent descriptions. The potential customers, looking at the site, have become quite sophisticated and, if it is not eye catching and full of information will quickly move on.

Having good articles on one's site will catch the eye of the viewer and assist in presenting what one has to offer. For example, if one were presenting motorcycles, having a brief history or other interesting information about this product will provide a motivating introduction to the product being offered. People are looking for the unusual, not every day ads that they can read anywhere.

Training seminars are an excellent way to thoroughly educate others on what one has to offer. This is especially true whether it involves products or services. Anyone who is unfamiliar with what is being presented needs to be educated regarding all facets of one's presentation.

These seminars should be carefully planned from start to finish. They should be in stages, starting from the simplest explanation and carried through to what is most complicated. It is important that they be structured so that, if there is a question, that part of the presentation is repeated until everything is clear and easy to understand.

One of the business tools that many business people have found very successful is to train people to be coaches. These people will organize training seminars at various locations. This has enabled the spread of knowledge about the product and greatly increased sales.

The answer to being a success is making oneself and one's product or service well known. This is done be making sure it is constantly before the public, that it is something that is reliable and that the person or company making the offering is trustworthy. With the widespread communication of the Internet, something that fails in these regards is soon shown on the web to be so.

Information marketing is just that. One wants to get information before the public about what if offered. This needs to be done with careful strategy and a knowledge of what the public wants. A person is not born with this knowledge so must investigate many avenues to be successful.

Before engaging in any enterprise it is always a good idea to consult with those who are 'in the know'. In other words, those who have already been successful. They are the ones who have learned, through trial and error, what works and what does not.

These people can explain the benefits of a good web site, as well as supply advice on presentation, article wording and all the other things that will make it a successful operation. Knowing these intimate details is what takes one from a mediocre to an outstanding site.

Knowing how to recruit people to assist in presenting the product or service is something that can be difficult. Obtaining expert advice is a must in this area. Having good representation in the field can make for a very successful business if done correctly.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Shop Online For Clothes That Fit

If you love shopping like me, chances are you would already have done some shopping online. Online shopping offers great excitement and convenience to us busy women. Having to juggle work and family, many career women only found time for themselves after settling their family and children after a day's work. Usually, by that time, the off-line shops are closed. With the wonderful array of shops available online, clothes shopping now offers an amazing range of variety and styles (some of which are only available overseas), all at a click of the mouse.

What are the benefits of online clothes shopping? You can do it in peace (think - no fussy toddlers and sulky teenagers bugging you to leave the store) and in the comfort of your own home (imagine settling into your favourite chair with a mug of coffee/tea) and let your fingertips do the work! The best part of online shopping? The shops are opened 24/7! You can shop at any time at your convenience!

While there may be challenges buying clothes online, here are four tips to ensure that your online clothes shopping be as fuss-free (you don't want to waste your precious time), and as pleasant as possible.

Tip#1 Choose the Right Fit
You don't want to waste money on clothes that don't fit. If possible, buy clothes from shops with specific measurements of their clothes. Shops with size labels like 'Small', 'Large', Size 10 and Size 12 may differ when it comes down to the actual centimeters and inches. Therefore, the most reliable way to get the right fit is to know the actual centimeters / inches the clothes are in. A Size 10 for a label may be a size 12 for another. Chances are, shops which are able to offer specific measurements are serious about their business.

Tip#2 Get Yourself Measured
If you were to get the right fit, you need to get yourself measured, preferably by a professional tailor. And keep the measurements with you when you are shopping. If you cannot get yourself measured, then, the next best thing is to measure your clothes. To do so, just lay them flat on a hard surface (e.g. wooden table) and measure, using a tape measure, the key areas of shoulders, pit to pit, armhole, waist, hips and length. Alternatively, if you have a favourite label, whose clothes fit you well, check out their website and see if they provide specific measurements for their sizes.

In the same way, clothes measurements may be published in one of the two ways - based on the person wearing the size, or off the actual clothes pieces. Measurements off an actual blouse, for example, are measured when the clothes are laid flat. The bust measurements are usually read as pit-to-pit measurement (the horizontal length from one armpit to the other). So, a pit-to-pit of 44cm, for example, would fit a bust size of about 88cm (depending on the stretchability of the materials).

Tip#3 Clear Your Queries
It is important that, if you have any queries, to send them to the customer service. Legitimate shops will publish their emails and contacts for customers to contact them. Some shops have online forms for queries to be sent to them directly on their websites so that you do not have to open your email browser. Many shops also have Facebook pages for you to interact with them. If you have any queries with regard to the issues of fit and quality of the clothes (for example if a certain fabric is sheer), it is good, at this juncture to raise them to be answered. You could also request for more pictures of the products where relevant.

With all these in tow, it is easy to enjoy online clothes shopping without the stress, without the mess and with all the fun intact!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Starting a Sunglass Business Online is Easy!

Is it easy to start a sunglass business online? You bet it is! There are many reasons why this type of business is ideal for beginning online. First, your audience can be worldwide, which not only gives you untold numbers of people to sell to, but it also overcomes any seasonal aspects of this product. Sunglasses are used in all seasons, and for a wide variety of protective needs.

Is it easy to start a sunglass business online? Yes, let's look at the simple steps you will need to follow in order to begin your sunglass business online.

A. Decide how and where to sell this product.
B. Locate either manufacturers or wholesale distributors of your product.
C. Obtain photos and ad copy for each style.
D. Determine what your target audience will be.
E. Place ads/create website.
F. Advertise your product.

A. - selling product: use your own created website, a "turn-key" website from a manufacturer or wholesaler, or a selling venue such as eBay or Craigs List.

B. - locating your product: in your browser, enter either "sunglass manufacturer" or "wholesale sunglasses". This will lead you to many possible sources from which to purchase your supply.

C. - ad copy and photos: take these yourself or use from manufacturer or wholesalers.

D. - Important! Narrow your focus! For example, on eBay, you can list under different categories such as "women", "men", "hunting", "fishing", etc., and any possible sunglass user can by a target.

E. - Make ads clear and concise. The photo truly is worth 1000 words! If you create your own website, you will need a little technical knowledge in order to help the website become visible in searches. Starting on a website like eBay gives you very broad reach with little knowledge needed.

F. - Advertise...it pays to advertise. If you have your own website, research different ways to get traffic to it. That can be an expense that you do not have if you use eBay or a similar selling venue.

Is it easy to start a sunglass business online? Definitely, and the above steps will help you get started today. BUT, there's more!

Deliver the goods! You will need to research postage, shipping and handling, and materials BEFORE you place your ads. This is important because S&H costs can hurt your earnings if you do not know what they will be. You can purchase custom boxes from a website like Paper Mart. Packing materials can be as simple as newspaper, paper towel sheets, or bubble wrap. You will need mailing tape. Labels are nice looking, and help your business look professional. Postage seems to be constantly going up, so that is an area to watch. Don't forget your own costs in time, skill, and gasoline/transportation. Communication with your customers is important, as is quick delivery. DO NOT ADVERTISE PRODUCTS YOU DO NOT HAVE IN STOCK....or that you do not know for a fact that you can get quickly.