Brainstorming! The Key To Wealth

Brainstorming! The Key To Wealth

by: Roy Primm

Advertising executive Alex F. Osborne first coined the word ขbrainstormingข in the early 1940’s. Since then literally millions of ideas, products, services and solutions have been created and improved on.

Every institution from Fortune 500 companies to Universities and Government agencies have used the principle of brainstorming. They’ve use it to create everything from new ad slogans, and medical breakthroughs, to how to get your child to eat more peas.

Fact: For every product in your home or office, chances are a person or group of people brainstormed about it. They brainstormed on how best to create, market, sell, manufacture, advertise, or distribute it. This is how powerful brainstorming is.

One of the best things about brainstorming is that it can be used by anyone. You don’t have to be a C.E.O or army general. You can gain from brainstorming if you’re a housewife, janitor, student or unemployed.

Yes, you can use the principles of brainstorming for the largest project or the smallest project. You can use it to plan a million dollar ad campaign, or use it to plan what you’ll have for dinner tonight.

If you simply follow and practice the following steps you will soon be amazed at the ideas and solutions your fabulous brain will give you.

Before we go any further lets discuss the 7 steps for effective brainstorming sessions.

The 7 Magic Steps For Powerful Brainstorming Sessions!

1. The brainstorming session can be done with one person or one hundred people. The rules are the same. The only requirement is the participants should know or know about the problem, business, product or subject of the brainstorming session.

2. Don’t use critical thinking. Critical or judgmental thinking slows down or kills the creative process at this stage. Because as hard as you may try, you can only think one thought at a time. When your creating you can’t judge and when you judge you can’t create.

3. Keep the session light, loose and free spirited. Humor has been known to help oil the wheels of our creativity. A large portion of our creativity is released through our humor. Watch a comedy, or tell a few jokes before you proceed.

4. Make sure you have a pencil and paper to write down any and all ideas, or if you’re in a group, designate someone to write down the ideas.

5. It’s best to set a minimum length of time or amount of ideas you want to get out of each brainstorming session. Setting a goal helps everyone to focus; it also helps everyone avoid wandering minds.

6. Write down the problem, the goal, or the subject at the top of a piece of paper. For example, ขWays To Attract More Customersข. Next number each idea you or the group comes up with. Write down every idea, the good, the bad, and even the ugly. Remember, the goal is to get as many ideas listed on paper as possible.

7. Next evaluate the most doable ideas and take action.

That’s the 7 tips for effective brainstorming sessions. Follow them and watch the ideas flow.

About The Author

Roy Primm (The NicheMan) has written hundreds of articles on how to create a moneymaking niche. Get the edge on your competition this year read his free report ก14 Ways To Create a Niche and Grow Richก go to NicheBrain.com

This article was posted on January 10, 2004

by Roy Primm

Almost A Misconception: Corel Draw

Almost A Misconception: Corel Draw

by: Blur Loterina

Corel Draw Version 4.0 is said to be the most ambitious computer software. What makes it ambitious is that it promises to be the ultimate tool for any computer graphics design and that it claims to be a bugfree software. The promotion was impressive but it appeared to have disappointed many CorelDraw users.

Many thought that Corel Draw version 7 will not be of any difference. Surprisingly, it gave them another dose of hope, a new and better software to give them professionalquality logos, special effects and illustrations.

This version focuses on interface, speed and maintenance. It is composed of Corel Photo Paint 7 and Corel Dream 3d7. One of the features included is the Template Wizard script. This allows you to create templates from saved files, reducing the time wasted in making templates. It also enables you to work on templates you created on other Corel draw versions, just add the templates on your template wizard. New template samples as well as templates for Paper Direct papers are included.

There is the Welcoming Screen that explains how vector images differ from bitmap images and how you can export them. Customizing keyboards and tools are also discussed. The purpose of the color manager is to instruct user how to manipulate color producing devices so that it will work well with Corel software. Also, there are shortcut keys and management tools for saving and organizing files.

Corel Draw 7 offers a much better scripting tool. You can use these tools to set styles and dimensions. You can set up your page using the property bar.

A scrapbook feature, which gives access to Draw 7, was included. Draw 7 is a collection of fills, cliparts, photos, designs and outlines. Use the Options Dialog Box for instructions on how to nudge or duplicate drawing options or adjust backups.

A new version was created, an upgrade from PhotoPaint and Corel Draw, the Select version. It contains a full version of the two programs. It’s not just a drawing program; it is also used for desktop publishing and professional photo image editing. It has a built in thesaurus and spell checker as well as 450 readymade professional looking templates. However, this version does not have other features included in the original Corel 7. The graphics library is limited and has fewer fonts as compared to the latter.

With Corel Draw 7, you can create realistic shadows and fix text inside objects or closed path.

About The Author

Blur Loterina

You may wonder why I write articles. Besides from the fact that it’s my job, I used to write short stories when I was younger. I think it would be helpful if I said I’m a big fan of Zach de la Rocha and Rage Against the Machine. This would explain my own views about a lot of things. Their songs were about national issues, politics and human rights. They support the American Indian Movement and Che Guevara, the face you see on tshirts. Not that it concerns me. I only like their music and idealism.

I like to read anything that contains words in the old English form, though I can’t understand it. You know, the King James Version of the Bible with words like thou, thy, thine, wilst, etc. The words used are different. The construction of the sentence is different, too, which makes sentences sound artistic. I also like gothic metal, a music genre, because most of the lyrics contain such words. It is not only the words that fascinate me; it’s the hidden meaning it contains. It’s like an abstract painting; you don’t get the real picture until you see through it.

I’m not an artist, I’m not a poet. I just love writing anything I want. I wasn’t born a genius, I just want to know and understand something I don’t. I like to find the difference between similar things. It’s like counting birthmarks on each identical twin.

Additional Information about the articles can be found at http://www.catalogprintingexperts.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 09

by Blur Loterina

7 Keys To Success Online Business

7 Keys To Success Online Business

by: Seho Song

So you’re ready to start an Internet business and have decided to make money at home working on the computer. You probably have some ideas for what your site to look like, product to sell, or how much budget to start an online business. You may want to take that consideration very seriously if you want to be succeed.

I have listed 7 important professional home business tips and each of them offer different marketing strategy to build a profitable online business.

Here are 7 essential ways to build your home business website.

1. Ask yourself these questions before you start your own business:

What are you interested in?

What is your goal?

What are you passionate about?

2. Build a good looking website that attract people to visit your website. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you don’t want to loose your customer because of the bad design. Make sure your site is clearly easy to read and appear to visitorกs eyes.

3. Affiliate program is most effective, easiest, fastest, and most powerful way to market your own business on the Internet. You can sign up an affiliate programs for FREE, and all you need to do is promote the product or service. You don’t have to worry about a shipping, merchant account, or customer service because all the hard work is done by the company you work for.

www.freemarketingweb.com

Joining an affiliate program is easy to start your business and profitable way to increase your sales.

4. Pick the subject that interests you, and focus on one that really fits in your category. If your subject is about a Internet marketing, then don’t talk about the cars.

5. Make a newsletter sign up in your website to subscribe your customer. Having your own optin email list to a newsletter is a one of the most powerful way to track people to your website, and make a extra sale.

6. Make relationships with other internet user or your customers. Giving away FREE newsletter will builds trust to your customers and establishes your credibility. If your subscribers like your service and trust in you, then they will likely buy from you.

7. Promote! Promote! Promote!. In order to make money on the net is you have to advertise and let people know about your product. As I mentioned above, email marketing is one of the powerful tools to promoting a website. There are other different marketing strategy to promote the Internet business on the net.

My last advise is don’t ever give up on your dream. Thereกs no such thing as a กfailureก if you do your best and overcome the difficulties. Turn the negative to positive, don’t let your passion go away, keep moving forward and youกll reach to the top.

About The Author

Seho Song, a Internet Marketer, will offer one of the top affiliate programs on the net, and the money making products. Don’t know how to build a website? You can get one, a professional website setup within 24 hours…guarantee. Click here to learn more about a Internet business, http://www.freemarketingweb.com

This article was posted on February 17

by Seho Song

7 Warning Signs of an Unprofitable Web Site

7 Warning Signs of an Unprofitable Web Site

by: Ash Kawa

7 general mistakes which you should avoid to make your web business successful and not Unprofitable.

1. Selling To Everyone Means You Sell to No One

If you do not target your offer, it will confuse your customers. People are not patient. In a recent survey, 73% of people claimed to be กinsanely busyก. If you do not develop a target customer profile and appeal directly to them, you will lose customers. And they will never come back to your site again.

2. Web Flea Market: Buy a Web Site or Get a Grocery Coupon

People are selling Web Sites, classified advertising, prepaid legal services, long distance phone cards, and reminder services via affiliate programs…All on the same Web Page!

Think about that the next time you go to your grocery store. Do they offer to sell you a Web Site with your pickles? Flea markets diminish the value of what you are selling. Most people who own these sites tell me they depend on selling a high volume of low price items. How do I know this is a doomed approach? Visit their sites and see if there is any life there

3. Huge graphics that make your site take 30 seconds to open, which is all the time you have to sell your customer on staying.

The worst thing about computers is that they enable us to do things we just should not be doing. Graphic design is a skill; most people get some Paint program and have absolutely no sense of size, or what the graphic makes them look like. If you want to SCREAM AT YOUR AUDIENCE AND BE OBNOXIOUS, then use big graphics.

4. This site has xxxx number of visitors (How many bought?)

Does it really matter to anyone how many people visit your store? The sure sign that a store is visited often is the success and profits of the owner. All the rest is empty bragging.

5. Explaining what technology you use, frames, etc.

To this day it amazes me how people explain the technical design of their Web Page. If you use any reference to technology, you are distracting your customer. Keep it simple.

6. Download the following plugins to get this site working.

No one will spend ten minutes downloading the plugin to see your cutesy message. Avoid plugins, with the possible exception of Real Audio.

7. No place to send an email, or gain a free report.

After spending all this time to create a site, most people forget to ask for inquiries. They just think people will work hard to contact them. Assume that a person will visit your site once, and never return unless you remind them to via email.

About The Author

Ash Kawa has written hundreds of articles specializing in helping people succeed when the competition is tough. President of a successful Website Hosting Company http://www.hostforwebsite.com [$0.75/month & Get UnLimit Movies & MP3 Songs on your PC!]

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 19

by Ash Kawa

8 Killer Mistakes For Ezine Failure You Must Avoid

8 Killer Mistakes For Ezine Failure You Must Avoid

by: Christos Varsamis

It is true that sometimes in life there is a small line between failure and success. The same thing applies with ezines and newsletters. Some details we consider unimportant are the keys for the success of our publication or failure.

1) Be Careful with the ขfromข field.

Although many consider this as a detail, it is the first thing a user will see. Who is sending the email. Use either your name or your business name. Avoid any kind of other phrases in that field .It will cost you a lot.

2) The subject line.

This is the second more important field in the email. Avoid hype in that area like ขEarn 50.000$ in 2 weeksข e.t.c. People are smarter than you think. You will never be believable. Emphasize to the purpose of your newsletter .Do not use more than 7 words in your subject line.

3) Call to buy in the first mailing.

This is a common mistake most ezine publishers do .They have sales pitch on the first time. Research has proved that you will gain your subscriber trust after 6 to 7 mailings according always to the content you offer.

4) Use death words, which spam filters ban.

For God’s sake, do not use words or phrases like free, make money, hello, your family, and other. Your newsletter will go directly to junk mail and will be erased without notice.

5) Avoid too much personalization.

Although personalization is important in order to create a friendly ambience, do not overdo it. Some people will consider this as rudeness. Use their name only once in your mailings on the first line of your message, not more. Otherwise, some of your subscribers will be insulted and unsubscribe in a second.

6) Use more verbs, not adjectives.

The best internet marketers and advertisement agencies has proved that verbs are much stronger than adjectives. Especially the ขcall to actionข verbs are so strong that could increase the response rate up to 700%! For example, use the verbs, boost, and explode instead of the word ขincreaseข. See how stronger they are?

7) Use auto responders not web pages.

Many people use on their mailings or other advertisement campaigns their web page mostly. That is big a mistake. The estimate shows that 30% max will subscribe from your web site. On the contrary if you promote your auto responder the percentage, goes from 80% to 100%! Of course, you can use both. It is effective too.

8) Too much info in the submit form.

This is another typical mistake. Some ezines require submitting more personal information such as: email, first and last name, area and other. The info you really need is the first name and the email. Many internet users consider any more than that as violation of their personal info. That means fewer subscribers for your ezine.

Copyright 2004 Christos Varsamis

About The Author

Christos Varsamis is an internet marketing consultant and the owner of the exclusive internetmarketing club http://www.internetmarketingsuccesstips.com. Get his knowledge at your desktop! Subscribe to [email protected].

This article was posted on October 26, 2004

by Christos Varsamis

A Magic Number for Writing Sales Letters

A Magic Number for Writing Sales Letters

by: Matthew Cobb

When I write sales letters for my clients, one rule I always start with is The Rule of 7.

I learned about The Rule of 7 from one of my good friends who once ran for political office. In his campaign, he made certain that his name appeared seven times in all of his radio spots.

Why? Because that’s generally the number of times required before a name ขmagicallyข sticks in the mind of a prospect. The Rule of 7 is often used in radio and television advertising. But this isn’t an isolated occurrence—the number seven seems to be a bit magical in other areas, like prospecting and linguistics.

Do you know the average number of times experts say you need to make contact with a prospect before they will be ready to commit?

Seven.

Can you guess how many times linguists say a person must use a word before it becomes a true part of their vocabulary?

That’s right—seven.

This ขmagicข is the reason I try to repeat my client’s product name or business name seven times in the sales letters I write for them.

The truth is, we’re not really talking about magic, here. It’s really about generating recognition for a name or a concept. It’s about embedding something in a prospect’s subconscious mind. It’s about branding. I use The Rule of 7 to write sales letters, but the idea can be applied to other areas of marketing, too.

Every person and every thing has an identity—and branding is about more than just a logo. A brand identity is about who you are, what you offer and the benefits of choosing you over the competition. The name you choose to operate under—whether your personal name, your business name, your product name, or your website address—is a link to all of that information. Repetition, which is what makes The Rule of 7 work, strengthens the recognition and recollection of your brand.

Now, all the ขexpertsข may come back later and say that ขsevenข isn’t the right number after all. It’s nine. Or it’s five. Or it’s eightpointthree. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? Seven works well as a general rule. (Besides, it is a lucky number.)

Of course, I know that fulfilling The Rule of 7 is no guarantee a prospect will accept an offer. But I know using the rule increases the chance that a prospect will see my name or the name of one of my websites and think, ขOh, yeah, I remember Seductive Sales Lettersข or ขI remember Matthew Cobb.ข Recognition and recollection—that’s what The Rule of 7 is all about.

One word of warning, though. Just because seven times is good doesn’t mean that seventy times is even better. Repeating the same name over and over again can grow annoying and cause prospects to quit reading. And then, you may not even be able to fulfill The Rule of 1.

About The Author

Matthew Cobb is an independent copywriter/consultant who operates Seductive Sales Letters. Visit SeductiveSalesLetters.com and sign up for the official monthly publication, The Seductive Sales Letter Clinic.

This article was posted on March 11, 2003

by Matthew Cobb

7 Great Ways To Lose Your Shirt Using Google Adwor

7 Great Ways To Lose Your Shirt Using Google Adwords!

by: Keith Thompson

Google Adwords is a great tool! Careful use can lead to legions of highly targeted visitors breaching the moat around your site, and demanding to pillage your products! On the other hand…
Adwords is also a great place to drain your advertising dollars if you’re not careful. Like any other automated system, it requires constant feeding and attention to keep you from wondering just why you spent hundreds of dollars and received a paltry return on your investment. Hereกs 7 great ways Iกve found to do just that, (and yes Iกve been guilty of several of these to one degree or another.)
1. Not getting enough keywords, and I don’t mean just numbers. Good ones. A lot of people run a search on their favorite keyword tool and pick the top ten or twenty words or phrases getting the most traffic, thinking somehow that THEY will beat all the others using these keywords. There is a reason why these keywords are so popular: everybody and their grandmother are bidding on them! A much better approach is to come up with at least a couple hundred, better a couple thousand words that you have a shot at getting a high ranking for. After all, if you have 1800 keywords and can get a top 8 (first page) position for most of them, youกll see a lot more clicks than you will chasing the top dollar words. If you get a hundred of the lower tier words giving you a couple of visitors a day, well, you do the math. Not only that, but often the less expensive words are altogether more specific, delivering far more targeted visitors.
2. Not creating adgroups. You should use this function! It can help you focus your advertising much more effectively. By arranging your keywords in tightly focused groups of 10 30 phrases, and writng a keywordspecific headline for each of them, you have a much greater ability to see whatกs working and whatกs not. Also gives you a chance to test different headlines and text copy.
3. No negative keywords. This you gotta do. And itกs so easy. Simply add free (or whatever else you don’t want associated with your searches) and you won’t end up paying for a lot of clicks for people who weren’t interested in the first place.
4. Using only broad keyword searches for their keywords. When you’re paying for this stuff, you want to be as specific as you can, particularly if you’re playing in a very competitive market. Why hope that a broad search will return someone interested in what you’re selling? Better to get as focused as you can on the words they may be searching for. Google helps you with this by giving you more information on the impressions and clickthroughs than you can handle, but be proactive, and prune the dead wood after 100 or so impressions. If they haven’t produced by then, the odds of them improving by leaps and bounds are not great.
5. Not testing and rotating your ads. Even a small change in a headline or ad text can make a HUGE difference! Particularly headlines. Your ad text won’t be read if the headline is boring or uninviting. Learn to write killer headlines, and do not be afraid to test and rotate your ads. Also don’t be shy about deleting ad groups if they’re not clicking through enough. Remember, youกve got a list of several hundred words; either these aren’t right or the headline/text need tweaking. Test, test, test!
6. Not using the content targeted feature wisely. This is a tricky one. Google, in itกs infinite wisdom, seeks out alternate avenues to show your ads, thus delivering substantially more clicks to your campaign. Trouble is, though, you have no control over this, and it IS your money. If you are attempting to run a tightly focused campaign on limited funds, this one is a potential budget buster. It can easily rack up a lot of clicks, but are they of worth to you? In my experience, the CTR is ALWAYS a lot lower. I guess it could make sense for large campaigns with a very popular product, but for the most part, youกll want to be very careful. Which leads me to my last, and most important dollardrainer of all.
7. Not having a GREAT sales page. This one is the hardest to fix, but without doubt the most important. All the clicks in the world won’t mean a thing if the sales page you’re sending your hardearned visitors to doesn’t get the job done. If itกs your product, thereกs hope! You can address these issues, and after testing and more testing, can correct and come up with a page thst sings! If you’re an affiliate, you might consider a separate landing page, where you might offer a sincere testimonial in an attempt to presell the product more effectively. (That is not a bad strategy even with a good sales page, as personal recomendations go a long way!)
There you have it. 7 Great ways to lose infinitely more than your shirt!

About The Author

Webmasters feel free to publish this article in its entirety in your ezine or site, so long as none of text or links are changed.
Get the latest and best in internet marketing tools and reviews at http://www.internetmarketinghere.com
Contact the author at: [email protected]

This article was posted on July 19, 2004

by Keith Thompson

7 Tips for Successful Postcard Marketing

7 Tips for Successful Postcard Marketing

by: Bob Leduc

Simple lowcost postcards have become a valuable business tool for modern marketers. They can produce a surge of traffic to your web site or a flood of highquality sales leads.

The following 7 tips will help you get the maximum response from postcards at the lowest cost.

Tip 1: Focus on the Mailing List

Make sure your postcards go to prospects likely to be interested in your offer …and who also have a proven history of acting on offers that interest them.

For example, send them to customers of noncompeting businesses that sell to your targeted market, subscribers to publications read by prospects in your targeted market or to prospects who previously requested information about products or services similar to those you offer.

You can get all of these lists from most mailing list brokers.

Tip 2: Be a Friend

Set up your postcard to look at first glance like a message from a friend instead of like a magazine ad printed on a postcard. It will boost the number of replies you get.

A postcard that looks like a friendly message produces a pleasant emotional reaction from readers instead of the harsh emotional reaction most people have to advertising.

Tip 3: Ditch the Sales Pitch

Don’t try to close sales directly from your postcard. You don’t have enough space to provide all the information most prospects need to make a buying decision. Instead, use your postcard to generate sales inquiries.

Begin your postcard by briefly stating the major benefit(s) you offer. Then use the remainder of your postcard to motivate readers to get more information from a source where you can close sales …such as at your web site or from a phone number they can call.

Tip 4: Get Right to the Point

Postcards are delivered ‘ready to readก. Take advantage of this. Get right to the point to capture the readerกs attention immediately. This makes it difficult for prospects to avoid reading your postcard especially if your entire message is brief and easy to read.

Tip 5: Go First Class

Send your postcards by First Class Mail. It costs only 23 cents in the US if make them at least 3 1/2 by 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 by 6 inches.

This gives you all the benefits of First Class Mail for just a few cents more than Standard Mail (กbulk rate mailก) …and it produces a lot more replies.

Tip 6: Watch Your Timing

Send your postcards so they arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. The volume of mail delivered in the US on those days is usually light and your postcards won’t have to compete with a lot of other mail delivered at the same time.

Try to avoid having your postcards delivered on Monday. Itกs usually the biggest mail delivery day of the week and a very busy day for most people.

Tip 7: Economize on Designing and Printing

Don’t spend a lot to design and print your postcards. Using an elegant layout with colorful graphics can be expensive and it rarely improves your reply rate unless you are selling those services.

Simple postcards designed to look like a message from a friend can be printed on your own computer for only 1 or 2 cents per card …or you can have a commercial printer do the job for as little as 4 to 7 cents per card.

The next time you want to drive a surge of traffic to your web site or generate a flood of new sales leads send postcards. And be sure to follow the 7 tips revealed in this article to get the maximum response to your postcards for the lowest cost.

Copyright 2005 Bob Leduc

http://BobLeduc.com

About The Author

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. Youกll find his lowcost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 7026581707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

This article was posted on January 18

by Bob Leduc

7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networkin

7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking Power

by: Debbie Jenkins

CARD SHARK

7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking Power

The humble business card has been a mainstay of business and industry for years. But despite itกs small size and cost, itกs one of the most powerful marketing tools you will ever possess. Because of itกs low cost many people take the business card for granted and don’t even think of the effect it can have on their networking and sales success. Here are a few tips for making your card do the business for you…

Card Tricks

Your business card can perform many different promotional jobs and usually all at once. I call these little jobs ขCard Tricksข because they work like magic.

All you need to do is be aware of what you want the end effect to be and then set your business card up to work the magic for you.

Here are 7 Card Trick ideas:

Get a Most Wanted Response (MWR)

Get Read (Break The Ice)

Get Kept (And Referred To)

Get Passed On

Qualify/Disqualify Prospects

Sell Stuff

Make You A Celebrity

1. Get A Most Wanted Response

This is the action you want your new contact to take next as a result of your communication. In this case it’s your business card that provides the communication.

You are responsible for the outcome of your communication so it goes without saying that you must have a clear outcome in mind to make the most effective use of your business card. If you don’t create a business card with a clear idea of what you’re expecting as an outcome then you can’t expect to generate a consistent response. Your networking will be hit and miss and you’ll miss more opportunities than you deserve to.

Although your eventual goal will be to get someone to buy, buy again and then tell all their friends your first MWR when networking will rarely be ขbuy my serviceข straight away. You may want your prospect to give you permission to follow up first or to book a meeting or request more information. These types of response all build the relationship and make your final goal much easier to achieve.

A good first response is to create curiosity and then follow it up with a specific action… Consider the following ideas:

Make Them Visit Your Website And Leave Contact Details By… offering a FREEBIE on the back of your card. You could handwrite the URL (website address) each time you hand one out for that extra personal touch.

Get Them To Set Up A Meeting Immediately By… offering a FREE consultation and providing an appointment reminder form on the back of your card which you fill in as you’re talking to them.

Get Them To Call You As Soon As They Return To Work By… suggesting you have a secret FREE report and repeating your phone number nice and big on the back. You could give them a password or phrase to say when they call to be told more. People love to learn secrets, don’t you?

All along you should be looking to build your credibility and their level of trust. Your business card isn’t 100% responsible for this process but if it’s wrong you’ll be causing yourself unnecessary problems.

2. Get Read (break the ice)

3. Get Kept (And Referred To)

4. Get Passed On

5. Qualify/Disqualify Prospects

Be explicit about what you do, for whom and in what situation. This will help your card to do the difficult job of separating the wheat from the chaff, in terms of people you’d like to do business with.

A strong, targeted message on your business card will free your phone line up for enquiries from inspired, interested and applicable prospects. People who don’t fit your target will then know not to waste your time or theirs, and if they like you they can pass your details on to people who are right.

6. Sell Stuff

7. Make YOU A Celebrity

A key goal when networking is to stand out and be recognised. When people know your face and know what you can do for whom, introductions and positive gossip will become rampant.

The problem is, people in general, aren’t very good at putting names to faces until they’ve met you a few times. If you want everyone to know your name and to say, ขThere’s Mr/Mrs Xข when you enter a room then here’s a really easy trick…

Put a photo of yourself on your card. Maybe even use up the whole of one side and include a link to a FREEBIE or a quote with it.

Then if you frequent the same networking groups and events often enough, your name will go before you.

It’s also a great icebreaker and gets people to take a second look.

Some people believe that a picture could put people off who judge by appearances (ie too young, too old, don’t like the colour of that sweater etc). My question is… Do you want clients who make such assumptions in the first place? If not then fine. If you do then this might not work for you.

Did you want tricks 2, 3, 4 & 6 too? If you want all the top 7 Tricks plus loads of other ideas, including examples of real business cards and a business card makeover, then you can have them for free by going to www.leanmarketing.co.uk/cardshark

Speak Soon

กDangerousก Debbie Jenkins

About The Author

กDangerousก Debbie Jenkins is an author and speaker who takes no prisoners with her, explosive and scathing attacks on the greedy and lazy textbook marketers whoกve never spent a penny of their own money on marketing in their life. See why sheกs mad and กDetox your Marketingก at… http://www.debbiejenkins.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 27, 2004

by Debbie Jenkins

7 Things You Must Do If You Want To Increase Your

7 Things You Must Do If You Want To Increase Your Traffic

by: Jo Han Mok

Gary Halbert once said that the ONLY advantage he wanted when it came to selling burgers was not a better sauce, or better grade of beef, but a STARVING CROWD.

Itกs a simple concept, but not many people get it.

#1. Find and Know Your Starving Crowd

You can have the greatest product in the world, but still sell squat if no one wants to buy your product. Who are your potential buyers? Do you know them like the back of your hand? KNOW your buyers. Head down to http://www.Overture.com, type in your keywords and take furious notes!

#2. Power Position Yourself

Understand that people online are looking for information. They don’t want information from just anyone. They want good, solid information from people who have been there, done that. If you can provide valuable advice to your prospects, you can be sure that theyกll begin to trust you and develop a RELATIONSHIP with you. And just how do you position yourself as an expert? Easy, Become one.

Once you develop a reputation as an expert, the traffic will come in flocks. People NEED help. Help from experts. Are you an expert? : )

#3. Create an Epidemic

Imagine this. What if you could get a super salesman to spend 24 hours everyday, 7 days every week, 52 weeks every year, for the rest of your life… a salesman who never gets sick or tired and all he does is direct hordes and hordes of targeted traffic to your site?

Don’t even try to estimate the astounding value someone like this would bring to your business.

It is possible, and itกs called viral marketing. Itกs the most powerful concept on the Internet. Many have tried using it and many have failed miserably.

People have this misconception that as long as they have an ebook that is กbrandableก, it constitutes a viral marketing campaign.

They are dead wrong.

#4. Steal Traffic from Someone Else

Got you. Of course, there are ethical ways to do that. The most powerful way, is through a JV or Joint Venture. A JV does not mean shooting an email to someone in your field of high repute saying กHey, wanna do business with me?ก

You’re in for a big disappointment if you think thatกs gonna work. Your potential JV partner is a human as well, and chances are, he/she is a SOMEBODY in your field. So make your JV proposal as benefit laden, and กhands freeก for your potential partner as possible. Recognize your JV partnerกs accomplishments, be generous with your praise and above all, be sincere.

But never be afraid to ASK. If you don’t ASK, you will never GET.

#5. Become A Marketing PI

Hereกs Industrial Espionage 101. The magic word?

Forums.

Forums will show you exactly what your target market is unhappy about and the problems they have. Lurk around forums. LISTEN. Forget about YOUR problems and listen to other peopleกs problems. Solve those problems. I guarantee youกll become rich. Zig Ziglar said, the way to achieve success is to help others get what they want.

#6. Expired Domains Do More Than Expire

You can always use expired domain names as a great source of traffic. Search the expired domain databases, look on EBay. Some web hosts now allow multiple domains to park on a single account. Take advantage of that.

#7. Transform Words into Traffic

Articles are the best ‘traffic Machinesก that work for ANYONE no matter what product, service, or information they’re selling.

You get 100% targeted traffic, FREE! And, they position you as an expert, and improve your link popularity. Plus, articles are really easy to write as well.

If you have never written an article, go try writing one NOW!

All 7 steps above seem really easy. Itกs one thing to read and go กahhก and another thing to read those steps and actually take solid action. Nothing will happen until you take action. No action equals no traffic, equals no sales, equals no money to pay the rent.

Copyright 2004 Jo Han Mok

About The Author

Jo Han Mok is a frequent guest and featured speaker at Internet Marketing bootcamps and conferences on subjects such as copywriting and Joint Venture Marketing. Find out how Jo Hanกs latest web tool can help you get laser targeted traffic in the next 7 minutes!

==> http://www.InstantVisitorSurge.com

This article was posted on March 14, 2004

by Jo Han Mok

Your Own eBook in 7 Days

Your Own eBook in 7 Days

by: Michael Southon

Review: How To Write and Publish Your Own eBook in as little as 7 Days

Reviewed by Michael Southon

How To Write and Publish Your Own eBook in as little as 7 Days by Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale exe format, 208 pages

I was intrigued by the title of this book writing an eBook in 7 days? But thatกs exactly what Jim Edwards and Joe Vitale show you how to do.

However, your eBook doesn’t have to be 100 pages. In fact, Joe Vitaleกs best selling eBook ‘turbo Charge Your Writingก is only 22 pages (and 2 of those pages are order forms). And the authors give the example of someone who wrote a book just 7 pages long that sells for between $30 and $50. The fact is that people are swamped with information. So the shorter your book, the better.

Vitale and Edwards both have impressive track records in online publishing. Joe Vitale (also known as กMr. Fireก) is something of a legend in the world of marketing. He has written over 12 successful books and has helped more than 200 authors to write, publish and promote their books.

Jim Edwards writes a syndicated newspaper column called กNetReporter.comก and is a frequent guest speaker at national conferences on topics such as search engine traffic generation and กshoestringก online marketing. Heกs also the author of ก33 Days To Online Profitsก and ‘the Lazy Manกs Guide To Online Businessก.

If you’re like many aspiring authors, you may have the urge to write your book first and then find out if thereกs a market for it. But as Edwards and Vitale point out, thatกs a formula for eBook failure.

In chapter 2 (กSetting Yourself Up for Successก) the authors show you how to identify your niche market, how to analyze their wants, needs and problems, and how to write a book that satisfies those wants, needs and problems.

Don’t skip this chapter it provides very detailed techniques for using keyword research to find out exactly who your target audience is and where you will find them on the Internet.

The authorsก program for writing your eBook in seven days contains some useful techniques for getting your creative juices flowing and getting your words down on paper writing your material as a letter to a friend, and writing your sales copy first.

The chapter on กFormatting Your eBook Textก contains some valuable tips, such as breaking up your text with bullets and headers. Your readers will thank you for it one of the keys to avoiding credit card charge backs is to make it easy for your readers to absorb your information.

Chapter 10 (กHow To Make Money with your eBookก) gives you some tried and tested formulas for turning your eBook into profits, such as selling the reprint rights and กback loadingก your eBook with your own affiliate links, joint ventures and affiliate programs.

The book also contains interviews with eight successful eBook authors, including Yanik Silver, Rick Beneteau, and Jay Conrad Levinson.

The interview with Yanik Silver is worth reading very carefully. He reveals how he made tens of thousands of dollars by setting up 3 separate profit streams in the same eBook: reprint rights, his own affiliate links and customization fees.

If you want to create your own information product, this book is definitely worth reading youกll find out that itกs easier than you think. You can get your copy of กHow To Write and Publish Your Own eBook in as little as 7 Daysก at:

http://www.freezineweb.com/7daybook.html

(c) 2002 by Michael Southon

About The Author

Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this simple technique to get massive free publicity and dramatically increase traffic and sales. Click here to find out more: http://www.ezinewriter.com

This article was posted on July 30, 2002

by Michael Southon