Five of the Most Powerful Elements Anyone Can Use

Five of the Most Powerful Elements Anyone Can Use To Grow a Highly Responsive List

by: Laurence Baker

Lack of trust is the biggest problem marketers have on the internet, or better yet, the biggest opportunity.

The power in this lies in the fact that affiliate programs have given us easy access to a huge variety of products and services that we can present to potential buyers, opening up an endless number of possibilities.

And really, you’re not limited to affiliate products. Many businesses would be happy to compensate you for bringing them sales.

But too many people have no reason to believe that out of the multitude of marketing messages they see every day, yours is one they need to pay attention to. You have to provide them with something they’d have a hard time finding elsewhere.

Usually, the easiest, most effective, and most permanent way to first is to earn their trust that something theyกd have a hard time finding elsewhere.

Here’s the key thing you must remember…

Your readers can only benefit from you and you can only benefit from them to the extent that they can trust you!

These days, not many marketers handle this well. Not because they don’t know enough, or don’t have certain skills, itกs just that, their focus is in the wrong areas.

That’s where you come in. You can grab an early advantage, but marketers will always adapt. It’s part of the process. And when they do adapt, it won’t be as easy to stand out anymore.

Not only that, but the ones who don’t take advantage of this aren’t likely to survive. So the sooner you take advantage of this, the better.

Everyon(e) has the ability to earn trust, that is, if they’re worthy of it. By following these tips, you’ll put yourself in a position of influence with your subscribers… and that’s a powerful thing!

1) Keep your focus as narrow as it has to be for you to bring the most value. In other words, focus on those areas where you have something unique to contribute. What your readers will probably read elsewhere… let them read elsewhere.

2) Find ways to over deliver, exceeding people’s expectations. This creates the element of surprise. People will tend to remember this, and by association you. That means better recognition and more influence – a recipe guaranteed to make sales.

3) Make your subscribers feel like they know you. By doing this, you make it much easier for them to trust you. It’s like adding a third dimension to your marketing. It helps to complete the picture. And no matter how many people you write to, always use a personal, one on one type of style. It should sound like you’re talking directly to them.

Let yourself show through in your marketing, including your opinions, insights, stories, humor, etc. and your intentions will show through, whatever they might be. If that’s a bad thing, then you’re reading the wrong article.

4) Don’t try to please everyon(e). This is the biggest mistake you can make. You’ll forfeit anything interesting or unique about your marketing if you do this. In other words, you lose your edge and your marketing becomes ineffective. Don’t worry about the subscribers that drop off. You’re better off connecting with a smaller group on a deeper level.

5) Through your actions, you have to demonstrate to your subscribers that you don’t sacrifice their best interests in the name of profit. Become their trusted advisor. Do what you can to steer them in a direction that’s right for them, as individuals. Educate them to be able to make better decisions on their own.

These are powerful elements, and yet most marketers make compromises or loose sight of them because they see them as a conflict of interest with other profit seeking motives. The problem is, these things will lose their power when any one of them has been compromised. And earning the trust of your subscribers is never a conflict of interest.

The benefits of a responsive list are tremendous. To start with, youกll make more sales with more profit in each sale. Then, wordofmouth marketing, always the most effective method, becomes easy, and even more effective. You also put yourself in a position to sell bigger ticket items. Translation a lot more money from a lot less effort.

If you have a passion for or enjoy learning about the things that your market values, then developing the kinds of relationships you need to make these sales won’t seem like work at all.

All the while, you’ll be growing and becoming more influential.

All of these things will work together to build your influence at an exponential rate, and your incom(e) is sure to follow. Essentially, if you use your power wisely, you’ll continue to have more of it in the future.

And that’s for the long run, because these relationships will still be there no matter what might happen with your business in the future. In fact, these relationships really ARE your business.

Copyright 2004 Laurence Baker

About The Author

Laurence Baker is the author of ‘relationships: The Master Key to Success,ก presenting a solution to the biggest obstacle in making more sales on the internet a lack of trust. To download a FRE(E) copy, visit http://www.netmarkhome.com/sya1

This article was posted on December 31, 2004

by Laurence Baker

Do You Have The Courage To Ignore The Experts?

Do You Have The Courage To Ignore The Experts?

by: Graham and Julie

Do you have the courage to ignore the experts? Do you have the willingness and ability to understand and use the power that is within you? Courage is that state of mind when you do something that you know is right for you and your loved ones and the rest of the world thinks you’re mad. The ability to make the decision and then make it happen. Courage is not progressing through life with gay abandon, ignoring all the fears. Quite the contrary. Courage is an understanding of fear. An understanding of what to fear and what not to fear. Courage is the ability to challenge what is deemed to be common sense.

The world will constantly knock the courageous because they want mediocrity. They want mediocre players and people. People who don’t rock the boat. People who do what they are told. People who willingly stay within the rules even though they know they are causing harm to others.

Pause for a moment. Just think . Does it take courage to make the latest technology go faster, make it bigger, more complex than the last edition? Does it take courage to add to what already exists? For us, courage is shown by those who fight for something new. Follow their dream and see the benefit of going in the opposite direction.

The question is do you have the courage to do what you want? To touch your potential. Do you have the courage to speak out for what you believe in? Do you have the courage to go for it? Remember when you were a child. Were you curious? Were you a risk taker then? No doubt you had lots of courage when you were a child. You did many things based on a focus and no evidence. As a child no doubt you trusted the processes of life. So what’s different now?

If you are now feeling a huge resistance to going forward to naming your aim and objective, to realising your potential. Don’t worry it’s normal. The resistance is a normal way of moving forward. It’s your natural brake that is saying hang on a minute lets have another look at this. Every time you meet resistance within yourself or others it means you are growing because only as you start to think and state something outside your box do you encounter opposition. So don’t be discouraged and write yourself off. Stay with it.

You see, the feeling of fear and not following your beliefs was no doubt planted in your childhood. The time when you were told that you ought to value money. That you ought to save. You need to be careful, you need to have heroes and follow others. Perhaps instead we should have been taught to respect money but to be generous with it rather than be thrifty. Perhaps we should have been taught to go for our dreams rather than settle for security. As Andrea Dworkin, the feminist and civil rights activist, stated in one of her speeches:

By the time we are women, fear is as familiar to us as air. It is our element. We live in it, we inhale it, we exhale it, and most of the time we do not even notice it.

We think it applies to men as well as women. Well at least Graham says it applies to him. Every time he thinks of stepping out of his box, fear is present.

So there isn’t a fearless state. We just have to accept it and carry on. What is that phrase? ขFeel the fear and do it anywayข. Start by looking at your aim and objective. What is your aim? Do you have one? Is it a general I want to earn $50,000 a year or is it more focussed on an activity. For example, I want to tap into, understand and use the power that is within me. I want to assist others to do the same. All you need is an aim and the willingness, the courage to make effort to implement it.

Once you have your aim the hard work really starts. Now it’s time to practice, practice, practice. To read all you can around your subject. To buy all the books that will help you. Go on courses that will help. Meet successful people in the sphere of your chosen aim. Pick everyone’s brain. Whatever needs to be done to reach your aim.

Don’t worry about your capabilities they will come. If you have chosen the aim from your heart, from your subconscious then the capabilities will follow. How do you know your aim is chosen from your subconscious? Because you have no doubts about it. It feels comfortable. More than that it makes you get up in the morning.

As they say, the journey begins with a first step. Now; do you have the courage to take it? Do you have the courage to ignore the experts and do what you really want to do in the world?

It’s up to you.

Courage charms us, because it indicates that a man loves an idea better than all things in the world,

that he is thinking neither of his bed,

nor his dinner, nor his money, but will venture all to

put in action the invisible thought of his mind.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 1882)

Good Luck

Graham and Julie

www.desktopmeditation.com

About The Author

Graham and Julie

To see more of our work please go to: www.desktopmeditation.com

graham@desktopmeditation.com

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by Graham and Julie

Get High Quality Traffic by Writing Articles

Get High Quality Traffic by Writing Articles

by: Mario Sanchez

One of the best ways to promote your website is by writing articles that you can post in ezines, and sites that provide free content to ezine publishers. This will help you develop credibility and, with time, build a solid customer base. There are a few things to take into account to maximize the effectiveness of this sometimes overlooked marketing technique:

Your article should be short and to the point. It must act as a free sample that entices your reader to go to your website for more.

To maximize its effectiveness, you should present it as a tip, a solution to a problem.

Write in easy to understand ขlayman’sข terms.

Whenever possible, write from personal experience. People love to hear other people’s experiences (how did they do it?). This approach also tends to hold their attention longer.

Be extracareful to avoid spelling and grammatical errors. They will make you loose credibility.

Don’t make your article sound like a sales pitch; offer honest, valueadding advice.

Don’t include links to your affiliate programs in the body of your article. It will make your advice seem biased.

Finally, don’t forget the most important part: always include a resource box at the end of your article. A resource box is a small paragraph (no longer than six lines) with your name, the name of your business, a short tagline, and that allimportant link to your website. If your readers like your article, they will follow your link and you will be getting instant, high quality traffic to your site.

About The Author

Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest (http://www.theinternetdigest.net) a website and newsletter that gives you free advice on web design and Internet marketing.

This article was posted on June 10, 2003

by Mario Sanchez

How To Beat The HomeBased Burnout Blues

How To Beat The HomeBased Burnout Blues

by: Mary Rosendale

I went to visit a friend who had quit the corporate world to start his own artbased business. This was a guy who wore, if not a suit, at least a tie and jacket to work every day for a decade. All the curtains in his house were drawn and his bed was littered with color samples, catalogs and all the assorted detritus of a homebased business. With his unshaven face and sunken eyes, he bore a frightening resemblance to Tom Hanks in ขCastawayข. He leaned over and, with a wild glint in his eye, whispered ขI haven’t taken a shower in three days.ข That close to him it wasn’t difficult to believe but I couldn’t figure out why he felt the need to tell me.

A couple of years later I got it when I too had swapped working for the man for the pleasantly unstructured life of a homebased entrepreneur. I was on my way to a Networking luncheon and slipped some dress shoes on only to find that my feet had apparently grown two sizes. My sneakers and my fluffy slippers fit just fine but they didn’t go with my little black suit. I understood then that his confession had been more than a need to share his personal hygiene issues with me. He felt compelled to share the horror of what he was becoming.

At some point every back bedroom entrepreneur has an epiphany that they might be a little too far gone along the doityourself continuum. For me it was the shoes. For my friend it was the orange water pouring out of his groaning shower head when he finally found a reason to shower.

If you’re just starting out with a homebased business and still euphoric over getting to conduct business in your pj’s or being able to take a Judge Judy break – be aware that there is a dark side. One day you, too, will run slap up against a moment of clarity when you see your formerly civilized life slipping away from you and realize that you may have taken the ball and run with it just a little too far.

It’s a tricky thing to get the balance just right. There’s so much to do in setting up and maintaining a business. And, mindful of the fact that 80% of all small businesses fail in the first year, you’re probably anxious to do as much as you can as fast as you can in order to start bringing home the goods. There are several balances to be worked out – all of them tricky. When do you outsource and when do you do it yourself? How much can you work and still have a life and a family at the end of it? What do you absolutely have to do first and what can wait? There are many excellent books and articles on what to do to set up your business. This isn’t one of them. This is about how to be as you do those things. How to be kind to yourself; available to your family and friends and enjoy life even amid the uncertainty and stress of creating your dream from scratch. How to profit the whole world and keep your soul.

So here are a couple of tips to keep you present and focused. Some are practical; some more touchyfeely. All of them useful. Six things you can do to avoid singing the HomeBased Burnout Blues.

1.Find your Purpose. This may sound pretty basic but it’s so basic many people don’t do it. Your Purpose is not the same as your goal. Your goal is what you want to do; your Purpose is why you want to do it. Your Purpose is larger and inclusive of all aspects of your life. Why do you want to do what you want to do? Why are you uniquely qualified to do it? If you don’t know this and can’t explain it to yourself how are you going to be able to market yourself? (Are you still laboring under the illusion that you won’t have to market yourself?) Your goal may be to sell $200,000 of widgets this year. But your Purpose may be to sell $200,000 of a fine quality product with such integrity and appreciation for your customers that they will provide you with return business which will in turn provide for a good living for you and your family. Once you find your Purpose write and post it everywhere. Stuff it in your sock drawer so it’ll surprise you when you least expect it. Definitely stick it on your TV. Read it every day. Don’t lose your Purpose in the minutiae of daily tasks. Don’t go unconscious to it. Everything you do is a structure to either move you towards it or away from it. Ask yourself periodically. Am I in line with my Purpose? Is playing with your kids in line with Purpose? Sure, if it keeps you sane and healthy and nourishes your family. Is watching back to back episodes of Cops in line with your Purpose? Probably not if you slump on the couch and come to three hours later wondering where the time went.

There’s an old Buddhist saying: ขIf you seek enlightenment do not waste your time by day or by night.ข Switch success for enlightenment and you’ve got a pretty good mantra for business. But if you’ve been working your rear off and you decide that some mindless TV is just what the doctor ordered to rest your brain and give you a rare treat then vegging on the couch may actually be in line with your Purpose. It’s really about whether you choose the couch or the couch chooses you.

2. Once you find your Purpose plot a road map to it. My husband and I once took a road trip which went through 8 beautiful Western states including Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah . I had exactly two weeks of vacation and knew when I could leave and when I had to be back. In order to get back in time we had to budget a certain minimum amount of travel time per day and there were things we wanted to do along the way. We went to AAA and, with maps of all the states we’d pass through, we plotted the best route. We also scheduled in time for detours and hiking and just lolling around. It was a great trip. Had we just set out on the fly without a plan we could have ended up stressed out hundreds of miles away from home the day before we were due back or we could have zipped through some beautiful scenery and found ourselves with time to spare in Vegas. Not an appealing possibility.

So plan the best route to your Purpose. Take your day planner or a long sheet of paper and break your day up into appointment blocks. Two hour increments work great. These appointments are not negotiable so be on time and ready to go. Make appointments with yourself to do the tasks you have prioritized. While you’re at it make appointments to clean house, do yoga and walk the dog. Write them down. Otherwise time will seduce you. These are contracts with yourself and you need to keep them with as much integrity as you’d keep any contracts with clients. No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the more you like doing it the more structure you need surrounding it. We all like to do pleasant things that we’re good at. But they may not be what needs to be done right now. Have definite starting and ending times for your day. Make yourself an appointment for something active every few hours so you’re not sitting on the phone or computer for 12 hours straight. If you have a problem with forgetting to eat or drink enough water – schedule those too. I might schedule two hours of writing on my articles then a half hour appointment to clean the kitchen which would stretch me and get my circulation moving (and get the kitchen cleaned!). Back to the computer for answering emails and client paperwork and bookkeeping. Another hour scheduled for a quick lunch and walk in the park with the dog. Client phone sessions would be scheduled with ten minute breaks in between. Finish work at 6 PM. I could easily work until 11 PM and have done many times. But that’s not healthy and not sustainable especially as I share my life and home with others. My particular Purpose includes having the energy and peace of mind to enjoy the results of all my hard work at the end of the day.

3.Put it in writing. Put what in writing, you ask? Everything. Purpose. Ideas. Outlines. Lists. Deadlines. Goals. Studies show, by the way, that only 3% of us write down our goals. But of the 3% of entrepreneurs who do write down their goals a stunning 97% achieve them. Get this stuff out of your head and onto paper. Make it real. You’ll save energy because you won’t have to worry about forgetting things or keeping track of ideas. So find a system and run with it. Get a Daily Planner. Don’t forget to write down your Mission statement, Vision statement and Business and Marketing Plans. Look at them weekly.

4.Value yourself. Figure out your hourly rate and factor that in to every decision you make. I mean every decision. It’s great to be able to build your own website. You can save a bundle if you’re already computersavvy and there are many excellent softwares which will help you. I made my first with a program I got from my website host. I put $14.95 on my credit card, downloaded it and within minutes was working on my site. I did it myself and it looked decent. But it took me close to six weeks. I wasn’t working on it fulltime but when I wasn’t I was thinking about it. It was a lot of fun and a major distraction. There was a learning curve so I first had to learn the software then implement it. I knew nothing about color or fonts or placement or keywords or metatags. I lost time that I should have been using for marketing and in the end the whole exercise was more a character building exercise than a website building exercise. I survived and so did my site. But had I added up all the hours I worked on it (including the ขhiddenข hours when I got up at 3 AM to fiddle with it) and paid myself I probably didn’t save any money and I would have gotten a more professional looking site with a designer. When you decide whether to do something yourself or outsource it be sure to also factor in the time it takes to learn the software. This can be substantial. Add up the missed marketing and promotional opportunities and add in the stress and aggravation factor. If you want to outsource design work try a community bulletin board like Craigslist.org ( a stomping ground for many unemployed web designers). There’s now a Craigslist in pretty much every major city. Remember, too, that you don’t need to even have a web designer living in your home state unless you plan on suing them over the end product. elance.com. is also great for home entrepreneurs. You can post your project online and receive bids from vendors. Check out their portfolios; interview them and go with the right one. If you’re good with graphics and hellbent on designing your site and cards, letterheads etc. yourself set a deadline and stick to it. When I was starting out I figured out my hourly rate was about $75.00. I got in the habit of calculating how long it would take me to do something; learn the software and experiment by trial and error. I tried to factor in the frustration factor to me and the lost time to my family and other areas of my life. If I could hire a professional to do it for less I farmed it out.

5.Which brings us to money. Don’t get caught in the ขI can’t afford itข trap. You may not have much money to spend but everyone has a little. Allocate it wisely. You have to spend money to make money. Maybe this is a Universal law because it thins the herd right at the outset. If you don’t invest in yourself why should anyone else? Most of us have an ego mind which has mixed feelings about our success. One way to put a tripwire in front of what should be our stunning rush to success is to tell ourselves we can’t afford to do what we know we need to do. Then it’s not our fault if we don’t make it. We didn’t make the cut because we didn’t have the money to start our business right not because we were afraid or unwilling to risk.

If you don’t have the money to pay for something – barter it or ask for terms. Get a credit card and use it specifically for startup expenses. Getting into a little debt isn’t so terrible. If you have equity on your house take out a home equity loan or refinance it. Talk to a relative and ask them to swing you a shortterm loan. There are many organizations out there which will loan to small businesses with a Business Plan. (You do have a Business Plan, don’t you?) Try Charo. The SBA is also a great resource. Come from a place of abundance (hope) and not scarcity (fear). Assume and believe in your success. Then take the steps you need to take to be successful. There are certain elemental things you’ll need for startup. Website. Business cards. Phone line. Make a list of bare necessities and find a way to pay for them. Don’t buy or invest in anything else no matter how interesting or fun it might be until you’ve covered the basics.

6.Build a team and a support system. A one man band can usually play many instruments passably but none of them well. Find out what you do well and get help with the rest. Even if it’s only online. Find people you can network with locally. There’s probably a professional organization you can join. If not – join Toastmasters or your local Chamber of Commerce. Ask for help. Get a Coach. If funds are tight do a Google search for Training institutions for Coaches. Contact them and say you would like some pro bono coaching and ask to be put in touch with a student Coach. Most Coaches starting out need all the experience they can get and it’s difficult getting people to pay you when you don’t have a track record. In addition, if Coaches are going to go for ICF certification they need a ridiculous amount of verifiable Coaching hours to qualify. If you’re persistent you should easily find a Coach who will offer pro bono or at least a substantial sliding scale discount.

Get out of the house and rub shoulders with people who are doing what you’re doing. Ask for feedback. Do you know how many people would like to help you to succeed? Do you know how good it feels to give support to someone struggling to make something of their lives? Give your friends, and even strangers, this opportunity. Find someone you admire in your field and write or call them. Tell them you would like to be where they are. Ask if they have any words of advice. If they respond be sure to send them a thankyou letter. Then followup and let them know how their advice has helped you. Don’t fall into limiting belief scripts that they wouldn’t be interested; you’re bothering them etc. Don’t make their decisions for them. Think how you’d feel if your expertise helped someone and they took the time to thank you. You breathe the same air as your mentors.

Finally, when you hit a roadblock be kind to yourself. Setbacks can hurt. Faith in anything, God, ourselves, the future is a solitary pursuit. Keep in mind that every moment is a fresh one and carries within it the seeds of tremendous fortune and change. The next contact you make could turn your life around.

Your life isn’t wallpaper to your daily grind. It goes on whether you pay attention to it or not. Might as well be aware and alive to all possibilities. Best to stay awake if you want to reach your dreams.

About The Author

Mary Rosendale is the proud mama of The Constructed Life. A unique Holistic Coaching service rooted in Buddhist psychology and ideal for the busy, overwhelmed Western mind. Sheกll work with anyone with a pulse but particulalry loves working with women in transition; entrepreneurs and people living with ADHD or BiPolar. Design and Build the Life You Want.

http://www.TheConstructedLife.com

MR@TheConstructedLife.com

This article was posted on February 18, 2005

by Mary Rosendale

Should You Quit Your Job for Your Dream?

Should You Quit Your Job for Your Dream?

by: Suzanne FalterBarns

The next time you’re moodily sitting in your office, wishing you were living your dream instead, answer the following questions… or answer them now! They’ll give you a sense of whether or not now’s the time to make the break.

My job is making me crazy; so crazy I’d do anything to quit.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

If I left my job for my dream, I’m not sure what I’d do first, or even how I’d begin it.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

My boss runs my life … or ruins it. I feel completely misunderstood and trapped by this job. I don’t even know if I could quit – how would I survive? Who would even hire me?

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

I hate this job but I really need the money. I don’t see any other viable alternative.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

If I stay at my work just a little longer, I stand a good chance of getting a promotion and a raise. Then I could find my way clear to saving a little money for my dream.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

5. Yeah, I could quit my job for my dream, but I could run off to Tahiti, too. That’s way too much risk for my taste.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

My spouse/partner is okay with the thought of me quitting my job for my dream. We’ve talked it through and he/she sees it as the next thing I need to do.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

My spouse/partner fully understands what life will be like when I make the leap to begin my dream. He/she will be there for me, emotionally and even financially if necessary.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

I have a business plan for my dream all organized and ready to go. I’ve even scoped out sources for capital, and necessary space and materials to get to work.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

I have a savings account for my dream with enough to get started, plus an emergency savings account worth 6 months of my general living expenses. I’ve also scoped out alternatives to my current health care and insurance.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

10. I’ve been developing a systematic plan for leaving my job for a while now… I feel I’m almost ready to go.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

11. I have an adequate support system in place to really help me move ahead with my dream. It includes good friends and advisors, adequate child or elder care, a supportive spouse, and even a coach or mentor.

Highly agree

Mildly agree

Don’t really agree

Strongly disagree

If you answered mostly a) and b) to questions 14, you’re stuck. Your job has forced you to forget about essential pieces of yourself – it’s time to get some career coaching now.

If you answered mostly a) and b) to questions 5 & 6, you’re a borderline case. You haven’t yet decided whether your dream is all that important to the quality of your life. Just an experiment, you might want to sit with a blank piece of paper and really brainstorm what it would be like to live your dream.

If you answered mostly a) and b) to questions 711… what are you waiting for? You’ve got a plan, you’ve set up the necessary support and you’re good to go; you should be able to weather the inevitable ups and downs. Be sure to allow your company enough notice to make the transition smoothly, so you can leave with glowing reviews. Congratulations!

Copyright 2004 Suzanne FalterBarns

About The Author

Suzanne FalterBarns is an expert on creativity, and the author of two best sellers on creativity. Her website, howmuchjoy.com, and her ezine, The Joy Letter, have been featured in SELF, Fitness, ivillage, cybergrrl, and on msn.com among others. To learn more about finding the time, money and energy to live your dream, check out our free ezine, The Joy Letter, at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html

This article was posted on March 23, 2004

by Suzanne FalterBarns

Printers

Printers

by: John Gibb

Do you feel overwhelmed when buying a computer or a new printer?

You are not alone. With so many products to choose from I know exactly how you feel. The best approach when buying a computer related product is to educate your self. This way you are making your own decisions from your own selfjudgment. That’s go to be more powerful than listening to a sales guy, who is more concerned about getting commission than you the customer, obtaining the right product for your needs. How do you educate yourself? Start of slowly, most people don’t want to become experts, they just want a computer or printer to do what is expected. Learn the basics of what computers and printers can offer you at http://www.computerandprinterreviews.com

Not only will you find reviews guides and here. You will also find how to fix printers yourself. Learn how to set up your firewall correctly knowing you are safe from intruders. Never feel as frustrated as you once did, knowing the truth about computers and printers. Be sure to check out http://www.computerandprinterreviews.com/printerreviews.html

Learn the difference between LaserJet and inkjet printers. Learn what the advantages are from certain computer products. With the wealth of information here, you will know other people are willing to help you and can understand where you are coming from. Don’t forget everyone has computer and printer problems. The good news is, what ever your budget is, there is always a solution. Remember if you intend to phone a computer support line, seek a plan of action. Don’t let them fob you off with technical meaningless babble!

About The Author

John Gibb is currently the webmaster of several support and guide sites for various specialized topics. His latest addition is http://www.computerandprinterreviews.com

Team@computerandprinterreviews.com

This article was posted on April 27, 2004

by John Gibb

Don’t Expect to Bump Oprah From A Magazine Cover

Don’t Expect to Bump Oprah From A Magazine Cover

by: Roman Pericon

ขI want a pony, a tree house and the fastest bike in the world.ข

ขI want the G.I. Joe with the parachute and camouflage Jeep.ข

Those wants from when we were children haven’t changed much now that we have traded in our play clothes for suits and ties. When I sit down with clients, I always ask them what they want out of their publicity campaign so I can create a realistic list of expectations.

But I usually hear:

ขFront page of the Wall Street Journal.ข

ขI want to sit next to Katie and Matt.ข

ขDo you think I could be on Oprah next week?ข

Before I sign a new client, I make sure I explain editorial calendars and lead times so they won’t ask me ขWhy haven’t I gotten placements with you yet? It’s been six days already.ข I also explain the concept of ขnewsworthyข to them.

But it seems that more often than not, all of that explaining goes out the door.

Here’s The Naked Truth.

Sometimes reporters like big names. Sometimes they like unknowns. That lifestyle editor at InStyle may love the handmade candles that you created but if a major crisis happens in the news (e.g. celebrity breakup, Alist star caught with a call girl, paparazzi caught impromptu wedding) then you can bet your wick and scented oils the focus of their article won’t be on your candles. Same goes for almost every magazine you want to target unless you are Oprah, Bill Gates or the president – of the U.S. not Trixie’s Organic Dog Snacks. So don’t blame your publicist if your story is axed or postponed. They will try another publication.

There’s a great big world out there. Newsweek reaches over 3 million homes each week. They receive enough trash worthy press releases and media kits to fill a broom closet. Sometimes what you think is news… isn’t. And you just have to trust your publicist to alert the media when something of interest is happening with your company. Or you run the risk of an editor never taking your releases seriously when you do.

Understand your target market. I know you think it would be the coolest thing since Nobu Next Door to be on the cover of Cosmo but you sell a highend baby stroller. Cosmo readers don’t have an interest in that. Trust me. They won’t and the editors don’t have time to wade through releases of no interest to their readers. Publicists know the publications’ target audience and with the help of editorial calendars, they can figure out if you will fit in a certain issue they are preparing. So don’t get upset when your publicist tells you they got you into a different publication because the one you wanted said ขNOข to your story over 10 times. When they just aren’t interested, publicists move on.

Sometimes the more is not the merrier. Just because we have an editor contact database of thousands doesn’t mean each of them should receive your press release or an invitation to your launch party. It might sound great to you to say ขOur company press release just went out to over 10,000 editorsข but if they aren’t targeted to the right editors they will only end up in the recycling bin. I’m positive Janice Huff at Channel 4 doesn’t care about your gelato shop. She only covers the weather.

When it’s time for your company to retain a public relations firm, remember to have realistic expectations. Your publicists know what publications are good targets and they know that providing you with the results you want is going to make you happy. And all publicists want to make their clients happy.

About The Author

Roman Pericon is the CEO of NakedPR (www.NakedPublicity.com), a public relations and event planning firm in New York. Subscribe to ขThe Naked Truthข, his free monthly PR newsletter, by emailing Roman@NakedPublicity.com. NakedPR specializes in entertainment and lifestyle clients.

This article was posted on November 12, 2003

by Roman Pericon

4 Steps to a Successful AdWords Campaign

4 Steps to a Successful AdWords Campaign

by: Michael McLaughlin

Not getting the satisfaction you want from your AdWords account? Want to make more money by spending less?

Google AdWords has made many businesses successful by providing them with a great deal of highly targeted traffic for as little as 5 cents! Yet many webmasters and advertisers are incompetent when it comes to using AdWords efficiently. After $100 in losses and having many failed campaigns, I have learned how to solve many of these setbacks, so I have put together a list of the 4 steps required to come out on top.

1. Design

Decide how the layout of your ad will present itself. Next consider what you want to be included in the title and what facts or catch phrases you want your visitor to know before they decide to spend your money by clicking on your advertisement. Don’t be a fool and get your ad disabled, please be sure to follow all of Googleกs rules and regulations on there editorial guidelines page.

Many computer owners are just learning how to purchase using the miracle of the internet and even more people do not understand that when they click on those Google ad’s they are spending someone’s money just by clicking on it. They also don’t understand that most of the pages that they are going to be clicking on are product pages trying to sell them something. Many aren’t even interested in spending any money no matter how convincing your sales pitch can be. Though, this depends on what they are searching for. To avoid this simply yet destructive problem merely put the price of your product directly into your ad.

2. Brainstorm

This is where my downfall began, I selected few keywords and in turn received little traffic, and the traffic I did receive was very expensive! To avoid this start off by taking the position of your possible customer. If you were searching for the product that you sell, what would you, as a customer search for? Do that now and make a list of as many search phrases and keywords you can think of. Don’t be afraid to use Google’s keyword tool, though I found that this isn’t too helpful.

After you squeezed out as many words you can, glance over them and determine what words and phrases can be combined to form a new one. Simply come up with as many words as possible, once you get started its easy and you should come out with around 250 keywords. Review this list and delete some of the keywords that are ขout thereข and wouldn’t produce targeted traffic.

3. Optimize

Never waste your money using Google’s suggested cost per click; it is 10 times higher than necessary. Many advertisers do not understand that there click through rate effects there position to the same degree with how much they pay per click. To make this easier to understand here is an example: if you pay 5 cents per click for the phrase ขshopping cartข and your competition pays 10 cents and has a click through rate of .5%, to surpass this person in position you need to double your click through rate to anything above 1% yet you are still paying half of what he is! For keywords that are less targeted to your product or purpose yet still effective I suggest pricing them to nearly half that of highly targeted keywords for a rule of thumb.

Now that all your keywords and pricing is in place, set your daily budget lower than you plan on spending per day for now, this way incase it’s a failure you don’t lose that much. Let your campaign run for a few days, but before you do make sure you set up conversion tracking. Watch what keywords perform well and convert to conversions, and delete the ones that cost you nothing but money. If at first you don’t succeed try try again.

4. Experiment

As you watch the performance of your keywords and Ad groups you should continue to try new things. Change one word in your ad and compare the results to previous, trust me one word can and will make the difference; whether positive or negative that is for you to discover! If you are having trouble finding an ad that gets enough clicks to avoid being disabled brainstorm again and create as many ads as possible, even if they are terrible they will give you new ideas. Pick your favorite three and create a new ad group while comparing the results to your other ad groups.

If you do not find success after following all of these steps, what you’re doing isn’t wrong it’s what you’re trying to sell. To determine if your product is assured to fail ask your self this question: is this product helping someone or is it just another great idea? Chances are if it’s a great idea people aren’t searching for it, or in desperate need of it.

Continue to track and modify your keywords and Ad groups while watching your sales and popularity excel!

About The Author

Written by: Michael McLaughlin at http://www.webmastershed.com – webmaster forum, for more articles by this author please visit: http://www.webmastershed.com/articles

michael@webmastershed.com

This article was posted on February 17

by Michael McLaughlin

Making Your Website Work for You: Attracting Visit

Making Your Website Work for You: Attracting Visitors

by: Marc S. Grobman

Just building a website is not enough. You need to get people to visit it. And just submitting to the search engines won’t do much. Here is a brief overview of 3 effective strategies to get people to your website: 1) Search Engines, 2) PR and Marketing and 3) Email Newsletters. Here is a quick list of do’s and don’ts for each:

Search Engine DOกs:

DO Optimize Your Web Site:

Make sure your website is built correctly and well organized. Your designer should (but many don’t) include Title Tags and Meta Tags, plus lots of good text content that features key words that your visitors will use to search. Title tags appear on the top of your web browser window and Meta Tags are hidden in the html code. Good website Organization also helps Search engines index you.

DO Get Links TO Your Site:

Good links not only bring traffic – they increase your importance in the eyes of the search engines. Get links anywhere you can: web directories, organizations to which you belong your partners, members or clients. Consider paying for inclusion on sites that will give direct links to your site. A good web designer or Search Engine Optimization company can help you grow these links.

DO Pay Per Click (Google AdWords or Overture):

Join a PayPerClick program to advertise on search results. Get very targeted advertising in front of people who are searching for you. These ads come up like search results when people are entering key words that you pick.

Search Engine DON’Ts:

DON’T Assume people will find your website just because you built it.

DON’T Hire just anyone to do your Search Engine Optimization – there are so called ขBlack Hatข SEO’s who use shady tricks to improve your ranking. You may end up penalized by the search engines, or find that you are bound to the company to keep your ranking.

DON’t Be afraid of PayPerClick. It is easy and cheap to try with incredible potential benefits. It can be much cheaper than other advertising options. And you can put a limit on your investment – start with just $2 a day if you like. It is fairly easy to set up and, if you don’t have time, an expert can get you going very quickly.

PR and Marketing DOกs:

DO Direct Visitors to Website in All Print Marketing: Include your web address on all marketing including your brochures, and business cards.

DO Advertise on the Web: Advertising on other websites can be effective if you are targeting your audience.

DO Get Press: Put out press releases that reference the website. Even if the story is not picked up, the presence of your web address on various distribution wires is good for your ranking.

DO Create Integrated Marketing Campaigns: A print advertising campaign can be even more effective with an online component. You can use design consistency to show continuity and grow your brand. A print piece can invite visitors online to complete a transaction, get a prize or learn more.

PR and Marketing DON’ts:

DON’T Forget to put your website address on all your contact materials.

DON’T Forget to set up email with your domain name. Every time you send an email it advertises your website.

DON’T Advertise on sites that do not match your goals or standards. Avoid annoying popup windows or obnoxious banner ads that might turn people off rather than interest them.

Email Newsletters DOs:

DO Stay in the mind of your current and potential clients. Find a method that is easy for you to send messages to your mailing list. You can start with your personal email list, perhaps by sending small personal updates or simple newsletters. Or you can use an automated program to manage the list and send emails. Two great programs are Constant Contact (inexpensive) or Exact Target (robust features).

DO Create an email sign up form on your website.

DO Keep messages ขTimely, Relevant and Personal.ข Position yourself as an export by providing timely relevant information. Or Survey your audience to find out what is relevant.

Email Newsletters DON’ts:

DON’T Spam. It is often illegal and does not build a positive image for your brand. Don’t buy unknown lists. Allow people to optout. Always be honest in your subject headers and main content, and always be clear where the message comes from.

DON’T Be inconsistent. – Send messages on a schedule that is realistic for you to keep

After getting through the hard work of developing a web site it can be hard to imagine spending more time or money to get people to visit it. Keep in mind it doesn’t take much. And marketing yourself on the web can greatly expand your potential audience while lowering your costs of doing business.

About The Author

Marc S.Grobman is Design Director for Tommy Dew Design (www.tommydew.com), a Graphic and Web Design firm with offices in Oakland and Santa Monica, California.

This article was posted on January 24

by Marc S. Grobman

Are Your Emails Gettting Through?

Are Your Emails Gettting Through?

by: Charlie Cook

If sending email to a mailing list is part of your markëting or business building strategy, you want to make sure your messages are reaching your audience. Are your readers getting your emails? Due to the proliferation of sp@m, ISPs (your web access and email provider) have added content checkers to try to reduce the flow of unwanted mail. In principle this is a good idea. In practice, lots of sp@m is still getting through and many lëgitimatë emails, possibly including yours, are being blocked.
You may assume that since your content is lëgitimatë and because you only send messages to 0ptin readers, your prospects and clients are getting all of your emails. Bu presently sp@m filters are blocking emails that include words such as:

hëre
n0w
lëgal
questi0ns
lëgitimate
ordër
bu1k
chëck
mi11ions
st0ck
f0rm
markëting s0lution
rëmove
opp0rtunity
cl1ck hëre

Even to send this article to the people whoกve requested it, I’ve had to write carefully and creatively to disguise these words to get them through the sp@m filters.
In an effort to eliminate junk mail, most email providers have sp@m filters in place, and, smart as these are, they don’t know you are not a sp@mmer if it includes what it considers to be suspicious words. Some filters automatically dump suspicious email into a bu1k mail folder, others block them entirely.
Chances are you don’t consider yourself a sp@mmer. You don’t blindly send mi11ions of emails a day to people who don’t want your information. You do respond to client inquiries and send information to people who request it. Even if you only send email to people who have double optëd in for your ezine, you can have your newsletter or message labeled as sp@m if you’re not careful. 1030% or more of your emails may be getting filtered by overzealous ISPs.
Usually, use of just one กoffensiveก word won’t get your email blocked, but repeat it or use it in conjunction with another กoffensiveก word and your recipients won’t receive your articles or notes.
I hate junk email as much as the next person. But if the recipient has requested your ezine or an email response, they should get it. In there effort to eliminate sp@m, the ISPs are beginning to infringe on lëgitimatë communication and commerce.
What You Can Do
Review available lists of words that ISPs consider กsuspicioiusก. I’ve posted one list of some innocuous and common words that if used together or frequently can get your email blocked at: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/wordstoavoid.html
Use one of the online content checkers to see which remaining words could create problems with sp@m filters such as:
Ezine Chëck http://ezinecheck.com/check.html
Lyris http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker/
Where possible, replace กoffensiveก words. If you need to use a word like กmarkëtingก because it’s the best word for the job, you can get creative with, as I did above, but some sp@m filters block emails containing odd characters.
No strategy for getting by the ISP filters is foolproof, but every effort you make to eliminate potentially problematic words will increase the likelihood that the people who want to read your emails will get them. Take a minute to check your email before you send it and you’ll increase the number of people who read it and respond to it.
2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

About The Author

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Frëe Marketing Plan eBook, ก7 Steps to get more clients and grow your businessก at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com

ccook@marketingforsuccess.com

This article was posted on July 13, 2004

by Charlie Cook

Absolute Top Five Search Engine Marketing Myths Un

Absolute Top Five Search Engine Marketing Myths Uncovered!

by: Lee Traupel

It’s no secret that Search Engine marketing can drive significant amounts of very qualified traffic to a web site – as 85% of Internet users utilize search engines to find/research for goods and services. The problem for many companies is the difficulty they face sifting through conflicting information and hyperbole! Here is my top five list of myths that need to be run to ground.

Big Picture Myth One – Search engine ranking leads are not as good as those which originate from other forms of traditional marketing (print, direct mail, PR, etc.) – this is absolute hogwash, the truth is many agencies don’t have a clue about s/e ranking, so they push their clients to ignore this form of advertising. They simply don’t want to recommend anything they don’t understand and/or utilize an interactive marketing vehicle that requires a blend of very specialized technology and processes.

We’ve in fact found just the opposite when we’ve analyzed s/e traffic versus other types of leads for our clients; i.e. search engine traffic can be much better, as it is comprised of individuals who are actively seeking info, not just people whose curiosity has been piqued by an eyecatching publication ad or press release. And, when we’ve analyzed the data by tracking leads via a landing page (on a web site) we’ve discovered that CPL (cost per lead) numbers can be much lower for s/e ranking than other more traditional marketing methods.

Big Picture Myth Two – Effective s/e marketing can be done in house – this is rarely the case, the sheer complexity and online competition (digital warfare!) for rankings makes this extremely difficult for most companies. Based upon our analysis over 73% of corporate accounts don’t understand the basic fundamentals; i.e. how to properly use keywords, meta tags and titles and worse, don’t submit their web sites to top tier Directories (Yahoo, LookSmart, OPD) and the hundreds of second tier directories.

Most companies delegate the s/e submissions to the webmaster or web site development staff and they just don’t have the time to understand the daunting complexities required to generate page 13 rankings or to stay abreast of the shifting submissions and ranking criteria standards, as modified monthly by top tier search engines. And, in many companies the s/e ranking is added to the over worked webmaster’s tasks purely as an afterthought – as opposed to being addressed formally by the marketing department, with dedicated personnel and a budget.

Big Picture Myth Three – off the shelf software that submits a site to thousands of web sites and presents snazzy reports can do it all. This is so inaccurate and nothing can be further from the truth – it takes a tremendous amount of labor and time to identify keyword sets (not just words), optimize the content for these keywords, submit the pages while obeying the rules of the road and then continually analyzing rankings and tweaking to maintain and drive rankings (web site visibility).

Software can certainly help to automate some facets of the process and be used for back end analysis – but you can’t expect any application to make the job easy, there is too much inherent complexity in the processes. And, competition for keyword sets is fierce – as there are an estimated 510M registered domains (the numbers vary widely) with 60K new domains being registered every day.

Big Picture Myths Four and Five – Any page listing will help to drive traffic to a web site – this is another misconception. If you are aren’t achieving page 13 rankings then your wasting a great deal of time and resources – most people never drill down below these pages. Another common mistake is trying to achieve s/e rankings for a specific URL or product – if people know the name of a company or product they will find your web site easily, it’s a waste of resources to optimize for these specialized terms in 80% of most cases.

About The Author

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com, a resultsdriven marketing services company providing proprietary services to clients encompassing startups to public companies. Lee@intelective.com

Lee@intelective.com

This article was posted on July 25, 2002

by Lee Traupel

Networking Top Tips

Networking Top Tips

by: Gill Fernley

1. Join several networking groups and attend as many of their events as possible. Regular attendance builds up good relationships very quickly.

2. Try and make sure you talk to at least one new person at each event you go to don’t just stick with the people you already know.

3. Don’t expect that you will walk into a networking event and come out of it with a job or a new client. Networking takes time and patience.

4. Sticking your business card under the nose of everyone you meet is guaranteed to annoy them. Don’t go into your sales pitch straight away and always try to talk with someone rather than at them.

5. Show a genuine interest in other people and what they do and get to know them as people rather than as business opportunities.

6. Don’t disregard someone who doesn’t seem to be of immediate ‘use’ to you. You never know who they know or how they might help you.

7. Manners cost nothing so treat everyone as you would wish to be treated yourself. People buy from – and recommend! – people they like.

8. Be natural, be yourself and enjoy the opportunity to meet and learn from other business people.

9. Don’t be afraid to walk up to someone and start talking. They are there for the same reasons as you are and will probably be grateful that they didn’t have to make the first move.

10. At the end of the day, everyone is there to meet new people and make new contacts so don’t be afraid of politely ending a conversation with someone and moving on to someone else – they won’t be offended.

11. When giving someone your business card, you may want to consider giving them two – one to keep and one to pass on.

12. Try and find something you can do for the people you are talking to. Do you have a contact you can pass on that might help them with a problem they have? Do you know a good supplier who is just what they are looking for? People will remember you as friendly and helpful.

13. If you make a good contact at an event, make sure you follow it up. Send them an email, make a quick phone call – it doesn’t matter how you do it but always, always follow up.

14. Don’t forget about online networking. Join some business forums, put up some posts. You’ll start to recognise some names and you may find that they are going to an event you will be attending which gives you a head start as you know someone already before you walk through the door.

And finally Listen! If you only take one tip away from this article, it’s got to be this one. If you’re too busy trying to think about what you’ve got to say next, you might just miss a golden opportunity. You’ll learn a lot more by listening and people will be impressed with someone who has obviously paid attention.

In summary, forget the sell, sell, sell take the pressure off yourself by approaching the event as a fun opportunity to meet likeminded people and always remember that you get back what you give.

Happy networking!

About The Author

Gill Fernley and Justin Baker are the founders of Six Degrees Business Network, a group organising networking events with a social slant in the UK. You can find out more at www.sixdegreesnetwork.co.uk.

This article was posted on October 05, 2004

by Gill Fernley