Selling Yourself to Reach Online Success

Selling Yourself to Reach Online Success

by: Brian Moore

Usually, success in an online business depends upon selling outstanding products or representing really good affiliate plans. But just as important in getting people to buy from you is your business image. In this article we will look at how to define that image and sell yourself to help your potential customers decide to buy your products.
There are several things to think about when developing your online image. But itกs no different from preparing a resume or a personal history. Youกll want to look at your education or training, work experience, and your life experiences, and how all of this defines you as an individual in such a large marketplace.
We start with education, because thatกs the point where our lives began to take a definite shape. Think about what part of your education relates to who you are. Is it the favorite grade school teacher who unlocked your ambition to learn? Or is it special talents your high school studies or extra curricular activities revealed?
Remember, your personal level of education not so important. Itกs how your educational background helps define who you are and how well you can help others online.
Next, start thinking about your life experiences. What large events in your life like being married or single, raising children, and maintaining longtime friendships helped shape you? What would you change or keep the same assuming youกd have control over such matters? What have you gained from your experiences in life?
Then examine your work history. What occupation did you start out in? (This includes what has been traditionally known as "home maker", or household manager, if you will.) What various skills did you obtain? What other occupations have you had? What things about traditional employment brought you to the Internet looking for income?
Now try to decide how your education, life experiences, and work experience translate into your online goals. In general, how much income do you expect to replace with income from online? What do you think your niche market is? (This is defined by what type of customer you focus your business on.) How does your business fit into the large scheme of Internet marketing?
Okay, you say, now I have a handle on who I am. I have an image. What do I do with it? How is it going to help me sell products?
Well, announce it to the world. * Tell * people who you are.
Work up an online resume or an "About Us" page for your site. Include key points from your selfsearching. Make yourself into a real, live human being with whom your customers can do business and enjoy visiting again and again.
Publish your name, address, phone number, and email address. You needn’t worry about being swamped by phone calls and letters. In five years online Iกve had one customer ever call me, and it was not to complain. Iกve had one letter, and it was for more information. Emailing is so much easier and it saves long distance rates and postage. (I don’t have a toll free number yet, so itกs their nickel to call me.)
Provide a selfphoto. Without undue cost, "put your best foot forward" by having it taken professionally. It should be the "real you", not some computer enhanced alter ego that portrays you better than you actually are. Don’t be afraid to update the photo regularly to show you developing in your career.
Finally, letกs talk a little about being professional. Iกm not referring to how you phrase your sentences or how fancy your vocabulary is. Instead, Iกm recommending you try to be realistic confident without hype and humble without putting yourself down. In short, be yourself.
In your comments and publications avoid sarcasm. Some people may catch the humor while others may be offended by it. Don’t issue ultimatums like, "If you’re not willing to [so and so], then you don’t belong in this business." These folks are your prospects or have signed up under you. They are expecting your help and example, and you wouldn’t want to push them away from making a decision to buy.
When all is said and done, what you say and do online brands you to those with whom you come in contact. It would be far better to take time to brand yourself in a positive light than to leave your image to chance by neglecting your online presence.

About The Author

Brian Moore publishes กBizOps Secretsก, a complete ezine resource for online success. Subscribe and receive a free 5 line classified ad. AllPro BizOps, Proven Business Secrets That Work Online http://www.allprobizops.com.

This article was posted on January 16, 2002

by Brian Moore

How to Find Ideas for Articles & Speeches

How to Find Ideas for Articles & Speeches

by: Chirag Parmar

Do you have problems finding ideas for articles and speeches?

I know have had at times, and others tell me the same thing. At my Toastmasters club, for example, Iกve often heard members say they have difficulty finding topics for speeches.

But, Iกve learned, like others who write and speak a lot, to start with what I know. To use my own experiences or perspectives to make even a simple subject uniquely my own. And you can do the same.

Indeed, what seems mundane to you may fascinate someone else. Suppose, for example, you work in a fast food restaurant tell me about the best and worst customers, or tell me about the processes and training that make it possible to go from order to delivery in just a couple of minutes.

Hereกs a reallife example from my own experiences. I have a parttime job as a directory assistance operator for a telephone company, and that produces some interesting stories, like the time a woman called because the door knob to exit her borrowed apartment was broken, and she couldn’t figure out how to get out. She didn’t know who to call except Directory Assistance, and we had an interesting time figuring out a solution. Now thereกs a story to get an article or speech started, and perhaps even a theme such as กStrange but true stories from a directory assistance operator.ก

Then, thereกs the idea of providing insights for others. If you drive a truck, for instance, you might create a Top Ten list of common mistakes you see on the streets and highways. As a professional driver, you have special insight into the patterns of amateur drivers.

Beyond your personal experiences, think about issues that intrigue you. If you’re interested, doing research and thinking about a subject will be enjoyable and easy. Perhaps you can even satisfy your own curiosity as you prepare an article or speech that enlightens someone else.

These approaches should lead you to any number of story ideas. Make a list, of say five or ten possible topics. Now, ask yourself which of them will be the most enjoyable or easiest to develop. You also might ask yourself if you have enough examples to illustrate the points that fall under a specific topic.

Now, write an outline, to set out the main themes in your speech or article. By the time you finish outlining these themes, youกll probably have a number of new topics that could be developed into topics that stand on their own.

For example, looking back at the contents of this article so far, I see that discussing something others don’t know much about is one of the points. That would open the door to what I call the กEverybody knowsก syndrome, the unfounded assumption that others know what we know. Perhaps you think that your parenting experiences are just like everyone elseกs. Yet, your feelings may very well be unique and of great interest to other parents.

If all else fails, get ideas from others. For example, I subscribe to many online newsletters because I write a lot of articles myself. As potential story ideas come in I store them away in a folder, ready to be searched when I don’t have anything available in the top of my mind.

I can use the original article as the starting point, creating something new and unique by using my own experiences and ways of doing things. Or I can abstract someone elseกs article in my own words, again creating something new in the process. In both cases, Iกm creating something new based on my unique experiences or perspectives.

So, never be stuck for an idea for an article or speech! You already have enough experience and knowledge; itกs simply a matter of developing one of those ideas within that framework.

And hereกs a bonus: If you’re writing or speaking about something thatกs happened in your life, you won’t have to work hard to create the article or speech. Just follow the path through your memory.

About The Author

Chirag Parmar is 14 years old Indian boy. He is gujarati. Living in Mumbai. He is student but he likes to write this is why he is writing. he editor and content manager at his web site www.chiragparmar.tripod.com. Weekly free ezine: กWriter’s Heavenก filled with tips, subscribe it at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chirag_parmar. Chirag manual กHow to write article?ก a four part series.Download it to learn how to writ? And for success, can be downloaded at: http://www.chiragparmar.tripod.com/howtowrite.html. Do you need free content for your website or ezine? Our archives deliver more than 270 freereprint articles available for your use. Send me email what type of article you want, then I will mail you more than 10 article.Email: [email protected]

This article was posted on April 11, 2004

by Chirag Parmar

Blogs Are About Getting to Know Yourself Better

Blogs Are About Getting to Know Yourself Better

by: Jesse S. Somer

I still consider myself to be a blog writing novice but as I’ve got a few entries under my belt I can tell you about an unexpected bonus of this journaling process. A lot of people think that blog writers are just people who are tooting their own horns blabbering on selfrighteously about what they believe to be true in life. On the contrary, for me writing a blog has helped me to reflect on my experiences that I may have otherwise have forgotten if I hadn’t written them down. It has become a process of selfactualization, whether others have read my thoughts has become less of a priority for me.

When I read over my past entries I am surprised to hear about thoughts, ideas, and wisdom that is quite relevant to my present experiences. It’s like I already knew some of the solutions to my problems in the present, but I still had to go through the experiences to actually have this knowledge become truly learnt. I also find it rewarding in both the respects that I get to ‘relive’ certain moments in my life, and I get to analyze my previous thoughts. This analysis often leads me to new ideas that I couldn’t see clearly when I was in the original moment.

‘Reliving’ past experiences by reading old journal entries can be a powerful experience indeed. You can be transported to the moment in time you were writing about, as well as the moment and feelings you had when writing the blog entry. Experiencing these events and feelings again can be a really enlightening process, especially if the emotions you had were strong ones.

An example of this from my blog www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com is a recent upheaval of emotions I wrote about when a young lady I’d been dating and really started to like a lot told me she didn’t want to kiss me anymore. Now when I read this entry I can feel those same painful feelings, but in a new light as the time has passed and I’ve moved on. It gives me hope in understanding that all feelings pass, and also in the knowledge that all things happen for a reason. This knowledge I couldn’t see at the time as I was totally enveloped by my agony.

These insights into past feelings and thoughts have been an eye opener for my selfintrospection process. I think the blog can give you the chance to get to know yourself better, something all humans could find beneficial. All of us are on quests to find out who we are and why we are here on Earth. The blogging process might just be another avenue for people to find out who they truly are. Keep on writing my friends!

About The Author

Jesse S. Somer

M6.Net

http://www.m6.net

Jesse S. Somer, a novice blogger learning about the secrets of this new and popular medium of communication can be found at www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com

This article was posted on September 05, 2004

by Jesse S. Somer

Blogs Aren’t Just About Expounding Your Ideas To O

Blogs Aren’t Just About Expounding Your Ideas To Others…

by: Jesse S. Somer

Blogs aren’t just about expounding your ideas to others; they’re about getting to know yourself better.

I still consider myself to be a blog writing novice but as I’ve got a few entries under my belt I can tell you about an unexpected bonus of this journaling process. A lot of people think that blog writers are just people who are tooting their own horns blabbering on selfrighteously about what they believe to be true in life. On the contrary, for me writing a blog has helped me to reflect on my experiences that I may have otherwise have forgotten if I hadn’t written them down. It has become a process of selfactualization, whether others have read my thoughts has become less of a priority for me.

When I read over my past entries I am surprised to hear about thoughts, ideas, and wisdom that is quite relevant to my present experiences. It’s like I already knew some of the solutions to my problems in the present, but I still had to go through the experiences to actually have this knowledge become truly learnt. I also find it rewarding in both the respects that I get to ‘relive’ certain moments in my life, and I get to analyze my previous thoughts. This analysis often leads me to new ideas that I couldn’t see clearly when I was in the original moment.

‘Reliving’ past experiences by reading old journal entries can be a powerful experience indeed. You can be transported to the moment in time you were writing about, as well as the moment and feelings you had when writing the blog entry. Experiencing these events and feelings again can be a really enlightening process, especially if the emotions you had were strong ones.

An example of this from my blog www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com is a recent upheaval of emotions I wrote about when a young lady I’d been dating and really started to like a lot told me she didn’t want to kiss me anymore. Now when I read this entry I can feel those same painful feelings, but in a new light as the time has passed and I’ve moved on. It gives me hope in understanding that all feelings pass, and also in the knowledge that all things happen for a reason. This knowledge I couldn’t see at the time as I was totally enveloped by my agony.

These insights into past feelings and thoughts have been an eye opener for my selfintrospection process. I think the blog can give you the chance to get to know yourself better, something all humans could find beneficial. All of us are on quests to find out who we are and why we are here on Earth. The blogging process might just be another avenue for people to find out who they truly are. Keep on writing my friends!

By Jesse S. Somer

M6.Net

About The Author

Jesse S. Somer, a novice blogger learning about the secrets of this new and popular medium of communication can be found at www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 26, 2004

by Jesse S. Somer