RSS: The Amazing Profit Potential

RSS: The Amazing Profit Potential

by: Rok Hrastnik

All marketers are the email delivery problem, hoping that just somehow our messages are going to reach our customers and subscribers this time … and then hoping that they’re going to open them, instead of mistaking them for spam.

The reality usually hits us hard. While email is still the primary and most important internet marketing tool, we need to start using other complimentary tools to get our content delivered.

Most important among them is RSS (Real Simple Syndication), which gets your content directly in front of your readers, without having to »face« any filters along the way.

And itกs easy and even free to use…

The marketing and profit potential of RSS is, simply said, quite amazing. Itกs not just good for blogs, and itกs certainly much more than »just another« way of getting your content to your readers.

And itกs just reaching the tipping point. There are still only »a few« RSS publishers and RSS usage is growing every day. This is your best chance to get on the wave…

To get you started, hereกs a quick overview of what RSS can do for your internet business…

1. GETTING YOUR CONTENT DELIVERED

AOL blocks about 75% of the 2 billion email messages they receive daily, and on the average, over 64,7% of all the business email you send is not even opened, let alone read. These two facts are destroying your internet business.

But fortunately, RSS has a solution.

It gets your content delivered directly in front of your subscribers, prospects and customers, whenever you want and how often you want.

In essence, it means that 100% of your marketing messages are delivered to your RSS subscribers, and thatกs 100% of possibilities to make the sale and improve the relationship.

2. IMPROVING YOUR SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS

Traffic is the lifeblood of every internet business, and RSS makes improving search engine rankings a breeze.

Combined with special web sites, called »blogsites« (advanced blogs), RSS has been demonstrated to bring total newcomers to the market to #1 search positions for their selected keywords, and that without any costs whatsoever.

And itกs easy. All it takes is publishing an RSS feed, submitting it to the right places, keeping it updated and using some other little known but easy techniques.

3. GENERATING AMAZING NEW TRAFFIC

But the traditional search engines are not everything that RSS »offers«. Far from it.

There are now more than 100 search engines and directories that specialize in aggregating content from RSS feeds. Getting in to them is easy, and each of them will provide you with new »spending« traffic.

4. GETTING YOUR CONTENT PUBLISHED ON OTHER WEB SITES

The traffic doesn’t stop here. RSS makes it easy to publish your content on other web sites, which creates additional exposure and more importantly, brings you new targeted customers.

5. DISCOVERING NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

But itกs really all about the new business opportunities that didn’t even exist before RSS became popular.

Most of these haven’t even been discovered by the majority of marketers yet. We’re talking about new and effective ways of getting new content to your readers, content that will make them buy.

Just think in terms of easily delivering daily or even hourly content updates, coupons, customized product updates, audio content (podcasting), video content (videocasting), whitepapers and free reports, and so on.

6. GETTING MORE SUBSCRIBERS MORE EASILY

Because RSS is so fundamentally different than email, getting more subscribers is easy as 123. The profit potential is quite amazing: just imagine converting more than 50% more of your visitors in to ezine subscribers…

And much much more…

And the list doesn’t stop here by a long shot. RSS feeds also make for an excellent affiliate marketing tool and help you get the most out of your affiliates, and so on.

With this many profit generating possibilities, the even greater benefit is that most marketers haven’t even touched them yet.

You can be one of the first, today.

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

About The Author

Rok Hrastnik is the author of »Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS«, acclaimed as »the best and most comprehensive« guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers: http://rss.marketingstudies.net/index.html?src=sa1

This article was posted on March 22

by Rok Hrastnik

Sheep Spend and Lose, Leaders Make Money

Sheep Spend and Lose, Leaders Make Money

by: Sopan Greene

Remember that leaders spend more money on learning and growing, but they do their homework and work hard to make money.

Sheep follow the herd blindly with their wallets open hoping someone else will will do their work for them. Jumping into the newest multilevel marketing program will drain your wallet and your faith in humanity.

You’re checking out internet marketing? Great! Just be sure to market what you’re passionate about so you don’t bail off the ship at the first sign of crashing waves and high winds. There will be obstacles and the way to go through them is to be putting your time, energy and money into work you’re passionate about.

Be smart. Don’t join any program that hasn’t been around and proven itself. There are a lot of programs popping up that look like you can join and make a lot of money from the กspill factor.ก Itกs a myth. Iกve been on the receiving end of that one and saw many others there with me. I even created a lot of spill and saw it go away a few months later.

Yes, you can make money from getting กspill,ก but the people who really benefit are the ones CREATING the spill. Not the receivers of the spill. Like everything in life, the fruits go to those who provide the labor.

Would you rather receive the benefits of being Bill Gates who created Microsoft or receive the benefits of getting welfare because you signed up for the program and chose not to work? (Which is the same as signing up for a multilevel program that you don’t do any work on building yourself). Forget the money, which one is more satisfying to your soul?

Nothing against these programs, as with everything, 20% of the people involved make 80% of the money. Thatกs true in every industry and yes, some people make a lot of money, but they work their butts off to get there. They deserve the money they EARN.

If you’re looking for a free ride, it ain’t gonna happen my friend. It takes commitment and a good work ethic to produce results no matter what you’re doing.

A big problem with these programs is that almost everyone who jumps in is hoping to pay some cash in the hopes of cashing out like they bought a lottery ticket.

Business opportunities aren’t lottery tickets. I know this flies against the lack of common sense used by the กbiz op seeking herd of sheep,ก but itกs the flat out truth. Do you know of ANY business that generated a lot of money without someone or many someoneกs putting in hard work?

Why would you expect anything less from a home based business? Itกs home based, but itกs still a business. Itกs no less legitimate than a nonhomebased business, the only difference is that you get a lot more money and freedom…once itกs built. You have to build it. It doesn’t build itself for you. And you have to do research on the business to make sure itกs not a scam before you put down your cash or give up your credit card number.

Can you make money while you sleep? Definitely. Do you have to put in work and build a foundation, a reputation and…a business first? Definitely. Can you buy into some new program, advertise it for a week or two to see how it does and make a lot of money? Definitely not. Tire kickers don’t make money with any business.

So what should you do? I invite you to look inside yourself, maybe look at what turned you on as a child and make money with something related to that. What did the acorn inside you do with all the free time you had as a child? Did you write, race, build, help others? Do what works for your soul.

I understand the pull to want to make money easily. I was pulled into that trap many times before I figured out that I had to do what felt more like play to me than work. Then I had to make a commitment to succeed and do everything possible to make it happen.

When you see a herd of sheep racing toward the กnext big thingก exercise caution, slowly head in the other direction and don’t try it out until youกve given it a year to prove that itกll still be around. Otherwise your time, effort and money will have ran out to pasture with all the other sheep.

Instead, study leaders in the field you’re interested in, copy what works for them (using your own unique style), and build a foundation that will get you to the bank with the most money. As our friend the tortoise showed us in his race against the hare, slow and steady wins the race every time.

About The Author

Sopan Greene, M.A. is a marketing & life coach & editor of the Net Profits newsletter. Get 2 FREE eBooks & a FREE report: กMillion Dollar Emailsก,กHow To Start Your Own Traffic Virusก & ‘the 13 Deadly Internet Marketing Mistakes Almost Every Business Is Making…ก

mailto:[email protected]

www.NetMarketingMastery.com

This article was posted on December 05, 2003

by Sopan Greene

Getting Visitors To Stay Through Web Based Marketi

Getting Visitors To Stay Through Web Based Marketing

by: Martin Lemieux

9/10 times your web site visitors won’t stay for more than 15 seconds. This is how you get them to stay, or should I say, get them to come back!

For most of you, your web site is a great brochure. It probably outlines your services very well. Thereกs nothing wrong with that whatsoever!

but…

There are creative marketing strategies that you can implement so that you don’t entirely loose your clients, you just need to keep them in the loop for when the time comes for them to buy.

กMarketing Online Is about creative patienceก

Being creative with your web marketing ventures is crucial but it doesn’t necessarily react like print magazine ads or like newspaper press releases. No, it takes time for something to kick into full force.

This is why you should always keep on top of creating something new because, just like regular marketing, if you don’t have another campaign ready to go when your done this one, youกll start to loose prospects on the way and create a slow period for your business.

You want your world online to consistently grow. Don’t grow too quickly, just grow and keep growing with all your marketing efforts.

Here are some of the marketing strategies you can implement:

Create an online newsletters

Give something away for free

Create online questionaires

Engage yourself into discussion groups

Write helpful tips

Create local resources for others

Have a section of tips from others in your field

Create a forum on your site

As you can see, these are all marketing strategies that ingage people in some way. The key is to create emotion through your visitors. Once youกve engaged someone from your site, your site will be imprinted on their mind. It may take them a year to buy something from you but once in a while, maybe even weekly, they will keep coming back to your site.

The important thing to remember is that, eventually, we loose all of our visitors, even more important is to find marketing ventures that keep them coming back from time to time.

Just because someone saw your service today, doesn’t mean that he/she is ready to buy what you are ofering. Many people กShop For Tomorrowก. They like to browse around, see the options out there before they dig into their wallet.

I hope this article will spawn off some ideas for you!

About The Author

Martin Lemieux

Smartads President

Affordable Web Design & Web Site Marketing

http://www.smartads.info & http://www.smartads.ca

For more of Martinกs articles, please go here:

http://www.smartads.info/top10

For Daily Web Marketing Tips:

http://webmarketing.smartads.info

This article was posted on August 21, 2004

by Martin Lemieux

Are Search Engines Worth It Any More?

Are Search Engines Worth It Any More?

by: Philippa Gamse

The ขNumber Oneข Question – the question that I (and probably every other Internet marketing expert on the planet) am most frequently asked:

ขHow do I get to be Number One in the search engines for widgets? After all, my company is the world’s leading provider of widgets – it’s ridiculous that these other nobody companies are coming up in search engines ahead of us . . . ข

My response is almost always along the lines of:

ขForget that right now, and get a life!ข

OK, so I am a little more tactful than that – and I do occasionally encourage an indepth search engine optimization strategy, but usually I’ll encourage clients to spend their website promotional budget in other ways.

Here are the main reasons why I’m not generally enthusiastic about free search engines:

1. You have to be really careful in choosing keywords

Many people make the mistake of focusing on very generic keywords. Not only are these even more difficult to get top placement in, but they also won’t generate you targeted traffic.

A prospect approached me recently for help with a coaching site. This site promotes teleseminars to help clients implement life changes described in various motivational books. This prospect initially said that he wanted to be ขNumber Oneข on a search for ขbooksข.

I’d suggest this would be a virtually impossible challenge for any search engine optimizer. But in addition, someone searching for ขbooksข is probably really looking for Amazon, or Barnes & Noble, and not my client’s teleclasses. He could spend a lot of money for very few qualified leads.

2. You need to speak the language of your visitors

We all talk ขgeekspeakข – it’s often second nature to us within our industry or area of expertise. And it’s easy to forget that our prospects don’t always use the same terminology. One of the most difficult areas in copywriting that I see is when technology sales people are trying to describe their products to a nontechnical market – the result is usually incomprehensible!

But there’s also the jargon that we use as a matter of pride, or because we’ve lost touch with how our markets think of us.

I worked recently with an association of plastic surgeons. They had their member database on their Web site, and wanted to attract visitors there to find a local practitioner.

Their ขNumber Oneข target keyword for the search engines was ขrhinoplastyข. Well, I can only spell this because I just looked it up for this article – but usually you and I in the general public would never think of that – of course, we’d be searching for . . . ขnose jobsข!

The surgeons didn’t like this at all from an academic standpoint. But they had to concede the point when I presented evidence on most common searches from GoTo.com’s very handy Search Engine Submission Tool.

3. It’s very passive marketing . . .

My most pressing argument for not spending too much time on free search engines is that it’s a very passive form of marketing. You’re relying on a prospective visitor waking up in the morning, and realizing that they need something that you might provide. Then, you’re relying on them choosing the precise keywords that you’ve targeted for search engine optimization. It’s a fairly hit or miss business.

When do I disagree with myself?

There are some exceptions to all this. I do believe that search engines are well worth it when you have a niche product or service with extremely unambiguous and welldefined keywords.

For example, an audience member in one of my recent programs was working on a Web site to sell some incredibly advanced yoyos. I did recommend a search engine strategy to him – after all, if someone puts in ขyoyoข as a search term, they’d almost certainly be a qualified lead!

What do I do instead?

That’s the subject of numerous other articles. But in short, I much prefer aggressively seeking out sites where your target markets are likely to be reading, or searching for information. That way, you can proactively bring your ideas, products and services to them, in places where they are much more likely to be receptive and interested. And there are so many options for different budgets and campaign sizes, both online and offline.

So, are search engines worth it any more?

I’m not advocating ignoring search engines. And I do like the better paid models, such as GoTo (soon to be known as Overture).

But I do suggest that you should be very clear about how much passive marketing you want to undertake, and whether the product or service that you’re offering lends itself to this.

And if you do decide to optimize your site for search engines, pick the keywords that will be in the mindset of your customers . . . and be willing to settle for ขNumber Twoข sometimes!

About The Author

Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is an internationally recognized ebusiness strategist. Check out her free tipsheet กBeyond the Search Enginesก for 17 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be reached at (831) 4650317 or mailto:[email protected].

This article was posted on November 14, 2002

by Philippa Gamse

15 Questions to Instantly Help You Write a Downloa

15 Questions to Instantly Help You Write a Downloadable Tips EBooklet

by: Paulette Ensign

Everyone has something they want the world to know. A downloadable or electronically delivered tips ebooklet is a great way to do that, creating author status and a marketing tool for yourself in the process, with no production expense.

You may have considered writing a fulllength ebook. Many people entertain that possibility. Fewer have actually followed through once realizing how much time and effort that takes. Instead, a downloadable tips ebooklet can be the ideal way to go, ultimately leading you to writing that longer book, or not.

Here are some questions to get your tips (and cash!) flowing. You can mine your own field of gold by looking at any notes you’ve created along the way, or jotting down things now as they come to mind.

What is the single most compelling subject from your experience or knowledge that you want the world to know about? If there are several topics, consider which one you are most passionate about.

Can you identify the single most outstanding thing you want people to know? Think about whether it is a new skill, perspective, attitude, or expansion of general knowledge.

Why do you want to write an ebooklet? It may be an altruistic gesture to spread the word about something. It might be a marketing tool for a business or book you have or want to have. The ebooklet can be a profit center for you. Maybe you would you like it to be both a marketing tool and a profit center.

How would you divide your subject into segments? Look at the possibility of those segments becoming additional ebooklets to develop into a series, or as minichapters of one ebooklet.

What are you often surprised by that people do not know about your subject area? There could be something that seems so กcommon senseก to you, while being highly helpful or enlightening to others.

Does your information need to be presented sequentially or can it be random? Notice if specific entries standalone or if they need whatever came before to cause the entry to make sense to the reader.

What do you want people to do and not to do, be or not be as a result of your ebooklet? Think about how this information will benefit the reader.

Who besides the reader can benefit from this material? There may be manufacturers, suppliers, or distributors whose business activities can profit by distributing your contents. Those will be largequantity buyers of your ebooklet.

Is there jargon or language that is peculiar to your topic? Consider how you will monitor and treat that in your content.

What surprised you most when you learned about your topic? That is probably useful to pass along to your readers in some way.

Which resources are needed to implement any of your suggestions? Look for the easiest ways to accomplish what you are recommending to your reader.

What is it that people need to know about you? Tell what gives you the credential to write about this topic.

What other products and/or services would also make sense to develop to assist the reader in this topic? Decide whether it is important for those to be products and services of your own, of someone elseกs, or both.

How would short anecdotes be useful in supporting your materials? The anecdotes could get in the way or enhance your content.

Do your tips need visual support with graphics to allow them to be more fully understood? Clip art could be adequate or you might decide to use original art.

Are you ready to get started? Or were you already making notes as you were reading this article? Take as little or as much time as you’d like in creating your first tips ebooklet. You’ll be amazed by the results. Everyone has something they want the world to know about. What’s the starting place for you?

Copyright 2005 Paulette Ensign

About The Author

Paulette Ensign has personally sold over a million copies in four languages of a tips booklet called ก110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life,ก all without spending a penny on advertising, in electronic version as well as hard copy. She has had clients match and surpass her results, worldwide. She has learned her business by doing it, never having taken a formal business course in her life. Her San Diego, California based company, Tips Products International, offers a range of products and services to support your success regardless of your budget of time or money. Phone 8584810890 email [email protected] or visit www.tipsbooklets.com.

This article was posted on February 17

by Paulette Ensign

The Top 10

The Top 10

by: Bea Fields

Today’s customers are demanding, and their expectations are furiously escalating. Everyone wants value, and they want it now! They want convenience, and they want their needs and requirements met. You don’t have to look very far to hear what customers are saying ขI want my Dell Computer with Windows XP and a Zip Drive, and I want lifetime customer service with it,ข or ขI want my Honda with navy leather seats, and I want to be treated like royalty when I come in for my 30,000 mile tuneup.ข Adding value is key to business success, and these ten strategies, taken from The Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program will make your customers love you and will keep them coming back for more.

1. Ask Your Clients What they Value.

Value is often in the eye of the beholder. If your customers say they don’t value price, and they continue to buy a lower priced item from your competitor, you cannot ignore this fact. If people say they value good service, and your service is stellar, and they are still not buying from you, the big question is WHY? It is important to perform a needs analysis to clearly determine the pains and challenges of your target market. A survey tool such as AdvancedSurvey.com can provide you with quick answers to questions such as ขWhat is the thing in life that is your biggest challenge right now?ข or ขIf you could change one thing about your business right now, what would you change?ข If the majority of people say ขA lack of money,ข you know that price is going to be a determining factor in their buying decisions. If they say ขA lack of time,ข then providing quick service will be of paramount importance to your company. If they say ขIn my business, I would improve my customer servi!

ce,ข then it is your job to deliver a way to improve customer service. Go deep with your needs analysis, and then quickly deliver a solution to your clients’ most pressing needs.

2. Personalize the Relationship.

Your relationship with your clients is more than just a sale. It is building a connection with someone who has trusted you enough to buy from you. This relationship cannot be taken for granted. Greet your customers with enthusiasm, charm, energy, an optimistic attitude, and be LIKABLE. People do business with people they like. They don’t do business with people who are nasty and rude.

Take thorough notes about the lives of your clients. Make a note not only their birthdays and special occasions but the birthdays and special occasions of their spouses, children, parents, and pets (yes…their pets) and make sure to contact them on these days of celebration. Start out each conversation with the question ขHow is your son/wife/partner/mother?ข or ขTell me about your weekend. What did you do that was great for you?ข A key question to constantly ask yourself is ขHow can I make my customers happy?ข The answer: Be real. Be human. Be connected. Be curious. Be genuinely interested. It works!

3. Use Assessments to Create an Emotional Bond.

Assessments have been used for years as a tool for developing people in organizations. By understanding behavior differences, organizations can align employee’s values and motivations with the company’s mission. This same approach can be used with your clients and customers. With a tool such as Assessment Generator, you can create custom assessments which can create an emotional connection with your buyers while looking closely at how your customers motivations align with your mission. As an example, if you are a Certified Financial Planner, you could build an assessment by the title of ขAssess Your Family Wealth,ข or you are a Skin Care Consultant, and you build a ขHow Young is Your Skin?ข assessment. Both titles create an emotional pull of family wealth and the subject of aging. Once the assessments have been completed, look for trends in responses. Are most babyboomers concerned about the future financial wealth (or health) of their families? If so, provide a program or !

package on solving this dilemma. Are most women concerned about sun damage? Provide a month spa package which includes instruction

4. Provide a ขFree Giftsข Offering Upon Purchase.

This is one of the oldest yet most successful marketing techniques in the history of the world of business. People LOVE free stuff! Customers usually will flock to your business if they know they will receive a gift, an offering, or something extra. The trick here is to add ongoing value to the lives of others. The majority of the time, people will place value on something financial, emotional, or functional. Over ten years ago, an insurance company sent me a jar opener as a ขfree gift,ข which I did not think was valuable, but it has saved me a great deal of time and energy in the kitchen. I have used it for ten years, and if someone takes my jar opener, I have a tendency to get ขtesty.ข I have come to rely on the jar opener in my every day chores in the kitchen, and I still remember to this day who gave it to me…The Insurance Company. The gift was functional, and I did not even know I needed it, but now that I have it, I can’t live without it!

5. Provide a Frequently Asked Question Page Backed Up by a Special Report or Article.

With your FAQ page, you can not only answer questions which are often asked, you can add value in process. Example: You are a Registered Dietitian or Nutritionist, and a frequently asked question is ขHow quickly will I lose weight?ข Rather than simply say ขI don’t knowข or ขThat depends on how closely you follow the dietข or ขYour success depends on both your diet and your exercise,ข answer the question by providing a paragraph explaining your answer and backing it up with a special report authored by you. An example of a special report might be ขThe 10 Habits that Can Kill Your Chances of Losing Weight.ข Not only have you answered the question, you have added value in a way which demonstrates your expertise.

6. Package and Present Your Materials with Professionalism and Elegance.

The more professional and attractive your packaging, the more the perceived value of your products and services will be. This packaging not only includes the presentation of your products but includes the look and feel of your website, business cards, stationery, your physical office, and the way you dress and present yourself to others. If people see beauty, elegance, confidence, and professionalism, they will immediately feel as if the experience they are buying is one of rich value.

7. Be an Information Broker.

Some people call this an information maven. I call it being masterful at what you do, staying current in your industry, and being able to answer any and all questions as they come your way. I recommend that you go one step further by providing a resource library and an information hotline for your clients and customers. There is nothing more attractive than a person who is in the ขknow.ข This resource library can include magazines (both hard copy and online articles,) books, great websites, audios, CDs, and anything which can provide your customers with ready access to information. It is best to include a wide variety of resources, including access to information on food, clothing, travel, health, decorating, pets, and self improvement. The more diverse you are, the more you will appeal to a wide variety of people, which is quite attractive and makes you much more interesting.

8. Share Your Network.

In a world of resource constraints and intense competition, business owners and organizations of today are employing a variety of cooperative relationships to achieve their goals domestically and internationally. Through the power of shared networks, it is possible to grow a business more quickly and at a much lower cost and risk. By sharing your network with your clients, you offer them a chance for their business to grow exponentially, which is a huge value added proposition.

9. Send Your Clients Referrals.

What would your business be like if your customers were your walking billboards, driving hundreds of customers your way every day? Sounds great, right? You bet it does! One of the best ways to achieve this goal is to first send your clients business. That’s right…send them business first! It is probably the best value added service possible, and it models the process of sending referrals. In order to get referrals, you must first be willing to give. It’s that simple.

10. Custom Build It! Quickly!

Customers of today want products and services that meet their unique needs and requirements, and as a business owner, it is important to know how to deliver custom built products and services quickly (without sacrificing quality.) Customers also see speed as valuable, which can mean receiving a document by overnight delivery, delivering a proposal within hours of its request, or bringing a new fashion or piece of furniture to store shelves within 710 days of its design. People all over the world are custom building products or services to create a competitive advantage, and it’s time for you to do the same. Be smart, be quick, be hip, and you’ll win the value game.

Copyright 2004 Five Star Leader Coaching and Training

About The Author

This piece was originally submitted by Bea Fields, Author of the 90 Day Marketing Marathon, Executive Coach and Trainer, who can be reached at [email protected], or visited on the web. Bea Fields wants you to know: I am the President of Five Star Leader Coaching and Training and along with Mitch Meyerson, Founder of Guerrilla Marketing Coach, I am the coleader of the The Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program.

This article was posted on September 19, 2004

by Bea Fields

Networking Relax!

Networking Relax!

by: Gill Fernley

Networking – relax! – Gill Fernley and Justin Baker, Six Degrees Network

Anyone who has been to a networking event has met business card thruster guy. Won’t leave you alone, thrust their card in your face, every attempt at conversation gets quickly turned into a sales pitch. These people aren’t networking, they’re selling. Badly.

Let me share with you some of my thoughts on what puts the ‘work’ in networking. Networking is a form of marketing, and any form of marketing is most effective when you don’t come straight out and say ขbuy this!ข The best marketing techniques work on building relationships – courting trust, showing your intentions to be honourable in what you are offering. And there are certain market characteristics too:

People buy people.

People work with (and refer) people they like.

People don’t like being sold to.

That’s why the best networkers aren’t the great sales gurus, they’re the archetypal ‘people person’. They are interested in other people and what they do. They want to help as well as be helped, not just because it will see them get business in the future, but because they like helping others. And most importantly, they don’t talk – they listen.

Many networking events involve a ‘round robin’ of everyone there, which certainly has its uses – you get to tell everyone who you are and what you do, and if there is someone there who is looking for the service you provide, they will very likely come up to you for a chat. But that’s not networking, that’s hit and miss, and it’s very important to understand the difference.

What I call hit and miss is what I just described above. You tell as many people in one go what you do in the hope that one of them is looking for it – the social equivalent of a mailshot, and just about as effective.

When you network, it involves who you get to know, and who they know, and who they know. This is called Six Degrees of Separation, the theory of psychologist Stanley Milgram. Milgram theorised that there was a chain of six people or less connecting us to everyone else on the planet, and this is also where Six Degrees Network gets its name from. This, to us, is exactly what networking is about: working that chain, getting your details through to the person at the other end, by getting to know people who can pass that information on. Wordofmouth marketing relies on this being a small world, and networking makes it even smaller. This is also why the IT consultant, for example, shouldn’t ignore the mechanic or the florist – firstly it’s rude, and secondly who knows who they know?

So how do you get your name down that chain? It’s unfortunate but true, that meeting a truly nice person is a rare occurrence these days. People remember meeting them when they do, and they feel an obligation to do something nice for them in return. Business card thruster guy will be bunched in with all the rest that person has ever met, but you, the sincere, friendly person who they chewed the fat with for half an hour about their business, their family and life in general, will be remembered. And if someone ever mentions your type of service to them in the future, you get the allimportant ขYou know, I met a really nice guy/girl who does that called…ข Just in case business card thruster guy is reading this and wonders what my point is here, this is called a referral. Its ok, I know you haven’t seen one before. Don’t be scared.

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

Top 3 Viral Marketing Techniques

Top 3 Viral Marketing Techniques

by: Michael McLaughlin

Interested in finding a way to literally draw new customers to your website without doing anything? Have your visitors feel exited about telling other people about your website? Then don’t stop reading here!

#1. Community

Everyone is looking for ways to draw unique visitors to there website, fact is many people spent a vast amount of there profits advertising. Many webmasters don’t understand that one return visitor is worth more than five visits from a targeted advertising campaign that stay for a few seconds. Building a community is a great way to draw visitors back to your website.

The best way to produce this effect is offer your website visitors a way to communicate with each other through a forum or message board. Make sure your forum or message board’s general topic is highly related to your websites purpose or product, this way you know that the return visitors will be interested in your product!

Another great way to build a sense of community is to make available to your visitors a form where they can submit there comments or suggestions, this will let your future customer feel that his opinion is being counted and they can make a difference.

#2. Affiliate Program

Affiliate programs are a superior way to make a phenomenal amount of extra money and draw tons of new visitors! You may ask yourself why affiliate programs are always so successful? Yet there is a very simple answer, and that is that with affiliate programs everyone wins!

Set up an affiliate program on your website and you could double or triple your sales and watch as your traffic goes through the roof! The reason for this is because with affiliate programs there is incentive on both sides. First the affiliates are interested in making money by selling your product, and if you pay your affiliates enough you will have no need to advertise for you site any longer because the sales will be pouring in! Also suggest that you pay your affiliates percents of how much your product cost, that way they have more incentive to try to sell your most expensive product! Ways affiliate programs benefit the owner is simple: it draws sales and visitors.

#3. Offer Free ขStuffข

Easily the simplest viral marketing technique. By offering your visitors something free in exchange for perhaps a verified email address, you can then email those visitors and notify them about updates on your website or product sales. Word of mouth always has been and always will be the best marketing technique and marketing gurus have known this forever!

There are numerous resources where you can download free stuff then turn around and give it away to your visitors. Some great ideas to get you started off is to offer your visitors free ebooks and free software. This software might cost a substantial amount of money to develop but it’s a one time fee for a decent stream of visitors for life! The options are endless, find something your visitors want and watch them roll on in!

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

This article was posted on February 09

by Michael McLaughlin

Blueprint of Online Success

Blueprint of Online Success

by: Dr Jamie Fettig

Iกm going to introduce you to what is potentially the most valuable strategy you’re ever going to learn about Internet Marketing, or even business in general. Once you grasp this concept and make it your own, your marketing life will never be the same again.

And, you’re going to wonder why this simple idea, which is so incredibly powerful and immediately useful, is not taught as part of every Internet seminar, home study course and eBook.

What works and what doesn’t

If youกve been in the market for Internet advice and guidance for any length of time, youกve probably noticed that things can get complicated and confusing quickly. Every กguruก seems to have his own technique and says you have to buy *his* method and sign up for his software if you’re going to succeed.

The truth is, if you bought every eBook, attended every teleseminar and bought every home study course, youกd never make any money because youกd be so tied up in knots trying to figure out which way to go, youกd have trouble picking a direction and getting started.

Building an income stream is like building a house… it starts with a blueprint.

Focus on what *matters*. Once you have the blueprint, the ‘toolsก part falls into place, but tools without a plan are useless.

Letกs say you decided you want to go into the house building business. So, like any intelligent person, you decide to do some research. You buy some books and go to some courses. So far, so good.

But what would you think if you went to a course or bought a book and instead of learning how to actually build houses, you were given a กrah rahก speech and pitched on saws and hammers and twobyfours?

No instruction on what *matters* when it comes to building a house. Nothing about picking a good location, laying a solid foundation, nor designing the house correctly; Just a thinly disguised sales pitch for an overpriced hammer.

Iกm sure you see the problem and yet what I just described is how most Internet marketing education works.

No insight, no real guidance. Just กDo what I say, give me your money and everything will work out fine.ก

There is a better way.

Products are EASY when you do it right

Hereกs the #1 most commonly asked question about Internet marketing.

กWhat should I sell online?ก

This question is completely backwards. The most important question you need to ask about marketing anything on the Internet or elsewhere is not กwhatก should I sell, but กwhomก should I sell to.

In other words, pick the market first.

Hereกs why this is so lifeanddeath important. Without a market in mind, itกs practically impossible to create a product that will sell.

On the other hand, when you have a market in mind, coming up with product ideas is as easy as falling off a log. Thereกs literally nothing to it.

Now, I ask you. What situation would you rather be in?

The person on the sidelines going round and round in circles trying to figure out what to sell and how to get started…Or the person who is in the game, putting points up on the scoreboard, and having fun. (Yes, business, when it is working right, is fun.)

About The Author

Dr. Jamie Fettig

If you value entertainment over education… the system seminar is not for you.

But if youกve got brains and guts and you sincerely want to be more than just another member of the กmediocre Internet marketing majority,ก take the FREE PreSystem Training. After just a few lessons youกll see right away if the System is for you or not. The PreSystem Training is a course that stands on its own and over the years, it has helped a lot of people make a lot of money. http://www.bazuji.com/system

This article was posted on March 18

by Dr Jamie Fettig