Shameless SelfPromotion

Shameless SelfPromotion

by: Janice D. Byer, MVA

Hi! My name is Janice Byer and I am the owner of DocuType Administrative & Web Design Services (http://www.docutype.net). I am the winner of several prestigious awards (information is on our website) and have a slew of happy customers, as the testimonials on our site will attest to. My services are professional, creative and in demand.

Now, wasn’t that easy? In one small paragraph, I have shamelessly selfpromoted my business and it’s success.

I’ll admit it, I am addicted to shameless selfpromotion, and why not? Who better to promote myself and my business than me? And, the opportunity to talk about your business should be the root behind every marketing effort you undertake.

Networking utilizes shameless selfpromotion almost constantly. After all, when you visit a networking event, why are you there? To promote your business of course! And, when you are at a designated networking event, it is not the time when you should hold back. Be shameless yet professional, and also be considerate of your fellow networkers. They are there for the same reason you are. So, give them the opportunity to shamelessly selfpromote themselves.

Networking is the ขright timeข to shamelessly selfpromote. But, there are times when it is not appropriate. There is a time and a place for everything, including promoting your business.

For instance, if you are a member of a news or discussion group, there are generally rules against promoting your business, unless that is what the list is for. So, don’t take advantage of the captive audience or break the rules. That can actually be bad for business.

However, some lists have designated days of the week or month when you can shamelessly tell the world about what you do and what you have to offer. This is the time to show them what you’ve got.

Opportunities arise at various times when it is good to promote yourself and your business. For instance, I was with my daughter at the library yesterday and the woman there asked if I was excited about my daughter going into grade one and the fact that she will be in school all day. This was the perfect opportunity to tell her that I run my own homebased business and what I do.

Also, a few weeks back we had our water supply guy here filling up our well and we talked about his father’s business. Well, I didn’t give up the chance to say, ขDoes your father have a website? I can design one for him.ข Well, the conversation went from there and I ended up giving him several of my business cards.

My husband is also the owner of a small business; a tow truck and storage business. Well, the other day we had a fellow here delivering gravel for our driveway and, as he is always on the road, I asked him if he sees accidents and such. So, my husband gave him some of his cards and it has paid off already. Yesterday this dump truck drive called to tell my husband about an accident that he had just seen.

And, don’t forget your existing clients. Do they know everything that you offer? I have a wonderful steady administrative client that I told a few times about some of the websites I am designing. Well, he was impressed and now we are in talks to design his website. He didn’t know I did website design until I told him. And, this may be true for you as well. Your clients won’t know everything that you can do for them unless you tell them. They may not need any of your secondary services right away, or at all, but they may know someone who does.

My administrative client, which I mentioned above, has now given my name to some of his customers who need help with their office tasks and web design needs.

As I said before, there is a time and a place for shamelessly selfpromoting yourself and your business. Be careful not to sound arrogant and don’t be pushy. But, as a small business owner, you are the best person to tell others about what you offer and you should take advantage of situations that will allow you to do so.

About The Author

Janice Byer is a certified Master Virtual Assistant and owner of DocuType Administrative & Web Design Services (http://www.docutype.net). See this and other articles on her website.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 18, 2002

by Janice D. Byer, MVA

The Purpose Driven Business

The Purpose Driven Business

by: John Jantsch

I’d like to start this article off with a question. What’s the purpose of a business? Or, perhaps more specifically, what’s the purpose of your business? Do you ever think about that throughout the course of the day? Or, does it only haunt you at night or when you are trying to clear a jam in the copier?

Ten years ago I would have gone with Peter Drucker’s answer – The purpose of a business is to create a customer. Today, after 25 years of business ownership and asking several hundred small business owners this very question, I would have to say that the real purpose of a business is to give the owner of that business more life, more freedom.

In all my years though, I have never had a small business owner give me that answer. Many business owners instinctively go into business with the goal of achieving something that fulfills their dreams, but the making it, fixing it, shipping it quickly consumes. The phone rings and business owner reacts without thought to the demand on the other end.

At some point this wonderful vision of freedom and expression that you had for you business became just the oppositeThe monster that methodically took the life right out of you. Has anyone come to realize that your business can rob you of your life it you are willing to let it?

So, what’s the answer?

I think the answer to this puzzle comes down to two things – focus and connection.

Focus involves a discovery, or at least rediscovery, of what you want most out of your life. That knowledge then must become the focus of your thoughts and the basis for your business decisionmaking. See, unless you know and focus on what more life and more freedom really means to you and only you then you will never be able to go about building a business that delivers it.

Connection is the systematic application of your purpose in life to the daytoday function of your business. There has been so much written about the need to ขleave one’s business behind at the end of the dayข and I think that’s part of the problem. As I’m sure you’ve discovered, you can’t leave it so all you do is wrestle with it. Better to find a way to connect your business to your life. Now, in some cases, that may mean making dramatic changes in the way you go about your business, what your business does and who your business serves.

I can’t give you all the answers to life’s most persistent questions in the span of this article, but I can tell you this – Wake up or else. I’m not going to dwell on the ขor elseข as I suspect you may have already experienced it in some fashion.

I will however leave you with this paraphrased thought from an Ogden Nash poem titled ขPortrait Of An Artist As Prematurely Old Manข – Most of will regret our sins of omission, the things we didn’t’ do, far more than the sins of commission, the things we did do. See the full text here.

Find what you want out of life, find what you are willing to leave behind in order to get it and then connect that purpose every single day with what you do and you just may actually catch a glimpse of the magic that owning a small business can bring.

Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

About The Author

John Jantsch is a marketing coach, speaker and bestselling coauthor of Wake Up . . . Live the Life You Love featuring contributions from Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Mark Victor Hansen. You can find out more by visiting http://www.JohnJantsch.com.

This article was posted on December 22, 2004

by John Jantsch

The Virtual Assistant

The Virtual Assistant

by: Lori Redfield

As a small business owner, outsourcing work to Virtual Assistants is fast becoming a popular and intelligent decision. The business owner saves enormous amounts of money by cutting the costs of offices and equipment overhead as well as expensive benefits packages.
The ‘Virtual Office’ creates an enormous amount of personal freedom and independence for both the small business owner and the virtual workers. The dedication and commitment that virtual workers demonstrate testifies to the satisfaction derived from a home office setting.
Being on the cutting edge of this profession offers tremendous opportunity for technical savvy entrepreneurs to secure a viable and stable home business opportunity. A good business plan and well thought out marketing campaigns are crucial to the organized success of a Virtual Assistant in both securing enough clients and/or work to meet their budget goal as well as adequately being able to balance clients and deadlines.
Virtual Assistant’s actually would be well advised to embrace a business partner or utilize a team of trusted colleagues to entrust overflow work to. The standards of a good Virtual Assistant aren’t easily met and establishing a virtual network of quality workers isn’t an easy task. Any overflow work that you outsource must exemplify the same care and quality as your own or you stand the chance of alienating your clients.
As the owner of a home business resource specifically geared toward professional mothers seeking home based work, I am often approached for advice on how to become a Virtual Assistant and also receive many inquiries about what skills are required to be successful in the field.
To gain and retain clients, my main advice is to maintain your professionalism in all of your interactions with your client. As much as it is a leap for you to give up the ‘security’ of working in a corporate office, it is also a very new concept for business owners to outsource their work to a team of ‘Virtual Workers’ who they may likely never even see facetoface. There is a great level of trust employed in this relationship and your professionalism in correspondence and phone calls will go a long way in securing their trust.
Furthermore, I advise you to pay great attention to your accuracy and final product that you submit to your clients. Meet all of your deadlines, and know at least two days ahead of time if you are not going to be able to meet them. Communicate that to your client before the project is late and keep in communication on a daily basis from the beginning to the end of all projects with brief status reports.
Make yourself easily accessible through email, telephone and instant messenger. You should have access to whatever instant messenger service your client prefers. The most popular are ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo. Be certain to set your instant messengers to save your history so that you can easily refer back to client request or comments without having to solicit the client to repeat what they already have said.
A rule of thumb is to remain in communication with the client, but don’t waste their time. The client should end their work day each day with a sense of real gratitude of the skills, organization and trustworthiness you bring to the table. They should know that you are available to converse with at almost any time but you do not bother them unless it is absolutely necessary.
In the end the presence of a Virtual Assistant should prove to make the company more money because the owner and other business team members can focus on income producing areas of business that they otherwise wouldn’t have as much time to do.
The most common and I would say necessary tools for the job are the most current version of Microsoft Office. You should have and be comfortable using Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access. You should have either Macromedia Dreamweaver or Microsoft Frontpage and know the basics of HTML and ftp’ing files to and from servers.
So much of a Virtual Assistant’s work is based online that it really is crucial to have DSL or Cable internet access. You also want to have a good computer that you can rely on.
There is so little expense in running a virtual office that I don’t believe it is wise to cut corners with your computer, software and other office equipment. Having the latest technology on hand and continuing to acquire and master new skills will increase your desirability and worth in the eyes of your clients. It will also demonstrate your commitment to your career.
When a client begins to trust you with important responsibilities and invests the time in training and familiarizing you with the procedures of their particular business, they need to be able to depend on you and to know that you are committed to your work.
In short, with administrative skills and above average technical savvy, coupled with an organized and professional approach – a career as a Virtual Assistant is definitely a viable and rewarding option.

About The Author

Lori Redfield, owner of FreelanceMom.com, http://www.freelancemom.com is a Virtual Assistant, Freelance Designer and Internet entrepreneur. To sign up for her monthly newsletter, visit http://www.freelancemom.com/newsletter.htm

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 22, 2004

by Lori Redfield

Networking Basics Turn Yourself Into A Profit Maki

Networking Basics Turn Yourself Into A Profit Making Giant

by: Costa Dedes

I would like to introduce you to one of my brick and mortar business I run. It is called AFM Computer Repair. This business takes me about 5 hours a week, yet I usually make a few hundred dollars cash in my pocket spending money a week. Now I know what everyone is thinking, กHow the HELL do you run a brick and mortar business with only 5 hours of your time a week!ก. Well its quite simple. Its called networking. Ok I admit the location isn’t mine, it doesn’t have my name on it. But the benefits are great I don’t pay monthly bills! This is like a dream come true, your own store with no bills.

OK let me explain a little more. The business sells refurbished computers that are supplied by a local computer recycler. I networked myself with a few local business owner in my home town and managed to find a few people who could be interested in selling PC products. After getting the names and locations of each business I wrote up a presentation and showed them the benefits of having me in the store selling my products. The owners almost dropped to their knees begging me to setup my displays. A week later I had three shops all selling computer for ME. I had no overhead I did not even need to be in the store for more then a few hours each week.

The secrets to networking is to find a product you are interested in. Once you have found the product learn more about it. Once you learned enough about the product, read about it some more until it is so well into your memory you have no questions about it. Then prepare a list of possible business to market your product in. I recommend small locally owned businesses in downtown parts of your town, example would be a corner store where people hang out to buy beer and cigarettes you know people will be in and out all day. Then prepare your presentation. Make sure you can answer the most outrageous questions on your products. Do not forget the part that will make your perspective partner drop to his knees asking you to come sell in his shop. The secret to this is กMake him an offer he cant refuseก. No no, I don’t mean get the mob over and break his knees. What you need to do is tell him that your product will give him extra cash with no investment. The owner does not have to purchase any of your products up front. You own all the products until they are sold. Once they are sold you write up a bill and give it to the shop owner. You make sure you give them a good cut of the money. Depending on your product that can be anywhere from 15% to 60%. If you keep the shop owner happy I promise you that the money you see will continue to come for years.

Specific example: Lets say you want to start small. Purchase a box of lighters from http://www.dropshipping4u.com/catalog/ . Then go to a locally owned store and give them a presentation on your products. Make sure you purchase an interesting type of lighter. Yes you can purchase the plain lighters but they are harder to market. The ones that look like cigarettes are a good buy so lets try them. They cost you 82 cents a piece after shipping. I have seen these selling as high as 5.99 in some good markets. Lets take a bad price of 2.25 per lighter. You sell them all within a week, thatกs $108.00, now you owe the shop owner some money, lets say 20%. You send him a bill for $86.40 . He makes a little over $20.00 and is happy, he did no work and made some money for his shop. You profited $47.04 lets say you have only 5 shops signed up with you. That is $235.20 profit in your pocket. Ok lets say you sold the lighters for $5.99 because you are in a tourist area and the tourist always go for these things. You would see a profit of over $190.00 from one case. Imagine that times 10 stores a week. You see where networking with local business will make you big cash now? The next time you go to a mini mart look at the counter, ask them where do you get your lighters from most of the time they get them outsourced by people like yourself. Now go out there and make some cash!

Thanks for reading my stories.

About The Author

Costa Dedes

Owner/Operator

www.unisoftsoftware.com

www.pagers4u.com

www.yourwatch.net

www.dropshipping4u.com

Copyright © by UniSoft Software Internet Marketing Group All Right Reserved.

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 19, 2003

by Costa Dedes

Create Powerful Joint Ventures Step by Step

Create Powerful Joint Ventures Step by Step

by: Christophor Strobel

Figure out what you are passionate about and make it your business.

If you love golf, parachuting, surfing, computing, fishing , or whatever it may be, make it your business. A business that is also a hobby or pastime greatly increases the chances of enjoying getting up and wanting to go to ขwork ขevery day or every other day if you choose.

Start subscribing to all the magazines, catalogs, and newsletters you can find about the topic. Learn what new products are available (read reviews) and what products they compliment. Clip the good ads, tips, and articles and keep them organized for the future. Repeat advertisement month after month in the same publication means the ad is pulling in sales, check these businesses out.

Think new, latest, greatest ,complimentary, product or service here are a few ideas

audio book club / travel organization

surfboards / wetsuit maker

Recreational vehicle owner / travel guides / fuel savings device / fuel savings club

Doctor / pharmacist

Tuxedo shop / reception hall / jeweler / cake maker / bridal shop / photographer / florist

Law firm / adoption agency

Book seller / seminar service

Cooking school / kitchen supply store

House painter / carpenter / plumber / electrician / handyman

computers / training videos

web hosting / web design.

real estate agent / security company / handyman

Greenhousenursery / Landscaper

Golfers use many different products every time they go out on the course. Shoes, bags, clubs, balls, tees, carts, gloves, clothing, umbrellas, memberships, and many other items .Even when golfers are off the course they use training videos, read magazines, and take personal lessons , whatever it takes to improve their game.

New computer owners often feel overwhelmed by the idea of figuring out all the different programs. Arrange an endorsement deal for the computer seller to introduce the new computer owner to training videos DVD’s, or Ebooks and take your piece of the pie for creating the joint venture.

Remember the banjo minnow? Fisherman all over the globe use this lure and it is guaranteed that there is a list for rent somewhere of every purchaser worldwide .Find a complimentary product to go with the list and have the company endorse the new product. Split the profits three ways. List owner ,deal maker (you), and the product distributor.

http://www.Alexa.com toolbar ranks related websites while you surf the internet.Endorsement deals are easy to find by just clicking on the related sites.

Response lists are compiled lists of people who have purchased something from an infomercial , catalog , television commercial , a mailing whether it be email or snail mail, or etc.

Get your hands on a copy of an SRDS (Standard Rate and Data Service) ask for the ขDirect Marketing List Sourceข and study all the different categories and learn what they mean. direct marketing list source delivers the accurate, uptodate list broker and list manager information you need to get the job done quickly—including purchase lists and contact data. Major libraries have copies of the SRDS in the reference section, They are expensive so wait until the profits roll in before you purchase your own.

1800851SRDS

http://www.Srds.com

http://MediaFinder.com offers the ability to research the advertising and list rental opportunities

Find a copy of an Oxbridge Communications National Directory of Mailing Lists (8009550231). Major libraries have copies of the Oxbridge Communications National Directory of Mailing Lists in the reference section

Trade associations also have mailing lists.

http://dir.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/organizations/trade_associations

http://www.taforum.org/searchgroup.pl?n=500

How to Find Products

Need a product? Join an affiliate program, they are free and there is no contract to sign. Almost every online store has an affiliate program so figure out your interests and research the business. It is marketing smart for the stores to give you commission for finding customers ,then they don’t have to . Think digital product because they are automatically delivered and available instantly over the internet. Most merchants already have proven sales copy and order pages available to affiliates. Here are a few places to start looking

https://www.ezinfocenter.com/8691656/SIM Six Figure Income Group has doubled again to now over 8 million affiliates in over 190 countries… now the worldกs largest affiliate network. If you are a multiincome qualified affiliate, you can bring someone into SFI one time, then earn commissions on that personally sponsored affiliate, every month indefinitely!

http://www.commissionjunction.com the fastest growing affiliate network, has over 1400 merchant programs to choose from. Earn commissions on clicks, leads, or sales and a 2tier referral program paying $2/new affiliates & 5% of their commissions forever!

http://www.clixgalore.com Start earning large amounts of commission now by joining one of the many Affiliate programs listed in the clixGalore affiliate network.

http://www.clickbank.com Partner with Click Bank and youกll have an instant affiliate network promoting your digital products. Among our top selling products, over 75% of all sales are generated by affiliates.

Buy and try the Product. If you never try the product how can you possibly be passionate about it. Services take longer for the profit to roll in. Products create immediate revenue.

Already have a product ?

Design a website with your product on it. Look in the above affiliate networks and find complimentary products .Why have an online store when you can have a whole online mall. Choose an affiliate program that closely relates with the theme of your website. Websites never close they are open for sales 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year .

Learn web design. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) makes this step real simple. Microsoft Frontpage is really simple to use .Here are a few tutorials.

http://grassroots.brunnet.net/rothesayhigh/webdesigntutorial/frontpage/

http://www.godaddy.com NEW business plans available! hosting from just $3.95 a month $8.95 domain name (www.yourbusiness.com) registration.

FTP (File transfer protocol) This is used to transfer the pages you built to the host server

http://www.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/ftp

Think up your own domain name .Do not use the free web hosts such as geocities or angle fire they are not for serious business owners and possible deals will want nothing to do with your business.

Prepare your Introduction Letters.

Here are a few sample letters http://jointventurebiz.com/jointventurebizletters.html to read through , they will give you ideas about what should be included.

Create a simple letterhead on good paper.

Company name

Address

Phone number Fax number Email Address

___________________________________________

Never send your offer through email .Snail mail or delivery service (Fedex , UPS ) is recommended over email for sending off your letter to the prospects .Most business owners get many emails per day and delete them if they don’t recognize the name or email address .Spam filters also get rid of unfamiliar Email.

Send an introduction letter to both prospects. Explain to the list owner that you have a complimentary product that would be a great joint venture with untapped profit potential. Explain to the product owner that you have a response list with many potential customers

The list owner has the trust of his previous customers so they are more likely to purchase from the merchant again if the offer is to hard to pass up.

Most website owner have a contact page on their site with the address telephone and fax number included. http://networksolutions.com is also comprehensive search across multiple WHOIS databases. Includes all domains, extensions regardless of where they are registered

Negotiating the joint ventures.

There is nothing etched in stone about who gets what in a joint venture endorsement deal. Negotiation should not be a road block in getting these deals.

Deals are going to be different every single time you set one up. Be flexible and when you start out doing these deals. Maybe offer to pay for the printing or postage the first few times. Exchange experience for profits and learn as much as you can. Eventually product and list owners will be coming to you to set up more of these deals.

Always test a list before mailing out to everyone on it. Testing saves money and time. Mailing to a list of 10,000 people and having 294 of them buy is not a real good campaign .Mail 500 of them and see what percentage of customers purchase.

Post cards are cheaper to mail than envelopes and are a great way to promote a product to a list of response buyers. With post cards there is nothing to open and it will usually always be read before making it to the trash can.

Just try a few of these deals, they really are a dime a dozen. with a little brainstorming and research .The biggest thing is to try, if you never try you will never know what could have been. keep learning about joint venture marketing from the gurus, forums, newsgroups ,ezines, whatever means necessary.

Some owners are going to tell you know NO,maybe they tried a joint venture deal in the past and it went wrong or maybe they are happy with business the way it is. business owners are everywhere you turn, intoduce yourself ,explain what you do , get deals, and enjoy the profits.

Happy joint ventures.

Christophor Strobel

About The Author

Christophor Strobel publishes Home Business Tips, a fresh and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people like You! If you are looking for the best rated home business Opportunities, the latest time saving tools and helpful support Come by and grab a FREE subscription at http://profitsetup.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 17, 2004

by Christophor Strobel

Need For A Realtor

Need For A Realtor

by: Albert Apfelle

Realtors are not indispensable

In recent years, it has become a necessary evil for the budget conscious to find new ways to save money. Putting up a house for sale by the owner rather than a realtor is a more recent phenomenon in the art of cost cutting. People who have homes for sale are beating realtors at their own game by salvaging their hard earned money and selling their homes in a doityourself manner.

Traditionally homes for sale have been placed on the market with the help of a realtor who attracts a commission for their time and expertise. This commission is on average 6% of the homes sale price. Some homeowners view this as a fee for convenience with the added bonus of the realtor managing the risk, however for the vast majority of people this fee has proven to be an unnecessary burden with budget conscious homeowners relishing in keeping the extra money for their own pockets.

The trend for putting up advertisements กFor sale by ownerก is growing in popularity. There are websites for such properties in almost all the states of America. You can learn everything from beginning to end about putting your house on sale through the comprehensive information provided by these websites. Many times this information is given free of charge because the websites can make money by selling other marketing material such as web space and signage to help make a successful sale. The information given by these sites is so user friendly and easy to understand that the homeowner feels confident to do everything independently and finds the role of the realtor quite redundant and unnecessary.

Money is the chief consideration for deciding to list homes for sale by owner, but it is not entirely a bed of roses and one has to tread very carefully. The owner of the house has to teach himself all the aspects deemed necessary to list homes for sale by owner. The owner should also make sure that he or she has all the necessary documentation legally essential to make a successful transaction. Otherwise, this entire operation could well turn into your worst nighmare.

About The Author

Albert Apfelle is the owner and operator of Frost Realtor, a leading Internet portal for realtor information. For more realtor information and resources, please stop by:

http://www.frostrealtor.com

http://frostrealtor.com

This article was posted on August 09

by Albert Apfelle

Online Business StartUps: The Agony & The Ecstasy

Online Business StartUps: The Agony & The Ecstasy

by: Michele Schermerhorn

Any business startup can be difficult but the online business startup is more so. Both business owners have the same problems of financing, product selection and marketing. However, the ขbrick and mortarข business owner has one major advantage over the online business startup. The conventional business owner can see their potential customers. Their potential customers walk by the windows every day. They may even walk into the store and ask questions. With an online business, other than some hard to decipher website statistics, the only time you know you have a potential customer is when they contact you or order from you. This creates many sleepless nights.

At 2:00 a.m., an online business owner wakes up in a cold sweat. Where are the customers? Have I chosen the right online marketing strategy from the millions that are available? How do I know? Will a sale come in tomorrow or never? There are literally hundreds of concerns made more difficult by the invisibility of the potential customer. The agony of the online business startup is in full swing. Will there be any ecstasy at the end of the road? What will it take?

Ecstasy will occur once the owner knows the business is successful. The elements of success are actually the same for the ขbrick and mortarข business as they are for the online business. The difference resides in the feedback mechanisms. The online business owner can’t count on that facetoface meeting with potential customers when they enter the store or that fleeting glimpse of a customer as they walk by the window. An online business owner must create feedback mechanisms on their website which encourage customers to interact and let him/her know they were there.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get your potential customers to leave you their email addresses? Not only would this help you understand that people are actually visiting your site but it would also be helpful for future marketing efforts. As online business owners, how can we do this?

First, add a simple guest book to your site. Some people will voluntarily sign your guest book, but many will not. So, let’s add a little incentive for the potential customer. How about associating their signature in your guest book with a free drawing for one of your products (like www.sweetvibrations.com, a oneofakind jewelry site) or a free newsletter on an interesting topic (like www.aaronzwebworkz.com)? In this way, you offer something of value in exchange for their email address. And, it doesn’t have to cost you anything.

There are many free website guest books available online. We use a free guest book from www.htmlgear.com on our website www.obinstitute.com. Check it out!

Secondly, an online business owner can also add a referafriend link on their website. Why not offer potential customers the ability to easily market for you? They may know a friend who would really be interested in your product. That friend might buy something from you, or sign your guest book. The website mentioned above, www.htmlgear.com also offers a free referafriend link for your website. And, again, you can check out an example at www.obinstitute.com. Is there anything else we can add to a website to make our potential customer more visible before a sale? Yes, an online survey.

Thirdly, add an ongoing survey form regarding issues of importance to your potential customers? Most of us find it’s interesting to cast a ballot on an issue and then see what position others are taking. Remember, you have two purposes in mind for this strategy. The first is to make the potential customer and their visits to your website more visible to you. This will help maintain your sanity until someone actually orders. But, secondly, you are developing a website that people will return to in the future. This will increase the potential for sales.

Each time the potential customer interacts with the website, using a guest book, a survey or a referafriend link, the online business owner is building a relationship with that potential customer. The more they like using your site, the more likely they are to return. The more often they return to your site, or tell others, the better your chances of the sale.

About The Author

Michele Schermerhorn has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (www.obinstitute.com). Online Business Institute Inc. exists to ขCreate Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Timeข. Check out the FREE Online Seminar!

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 26, 2004

by Michele Schermerhorn

Generating Publicity For Your Business: Knowing Yo

Generating Publicity For Your Business: Knowing Your กMedia Marketก Is Critical

by: Todd Brabender

When starting a successful business venture or launching a new product, most entrepreneurs or business owners conduct some type of marketing research to determine the extent of their prospective customer base. And when getting the word out to that customer base, many entrepreneurs may turn to the media to help generate a buzz for them. However, as detailed as their marketing research might have been, very few business owners are as meticulous at determining their proper ขmedia marketข – that is, all those media outlets whose editorial profiles are a match to a product/business profile and would be appropriate for generating media exposure and publicity.

One of my favorite things to do is educate my clients about their ขmedia market.ข Consider this, in North America there are more than 75,000 media outlets and almost one million reporters, editors & producers in the entire media market. However, only a small percentage of those may be appropriate and applicable to your business/product. But which ones? Unfortunately, too many wellintentioned entrepreneurs are either uninformed or misinformed regarding what it takes to attract media attention for their business. I recently surveyed 100 business owners and entrepreneurs who contacted my business about a publicity/media exposure campaign. Here’s what I found:

11% ขAre Admittedly Media Market Cluelessข

19% ขHave Unrealistic Media Market Perceptionsข

29% ขThink Local & Large Media Are The ONLY Mediaข

41% ขHave A Good Grasp On Their Potential Media Market And Its Benefitsข

Here are the descriptions of these categories and the lessons I try to teach those who fall into each category:

11% ขAre Admittedly Media Market Cluelessข

These are the business owners who know their product and market inside and out, BUT they have never thought about launching a publicity/media exposure campaign before now. They know very little about their potential media market or how to generate publicity therein.

The Lesson: For these types of business owners I recommend asking for help from a smaller PR agency or publicity specialist who is willing to ขhand holdข to get the client educated. Research to find one who doesn’t mind spending the time to educate you about what should be included in your specific media market and the pitch. Make sure the agency or publicist understands the product/business as well as you do and can in turn educate you about your media market – one that will be able to benefit your business for years to come.

19% ขHave Unrealistic Media Perceptionsข

These are the business owners who are CONVINCED that EVERY newspaper, consumer interest magazine and TV show will run a feature on their new products when they launch a publicity campaign.

The Lesson: No product or business, no matter how big or great can be assured media coverage in every outlet in a media market. But you can get coverage in a good number of them given the right media tending. Every media pitch will be weighed against the media outlet’s editorial leadtime, its available editorial space, and availability of an editorial staff member to cover your pitch. It is totally up to the discretion of each media outlet as to whether your pitch makes it to the pages or on air. It can be an uphill battle if you target the wrong media with the wrong message. But you can greatly increase the chances generating those media placements with a little expertise and media market knowhow.

29% ขThink Local & Large Media Are The ONLY Mediaข

These are the ones who think of their media market in two simple terms: LOCAL & LARGE

LOCAL, as you might imagine, means the media outlets in their city or surrounding geographic region the local newspaper, a regional business magazine or two, a few shows at local radio/TV stations. LARGE, on the other hand, are media outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Good Morning America, Oprah or your other favorite large circulation, trade specific media outlet.

The Lesson: The reality is local and large are indeed part of your media market, but not the only ones. The best media market opportunities may well be the dozens of other smaller scale papers, magazines, newsletters or TV/radio/cable shows that may generate more customer interest and sales than a placement in the big media might. Because of a lack of media market knowledge, many business owners don’t even know these smaller, more targeted media outlets exist. This is where a PR agency or publicity specialist can be integral in your publicity campaign. They know the media market very well and will be able to find those media members who will be the best for generating editorial features on your business or product. They also have great media contacts that can turn one feature into a syndicated story that runs in multiple media outlets nationwide.

41% ขHave A Good Grasp On Their Potential Media Market And Its Benefitsข

These are mediasavvy entrepreneurs and business owners who are realistic and knowledgeable about how the media can benefit their business. They know that they have to narrowcast their media pitch to a select segment of the media in order to get coverage that will increase exposure for the business.

The Lesson: Don’t let a PR agency or publicity specialist tell you they will send your pitch to 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 media outlets. The reality is, of the 8,000 daily & weekly newspapers, 11,000 magazines & newsletters, 15,000 radio/TV/cable stations and 7,000 Internet news sites in North America, only about 25% of those accept press releases from outside their geographic area. They cover only LOCAL issues, businesses and products, and it is a waste of time to target them. The key is researching to discover which media outlets will be receptive to your pitch and knowing how to parlay those media contacts into positive consumer interest features that will educate and entice customers about your product or business.

Just like marketing to find the right customers, one should be equally diligent about finding and pitching the right media market. Bottom line – whether you have a general interest product that has widespread consumer appeal or a trade specific business with a very narrow customer base, knowing your appropriate media market can mean the difference between product/business publicity or product/business obscurity.

About The Author

Todd Brabender is the President of Spread The News Public Relations, Inc. His business specializes in generating media exposure and publicity for innovative products, businesses, experts and inventions.

http://www.spreadthenewspr.com

[email protected]

(785) 8428909

This article was posted on April 29, 2003

by Todd Brabender

Common Decency……Letกs Keep it Alive!

Common Decency……Letกs Keep it Alive!

by: Terri Seymour

I recently had an experience with one of the affiliate programs I *was* involved with. This experience did not surprise me, but did however, disappoint me. It is a sad fact that it did not surprise me and I thought maybe an article on this subject might bring it to our attention.

I did willingly join this program and accept the terms of which I do understand. However, when customers of this online business owner would email me with complaints about the product and the fact that the owner would not answer any emails, I definitely had to think twice about promoting this product and affiliate program.

So having decided this, I wrote the owner and asked if he could send me the small amount owed to me. I informed him I would not be promoting his product or program any longer and would like what was owed to me. His reasoning was, he would not pay me because I joined the program willingly and he had a minimum amount.

This I had to accept while thinking, กWouldn’t common decency dictate paying the small amount he owed to a former affiliate?ก The money itself does not change my life in anyway of course, but the human side of this really bothers me.

I will credit him with being polite and professional in his emails, and I also did not get upset, but thanked him for the learning experience. I also stated that I would in no way run my affiliate program in that way.

Common decency would prohibit me from doing so.

I realize we are running businesses and need to make money, but do we throw away courtesy, decency, respect and consideration to do so? I think not!

I know I am not the only person this has happened to, as a matter of fact, it has happened to me twice. The first time being a much bigger amount. The program owner just dropped out of business and left his affiliates hanging.

As a whole, the people I have been lucky enough to กmeetก online have all been wonderful, caring, helpful, respectful and decent. When I first started online, that fact was a wonderfully pleasant discovery! Over time however, I did run into a few people who needed to learn common decency.

So if you run a business/affiliate program, do not let money be your first priority, make people number one and the money will follow. If you owe somebody money/service. etc., pay them. If your affiliate decides to ‘resignก from your program show them your good faith and common decency. Pay them what you owe, even if the amount does not reach your กminimumก!

Their reasons for ‘resigningก might be totally false in your eyes, but you still owe them what they did sell for you. Common decency prohibits me from กblabbingก the product/program I had this problem with, but it is no longer on my site and if people ask me about this specific product/program, I will tell them the truth.

I am not out to get this guy, but cannot recommend a product/program that I know does business in this manner.

I usually don’t write this type of กventingก article, but this topic is so very important, I thought I would make an exception.

So letกs think about when we are dealing with customers, subscribers, Newbies, associates, affiliates, etc., we need to keep common decency and respect alive. Do not lose sight of our fellow human beings so we can have a few extra bucks in our pocket!

About The Author

Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com

Learn to publish and promote your own ezine.

mailto:[email protected]

Signup for the FR~E MOE Ezine Publishing Ecourse

mailto:[email protected]

You can contact Terri at mailto:[email protected]

This article was posted on May 14, 2003

by Terri Seymour

Copyright Theft Fraud Gone Rampant

Copyright Theft Fraud Gone Rampant

by: Roy Thomsitt

Illegal downloading of music gets high profile publicity. However, those are not the only illegal activities taking place online.

Copyright theft relating to ebooks, articles and software is rampant. People with no rights at all sell the software of others, sometimes even giving it away in a thievesก bundle. The same is true of ebooks. The authors of these products may have spent months or even years working on them. They will, no doubt, have put them up for sale, either directly, through affiliates, or by selling resell rights, at a market price that will make it all worthwhile, and possibly after taking professional advice on the pricing. They will then have planned and set up all the marketing, again maybe with expensive professional advice. The owner has done all the hard work, and now expects the rewards their effort deserves.

Things may seem to be going well, with a few sales rolling in on a regular basis, until one day they find someone selling their product at a knock down price, having no rights to do so. Within hours, that product can be spread around auction sites and the rest of the internet at low or zero cost, while the owner and his affiliates, plus those with genuine resell rights, are trying to compete at the original price.

How can that poor author police such blatant theft alone? Instead of working on new products that people want and maybe need, the author is forced to waste time trying to track down thieves, take legal action, and look for ways to stop it happening again.

Such an occurrence is far from rare.

About The Author

Roy Thomsitt is the owner and author of http://www.changedirection.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 2

by Roy Thomsitt

The Most Important Question To Ask About Your Web

The Most Important Question To Ask About Your Web Site!

by: Martin Gateshill

When you design a website how do you start ?

Do you start with the banner graphics at the top, or the order page or maybe the sales letter ?

All of those are areas that have to be created but they’re really not the place to start.

The place to start is by answering one simple question about your site.

>> What do I want my visitor to do before she leaves? > If she doesn’t do that, what else would I like her to do? Weกll call the answer to that your secondary objective, itกs your fall back position. If you fail to convince them to take the action that you most want them to do, this fall back action will still serve a purpose and get you other opportunities to achieve objective one.

The answer to these questions will define the design of your site for you. Your site will ave to be designed so that it can react กon the flyก and lead the visitor to objective 2 if you fail to achieve objective 1.

REALISTIC OBJECTIVES

Letกs take the case of a web site owner whoกs selling software direct to the end user.

What would be the primary objective for such a site?

Often the site owner will decide that Objective 1 the one thing he most wants a visitor to do is to buy the software there and then.

Great, that now defines the site for him. To meet the objective the site has to be completely focused on that objective but, it may turn out to be unrealistic to expect to achieve it in one hit.

DESIGN THE SITE TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVE

The sales copy has to describe a problem, lay out the solutions and show how the product available from this very page will solve the problem now.

The copy must be compelling, it must describe the problem that the product solves in a way that creates detailed pictures in the visitors mind. Pictures of the day to day effects of this problem that the visitor would really want to solve.

The copy must then paint pictures to create thoughts and images of life for the visitor without this problem and how much better, easier or more profitable etc life would be if this problem could be solved.

Then, like the 7th cavalry riding in, the copy must link the features of the software to the benefits that go with using it and the problem being solved.

The more powerful the links and the more positive imagery created in the visitors mind, the more likely it becomes that s/he will be motivated to take action to end the problem and buy the product then and there.

The good feelings developed by the copy can be reinforced by glowing testimonials from users who are already enjoying life with the software and without the problem defined.

A superb close should be used that reinforces all of the good feelings achieved so far and adds value by careful positioning of the price to be paid against the real value of the product and the list of wonderful exclusive bonuses on offer if the visitor orders now.

The visitor feels so positive she reaches for her credit card, completes the order form and buys the product.

Great! Primary objective achieved. But….

WHAT IF IT OBJECTIVE 1 FAILS?

Sometimes, even if you get all of the above correct, itกs just not enough. Your visitor may not know you, one visit may not convince them that you are trust worthy. They not be entirely convinced that your software will deliver all the promised benefits or that itกs worth the money. Perhaps they might be thinking that there might be a better, cheaper, better known solution to be had elsewhere.

For any or all of these reasons the site owners primary objective may prove to be unrealistic and may not be achieved.

If this is the case he needs to rapidly switch the purpose of his site to achieving his secondary objective. This can be tricky to do but there is a simple technique that can be employed for the purpose.

First, what sort of secondary objective might be achievable by the site owner? Weกll look at a couple of examples.

NEWSLETTER

He may have a newsletter about the subject area that his software covers.

If so, his secondary objective may be to get the visitor to sign up for it before leaving.

That way the site owner has opportunities to build on the pictures painted by the site. He can use the newsletter to reassure, prove the benefits, introduce other benefits. He can show more testimonials and provide a stream of useful, valued information to build a relationship of trust with the visitor.

FREE TRIAL

He may have a ‘test driveก version of the software that will allow the visitor to find out first hand what it does and how it will benefit him to own it. If so his secondary objective might be to get the visitor to download the ‘test driveก and then supply him by email with how toกs, tutorials and other useful information to get the visitor using the software and experiencing the benefits first hand.

BACK TO OBJECTIVE 1

Either of these secondary objectives provide the site owner further opportunities to develop a relationship with the visitor until they feel ready to buy the software.

HOW TO REPURPOSE THE SITE

One of the best ways is the intelligent use of Popups.

In this case the site owner only wants to go for objective 2 if objective 1 is not achieved. He knows it hasn’t been achieved if the visitor is leaving the site without going to the order page or does go there but doesn’t buy the product.

Time for a great Popup triggered by either event.

A good, fast loading Popup inviting the visitor to sign up for the newsletter or download the test drive works wonders. They’re about to leave, but now they see something thatกs so compelling, free, zero risk, high benefit that theyกd be crazy not to react to it.

Itกs a simple technique that has earned a lot of money for a lot of site owners.

Set your objectives carefully and structure your site to give you the best chance to achieve at least one of them.

Look out for more in this series from Martin Gateshill http://www.adzinmotion.com

About The Author

This free article has been provided to you courtesy of Martin Gateshill of AdzInMotion http://www.adzinmotion.com.

AdzInMotion produce innovative software that allows Web Site Owners of all levels of ability to produce eye catching on site promotional materials that do one thing very well Increase Sales, Click thruกs and Sign ups. To see AdzInMotion in action go to http://www.adzinmotion.com

CONTACT AND INFO

This article along with may be freely republished provided this panel is included. A courtesy copy is appreciated.

Martin can be contacted at [email protected]

This article was posted on January 21, 2004

by Martin Gateshill

Targeted Traffic How Will You Achieve It?

Targeted Traffic How Will You Achieve It?

by: Matthew Zavadil & David Huizar

Wouldn’t it be great if your website was listed on the first page when your potential customers look for what you sell?

What if you had the very top position when they typed กyour product categoryก into MSN, Yahoo or Google?

If youกve had your website up for even one week, youกve realized that getting to the top of the search engines is no easy task. The competition is fierce, isn’t it? And you have to constantly keep up with the search engine rules and regulations to keep your listing.

Don’t get us wrong. Search Engine Optimization is a key to our strategy and should be for you, too.

(Weกve seen some internet กgurusก out there that teach that you don’t need to submit to the search engines anymore because of กpayperclickก engines. We couldn’t disagree more & recommend you stay away from such advice!)

But getting to the top of the free listings can take months. What do you do if you need to start making money now?

USE กPAYPERCLICKก ADVERTISING!

We feel there has never been a greater way for the กlittle guyก to compete with the กbig guysก. It doesn’t matter what industry or niche you are in. Or what product or service you are offering.

Yes, you do have to put out a little cash. But for as little as $.05 to $.10, you can do what every website owner is desperately trying to figure out.

Have you ever heard the saying, กBuild it & they will come?ก In the brick and mortar world, this may work. But if that is your internet marketing strategy You need to adjust what you’re doing now!

As a website owner, you need to find ways to have your customers find you. You must learn to drive traffic to your site.

Not just any traffic, TARGETED TRAFFIC. If you sell cars, you don’t want someone looking for flowers to visit your site. You want the person looking to buy a car now, right?

OK, how does this PayPerClick thing work?

You bid on a specific กkeywordก or keyword phrase that a customer would type into a search engine to find your product or service. As mentioned earlier, you could bid as low as $.05 or $.10 at places like Overture or Google. So if someone likes the ad you have listed, clicks your ad and is linked to your site, you only pay your $.10 or $.25 or $.50 whatever you bid, you only pay if they actually click YOUR ad and go to YOUR website!

You have control of that ad. So you make it loaded with info that would cause only someone interested in what you have to offer to actually click. You must get inside your prospectกs head and figure out กWhat does this person really want?ก

(Ad copy is an art in and of itself Weกll need to postpone discussing that subject for a later time)

Once that person arrives at your site, itกs up to you to make sure your site really กsingsก and compels your prospect to sign up for your mailing list, buy or whatever it is you want them to do.

But do you see the beauty of all this? You find out what keywords your prospects are looking up, you bid on those keywords and Bam! YOUR AD APPEARS AT THE TOP OF MSN, YAHOO, GOOGLE, etc.

These are qualified prospects! People interested in buying only what you have to offer. Never before in history has it been possible for a business owner to start a business, place an ad and get QUALIFIED buyers so quickly; at such a minimal cost to the owner!

Imagine it costing you $.25 or $.50 to attract a prospect to your site. Letกs say you offer a product selling for $75. How often would you like to give us $.25 every time we gave you $75? Can you see how quickly you can have a thriving internet business up & running?

We recommend starting at payperclick engines like www.Overture.com, www.Findwhat.com and Google adwords. It would be wise to go there and review their guidelines and how they operate.

If you invest the time necessary to master this subject and add it as another กspokeก to your advertising กwheelก, you will see not only a huge surge in your website traffic, but your profits as well.

And, ultimately, thatกs what you’re really after, isn’t it?

About The Author

David Huizar and Matthew Zavadil (http://www.zero2hero2day.com) have a combined 14 years experience in business building and coaching. They focus on empowering you to กUnleash the Wealth Inside Youก and gaining freedom through the wonders of Internet business. For more FREE information on Affiliate Marketing, send a blank email to mailto:[email protected]

copyright 20042005

Reproducing this article: Permission is granted to reproduce this article in an email newsletter or on a website provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety as shown here and the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your newsletter would be greatly appreciated.

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 29, 2004

by Matthew Zavadil & David Huizar