Internet Marketing In A Room FULL Of Naked Men!

Internet Marketing In A Room FULL Of Naked Men!

by: Willie Crawford

NO, thatกs not one of my secret dreams 🙂 Itกs an observation that you need to make. Years ago, I read Harvey MacKayกs fantastic bestseller, Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt. I really enjoyed the book and even sent Harvey a note. He sent me an autographed copy of his book กSwim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.ก Itกs one of my most prized possessions but back to the naked man…

When you surf the various websites offering advice and information products teaching you how to earn an online income, it becomes glaringly obvious that many people who created these products haven’t done what they teach! They are in effect, กnaked men offering you their shirts.ก

Anyone just starting out online can understand why this happens. If you put up a website on making money online, and you admit that you haven’t made any yet, people will realize that you have no useful advice to pass on. To avoid this consequence, beginners often กfake it, until they make it.ก

One of the reasons many online marketers never กmake itก in the first place is because they ARE following the advice of กnaked men.ก They are absorbing, believing, and then reteaching the conventional wisdom so prevalently shared in the internet marketing arena. The consequence is that not only does the creator of the info product fail, but so do all of his mislead followers.

We have two problems within this situation. The first is, กHow does a beginner establish himself as an expert if he has achieved no major online marketing success?ก The answer is that he creates a product in an area that he IS an expert in or that he has very thoroughly researched.

The beginner can also very easily create a product by interviewing or partnering with someone possessing the knowledge or skills he lacks. I sort of touched upon this in another article I wrote entitled, กDon’t Pretend To Be An Expert, Become One.ก That article is available on my website at:

http://williecrawford.com/articles.html

The second problem is in knowing who is genuine and who hasn’t really learned the ropes yet. My advice to many of my clients is to fully check out anyone before following their advice. Simply go to any major search engine and enter their domain or their name. Visit many, MANY of the sites that are listed as featuring something related to this socalled expert. This will give you a very good feel for who you are really dealing with.

If sites about them contain testimonials, contact some of the people providing the testimonial… especially if something doesn’t quite กfeel right.ก Thatกs right… Iกm advising you to trust your instincts.

Another way to easily check out someone is by using a website called ‘the Way Back Machine.ก This website visits sites scattered across the internet and takes a snapshot of them. So if someone tells you that theyกve been in business for 5 years and you see that their only website is barely a year old, run away very fast and don’t look back!

The way back machine can be found at: http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

If you enter my url, http://williecrawford.com in the search box, you will see that it offers snapshots of how sad this website looked beginning in 1998. Prior to that time, all of my websites were selfreplicated websites offered by various affiliates programs, and websites built on free hosts such as FreeYellow, Angelfire, Hypermart, Webspawner, and about 30 others 🙂

To digress just a little, I purchased my own domain name when someone responded to one of my posts in Links Exchange Digest insisting that I would have a lot more credibility if I got my own domain name AND ditched the Hotmail account. I kept websites on free hosts for several more years, but finally started really listening. People were telling me that using a free hosting company… building and promoting their domain, was just bad business. When I listened and took their advice, thatกs when things REALLY took off for me.

Iกve just pointed out to you a way to avoid the naked man look. If you are a beginner, get you own domain… one with a url that is easy to remember and that suggests what your business is all about. My domain name, WillieCrawford.com was a poor choice in many ways, but over the years it has developed a very strong brand. My second flagship domain, Chitterlings.com, was a better choice since it centered around กsoul foodก and the name was easy to remember to anyone familiar with that category of cooking.

Another way for beginners to avoid pretending to be something that you are not, and build online credibility, is simply to market other peopleกs products. If you want a higher than normal commission either approach them about joint ventures, or obtain reprint rights to indemand products. Don’t waste your time and resources promoting products that there is no demand for. Many reprint rights that are offered for free are priced that way because the owner of the product couldn’t sell them 🙂

The benefit of obtaining products that are proven sellers through reprint rights is that you often get a tested website that will generate a steady income for you if you just drive traffic to it. Itกs really easy, but again, you have to make sure that the product is one that is worth the effort. The criteria that I use and suggest you use is, ask yourself if you would purchase the product at the price you plan on offering it for. Also read the template website being offered and notice whether or not it gets you really pumped up. If not, look elsewhere.

I do recommend that you eventually develop your own product or service. However, that may take some time. In the interim you need to establish a professional business thatกs built on quality and integrity. Avoid coming across as a fake or กnaked man.ก Also beware of those who have to fake it until they make it. You know and appreciate that we all had to start somewhere. Most of us could not afford to buy a huge, thriving web business, so we had to start from meager beginning. Just look at my websites in The Way Back Machine for proof of that 🙂

Copyright 2004 Willie Crawford

About The Author

Willie Crawford has been teaching others how to build an online business since late 1996. Frequently featured in radio, magazine and newspaper articles and interviews, Willie teaches the average guy what the top marketers are doing but seldom talking about. Willie provides detailed how to information in his newsletter, through his personal coaching, and at his annual how to workshop. Learn more at: http://InternetMarketingHowToWorkshop.com

This article was posted on March 25, 2004

by Willie Crawford

The Increasing Power Of Publicity and how it can

The Increasing Power Of Publicity and how it can benefit your business.

by: Todd Brabender

The call came into my office and the voice on the other end was very energetic, almost giddy: กI have finalized my marketing budget and need your help launching an advertising campaign for my new product,ก he breathed. กCongratulations,ก I replied, กbut before we implement an ad campaign, I want to make sure you have explored potential PUBLICITY opportunities that could generate some costefficient media exposure first.ก Then, silence. กI never thought about that,ก he sighed. กFrankly, I don’t know much about it.ก

He is not alone. Itกs a common conversation. Although many entrepreneurs or business people know a bit about publicity or media exposure, the majority of them simply don’t understand the full benefits of กpublicity placementsก or how to go about generating them successfully. Publicity placements have always been a costefficient way to market a product/business and generate clients or customers, but because of lack of knowledge or a misunderstanding of what publicity is and does, many entrepreneurs don’t take full advantage of publicity opportunities and that can lead to missed marketing chances.

I recently surveyed a few dozen business owners and entrepreneurs in some newsgroups and business chat rooms about their knowledge of กpublicity placementsก in the media. I found out that only 37% knew that a simple กproduct profileก in a magazine was generated as a result of publicity efforts. Most thought the company had paid the media outlet to run the feature, much like an ad. And of that 37%, less than half of them knew HOW to generate a similar placement.

Another interesting fact, because of the recent slowdown in the economy, expensive advertising budgets have been slashed. As a result, many businesses, like your competitors, are turning to publicity/PR campaigns as a more affordable means of marketing to compete with other companies. Here are some ways to use publicity placements to help your business:

Editorial Placements/Media Notification: What some entrepreneurs might not realize is that we see editorial placements from publicity efforts everyday in the media: product profiles, feature articles and contributed bylined articles in magazines, newspapers, trade industry newsletters or on TV/radio/cable newscasts & shows. This is not advertising, this is กEDITORIAL Placementก or กMedia Notificationก of a product, business or industry expert. Notify the appropriate media that your newsworthy product is on the market or your business is offering a unique new service and let them run a feature placement that will spread that message to your consumer market. These placements can detail your product or business very effectively, giving consumers some objective, pertinent information that may well entice them to become future customers.

These editorial placements are looked upon much more credibly than ad placements. That is not a slam on advertising. Paying for advertising placements is indeed an effective way to market your product. But the fact is, a positive editorial placement such as a product profile in a magazine or a newspaper can be much more persuasive than a glossy, overhyped advertisement and a fraction of the cost. My point is that editorial placements are an often time overlooked marketing vehicle for a business, and that entrepreneurs should understand the full benefits of these placements to make the most of their marketing efforts.

Editorial placements are a wonderfully reciprocal way for you and the media to work together for the betterment of your business. The media needs to fill its pages and airtime with interesting information and you need to get the word out to your market. Research the media market to find those media outlets and editorial contacts with which you can forge that mutually beneficial relationship. But you have to do your part and do it right or the media will forge that relationship with your competitor. Make sure your media message is solid, contains newsworthy angles and isn’t disguised as overly commercialized ad copy. Have highquality photos and media samples available and do all you can to make the mediaกs job of featuring your product as simple as possible. It also helps to have some sort of clipping service in place to track your placements and get you copies so you can use them in your secondary marketing programs.

Expert Branding: This type of publicity placement generating takes advantage of the expert knowledge within a particular business. It is an effective tool for entrepreneurs whose businesses are more service related, like consultants or specialists. Expert branding basically treats the expert like a product. Alert the media as to your expertise on a specific topic and avail yourself to serve as an expert interview resource for future articles or news feature segments. Additionally, the expert should write a few brief articles on a specialized topic and make them available to editors for review and possible publication. The challenge of this type of publicity placement is the tedious task of finding out which outlets accept กexpert editorial contributionsก or contributed bylined articles in their publications. Again, it comes down to meticulously researching your media market to find those media outlets that may be in need of the editorial content that you can provide them.

With some creativity, expert branding can be effective for productbased businesses as well. One client of mine runs a fresh wild salmon distribution business in the Pacific Northwest and was looking to increase consumer awareness of his products. Based on his more than 20 years of experience in the wild salmon harvesting business, we are expert branding him as a viable interview resource to health/food editors for features detailing the differences and benefits of wild salmon over farmraised fish, as well as other related topics. In this case, my client (the expert) is identified and quoted in features and the name of the business and even a link to a website are often included for consumers to check out. This is great credibility building exposure at little or no cost.

Overall, when using the media to help market your product or business, take advantage of as many FREE media opportunities as you can. If you lack the expertise or time, a PR agency or publicist can generate the editorial placements for you. But the fee you pay them is a FRACTION of what it would cost you to buy similar sized ad placements. And those publicity placements typically lead to a much better consumer response right out of the gate which is just what you need to boost your business to the next level.

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 August 07, 2003

by Todd Brabender

6 Good Reasons For Writing An eBook

6 Good Reasons For Writing An eBook

by: Jean Lam

Electronic books also known as ebooks for short are one of the hottest properties on the Internet. The benefits of writing an ebook are enormous.

As an Internet business owner, ebooks are powerful tools that you can use to grow your business. Here are 6 good reasons for writing an ebook:

(1) Easy to create

Ebooks are fairly easy to create and don’t require any special knowledge. Basically you can create ebooks in two different formats ie .exe and .pdf. Ebooks in .exe format can be read by Window users but not Macintosh computers whereas .pdf formats can be read by both. You just need Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to open pdf files which you can download free at

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

There are a list of ebook compilers available on the market that you can use to create .exe ebooks and .pdf ebooks.

(2) No big investment needed

Creating an ebook does not require a big investment. I make use of Activ eBook Compiler to create .exe ebooks. You can try the software free at http://www.zineguru.com/ebookcompiler but there will be ads in your ebook front page when you build it. For an activation fee, the ads will be removed. This is a nice piece of software. I really like it and itกs fairly easy to use when you get accustomed to the software.

To create pdf ebooks, you can go to http://www.gohtm.com/convert_pdf.asp This is a free web based service that you can use to convert your word documents and other file formats to pdf documents.

(3) Developing your own paid product

If you know how to build your own ebook, you can easily create your own product to make real money. You just need to write what you know about. The Internet is a highway of information and you need to create a product which focus on a specific topic. Basically there is a huge potential for creating your own information products and there is an infinite number of topics you can write about.

Not just topics related to internet marketing and online business but other themes like cooking, gardening, pets etc. Now these are niche topics and if you have knowledge in these areas, you can easily create an info product in a digital format like an ebook talking about this.

(4) Fast and instant delivery

A big advantage with ebooks is that the delivery process is fast and instant. You don’t need product shipping for you don’t have any physical inventory due to the fact that an ebook is purely digital. You can give an unlimited number of copies to your customers.

(5) Subscriber generation

If you can create your own ebooks, why not create a useful ebook packed with quality information, then offer it as a bonus or gift to generate new subscribers to your newsletter. This is an attractive incentive to gain new subscribers.

(6) Viral Marketing Effects

Good ebooks can become your own traffic machine and it can has a viral marketing effect. By viral, I mean it can propagate across the Internet, hence your business can get big exposure for your ebook contains links to your websites.

Say you create an ebook packed with great articles that youกve written and you allow others to distribute it freely to their own susbcribers to give them quality information, or to get new subscribers, your ebook and business will have great exposure. If you have a quality ebook, some product owners might even use it as a bonus to add more value to their offer.

Ebooks are becoming more and more popular on the Internet these days for there is a huge potential to build a successful online business around them. So go ahead and start creating your own ebooks be it free or paid.

About The Author

Jean Lam is the editor of Web Biz Secrets Newsletter. Subscribe today for powerful marketing tips and receive a special report of netpreneurs earning $100,000+ per year PLUS his new PDF eBook ก3 SureFire Ways To Start An Internet Business And Strategies To Promote Itก Visit his website at http://www.zineguru.com

This article was posted on March 16

by Jean Lam

How To Choose a Perfect Home Based Business

How To Choose a Perfect Home Based Business

by: Nas Romli

Nowadays, more and more people are becoming a home based business owner. If you make a search on กhome based businessก at Yahoo, it returned a total of 51,000,000. No, I didn’t put any extra zeros. Itกs 51 million! Most of them are promoting business opportunities and others provide home based business information.

The question is now, if you want to start your own home based business, without having to go through all 51 million sites, how do you find the perfect business that really suits you?

Letกs begin.

Basically there’re 2 types of business that you can run. Iกll go through one at a time.

1. Selling a new product.

If you’re a super genius who knows what the marketกs wants, that this type of business is for you.

Advantage: You will be the owner of the product which means you control everything; from pricing to the product type. Youกll become the expert and people will see you as genius who create new product line.

Disadvantage: You will have to design your own marketing plan; sales letter, website design, autoresponder email system and everything. So, in other words, your business might no begin within 1 or 2 month after you develop your product. Even you already setup everything, your income might come in rather slow since most people are afraid to buy new product.

2. Selling other people product.

You sell other people product and you earn income by receiving your sales commission.

Advantage: You don’t have to design any market plan (most of the time). Everything will be provided to you. All you need to do is using these tools to market their product. Since everything is there, you can start promoting them almost immediately and so do your cheque.

Disadvantage: You don’t have the power to change the market plan, product or any tools. You have to use them whether you like it or not.

Which one you choose is wholly up to you. But for me who is so lazy of doing any thinking and working, Iกd choose option 2.

Still, you have to make filter out millions of products that you can promote for your business.

Here are the guidelines for choosing them:

Available marketing tools: Are they giving me any marketing tools? eg. email ad, banner ad, sales letter etc. The marketing marketing tools provided, the better.

Product is suitable for huge market: Choose a product that can be use by many people and not only for certain group of consumer.

Recurring commission: For me this is the most important factor. Some product, you earn your comission only once when you make one off sales. Normally, you earn a recurring commission when you sell product that needs the buyer make recurring payment every month. So, you will earn your commission every month as long as the buyer makes the payment.

It is easy, isn’t it?

Letกs we summed up everything that we learn.

If you want to start you home based business immediately, promote other peopleกs product. This product should have excellent support, all marketing tools are provided to you, many people use it and the buyers have to pay them every month.

There you have it. A perfect home based business for you (at least it is for me ;)).

About The Author

Nas Romli runs a site that help people to start their own home based business within 24 hours.Many have benefited from this service.Drop by at his site for more information about this amazing service: http://www.cashflowsecret.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 23

by Nas Romli

Bring That Difference To Your Business!

Bring That Difference To Your Business!

by: Arun Pal Singh

Romans had a phrase for this First among Equals.

Online marketing has too coined a similar one – when everything is equal the difference is me.

This is the key to build a successful business.

One who makes the difference succeeds.

That is what differentiates between the bestsellers and thousands of books that just come and go.

The uniqueness.

An artist sells million of albums and many others even fail to create a ripple. Why?

The uniqueness.

If you want your business to succeed you must bring that element of uniqueness.

It is good if you already have a unique product. You have already won half the battle. But what if you do not have that unique product. This is especially true if you are marketing affiliate products. You still can bring the difference.

How?

Introduce yourself in your product. Make your marketing unique. When your product is similar brand it unique with your style.

You need to have a passion for your business to bring that difference. A passion for your endeavor works like magic. Nothing beats a passionate entrepreneur. When you feel strongly for something you already start seeing the difference.

Your customers are life of your business. To become a good businessman think of your customers before your product. Convince yourself first if you would buy when you come across an offer you are going to make.

When you start thinking from customers’ perspective you are ahead of most of your competitors. What will your customers gain from your products? How will your product benefit from your product? People do not buy the products. They buy the benefits. Better life style, better health, secure future, freedom from debt…..

The list could be endless.

Try to build a trustful relation. People like to buy from the ones they can trust. After all, at the other end it would be a human mind that will decide to buy from you.

You can make that difference in spite of the competition because most of your competitors are not working on making that difference. Whatever your product is, whatever your offer is you can make it better by your touch.

Why are some marketers so successful that they make millions whereas others fail? If you make a search you will find that it is their style that makes them what they are. It reflects in their offers, their sales letters, their mails and everything they promote.

No! They were not born with it. They have developed and inculcated this while they struggled. They started no different from others. But they brought uniqueness to their business as they learnt.

Everybody can do this. Just keep working and keep trying. Learn, apply and analyze. Work diligently on improvement. Keep your minds open. Search for areas of betterment.

By and by you will develop your own style, your touch.

Every night when you go to bed just give a thought to your input for the day and what you will contribute on the coming day.

Have you worked for progress of your business today?

Be persistent in improving your business, work with passion and you are on your way to success.

Wish you success.

Copyright 2005 Arun Pal Singh

About The Author

Arun Pal Singh, a successful marketer and writer offers a unique and duplicable business opportunity at http://www.homeforprofits.com. To avail his free Income Course email to [email protected] with subject ‘subscribe’.

This article was posted on February 18

by Arun Pal Singh

Home Business Guide To Finding Your Own Online Bus

Home Business Guide To Finding Your Own Online Business

by: Allan McKenzie

Because tens of thousands of people all across the world want to know how they can work at home and earn enough money to run a household, there is a special need for this report. Today the need for women to work out of the home is stronger than ever. According to recent surveys, almost 70% are married and contribute up to 50% and more to the family income. Because family responsibilities play such an important part in the lives of men and women, millions of individuals and couples are seeking ways to make money online at home.

In the past decade online moneymaking, homebased opportunities that match a personกs skills, interests, abilities, and ingenuity have become almost limitless. The purpose of this report is to show you that itกs simple and easy to join the ranks of successminded people by choosing a workathome program that suits your interests and needs. Business histories have shown over and over again that the rewards and advantages of working at home can go far beyond a personกs wildest dreams! In fact, itกs perfectly possible to launch a small online business in the comfort of your home that grows in to a giant corporation.

Your first step will be to search out the Internet for a home business that suits you and then contact those that interest you. Itกs possible that you may not find exactly what you want right away but these may serve as that great motivator that makes you look further with a renewed determination. Once you develop that mindset, persistence will follow and then nothing will stop you from achieving your goals.

BECOME A GOAL SETTER!

If you expect any level of success you must set goals. If you expect to be successful, you must determine what that means to you and the best way to achieve it. There are two basic steps you can take to convert goals into achievements:

1) You can decide on a specific dollar amount; and

2) You can set a time frame for obtaining the dollar amount you want.

Your goal should be specific and indicate What, When, and Where. After making a list of every possible way you might accomplish a goal, select the method that best suits your situation.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF

1) กHow can I support my family while I build up by business?ก

This question must be worked out according to each individualกs circumstances. Many people start out on a parttime basis after their regular jobs to see how much they can handle. Then when their incomes reach a certain level they will switch over and go full time.

2) กWhat are my abilities?ก

To determine your abilities you will have to take an inventory of yourself. Decide what you enjoy doing the most and what you กfeelก you would be good at. Examine every possibility and include every skill you have no matter how slight.

3) กIs there a market for the produce of service I have chosen?ก

Be cautious before you invest any money! Check it out by making inquiries directly to the company, competitors, or firms who are marketing a product similar to the one you are interested in. Test it on a small scale. Check it out thoroughly.

4) กHow long will it take this business to reach the financial goal I must have?ก

Itกs really a question of knowing how much time you can dedicate to your business, and what your profits are for that time. From there, a little simple addition will tell you how long it might take to reach a particular financial goal.

SUCCESS IS HAVING THE COURAGE TO BEGIN!

Starting a business at home is an economical way to start a small business that can easily grow into a larger one. Many entrepeneurs have proven that you don’t need a huge manufacturing plant to develop a successful business. Some of the most successful businesses in existence today started in a spare room or garage. It isn’t how you start out that is important. What really matters is, do you have the courage to begin?

SELECTING THE RIGHT PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Take a close look at your interests and abilities, and then decide what type of marketing you want to do. For example, do you want to create your own product or sell someone elseกs product for a commission, (become and affiliate)?

DEVELOP A GOOD MARKETING TECHNIQUE

A good marketing technique is one part of a business plan that is absolutely essential to its success. In fact, the ability to properly market a product or service is actually more important than the product itself. Even an inferior product can be a financial success if marketed properly. Seek out the advice of everyone in your field. Explain your needs and ask them questions. Experience is the best teacher. With good advice and a sellable product, you should be able to develop a winning marketing plan.

WORKATHOME OPPORTUNITIES ARE LIMITLESS!

Do a search on any search engine for home business and youกll literally find thousands of opportunities in countless different areas, affiliate programs, online marketing, online auctions, online malls, online ebook stores…

Anyone who is serious about workathome oportunities need only look around them. There are thousands of options everywhere! Not only online but offline too. No doubt, what you finally decide on will depend on your particular needs and interests.

Be a selfmotivator and continue moving forward towards the goals you want and deserve. Do it starting NOW!

Copyright 2004 Allan McKenzie

Allan McKenzie is the CEO of AMCMarketing.com, the only resource you need for practical business ideas, strategies and opportunities for the homebased entrepreneur.

http://www.amcmarketing.com

About The Author

Allan McKenzie is the CEO of AMCMarketing.com, the only resource you need for practical business ideas, strategies and opportunities for the homebased entrepreneur.

This article was posted on March 03, 2004

by Allan McKenzie