Making Money Online: What You Really Want To Know

Making Money Online: What You Really Want To Know

by: Sopan Greene

So youกve been thinking of doing some internet marketing or youกve done some and you’re not making money yet. What does it really take? Even more importantly, how long does it take and how much does it cost? Isn’t that what you really want to know?

The problem with this question is that there isn’t a black and white answer. Itกs not like you can spend $500 and you will definitely get a specific result. For some reason though thatกs how people think it works.

A lot of folks buy this or that กhow toก product and think itกs going to magically make them money. The key ingredient to making money from these products you buy is to take action and do what they tell you to do.

Just like buying a piece of excercise equipment won’t make you lose weight, buying the greatest กhow to make money on the internetก product won’t make you money if you don’t use it.

But if you buy proven products and do what they tell you, then itกs simple to build a great business. It can happen for you though it probably won’t happen overnight.

We all know the internet is full of hype and also has a lot of genuine success stories. The biggest truth or lie, depending on how you see it, is that you can make good money fast. Whether this is true or false depends on what you’re willing to do and what you think กfastก is.

Internet marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. Itกs a business which means there is time, money and work involved. If you think becoming rich in 3 to 5 years is quick then I guess this can be a get rich vehicle for you. If you don’t think 5 or even 10 years is quick for getting rich, then think about how many people you know who have done it in 5 years. Or in 20? Or in their lifetimes?

The only people I know who have done this have done it through internet marketing, direct marketing, network marketing or through owning their own company. None of them are just employees. The cheapest and fastest way to get there is through internet marketing.

FACT: 74% of the wealthiest people in America own their own business. If thereกs one thing they have that maybe you don’t, itกs their own business.

Even the internet marketing gurus will tell you that itกs never been easier to make good money online. If you listen to the folks who are the biggest successes today most of them started at least 3 years ago. Some of them started back before the internet was called the internet. It was a lot rougher then. Even 3 years ago they didn’t have the advantages we have today.

You can buy subscribers to build your ezine lists. You can use payperclick search engines. You can read hundreds of ezines for great free tips. You can make money through free affiliate programs. You can swap for free ads that reach over 10,000 people at a time. You can make a lot of money from ebay and online auctions. You have a lot more potential partners for joint ventures than they ever had.

Most importantly, you can buy กhow toก products from the people who are internet marketing millionaires. You can follow their directions to get where they are. They had to make it up from scratch when times were harder and now you can do it faster with fewer mistakes.

So if you really want to make good money online what do you do? Research the big dogs. Do whatกs been proven to work. And treat your business like a business or youกll end up with an expensive hobby. If you’re just kicking the tires to see whatกll happen, nothing will. This is true with anything you do in life, not just internet marketing.

Internet marketing is a tremendous vehicle for making great money. Like any vehicle, it won’t go down the road if you don’t gas it up, turn the key and push on the accelerator.

How long it takes to get to the top of the hill at the end of the road depends on how much gas you put in, how hard you press the accelerator, how well you steer and how good your map is.

The first year you drove a car did you drive as well as you do now? No. Youกve gotten better with experience. So don’t expect money to fall out of the sky the first year you do internet marketing. Can you make good money the first year? Sure. But it depends on how much work you do to pay your dues and get some experience.

Like driving a car, the longer you do it the better you get (which means the more money you make).

If you’re a tire kicker I suggest you put your money in your pocket, walk away now and spend your time on something you love to do. If you’re driven to build your own business I suggest you invest your time, energy and money into internet marketing. The payoff can be priceless. See you at the top of the hill at the end of the road.

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

Media Relations: How We Landed the Wall Street Jou

Media Relations: How We Landed the Wall Street Journalกs Front Page

by: Brad Phillips

Media relations is a great profession.

On good days, I earn my living speaking to and learning from knowledgeable experts who ask for help in raising the profile of their cause through the media. In the past few years, I’ve worked with billionaire philanthropists, a Pulitzer Prizewinning scientist and a world famous actor. Mostly, though, I work with unknown but equally impressive professionals regarded as experts in their fields.

When I speak to them, I’m always listening for ขthe story.ข Some of the time, the story is immediately apparent. But the most gratifying moments come when a story seemingly devoid of news value suddenly leaps out and surprises me.

Two years ago, for example, I was doing media work for a Washington DCbased environmental organization. Scientists from the group would regularly contact me regarding their latest field work, hoping I could convince a reporter to shine a spotlight on their project.

One day, I met with a charismatic field biologist to discuss his project while sipping coffee in a depressing restaurant. As he told me about his project, I quietly became more convinced that he didn’t have much of a story. I felt bad, but suspected no reporter would bite.

The West African forest elephant, he told me, was in trouble. The problem was largely one of capacity – no West Africans had been formally trained in protecting the 7,700pound mammals, which were being killed by the farmers who feared them.

To help correct the problem, he said, they had established a program three years earlier to train six West Africans to conserve the majestic beasts. In a month, they would end their training and begin working to protect the animals fulltime.

That’s when the idea hit.

I asked the scientist if we could call the group the firstever graduating class from Elephant University. When he agreed, I knew we were in business.

I drafted an email with a few highlights to a reporter I had recently met from The Wall Street Journal. The story pitch suggested that this story was the perfect fit for the quirky daily frontpage ขColumn Fourข feature. The reporter quickly wrote back. He agreed.

Two weeks later, the reporter was off to Ghana to report the story firsthand. When the story ran on November 27, 2002, the words ขElephant Universityข – the ones we had happily stumbled upon over coffee – were emblazoned on the frontpage.

This story worked because we didn’t pitch it ขhead on.ข Remember – the heart of this story was that West African scientists were receiving training – not exactly frontpage material. But by giving the reporter an unusual hook, he was able to convince his editors that the story deserved to be told.

If you’re speaking to an expert to assess a story’s newsworthiness and it doesn’t seem immediately obvious to you, keep talking. If they say something interesting, stop them. Ask them to slow it down and provide more detail. Paraphrase their response into something resembling a headline by asking, ขWould it be correct to say it this way?ข Finally, look for the nuggets. Ancillary parts of the story often jump out and become your lead.

About The Author

Brad Phillips is the founder and president of Phillips Media Relations. He was formerly a journalist for ABC News and CNN, and also headed the media relations department for the second largest environmental group in the world. For more information and to sign up for free monthly media tips, visit www.PhillipsMediaRelations.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 10

by Brad Phillips

Free is never FREE !!!

Free is never FREE !!!

by: Gino Harteel

How many times did you see an email or a website offering something for free ?

A hundred times ? A thousand times ?

Perhaps, if you are like me you don’t believe in the word กfreeก anymore, if somebody offers you something for free, he or she always wants something in return.

On my site http://www.hartino.com I offer [ Free Entry to Win £1000 GBP ], when you click that link you can participate in a free entry, but in return I have your name and email address and when you submitted your information, you agreed to it that I can email you promotional emails about the UK Lotto and Euro Millions.

On my site http://www.hartino.com I offer [ Receive the latest draw results in your mailbox absolutely FREE ! ], again, when you submitted your information, you agreed to it that I can email you promotional emails about the UK Lotto and Euro Millions.

And finally, on http://www.hartino.com, I also offer [ Euro Millions Play For Free ], for this one to be true, you have to find your first five members and you’re effectively playing for FREE!

So, next time youกll see the word กFREEก just think กFree in return for what ?ก.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

About The Author

Gino Harteel has been playing Euro Millions since October 1, 2004 with success. More info about Euro Millions on www.hartino.com.

This article was posted on January 09

by Gino Harteel

Does Your Message Pass the Test?

Does Your Message Pass the Test?

by: Claire Cunningham

Develop an effective benefit message and you’re well on your way to building your company’s entire marketing program. After all, you need focus to create success. Without it you can wind up expending effort without getting the reward (income, that is) you’re looking for.
Start with these three ingredients:

Understanding of what the customer needs and wants
Knowledge of the competition’s strengths, weaknesses and messages
Insight about what you offer

Gather the information and chart it. What you’re looking for is a hole where there’s a customer need that you address and hopefully, the competition doesn’t.
Found it? That’s the core of your message. Found several holes? You’ll need to prioritize.
Now, write alternative introductory sentences. Remember, they need to be customerbenefit oriented, that is, they need to explain what the customer GETS. Got your alternatives ready? Here are seven questions to ask of potential benefit messages. They’ll help you find the promise or message that will get you the most mileage:
1) Is it meaningful?
This is where knowledge of the customer comes into play. Your benefit message should be based on the real needs of the people who use your products or services.
2) Is it sustainable?
Establishing your unique position doesn’t happen overnight. The message you choose should be based on what you can deliver long term.
3) Is it believable?
Can you keep the promise you’re making? For example, if your benefit message centers on ขsuperior service,ข do you understand what your customers’ expectations are? Are you committed to making good on this promise over time?
4) Is it unique?
Often there are many providers of a product or service. How do you set yourself apart from the rest of the pack?
5) Is it concrete and easy to understand?
If you ask your audience to think too hard, they probably won’t! Simple, straightforward messages work best.
6) Is it in your own words?
If you’re going to be saying this as an introduction to your business, you need to be comfortable with the words and phrasing. Practice saying messages out loud to test them.
7) Is it attentiongrabbing?
You can’t bore someone into buying! Use words that demonstrate your passion, your understanding of client needs. Use words that engage interest.
Test your message with prospects. Watch for their reactions. Ask what they like and don’t like. You might get stuck. If that happens, a marketing and communications consultant can craft alternative benefit statements, provide an objective viewpoint, even handle the upfront research.

About The Author

Claire Cunningham, president of Clairvoyant Communications, Inc., has 20+ years’ experience developing and implementing successful businesstobusiness marketing and communications programs. Sign up for Claire’s monthly newsletter, Communique, at www.clairvoyantcommunications.com. Claire can be reached at 7634793499 or email to [email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 13, 2004

by Claire Cunningham

กIกm just meก An Overview of an Web er.. Designe

กIกm just meก An Overview of an Web er.. Designer, Developer, Consultant and Friend

by: Andrew Mottershead

กIกm just meก An Overview of an Web er.. Designer, Developer, Consultant and Friend.

I am going to give you a breakdown of my … er … work … playtime …. income ….

Iกm a UK based Web Designer, Web Developer, Internet Consultant. I build websites, content management systems and internet solutions for anybody who can afford me. I am a prostitute!! Yes! A prostitute I use my website to sell my wares and hope that the client enjoys the result if they decide to pick me up. I like to think of myself as giving good head to a กweb enabled userbaseก. Apparently prostitution is the กoldest tradeก. Well if thatกs so then Iกve been doing the same as long at the internet has been available to home users here in the UK.

Itกs been nearly 8 years since I first logged on to the internet from my home. Prior to that Iกd used gopher servers via mdx.ac.uk as a student in the early 90กs. Prior to that BBSกs were fun. I now find myself working from home as a kind of web dogsbody. Just me, four cats, 2 horses, my son and my amazing partner down here on a 6 acre smallholding in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK. I have several titles:

Web Designer

I use this if a client needs me to make images to make their site กprettyก. Web design has been written about by the Guruกs in their ivory mansions. At the end of the day what is it? Itกs being able to realise the clients vision without resorting to cheesy backgrounds and blinking text. Keep it nice and clean.

If your a web designer with a difficult client.. do not do what they want!! Just tell them what they should do or drop them. The previous statement depends on two things:

How much do you KNOW your right?

How much are they’re PAYING you?

Most of us now know what is good design..

If your lost read some Chomsky : )

Web Developer

This one is for websites that need กcodingก yกknow… PHP, ASP, SQL etc. A web designer puts good clean concepts into an xhtml css layout which works (HTML is bunk). A web developer makes the content within this design actually กdo stuffก. I started out making web sites กdo stuffก in late 2000. I now make websites do กlots of stuffก.

A web developer does stuff which allows users to do stuff. A web designer allows users to read the stuff the web developer does.

Internet Consultant

A nice one this it covers both of the above yet also allows me to do the following.. It also looks good on a business card.

Beware folk who say that they are กInternet Consultantsก who do not also claim to be at least one of the others on this page. They are probably con men.

Web Guru

This is a found role. I can teach! I have ideas!

กHmm, I do that alsoก what makes you special? Thatกs what your thinking.

I don’t need anyone to show me how to use my new fangled CMS (thatกs กContent Management Systemก). How to send email, use Adwords, get cash from Adsense. Guru thatกs just a made up term..

This title come through experience people are telling me that Iกm a Guru. I myself am holding judgemental on this.

I have always been a กcommunicatorก

Friend

I have lots of clients. Some are just one offs. The small guest house that needs a simple three page website and an email account others are clients that need constant modifications to their portal or ecommerce website. I try to get on with them all. Some have become friends.

About The Author

Andrew Mottershead is a web developer providing his freelance services to anyone who needs his talents . If heกs too busy he has loads of freelance mates who may be able to help. His website is www.mindstream.co.uk which is updated when he gets time.

This article was posted on February 03

by Andrew Mottershead

The Working Case Study

The Working Case Study

by: Christine Taylor

Next to white papers, case studies are the most popular tool in the technical marketerกs toolkit
The ubiquitous case study can range from a 3 paragraph online snippet to a fullblown magazine article. The most popular case study in the marketing/PR arsenal is the 500700 word success story. They’re not as challenging to write as white papers, but you should structure them for maximum impact.
Different companies use different structures for their case studies, but all should follow the same general pattern: 1. Company overview and challenge 2. Project details 3. Positive results (of course)
Customer Overview and Challenge
Start with a 23 paragraph overview of the customerกs company. This should be very positive since you’re going to detail a problem the customer was having, the last thing you want to do is make them sound like jerks. So compliment them. Feel free to adapt the overview from their own Website text, where they’re already placing themselves in the best possible light.
Then move on to the business challenge. Don’t make the customer sound stupid or incompetent. The challenge should always be centered on something good that is happening to them fast growth, industry prominence, strategic IT changes whatever. Their challenge should be applicable to your readersก own business issues.
Project Details
No project goes perfectly, but save the debriefing for the longerform trade journal article. These short case studies should report on the successful project by briefly discussing specific products and benefits.
Don’t go all over the map. If the project is fairly narrow or specific, you won’t have any trouble sticking with the main point. In the case of large and complex installations, concentrate on the main point. For example, Microsoft Great Plains has more modules than you can shake a stick at. Concentrate on the ones that had the most positive impact on your customer.
Business Benefits
Always quantify improvement when you can. Numbers can be dollar savings, percentages, or other measures of saved staff time, more efficient workflows, better customer service, etc. Be sure that the benefits you list are the benefits the customer perceives hard costs are most easily quantified, but soft costs may have the higher perceived benefit to a customer. Ideally you will list both.
When NOT to Write a Case Study
What are the most common blocks to partnering with a customer for a case study?
1. Your customer is really unhappy. Theyกd do a case study all right, but you wouldn’t want them to. If you’re the hapless individual setting up the initial interview, be sure that the customer really is happy and is open to talking to you. Otherwise theyกll just give you an earful. Fix: promise the customer that youกll pass on all of his comments to the technical support team, or whoever you think will best handle it. Then do it, and forget about it.
2. Customers who fear their market will punish them. Prime example: legal firms with security issues. Sure you helped them through a security project and now they’re Fort Knox, but they don’t want their clients to dream that a problem ever existed in the first place. Fix: Forget it. Theyกll never give you permission to produce the study. Besides, they’re probably right.
3. Your customer is an exacting IT type who is suspicious of the success story format. This customer considers the project a success too, but they dislike purely positive spins and no project is perfect. Fix: If they are happy for the most part, get a buyin that the project really was successful. Don’t put him off about the negatives, capture those comments too and promise to pass them on. (Then do it.) This is usually enough to secure the interview.
4. Your customer is scared to be interviewed. This is usually the IT guy who did all the footwork, and prefers to stay behind the scenes. He (or she) will either be too nervous to talk, or will despise you because he doesn’t think youกve got the technical chops. Usually both. Fix: Understand the technology you’re interviewing about. You don’t have to be an engineer, but you should understand IT pressures and issues. Ask leading questions, but if they clam up and won’t talk, thank them and hang up. Tell your customer contact that you’re so happy you got to talk to the technician, and now could you talk to a project manager too?

About The Author

Christine Taylor is an expert copywriter for the technology industry. Call her today for help with your white paper, trade journal article, case study, positioning document, or any other B2B marketing piece. Call 7602496071 or email her at [email protected], and start that white paper selling!

This article was posted on July 07, 2004

by Christine Taylor

How to Find Ideas for Articles & Speeches

How to Find Ideas for Articles & Speeches

by: Chirag Parmar

Do you have problems finding ideas for articles and speeches?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About The Author

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

This article was posted on April 11, 2004

by Chirag Parmar

Discover the Lighter Side of the Internet

Discover the Lighter Side of the Internet

by: Jesse S. Somer

The other side of the Internet is light and fluffy. It can definitely turn a dark, gray cloud to white.

We all know the Internet is a great tool for finding out information and sharing knowledge. But as a human sometimes sitting at a computer all day can get quite tedious, especially if it is your job 5 days a week. This feeling can be compounded by other problems in one’s personal life, and the result can mean little productivity because of a sour mood. Well humanity does have a lighter side, and this too can be explored on the Internet. Sometimes a little humor or interesting trivia can really take the edge off a bad moment. You’d be surprised at how much comedy and insight is expressed on the Net. I’ve been exploring what’s out there and I just can’t stop laughing. Laughter of course is the ultimate medicine and some believe it to be the highest form of life. My only warning is don’t get hooked on this stuff as your work ethic will probably become worse than ever!

Now, there’s a lot of stuff on the Net and not all of it is positive humor, but you can surf around the undesirable stuff with ease. To give you an idea of some funny sites I discovered, here is a short list but I’m sure there are thousands of others you can find by doing simple word searches: www.bored.com, www.linkydinky.com, www.chickenjoke.com, www.crazyfads.com, www.crazythoughts.com, www.dancingbush.com, and www.stupidvideos.com. I really advise checking out the last site and watching the video entitled ‘Evil penguin2’. This nearly brought tears to my eyes as I already have a soft spot for penguins.

So, you’ve got jokes, funny videos, kooky trivia, strange thoughts and perspectives on different aspects of life, and even the most ‘powerful’ man on EarthGeorge Bush doing an animated dance imitating John Travolta in ‘Saturday Night Fever’. You’ve really got no reason anymore to sit in front of your computer worrying and wallowing in selfpity. I’ve always thought that humans have put too much emphasis on technological development as opposed to the spiritual side of things. This comedic aspect to the Internet has shown me that people can also be quite clever in more lighthearted endeavors. Some of the ideas on these sites really flip the world upside down and make you question why we do the things the way we do. This could be considered a step forward in our evolution as we see the underlying truths in our cultural systems.

Laughter is the key to humanity reaching a higher level of consciousness. Imagine if everyone on our planet could all be happy enough in one moment to laugh at the same time. The Earth would shake, the seas would rise, and all the animals would stop what they’re doing to join in. The vibration would probably cause a ripple to flow out into space affecting other planetary systems. Then, imagine all the beings of the Universe laughing at one time. We’re talking serious celebrations! We’re talking about black holes folding in on themselves in result of the positive energy wave forces demolishing all negative forces in their path! It’s called the Laughter Revolution, and it might just be the next step for you to take to reach that long awaited goal of happiness. Come on, take a look around, there’s a whole world of funniness just under the surface of our perceived ‘normal’ reality. We have to wake up and smell the cheese…Oh the sweet cheese.

About The Author

Jesse S. Somer, M6.Net

http://www.m6.net

Jesse S. Somer is a กlaughing boyก hoping to utilize the humanpacked comedy hidden in the Internet to morph into a กlaughing manก. He also hopes to incite others to join in the Laughter Revolution that one day will spread across planet Earth.

This article was posted on November 18, 2004

by Jesse S. Somer

How To Survive Speed Networking

How To Survive Speed Networking

by: Alan Matthews

Get More Clients From Networking – Follow The Rules Of Dating.

If you’re a business owner, you probably spend quite a lot of your time at networking events. In fact, it may be the main way you try to get new clients. But do you ever feel that you could get more from these meetings? Do you actually get the results from your networking to justify the amount of time you put into it?

If you don’t find you get a lot of interest from the people you meet, it may be that you’re going about things the wrong way. You may need a new approach.

My own view is that you can’t go far wrong if you think of networking more like dating. The two activities have a lot in common ( although, I must admit, I’m relying on distant memory here ). Here are some things you need to think about.

1. What sort of person do you want to meet?

If your answer is ข anyone ข you risk wasting time talking to a lot of people who just aren’t going to be ข the one ข. You also sound a bit desperate, to be honest. Not everyone is going to be your ideal client. Once you know who that is, you can be more choosy about who you talk to.

2. Where are you likely to meet them?

There are lots of places to meet people, but where will you find your ideal person – in a club, at evening classes, at the Bingo? Don’t just go to the first place you find, pick the event where you know the person you’re looking for is most likely to be.

3. Think about joining a dating agency so you can look through details of the other members.

Look at the members list of any group before joining if you can get hold of it ( ask for photographs if possible ). Also, look at the list of attendees before a meeting so you can make a beeline for the people you want to talk to.

4. Accept that it takes time to build a relationship.

Don’t expect too much too soon. People will need time to get to know and trust you and, in this case, you’re looking for a long term relationship, not a one – night stand.

5. Think of something interesting to say about yourself.

If someone asks you ข What do you do? ข don’t just say ข I’m a Financial Adviser ข or ข I’m a Consultant ข and expect them to swoon. Tell them what you do for people, how you help, the problems you solve. But don’t make things up to impress them, you’ll be found out sooner or later.

6. Don’t spend the whole time talking about yourself.

One secret for getting people to like you is to ask them about themselves. Be a great listener, not a great talker. People love talking about themselves, they don’t want to listen to you telling them how wonderful you are. Stop talking before they lose the will to live and ask a question. Prepare some good ones in advance so your mind doesn’t go blank. Avoid ข Do you come here often? ข or ข So what line of business are you in? ข Try to find something you both have in common.

7. Don’t be too pushy on your first date.

Just because someone shows an interest doesn’t mean you can bombard them with information about all your products or services. You’ll look too needy and that puts people off.

8. People always say they’ll ring, they never do.

Sad but true. Don’t rely on other people ringing you, make sure you get their number so you can call them. It’s much more important to get someone else’s business card than to give them your own. It gives you the initiative.

9. Keep your numbers in a little black book.

Set up a contact management system so you don’t lose the details of the people you meet. This might just be a card index or it might be sophisticated software. Whatever it is, have a system which you know how to use.

10. Keep in touch.

Do contact them again if you got on well, they want you to really. Call or write, refer back to your conversation and mention something they said. Send them an article about an interest they mentioned, it will show you were listening and you care about them. It’s amazing how many people go to networking events, then never follow up with the people they meet. Don’t expect ข love at first sight ข, it takes several contacts before someone is likely to do business with you.

I hope that’s given you some ideas. Of course, you still have to remember the basics, such as dressing up a bit and cleaning your teeth, but that’s down to you.

And, of course, there is one big difference between networking and dating – with networking, you’re allowed to see lots of people at the same time!

Good luck.

About The Author

Alan Matthews is a Marketing Coach, Trainer and Speaker. He helps business owners to prepare and deliver a clear, compelling marketing message to get more clients with less effort. To receive his free report, ก Why Isn’t This Working? How To Get People Interested In your Business ก email mailto:[email protected]

Alan Matthews

email: mailto:[email protected]

website: http://www.trainofthought.org.uk

This article was posted on February 07

by Alan Matthews

The Magic of Writing Goals in your life!

The Magic of Writing Goals in your life!

by: Tal Fighel

Goal setting is an important technique used by athletes, successful businesspeople, lawyers, doctors, and great achievers in all fields. Goal setting is a very powerful technique that can yield strong returns in all areas of your life. Goal setting can help you grow in life. It can help you achieve more.

So what do you need to do first? You need to define a goal. You need to know exactly what you want, when you want it, and why you want it. What ever your dream is. That is your goal. If you don’t know exactly what your goal is, you will not commit to it. You will not have enough of a desire to achieve it. Successful businesspeople know exactly what they want to achieve in business and they make goals a top priority.

When you do write your goals down, you need to ask yourself one important question. Is this goal realistic? Is it attainable? Do you really believe that you can reach it? Faith is also an important ingredient that can make or break your goal. If you don’t believe that you can make your goal a reality, then you probably won’t. You need to have faith in yourself. You need to have faith in your goals. You need to have faith that you can reach any goal that you set.

This little girl had a dream to become the queen of England. She told everyone that she was going to achieve that goal. Do you think that she can achieve it since she has nothing to do with the royal family? Obviously not. It was a foolish goal. You need to make sure that your goal is realistic, and attainable. Now, if it is realistic then you need to put the proper date on it. The proper action that needs to be taken. You have to do everything in your power to make that goal come true.

So don’t put unrealistic dates on your goal. That is when you can get frustrated. If you are in MLM, you need to find someone who has reached what you are striving for and do exactly what he or she is doing.

You then need to determine what price, what’s the worthiness of that goal. What level of importance are you going to put on it? Is it a want? Is it a need? Is it, ขIt would be nice to have itข? You need to make that goal a burning desire. You need to make it a must. It is a ขHave to have it no matter whatข goal. If you do that then you’re your subconscious mind will look for ways to make that goal a reality. It will give you ideas on how you should go about to achieve it.

Now, shortterm goals are usually simpler and easier than longterm goals. Why? Well, writing them can help you have more frequent victories, and building momentum with each one you complete. If you do that, you can have more excitement and more motivation as you reach those goals on time. When you do reach you shortterm goals, don’t forget to reward yourself and celebrate. Buy new clothes that make you feel like a million bucks. Make a toast to yourself for reaching that goal. You should be feeling so good that you are telling yourself that you can reach ANY shortterm goal that you set.

A word of warning for the longterm goals that you make. It will be harder to achieve it because as the time goes by, you can get discouraged and lose your interest. Try to set shortterm goals. It will keep you more focused and motivated.

If you haven’t achieved your shortterm or longterm goal, you will need to look at your goal and change the date, and the action that you have taken when you didn’t reach that goal. Remember, if you take the SAME action that led you to failure then you will probably get the SAME results. You need to take a look from all angles to see what you did and what you can change.

Copyright 2004 Tal Fighel

About The Author

Tal Fighel uses the PlugIn Profit Site to earn multiple streams of income from home on the Internet. What about you?…

http://www.talfighel.com/pluginprofit.htm

This article was posted on October 04, 2004

by Tal Fighel

Read Faster, Read Smarter

Read Faster, Read Smarter

by: Michael Southon

The Internet is a new continent where the maps are constantly changing. What was a small stream becomes a roaring river. What was a desert becomes a lush green valley.

To keep up with the changing landscape of the Internet you must read. And the best place to read about new developments on the Internet is in Newsletters or Ezines.

But you may not be reading efficiently.

Did you know that most of us use only 4% to 10% of our mental abilities?

Speed reading is not just about reading faster; itกs about learning to use much more of the extraordinary powers of the Mind.

When you read, are you aware of an inner voice that follows the words as your eyes move across the page or the computer screen? This inner voice is called กsubvocalizationก. You probably experience it as a slight movement in the tongue or throat region. As long as you subvocalize, you limit your reading to the speed of normal speech, to about 300 w.p.m.

The Mind is capable of thinking much faster than that. So when you subvocalize, you’re literally holding back your mind.

Try this exercise:

As you read, count to yourself, silently, from one to ten. Or, repeat the sound กEeeก, กEeeก, กEeeก. It will be impossible to do this at the same time as subvocalizing, so this is an excellent way of breaking the habit of subvocalization.

As you do this exercise, youกll become aware that you’re no longer processing the words in the tongue/throat region but in an area called ‘thought streamก that you experience in the top of your head.

Thought stream moves much faster than subvocalization. And thatกs why people who subvocalize often have comprehension problems.

Thereกs a mismatch between reading speed and thinking speed. The Mind is constantly racing ahead of the inner voice and so it gets bored. You experience this as an inability to hold your attention on what you’re reading. You have to backskip words, or read the same line twice.

As your reading speed catches up with your thinking speed, reading becomes much less tiring and your comprehension improves.

Once youกve got a feeling for reading in ‘thought streamก, the next thing to do is speed up your eye movements. This will also help break the habit of subvocalization, since your eyes will be moving faster than you can possibly subvocalize.

Your eyes move across the written page in a series of quick jumps. Between each jump thereกs a stop lasting a fraction of second, called a กfixationก. The fixation is when the eye actually takes in the written word.

The untrained eye takes about a quarter of a second at each fixation, and takes in 2 or 3 words per fixation.

By speeding up you eye movements, youกll learn to make fewer fixations per line and take in more words per fixation.

Try this exercise:

If you use a glass กantiglareก screen, draw 2 vertical lines in felttip, 5 cms apart, so that you have a strip 5 cms wide located over the middle of the text you are reading.

Now move your eyes in a กZก pattern down this central strip, at a speed faster slightly faster than is comfortable.

Because your Mind is not reading each word, it is forced to กfill in the gapsก. This engages much more of the Mind, since it has to build associations and patterns in the written material. This in turn leads to greater comprehension and increased memory of what was read.

This technique takes advantage of the fact that much of written English is highly redundant; a lot of words can be skipped without any loss of meaning.

When your eyes move down a central strip of the text, you also engage much more of your peripheral vision. And that in turn brings the right hemisphere of the brain into the reading process. You make much more use of the rightbrainกs ability to synthesize and build relationships within the material.

So speed reading is not just about reading faster; it also allows you to access much more of the brain and thereby increases your comprehension and creativity.

For an excellent, free, speedreading course, visit:

The Speed Reading Course http://www.trans4mind.unet.com/speed_reading/index.html

Here are some more free speedreading sites:

The Study Hall Free Speed Reading Programs http://www.studyhall.com/sread.htm

Road To Reading Home http://www.roadtoreading.org/

University of Texas Speed Reading http://www.utexas.edu/student/lsc/sprdg.html

Speed Reading Links http://www.readingsoft.com/flinks.html

ReadRace: Free Java application for speed reading http://supershareware.co.uk/Apps/8080.asp

WannaLearn.com: Personal Enrichment : Speed Reading http://www.wannalearn.com/Personal_Enrichment/Speed_Reading/

(c) 2000 by Michael Southon

About The Author

Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3 years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this simple technique to get massive free publicity and dramatically increase traffic and sales. Click here to find out more: http://www.ezinewriter.com

This article was posted on August 30, 2002

by Michael Southon

6 Fatal Design Flaws ขNewbieข Web Designers Make:

6 Fatal Design Flaws ขNewbieข Web Designers Make: These Mistakes Will Kill Your First Website Baby

by: Mitone Griffith

Even if you’re not an accomplished webmaster you can still have a professional looking website. You may be like I was five years ago—you’re teaching yourself web design and you’re starting to catch on to that HTML stuff. You’re so excited about your new bag of tricks—but slow down partner, sometimes less is more. In fact the only time more is more is when it concerns chocolate cheesecake or something like that. (I can never get enough chocolate!)

You’ve worked hard to get the traffic—now don’t drive them away.

1. Fatal Flaw One—Bouncing, Wiggling Animated Clip Art

This one is really annoying to website visitors, and a sure sign you don’t know what you’re doing, especially if you have them all over the place. Just because they’re free, doesn’t mean you should use them.

SOLUTION—You’re probably not a graphics designer if you resort to using clip art, so don’t worry about your weakness, just choose a nice color scheme instead in your tables. (More on that later.) Colors don’t take extra time to download either.

2. Fatal Flaw Two—Embedded Music Clips

Good grief. Don’t do this. I don’t care how catchy your elevator tune is. No one wants to hear it. Sometimes speakers are turned up and a sudden blare of music will scare the heck out of your visitors. They’ll probably leave!

SOLUTION—If you have a site that sells music, then people will expect to hear it sometime somewhere at your site. Make your music links clickable—a choice that visitors can make to listen!

3. Fatal Flaw Three—Unstructured Text

I can’t stand it when I land on a site that I have to read from each side of my screen to the other left and right as well as up and down. Even if you want to write one long sales letter—which obviously works fine for hundreds of rich webmasters, you still need to format it into a legible width.

SOLUTION—Put your text in one single data cell of a simple table. Center your table. Voila.

4. Fatal Flaw Four—Out of Control Scroll

Similar to number three, is the out of control scroll. This is when you have to scroll text left to right as well as up and down. This happens when newbies design their websites larger than 800 pixels wide.

SOLUTION—Most people view resolution at 800×600. Set your table widths around 750 and everyone will be able to look at your site without using a bottom scrollbar.

5. Fatal Flaw Five—Gargantuan Images

This is when newbies take photos directly off their scanner or digital camera without resizing and without compressing. And nothings worse than landing on a page that has an image taking over the whole screen, taking forever to download.

SOLUTION—Using a photo program like Paint Shop, Photo Shop or other, resize images to fit in the table you intend to put it in. (Usually under 500 pixels wide.) Compress to 72 dots per inch. (DPI) Photos scanned or taken for print are large and usually at 300 dpi—no one wants to wait on those!

6. Fatal Flaw Six—Nonsense Affiliate Links

This is the same as ขsites with no value.ข There’s nothing that looks more like a newbie did it than a page full of banners, buttons, and text links taking visitors away from the Newbie’s site.

SOLUTION—At least publish free articles on the topic of your affiliate program. For example, let’s say you’ve signed up for a ขmake money selling trafficข idea. There are thousands of free articles that you can publish on getting more website traffic. Put your affiliate link at the bottom, top, or middle of the page the article is published on. Not only will having content make your site more interesting, it will also make your site more valuable to search engines.

These are just 6 little mistakes. But if you can at least change these, you are well on your way to having a more saleable site!

About The Author

Mitone Griffith has been designing websites since 1999. Her streamlined 24 Hour Website Wizard will assist you in getting your website running in less time than it would take to get that book on HTML to ship from Amazon. Give her Wizard 24 hours. Invest a low $199. You’ll have a complete and custom website overnight. You’ve got nothing to lose. 100% satisfaction money back guarantee. Just visit http://24hourwebsitewizard.com to learn more, or email to [email protected].

This article was posted on April 10

by Mitone Griffith