Work Yourself Up!

Business Talk Radio

2009-07-13T17:09:30-05:00

Those of you wanting to learn more about business might want to check out the KBZNZ Talk Radio Network. While you're there, you can listen to my show on the music business, Music Business Radio.

4 Quick Tips for Convincing Partners to Promote You

2009-07-08T10:32:00-05:00

One of the skills that can make you the most money online is networking, which is nothing more than building relationships with other successful marketers so that you both profit.

Networking successfully with jv partners can really boost your Internet Marketing business. The most successful marketers do so smartly; they use each other as leverage to get where they are today. Follow their lead and you'll see why.

Here are a few quick tips to help you get started.

Quick Tip #1: Develop a USP for Your Request

Most people in business have heard the advice that you're supposed to have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for your customers, but a USP also helps when you are seeking joint venture partners. The most sought-after JV partners receive requests on a daily basis. You'll want to strategize to stand out from all these others who are vying for their attention.

The best way to accomplish this is to think about how your offer is different from the other offers out there. What are you going to offer to that person's customers that no one has before? Make sure that you have truly thought this out before making contact.

Quick Tip #2: Pay Attention to the Marketer

Many marketers just focus on sending many JV requests out hoping that someone, anyone, will say yes. The problem is that the most seasoned marketers can spot this a mile away. If you're asking someone to promote to their list, you'll get better results if you do some research on the marketer you are sending that request to. Whatever you do, don't send a group mailing or a form letter to the JV partners that you're really hoping to “wow”. It's a turnoff.

Take a look at the websites they run and opt in for their newsletter. What kinds of offers do they normally promote? Knowing this key fact is important so you can determine if your offer may be something that would interest their target market. If not, save their contact info for another date.

Quick Tip #3: Compose the Proper Request

Now that you made the decision who to send your JV requests to, it is time to craft and compose what you are going to say in your request.

Make sure you get to the point. More often than not these marketers are extremely busy and time is money. Eliminate fluff and flowery language. Be cordial, but stick to the task at hand. You will also want to make sure to read and reread your email before sending. Even if you have had dealings with this particular marketer before, keep your letter at a professional tone.

Quick Tip #4: Plan Ahead

If you're looking for JV partners for a launch, the timing can make things a bit more difficult.

More than likely you have spent a lot of time preparing your offer and getting it ready to go. It can be very stressful to attempt to get those last minute details together in time for your launch. Inquiring about potential JV partners should not be one of the last minute details.

Be sure to respect the schedules of your potential partners. Many of them plan their promotions out months in advance. So, giving them advanced notice will help you get a much better response. If your product is close to being ready but not yet completed, you still may want to put out JV requests. They may request that you contact them again at a later date, but at least you have made the first connection with them.

Bear in mind that you might be faced with rejection even if you do everything "right." Sometimes marketers are too busy, don't promote others' products very often, or have another reason why they can't promote you. Don’t let this discourage you; keep searching and you'll find the right JV partner to assist you on your journey to internet marketing success.

4 Quick Tips for Growing Your Mailing List

2009-07-03T22:32:00-05:00

There is no excuse not to have a mailing list. In fact, you don't even need your own product or service before starting a targeted list. All you need is an autoresponder and an opt-in box on your website.

Once you do create your own product or service, you’ll be happy that you already have your list in place. By then, you’ll already have readers who are interested in what you have to say. In fact, it will make it easier to sell those things when the time comes because a relationship will already be developed.

The Key = If you can get a targeted list of people who trust you, love your products and see you as an expert in your field your chances of reaching success have just skyrocketed above everyone else.

Quick Tip #1: Get Them to Opt-In

You should always offer quality content for free on your site so that when you do create an offer your readers are already confident that what you’re offering is worth their time & money.

Here are some ideas to entice your visitors to sign up for your list:

• A Special Report – 7-10 pages in length

• A Short eCourse – 5 to 7 days that will give you a chance to provide great information along with the ability to follow up in the future.

• Informative Audio or Video – Make it one that can’t be found already on your site. Be sure to include transcripts for those who want them.

Make sure your free item of such great quality that your visitor could picture themselves paying for it instead of receiving it free.

Remember, not everyone on your list will be interested in buying your stuff immediately. Some just want to get your free information. That’s ok – the day may come when they need something you’ve got and they’ll know where to go. Plus, if you’ve built a relationship with them, they’re more likely to recommend you to others – growing your list even more.

Bonus Tip: Here’s a trick to help you separate the buyers from the freebie seekers.

Create a short report for your list. Offer your readers the report at a low price (no more than $5 or 10 dollars). Those who see the value in what you’re offering will gladly spend a few dollars. Have the customers opt-in for lifetime updates.

If you can, purge the new customers from your leads list. If not, don't worry about it. However, the great value in this method is that you’ll end up with a list of people who aren’t afraid to spend money -- and that's where the real money is.

Quick Tip #2: Make it Easy

Your opt-in box gives you the opportunity to convert one time visitors into long term relationships through follow-up emails. Make sure you place your opt-in form on every page of your website so your readers have the opportunity to sign up without having to search for it.

Where can you put your opt-in form?

• Pop-up or Pop-over forms hovering over your site.

• In-line forms near the top. These allow for easy access and are seen “above the fold” so visitors can sign up once they’ve read a bit of your content and find out they love you.

• Links. Place a link in the footer of every page of your site that directs visitors to an opt-in page.

They all have their own benefits so you should test them to see which one converts best for you.

Don’t forget to create a strong call to action in the opt-in box text – tell them what to expect, and what to do next. Detailed instructions on how to check their email and click on the enclosed link to make sure they receive their freebie is always a good idea.

Quick Tip #3: Drive Targeted Traffic

You have an opt-in form, you have an offer and now you need traffic. The best offer means nothing if no one is visiting your site to see it.

There are many different ways to drive people to your site and using a variety of them will help you achieve the best results. A few to get you started:

• Article Marketing – Share your articles on article directories. Make sure your author bio includes a strong call to action and a link to your site. Use keywords in your articles to make them easier to find by the search engines.

• Leveraging Social Networks – Did you know there are over 600 bookmarking and social networking sites on the Internet right now? Twitter and Facebook might be the most popular, but don’t count out sites like StumbleUpon or Digg.

The point is you should be creating relationships through these sites so don’t go in with your sales spiel guns shooting your links all over the place. Build relationships, create your bio and occasionally share a link or special offer to your site.

• Blog Posts – If your website doesn’t have a blog create one and share quality information or recommendations in your posts.

• Blog Comments – Make meaningful, relevant comments that provide good information (not just links to your site) on other blogs. Don’t comment just for the sake of commenting and don’t be afraid to comment on the blogs of your competitors. Competition is good and most realize the power of working together so while you’re helping with comments, you’ll build a relationship with them too.

• Giveaways & Contests –Create traffic by hosting a giveaway or contest. Each has its own merits and you can work with other website owners to create traffic for everyone. For example, get 3 or 4 site owners with services or products they’re willing to donate. Those site owners each get to give away the “package” of 3 - 4 items. You can have your readers participate (which is always good) by visiting all of the sites and leaving comments or whatever you’d like them to do. Be creative but make it fun and easy.

• Link Love Posts – Write a “round-up” post where you travel the Internet looking for great articles on your topic. Provide links to the articles on your site. Don’t forget to add your commentary and make it more valuable for your readers. Share the link to your post with the people you’ve linked to as a courtesy.

• Guest Posts – Offer to write guest posts on complementary sites. Everyone is looking for fresh content. Especially, if it’s good quality and they don’t have to write it. You can find places that accept guest posts by doing a search or you can simply email your friends and competing site owners and make the offer to write a post. What do you get in return for your hard work? A short bio/author resource box at the end of your post with your keywords and links back to your site.

• Interviews – Find places to share your information via teleseminars, podcasts or email interviews. Often, these will provide you with the ability to get your name and URL out to many people, not already on your list, at one time.

• Contributors – Look for people to contribute guest posts on your blog for fresh content with an eye to providing quality information to your readers. People are often willing to write a guest post for you as long as they can link back to their own site or product.

• Brandable Reports – Look for products you can recommend (or create your own) that have brandable reports as a marketing tool. You can give away these special reports that include your own affiliate links making the benefits two-fold. You have content for your readers and the possibility of making money through affiliate sales. (Look at BrandableStuff.com for ideas.)

The Key = Find out what your target market’s intent is when searching for information in your niche. What, exactly, are they searching for? Give it to them.

Quick Tip #4: Test

No matter what you use to drive traffic to your site, you must test to see which offers convert and which are wasting your time. You want to turn visitors into list members AND you want to convert members of your list into buyers. But, the only way you’ll know what action is working best for you is to test them all.

You just need to start at the beginning and just get it done! Get your stuff out there and then test the heck out of it! Tweak & test again.

Now that you have the steps necessary to get your list started, growing your list should be a little bit easier for you. Just focus your efforts on designing a great offer, making your opt-in form easy to find and getting targeted traffic to your site so that your reader’s eyeballs see that opt-in box. Then, choose a few of the strategies to get traffic and see which ones work best for you. Remember to test and tweak your efforts until you get the best possible results.

4 Quick Tips for Outsourcing on a Budget

2009-06-30T14:32:00-05:00

Running an online business is extremely time-consuming. Whether the business is flourishing or just getting off the ground, there are countless tasks you must do to ensure its success. Many times one person cannot and should not attempt to do everything alone.

You can get help in your online business and increase your bottom line by outsourcing tasks that you don't want to do, don't know how to do, or don't have the time to do.

By taking the time to find good people to outsource tasks to, you can almost be certain that you'll save both time and money in the long run and increase your revenue greatly over the life of your business.

Use these quick tips to help you get started, even if you're on a tight budget.

Quick Tip #1: Examine Your Budget and the Going Rate

When running an online business, it is always important to define a budget. A common error is to set aside more money than you can afford when you're first beginning to outsource projects. A smart idea is to allocate a percentage of the money you are bringing in only for outsourcing. This way you'll be able to steadily grow your profits by leveraging the work of others.

For instance, if you decide to reinvest 10% of your profits into outsourcing, then, as your income grows, the amount you spend on outsourcing will grow, as well.

The size of your budget is not what is important; you need to figure out how to use this money to benefit your business in the best way possible. This will change depending on the tasks you are outsourcing.

Visit freelancing sites like Elance.com, Shelancers.com, Workaholics4Hire.com or RentACoder.com. Notice which types of projects people are bidding on and how much they are offering to complete them. See then how this fits with your allocated budget.

Quick Tip #2: Be Honest with Yourself

After making the decision to outsource, make sure you are honest with your decision.

Are the tasks that you have decided to outsource truly something that you cannot do yourself? If it is something that you may be able to accomplish, it would save you from wasting money from out of your budget. This would also allow you to allocate another task for outsourcing either now or in the future when the need arises.

Take the time to really think about what tasks need to be outsourced and what just might not be a favorite task to perform yourself. To differentiate between the two can save you money; time and can get your true priorities accomplished quicker.

However, as Nicole Dean of OutsourceWeekly.com teaches, you should always outsource your roadblocks first. If you're stuck – outsource that task first so that you can move towards profit. For instance, if you're working on an ebook, but don't know how to set up your shopping cart, then outsource the setup so that your ebook can begin selling. If you've got a product, but don't have the guts to go get JV partners or interviews, then outsource that. Whatever obstacle stands between you and profit – outsource that first.

Quick Tip #3: Search for the Best People

It is in your best interest to research before hiring a contractor. Remember that you are working within your budget, so outsourcing haphazardly can result in a loss of precious funds, especially if you need to have the work redone.

Take your time and do not make an uninformed decision. Use all available resources, ask for references, and speak to others, visit websites, look at samples, anything you can do to get a clearer perspective on someone you are considering. If you take this task seriously, you will certainly improve your odds for positive results.

Another tip that Nicole Dean from OutsourceWeekly.com recommends is to give a small task to three people to test them and find out which is the best fit for you before investing a large amount of money with any one person. For instance, if you need 15 articles, hire 3 separate ghostwriters to write 5 articles each. Find the articles you like best, and the person who was the easiest to work with, and, of course, weigh in price. Whoever “wins” the challenge – you will certainly want to continue to work with.

Quick Tip #4: Consider Trades and be Creative

If you need to outsource tasks but have used your allocated funds for the month, there are other options. Simply use your imagination to figure out alternative ways to outsource.

One way may be to trade services with other internet marketers. It is likely that a task that you can finish in ten minutes may take someone else ninety minutes and vice versa. Offer to trade tasks. That way you are not only saving time but money as well. This is a great idea to build relationships with other individuals for future joint ventures that may arise as your success on the internet increases.

Outsourcing on a budget isn't always easy, but it is possible. All you need to do is plan ahead, do your research and use your imagination to come up with win-win scenarios. This will help the process run smoothly and simply, ensuring that you will outsource again in the future.

4 Quick Tips to Make Writing Faster and Easier without Sacrificing Quality

2009-06-23T10:32:00-05:00

There are people who thoroughly enjoy writing while many others find it a truly grueling and painful task. If you fall into the latter category you most likely spend hours and unnecessary energy trying to put together content, be it articles, blog posts, eBooks, or anything else for that matter. Do you end up frustrated and ready to throw in the towel or cringe every time the task of writing finds its way to the top of your to-do list?

If you’re shaking your head yes right now, I’ve got good news! There are ways to write faster, make the entire process easier and produce quality content that gets read time and again. This article will help you do all of those things. Interested?

I thought you might be. The following 4 quick tips will help you view writing in a whole new light.

Quick Tip #1: Plan Your Topics in Advance

Nothing is more difficult for a writer than staring at a blank screen without knowing what to write about. This leads to frustration and disappointment and is actually one of the main reasons people prefer not to write their own content. Planning your content in advance is one of the biggest keys to help eliminate writer’s block and make the task of writing easier and even enjoyable.

First, as you think of ideas, be sure to write them down somewhere – preferably in the same place each time. This will give you a running list of things you can choose from when the time to sit down and write rears its head. I keep an ideas notebook on my desk and scribble in it all day long.

If ideas are the problem, there are ways to combat that too. One way to find inspiration is by visiting forums, message boards and ning groups that focus on your niche. These places are full of people who need answers to questions in your field of expertise. Don’t forget social networks either. Sites like Twitter, StumbleUpon, and Digg are overflowing with people who need your help or advice. Find out what they want and jot the topics, ideas, and questions down on your list.

Looking to incorporate keywords into your content for SEO purposes? If so, the next step is to do some keyword research at a site like http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com. This is also another avenue to find extra topic ideas should you need them.

Doing this research will help get rid of writer's block, and allow you to deliver exactly the information your market is in search of.

Quick Tip #2: Get to the Point & Stay There

When writing, it’s particularly important to stick to the topic at hand. Don’t fill your writing with what’s known as garbage text that isn’t necessary. Find out what exactly your readers want and give it to them. Give your readers substance not just words. Here are a few good rules of thumb to keep in mind.

Once you’ve written your content go back through it and remove unnecessary words. Including these extra words will only bore your audience. One of the most common wasted words is the word “that.” If a sentence makes sense without the word in it – take it out.

An excellent way to combat this problem is through the use of bullet points. Before you begin writing you may wish to make a list of 5-6 bullet points that you want to “hit” through your article. As you write, cover each bullet point with approximately 2-3 sentences each. This will guarantee a concise, to-the-point article that your readers will enjoy reading each and every time.

If you need to add length to your writing, some options are:

−    Examples
−    Statistics
−    Charts
−    Case Studies
−    Tips
−    Definitions

Of course, there are many other ways to add value to your content without filler. Use your imagination and you'll do fine.

Re-read your material. If you have to read a sentence or paragraph more than once to understand it, chances are your readers will too. Reword the information so it’s not so confusing.

Quick Tip #3: Take a Break

Have you ever noticed when you write for a long time you become frustrated, tired and uninspired? After awhile it seems increasingly difficult to get your point across. Yet, you keep plugging along because you have to get your writing done – perhaps you’re on a deadline or just want to cross it off your to-do list to be rid of it. Unfortunately, this will lead to more time wasted than gained.

If you take breaks in between chunks of writing you'll quickly notice a huge boost in productivity. Your mind will have time to rest in between sessions and it will bring a level of clarity to your thinking. This will make the overall writing process faster, easier, and improved.

Believe it or not, forced writing is easy to spot. It sounds forced and most people won’t continue reading to the end if it makes no sense. By taking breaks, the quality of your end product will benefit if you give your brain time to rest.

Quick Tip #4: Don't Edit as You Go

A mistake people commonly make is trying to edit while they write rather than once they are finished. This is counter productive and actually slows your writing down considerably. Making corrections while you go keeps ideas from flowing freely and makes you concentrate more on spelling and grammar than the points you are trying to convey.

You’ll get more accomplished by allowing your mind to run without extra clutter. Check comma placement later! Once you’ve finished typing (or writing if you’re a pen and paper writer) then and only then, should you be checking spelling, grammar and punctuation. You’ll be able to zip right through error corrections without wondering what you are missing in your content.

One suggestion if you find it hard to pull away from editing as you go: Turn the automatic spelling and grammar correction function off in your word process. Those little squiggly lines under misspelled words hinder creativity. Sure, they are cute and a little helpful but not while you’re creative juices are flowing.

If you want to write faster, be sure to plan your topics ahead of time, take plenty of breaks to rest your mind and avoid editing while you type. Remember to use bullet points when necessary, write a concise, focused article and you’ll be writing like a pro in no time.

Dread writing no more – or at least less than before!

I'm Back!

2009-06-01T12:07:50-05:00

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. Have been taking some time off the blog to concentrate on putting together an online marketing curriculum, which I'll be publishing in a series of books. First draft on everything is done, so expect something shortly...after a major content edit, copy edit, and a few tweaks. ;)

Seriously...I expect to have everything out sometime in July.

Now that time is a bit looser than it was, I'm going to start up on the blog again. Expect at least one new post per week from now on. I've got a lot of "mindset" stuff already written, as I think that is the biggest problem facing most entrepreneurs. If there is another subject you'd like me to cover, please me know.

Bad Economy? This Will Make You Feel Better!

2009-04-15T00:48:27-05:00

Sick of hearing about how "bad" the economy is? Or... Do you feel the world is coming to and end?

Either way, this free report will make you feel better. It will only take you a couple of minutes to read and I guarantee it's worth your time.

Get your free report now.

Thoughts? Post 'em below...

Get 19,530 New Twitter Followers in 30 Days?

2009-03-27T20:35:40-05:00

Lots of people have contacted me and asked about how to get more followers on Twitter. It's certainly not targeted traffic, but if you're up for trying an MLM-style process, this site will help you to add people to your list...or at least it says it will.

For those too timid to try it yourself, make sure you're subscribed to my feed. I posted something about it and will report the results in a month...

Also worth looking at... WeFollow.com

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village...

2009-03-16T11:34:00-05:00

NOTE: I'm not the author is this, but feel it's a great lesson for this blog...especially for those who got into this business in order to pursue a certain lifestyle.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"Then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty or twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" said the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral is: Know where you're going in life ... you may already be there.

Why I Love Affiliate Marketing - Part 5

2009-03-12T17:11:00-05:00

NOTE: The following is a guest post from one of my favorite internet marketing mentors, Jimmy D. Brown of "Affiliatenaire".

The word "overhead" is not a favorite among those who run businesses of any kind. Nobody likes the expenses of operating a business. And nobody really talks about them much when it comes to promoting all of the "money-making" products and services online.

But, don't kid yourself, there's a lot of overhead.

That brings me to the fifth reason why I love affiliate marketing...

** You don't need a big budget to make it work **

Do you have any idea how much money is spent running an internet business? There are monthly fees for...

Autoresponders
Hosting
Management
Advertising
Scripts
Much more

There are regular fees for...

Licensing
Outsourcing
Support
Customer Service
Maintenance
Development
Recruting
Much more

It's not uncommon to spend tens of thousands (even hundreds of thousands) of dollars in operational costs -- which is fine if you've been in business a while and are making the bucks. However, if you're a newcomer, it can be taxing on your budget!

     SIDEBAR: I paid one girl over $30,000 last year
     just to oversee one small part of my business.
     No one talks much about it, but there ARE a lot
     of expenses involved before you get to the
     "bottom line" of profit.

BUT, with affiliate marketing, you don't need a big budget to make it work! You can simply use a variety of free and low-cost marketing methods to generate clicks to your affiliate link.

That's why I love affiliate marketing.

You don't need a big budget to make it work.

Jimmy D. Brown is the author of "Affiliatenaire", which teaches you how to create big-time affiliate commission checks in only 1-3 hours each week. Visit Affiliatenaire to discover how you can get cash in the bank without a website, experience, or even an idea!