Negativity is Inevitable with an Online Business

In the past week there has been alot of hatred and negativity going back and forth between a few different blogs and I hate to admit it, but I’ve been adding to it.

I’m not going to link to any of the blogs involved because 1. The original source of the trash doesn’t deserve the exposure 2. I don’t want to contribute anymore than I already have elsewhere, and 3. I don’t want to expose anymore people to it…it’s just a waste of time and energy and it doesn’t do anyone any good!

It doesn’t matter how much you help people. It doesn’t matter how ethical you try to run your business. It doesn’t matter who you are. There WILL be negativity brought your way if you have any kind of presence on the web. This particular incidence wasn’t directed toward me, but it was directed to a good friend, who I know for a fact is a very ethical person, so it really hit a nerve.

This person, rightly so, is chalking it up as a “lesson learned” and letting it be history rather than adding to it and bringing the negativity to a greater audience!

I ALMOST wrote a nice long blog post that exposed a few people for who I believe they really are, but now that I’ve cooled down I’m glad I didn’t.

This is a business and it should be treated as such. All parties involved, including myself were wrong by calling names and degrading one another.

Lesson Learned!

I know, and I believe all of you who have been supporting me over the years know, that I honestly want to help people.

So, instead of spreading the virus of hatred, I’ve decided to write this post and hopefully teach a lesson at the same time.

That lesson; when negativity comes your way, ignore it! This isn’t the first time I didn’t take my own advice, but hopefully the point gets across!

You’ll be happier as a person and your business will be better off! (I’ve wasted alot of time adding to the negativity myself when I could have been building my business!)

List Building - You Seriously Need a List

“The Money’s in the List” If you haven’t heard that at least 500 times then you’re a dreaded “newbie.”

For the past few years I’ve been slowly building a list. Although I was marketing online long before I started blogging, my list is nowhere close to being “large.” The primary reason is because I’ve never really put a great deal of effort into it. As a matter of fact, most of my subscribers were collected from organic traffic and product sales.

While everyone else has been building their massive lists, I’ve been fighting with SE’s and creating products, which has been profitable, but not nearly as profitable as a responsive list of 50,000+, which I would probably at least have by now if I would have been serious about it from the start.

Today I came across a post over at Yaro Starak’s Internet Business Blog (great guy who is honestly out to help people) that really got me thinking. The post was titled “How to Build a Profitable Email List - Frank Kern Style” and it really opened my eyes to what I’ve been missing out on.

I’m not new to the concept of list-building. I’m actually very confident in my list-building abilities and I’m pretty happy with how my current list is converting; but it’s just too small!

What I realized though, is that I know how powerful lists are because I’ve had my own products promoted to many of them and made loads of money. Why the HELL have I been ignoring that! I’ve been doing the hard work by creating the products and these guys are getting half the money (usually) just by sending a promo out to their list.

So, when the new theme is up, which will hopefully be sometime this week, you’ll be seeing “The Easy SEO Report,” which will be offered for Free with opt-in. That’s going to be the beginning of a major push to increase my newsletter subscriber count! My goal is 20,000 double opt-ins by the end of the year, which will obviously be carried out outside of the blog as well.

So start building a serious list now instead of waiting 4 years like I did! I know for a fact they are extremely profitable and all you need to get started is a report with a short squeeze page and an auto responder. If you want to get lazy you could even rewrite a PLR report.

The auto responder I’ve been using for several years is GetResponse. That and aWeber are the industry leaders for good reason, but if you can’t afford, or don’t care to afford the monthly fee you could go with one of the options that Mo lays out in this list of auto-responders over at the Cayman Host.

I Jumped on the Twitter Bandwagon

Follow me by clicking the Twitter link in the left sidebar under “My Profiles”—>

Love it or hate it, Twitter is catching on quick, fast and in a hurry with all kinds of people. Other than StumbleUpon, I’ve never been big on Social Networks, although I know I should be. However, since Twitter is so very simple and so many people are talking about it I figured I’d give it a shot.

I actually created my account a month or two ago, but didn’t do much with it. I’ve gotten a few followers without doing anything with it, so I’m going to try my best to keep it updated from now on.

If you don’t know what Twitter is I’ll tell you:

There have been many Twitter Guides written, but to be honest with you I have no idea why. It’s extremely simply to use and even simpler to understand the marketing aspect.

When you login to your account there is a question “What are you doing?” Under that there is a form where you type what you’re doing. There is a 140 character limit so you have to be brief.

You find friends and follow them. Now they can see what you’re doing throughout the day. Others find you and do the same. You can link to your blog posts or anything else, which is the marketing factor behind it, but don’t overdo it. The links are automatically cloaked to tinyurl links, but the link juice isn’t the purpose anyway. It’s just like anything else, spam it and you won’t benefit. But, if you just wrote a blog post etc., let your followers know.

It’s been referred to as “mini-blogging” because it’s very similar. Short, frequent updates of your musings.

OK, so there is more to it than that, but that’s pretty much it! It’s very simple and a great way to build a following.

If you’d like to follow me just click the Twitter link in the left sidebar under “My Profiles”

10 Ways to Start out 2008 by Helping Someone

“What goes around comes around” is a statement that is true for the butt-heads and good-hearted people alike. Constantly screw people over and you’ll find yourself being screwed over yourself. Help someone and you’ll find that others will help you for nothing in return!

I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve went out of my way to help someone. That’s not to say I’m some kind of a saint, but I know for one it’s just the right thing to do and two it will help me in the long run!

Helping others will build a strong network, build your brand, build links (shhh,) and make you money in the long run and those are just a few of the positive effects kindness produces.

It’s a new year and if 2007 wasn’t a very profitable one, it’s time to start building a solid foundation on which your 2008 business will reside. The first step = Helping others!

Below are 10 Ways one could do just that, help others:

1: - Link to those who provide value.
2: - Stumble valuable posts/pages.
3: - Send an email to say “thanks, great job.”
4: - Send them some money (I accept check, money order, PayPal, Ikobo etc.)
5: - Add their blog to your Technorati favorites.
6: - Comment on their blog.
7: - Write a review of their site/blog on your site/blog. You both win because you have something to write about and they get exposure and tips.
8: - Find broken links, improperly nested code and/or anything else someone may have overlooked on their site/blog and let the person know. I’ve made several strong connections doing this.
9: - Read their content and/or purchase their products and leave feedback. 97% of my customers never provide feedback. Those that do, impress me, as they obviously want to get the most out of their investment.
10: - Buy them a Porsche Carrera GT. If you do this for me, I promise you’ll be a life -long friend. As a matter of fact, I’ll give you this blog, free of charge (I prefer dark blue or black with dark interior)

Is Intimidation Holding your Online Business Down?

How many times have you heard someone mention the power of networking and/or Joint Ventures? Many I’d imagine. The reason why is because obviously there is power in numbers and the more people you know, the more potential exposure you have.

The problem that arises for many marketers is a feeling of intimidation. No matter what you think of your own product, blog, ideas etc, you may worry what the “big guys” would think of it, so you don’t even bother proposing a JV.

If this is you, you’re not alone. I had the same train of thought for the longest time. It wasn’t until my first big product was promoted by a well-known and trusted marketer that I started to get the confidence to go out and contact others of the same caliber.

There will always be some who think their sh** don’t stink and to those, let them believe that. They can continue to enjoy their ego and I’ll be just fine leaving them out of my network!

However, there are MANY who are successful and have no problem replying to your emails and giving you their thoughts on whatever it is you are inquiring about.

Not all will accept your proposals. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re arrogant or anything else. In many cases they are just too busy. If this is the case don’t worry about it. Contact others. It only takes one big promo to get your product, blog or whatever it is you’re promoting out to the masses.

When it comes down to it, what do you have to lose? You don’t know what they’ll say if you don’t try!

I’ll be diving into how to properly contact big marketers for JV proposals in the last part of the ebook guide, which you’ll be seeing part 2 of in the next day or two.

Is your Online Business Model Basic or Complex?

Mark over at 45n5 wrote an interesting post about choosing solid online business models, which got me thinking about the subject. The general advice he is giving is solid. Looking at some of his creations, I can’t really argue with the man too much. He obviously knows his stuff.

So many people advise others to find something that works and stick to it. I won’t argue the fact that going 5% on 10 different things is a lousy business model, but I will argue that you should concentrate solely on ONE or two things.

There is so much conflicting “advice” when it comes to running a successful online business. I believe the reason for that is because some things work for some people, while other things work for others. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa.

However, there is one thing, no matter what your business model consists of, that we should all take into consideration. That is the fact that no matter how well you do with something, it CAN crash and burn!

Relying solely on search engines has made many people rich. It has also caused many people to go Bankrupt!

There are so many variables when it comes to marketing online you simply must have a backup and a backup for your backup.

Adsense - Huge income potential (if done correctly,) but your account can be banned - Ouch!

ClickBank - Huge income potential, but your account can be banned and oh, by the way, in many cases your reputation is a driving factor in sales. So no matter how big you get, one bad decision could cost you LOADS of money in long-term sales. One person comes to mind, but I won’t mention any names

Blogging - Have you noticed how many people are selling their blogs after Google started taking PR from those selling links? The next penalty could be to those promoting affiliate products, not likely, but who knows?

These are just a few of the many online business models. One could dive into each one and find several factors that could cause that model to go down the drain.

You simply cannot rely on ONE income source!!!

This is how I’ve created my business model over time. Keep in mind, when I first started I had no business model. If you’re just learning, you can’t really have a business model because you don’t know what it’s all about. BUT, if you’ve been doing this for a while and you still don’t have one, you may want to give it some more thought.

- Find one thing that intrigues you. Work on it until it brings in a steady income, don’t “half-ass” it.

- Once your first venture is up and running efficiently, find another that intrigues you and go full-force with it until it creates another source of income.

Do this over and over until you have multiple streams of online income.

It’s important not to over do it. Obviously one person cannot effectively conduct loads of campaigns, but one can indeed effectively conduct 3 or 4.

The key is to first find things that you can excel in and second knowing your limit. You may have the potential to excel in 10 different things, but unless you’re superman or superwoman (or you have a staff) you won’t be able to spread your eggs too far.

3 or 4 different “successful” ventures, however, is very attainable! In other words, never “put all of your eggs in one basket,” it could very well break!

How to Create and Market an Ebook or Report

One of the more profitable online income streams is creating and marketing ebooks and/or reports. One good product has the potential of bringing in thousands of dollars in sales and can turn into residual income in you have the right affiliates promoting it.

In the few months that I’ve been blogging, I’ve noticed many bloggers concentrate much of their efforts on blogging, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if their blog is bringing in a nice income. For those of you who have not yet created an info product, I’d like to explain just how easy it really is.

First, above all, you need to come up with a topic that you have alot of knowledge in. If you’re making little or no money online then you shouldn’t create a product showing how to make money online etc. Instead, choose something non-IM related and write your ebook/report on that.

Once you come up with your idea, start writing. Use Microsoft Word or OpenOffice to compose the product. You don’t have to be a stellar writer in order to do this. I’m nowhere close to being an outstanding writer, but many people believe my products are of high quality simply because the information is very useful.

Personally, I don’t care what the page count is, but some do. The only thing I care about when purchasing a product is that it provides what I’m looking for. But, I’m not the one buying my product so I always try to keep the word count up when possible.

If it’s a report you’re writing, depending on the price your asking, anything over 10 pages should be fine. If it’s an ebook, somewhere around 30 pages should be the minimum page count.

Once you’ve completed the ebook/report use OpenOffice (free) to convert the document to pdf form. You’ll notice that there is a “PDF” button at the top. Do not use this button! Instead, click the “file” tab and select “export as PDF.” Doing this will trigger a pop-up with different options. You can generally leave all options at default except for the “security” tab. In the “security” tab you need to restrict copying and enable printing.

Now that your product is complete you’ll need a sales page. If you have the money you can outsource the “copy” to an awesome copywriter like Eric Louviere. If you don’t have the cash you’ll have to do it yourself.

Writing copy is extremely important. If it isn’t done correctly it won’t convert. If it doesn’t convert you’re leaving money on the table! However, it isn’t extremely difficult to write a good sales page that will convert at least decent.

Just open up about 3 or 4 sales pages of some of the most popular products you can think of. Without copying the page, read it all and take notes. Compose your sales page in a similar way. You want to trigger emotion and excitement when writing it. You want to make that customer feel the pain that you’ve went through. The same pain that they are probably going through. Don’t lie to them, but get the point across that this product will answer their questions and relieve the pain, and the product should!

Now that you have the product and sales page complete you’re ready to start selling!

The first place I go is the Warrior Forum WSO section and run a prelaunch WSO. This is a great place to get several initial orders and affiliates as well. Last year alone I made almost $10,000 selling ebooks and reports as WSO’s.

After that I submit the product to ClickBank. Once accepted the charge is $50 and it stays in their marketplace forever unless you fail to get at least one order every 6 months I believe. Having your product in the ClickBank marketplace is huge. There are thousands of people looking for products to promote there. If your product is even close to being decent, you will obtain affiliates that will sell your product with absolutely no effort on your part!

Once the product is live on clickbank it’s time to start contacting possible JV partners. Find other sites in your niche and send them a friendly email. How you compose your JV request is on you, but make sure it’s a personalized email and not a blanket email sent out to loads of people.

There are many people with large lists who will promote your product if you speak to them like a human being and you’re honest.

Finally, do a little SEO for some organic results. With just a few articles and some basic promotion, I’ve manage to get one of my products “Article Marketing Domination” to the front page of Google for “article marketing,” “article marketing ebook” and several other keyword phrases. This brings in a few orders a week not counting the orders I receive from affiliates.

That’s pretty much it. After your first product you’ll realize how easy it really is. If you don’t want to go all out, just write a quick, informative report without a sales page and sell it as an exclusive WSO.

Info products are extremely valuable. But just like anything else, it’s all about taking action and making it happen!

Treat your Newsletter like your Blog and Increase Conversions

As Internet marketers, we all hear the phrase “the money is in the list” over and over again. The reason is because many people have grown rich simply by collecting names and emails of individuals who are interested in what you have to offer.

First, I’ll tell you that I am not one of those individuals. I do have a list of over 1,000 newsletter subscribers, but I made a grave mistake from the start - I didn’t develop a relationship with those subscribers.

The fact is, no matter how targeted those individuals are to your niche, if you don’t develop some sort of a relationship, the list is not going to convert.

My biggest list of over 1,000 is highly targeted to individuals who are new to IM and want to make money. When I send a promo their way, I only make on average 4 or 5 sales and if the product isn’t “make money doing this…” I’m lucky to make one sale.

With that in mind look to your right, in the sidebar. Today (Sunday) is showing a low RSS subscriber rate for Saturday, but it’s been around 115 on average for the past week. That’s only 115 or so regular readers. Of course there are probably a few more who bookmark it and keep track that way and then you have the SE traffic as well, but either way, it’s nowhere close to 1,000+ eyes on any given day.

The last few recommendations I’ve sent to you guys and gals have converted much better. The post before this, recommending “20 Ways to Make $100 a day Online” has brought in 12 sales so far.

Just about every other recommendation I make on this blog normally generates 5-15 sales, although I’ve only done a few where I have benefited monetarily.

The reason? Because I’ve developed a relationship with you guys. You know that what I recommend is quality and that I’d never steer you wrong. I’m not being arrogant here, 5-15 sales really isn’t anything to brag about, but that’s not too bad at all for a blog that only has on average 115 RSS subscribers.

The purpose of this post is to let you in on something I just realized literally minutes ago. It’s something I’ve known for quite some time, but I just realized that I REALLY need to redo my newsletter and start developing a relationship with those subscribers much like I have with those of you who are frequent here at the blog.

In other words, if you can develop a connection with your blog readers, you can develop a connection with newsletter subscribers and one free report has the potential of generating sever hundred, even thousand, newsletter subscribers.