In The News: Surprising Twitter Stats

2 years ago some people were wondering if Twitter was just a fast fading fad. Surprise! It’s not. Twitter just celebrated the fifth anniversary of it’s very first tweet, so the company released this set of stats to show just how huge its service has become…

While it took 3 years, 2 months and 1 day to get to the billionth tweet, there are now a billion tweets a week.
A year ago people were sending 50 million tweets a day. On March 11, 2011, the tally was 177 million.
There were 572,000 new accounts created on March 12, 2011; there were 460,000 new accounts created daily, on average, in the past month.
Mobile users increased 182% in the past year.
Twitter had 8 employees in January 2008, compared to 400 employees today.

In The News: The Future Of Domain Names?

What if your niche is gardening, and instead of have a domain of, say, http://mywonderfulgardeningtips.com , you could have http://tips.gardening ?

Or what if your website could have the domain name of http://YourFirstName.YourLastName ?

According to Keith Wellman, these domain names and more are coming soon…

http://www.keithwellman.com/the-future-of-domain-names-2

In The News: Guy Quits Job to Play Starcraft 2

Clears $5,000 a month!

Steven Bonnell didn’t want to clean carpets anymore – he just wanted to stay home and play his favorite video game, Starcraft 2. And not only is he earning $5,000 a month playing the game – he’s not even the best in the world. In fact, he doesn’t even play in the Starcraft tournaments.

So how is Steven earning a living doing the thing that he loves the most? He simply plays the game and streams it live via Justin.tv, and then he places the videos on YouTube.

Because he’s highly animated on the videos, he’s attracted a very loyal following, earning about $3500 a month in ad revenue. Plus, he’s teaching others how to play, which brings him an additional $1500 a month.

Lessons learned?

If you can think just a little bit creatively, you can probably find a way to earn your living doing the thing you love the most.
You don’t have to be the best of the best – you just need some sort of edge. In Steven’s case, he’s highly entertaining and passionate and it comes through on his videos.
Video games are a HUGE market full of rabid fans, so if this is your niches, there’s plenty of money to be made.
Live streaming combined with placing the highlights on YouTube is a great marketing combination.
It’s okay not to be perfect. If you’re waiting until you’re an expert or the best of the best to launch your business or share yourself with the world, you’ll never be ready. Just get out there are start marketing what you do have – and see what happens.
If a guy can earn $60,000 playing a video game, what CAN’T you do??

Here’s a thread on Reddit where you can read more: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/g7q91/iam_destiny_i_quit_my_job_to_play_starcraft_2_for/

Here is Steven’s Justin.tv channel:

http://www.justin.tv/steven_bonnell_ii

Here is Steven’s Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/remembertomorrow0

NOTE: Any and all of the above may contain adult language – especially in his videos (just so you know.)

In the News: How to Get People Tweeting About Your Product

Take a lesson from the Kraft marketing handbook, add you own twist and see what happens. Kraft ran a Twitter promotion in which the company identified pairs of people tweeting about Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and then contacted them, awarding prizes to the first to respond. This simple campaign garnered 1.5 MILLION tweets, yet it only cost the company awards of t-shirts and boxes of Mack and Cheese.

Now the company is trying something new: Turning the best Macaroni and Cheese tweets into commercials that run the same evening as the tweets were sent.

And while you might not be ready for prime-time, these ideas can easily be adapted to your own business. In the case of the first campaign, simply offer free downloads to the winners, or physically male them CD’s or DVD’s.

As to turning tweets into same day ads, why not put the best tweets about your products on the home page of your website and make the tweeters “famous” for a day? You could even incorporate your favorite tweets right into your sales materials, videos and books. Lots of people want to see their name in print, and it will cost you next to nothing to create your own viral tweeting campaigns.

For more information on the Kraft Macroni and Cheese Twitter campaigns, click here:

http://mashable.com/2011/03/28/kraft-tweets-into-tv-ad/

And to see an ad created the same day from a tweet and shown on Conan, along with 2 more same-day ads, click here:

http://mashable.com/2011/03/29/kraft-mac-cheese-ad-conan/

In the News: 2 Min 51 Sec to Better Thinking

From Rich Schefren: A 3 minute video on how to think better, learn better and make more money…

http://www.strategicprofits.com/blog/1-step-to-think-better-learn-better-and-make-more/

In the News: 5 YouTube Marketing Tips For Better Engagement

How you can create a community, spark discussion with followers, build relationships and more, all with videos. YouTube isn’t just a place to post your videos – it’s also a forum to engage with your customers. Here are 5 tips on how to go about it…

http://mashable.com/2011/04/01/youtube-marketing-tips/

In the News: Paypal Alternative?

American Express announced it’s taking on Paypal with its new “Serve” online payment service. Time will tell if online vendors and consumers will be willing to make the switch…

http://mashable.com/2011/03/28/serve/

In the News: Marijuana Smuggler Seeks Job

Here’s another startling example of doing the opposite: Brian O’dea posted the following ad when looking for work:

Employment Wanted -Former Marijuana Smuggler

Having successfully completed a ten year sentence, incident-free, for importing 75 tons of marijuana into the United States. I am now seeking a legal and legitimate means to support my self and my family.

Business Experience – Owned and operated a successful fishing business – multi-vessel, one airplane, one island and processing facility. Simultaneously owned and operated a fleet of tractor-trailer trucks conducting business in the western United States. During this time I also co-owned and participated in the executive level management of 120 people worldwide in a successful pot smuggling venture with revenues in excess of US$100 million annually. I took responsibility for my own actions, and received a ten year sentence in the United States while others walked free for their cooperation.

Attributes – I am an expert in all levels of security; I have extensive computer skills, am personable, outgoing, well-educated, reliable, clean and sober. I have spoken in schools to thousands of kids and parent groups over the past ten years on “the consequences of choice”, and received public recognition from the RCMP for community service. I am well-traveled and speak English, French and Spanish. References available from friends, family, the U.S. District Attorney, etc.

While most people with Brian’s background would have downplayed his past in the hopes that someone would hire him anyway, Brian followed his gut instinct, did the opposite and revealed all in a public advertisement in a major newspaper. Result? Plenty of free media coverage and an amazing 600 responses.

So go ahead – turn your negatives into positives – and do what you think is right – not what everyone else says you should do, or what “conventional wisdom” advises. Sometimes taking what we believe is the correct course of action goes against the grain and seems to be the opposite of what the world expects. So what? If it means being true to yourself, there’s an excellent chance you and your business will fare far better for having taken the leap of faith than if you’d taken the common road.

As to doing the opposite of what people expect, the character George on Seinfeld did this for an entire episode, and for perhaps the first time ever, things worked out brilliantly for him.

True, you’re not a TV character – but the fact is you’ve only got one life. Do you want to live it as a copy of someone else’s life, or do you want to stand apart from the crowd and be your own person? Every great innovation began with people saying it either couldn’t be done or it would never work. Forget the naysayers and dare to be different.

By the way – this is not new news – in fact it was almost a decade ago that this ad appeared, yet Brian is still banking off of this with his own website called, “HIGH – Confessions of an International Drug Smuggler.”

http://www.brianodea.com/

In the News: How to Become An iPhone App Millionaire In 58,398 Steps

Seriously – if you can write an iPhone app, you could become rich. It’s been done before, and it will happen again…

http://www.businessunusual.net/mobileapps/iphoneapp/iphoneappmillionairesteps/

In the News: UGLY Models??

In our quest for success, we often imitate others who are already successful, hoping to duplicate what they’ve already done. And while modeling others is indeed an excellent success tactic, it results in numerous people in the same niche all doing the same things with very little differentiation. Obviously it’s difficult to attract attention or customers when you’re looking like and acting like everyone else – so why not do the opposite?

There is a modeling agency in the U.K. that has been doing exactly that for the past 40 years. While every other agency is looking for super young, super thin and super beautiful models, The Ugly Modeling Agency specializes in, umm, shall we say, “not so pretty” models?

To get the full effect you’ll want to watch the video…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dp7P80bcW4&feature=player_embedded

Which leads to the obvious question – what can you do in your Internet Marketing business that is the OPPOSITE of what everyone else has been doing? As this video demonstrates, nothing should be considered too radical, and it’s the most bizarre which might pay off the most.

Take a good look at each facet of your business, at your relationship to your customers and at your products and services. Now ask yourself – what can you do 180 degrees differently? How can you stand so far away from the pack, that you no longer have any competition?

Don’t be too quick to discount the answers you receive. No doubt the founder of this modeling agency thought his idea was crazy – yet it’s been working for 4 decades.

In the News: No Such Thing As Bad Publicity?

Charlie Sheen’s recent meltdown has garnered him $292 million in free publicity. And while some may argue that this is not the sort of publicity anyone should seek, think of this: If a network or studio needs to hire an actor, are they going to go with the safe bet no one pays much attention to, or the “rock star from mars” that garners free publicity everywhere he goes?

Because whoever casts him for their next project is going to receive a LOT of free press coverage of their own simply for casting him, and that can translate into major money at the box office or in television advertising revenues.

http://www.businessunusual.net/weirdnews/charliesheenmeltdownworthmillions/

So what does this mean for your Internet Marketing business? Think of innovative ways to make headlines in your niche, no matter what your niche might be. And by all means get it on video so it can be watched over and over again by the movers, shakers and aficionados of your niche.

Ideas: 1^st Attempt at Unconventional Marketing

No doubt, a $20 bill lying about is an attention grabber and a way to get your prospect to read your advertising. The question is – will s/he associate their sense of disappointment at it NOT being a $20 bill with your business? Fortunately, much of the negative feelings are diffused by the first line of the ad, which admits culpability and then offers to “make up for it with $20 off.”

Clever and smart! This could certainly work in marketing to local businesses, as well as on peel away ads on websites.

http://imgur.com/EAbUp

Ideas: 18 Places To Earn Money From Crowdworking

First, this just goes to show that there are perhaps a million different ways to make money online – so never get into the mindset that there are only a handful. Opportunity abounds everywhere, you just have to stay open to the possibilities.

That said, my second point needs to be made – not every opportunity is going to make you rich, and some won’t even offer you enough money to pay your light bill. Still, if you’re interested in making some extra money while you build your own business, you might want to check out the following…

http://mashable.com/2011/04/01/make-money-crowdworking/

Ideas: About Your 404 Error Pages…

If you’re still using the same old boring 404 error page, take some inspiration from these entertaining pages (be sure to see #15, my favorite!)

http://mashable.com/2010/09/04/404-error-pages/#34161-501st-Legion

33 More Entertaining Error Pages…

http://mashable.com/2011/01/16/funny-404-error-pages/

Ideas: Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns

As Internet marketers we are often forced to think out of the box in order to get our message out. Here are 10 excellent examples of Guerrilla Marketing in the offline (and occasionally online) world – perhaps they’ll inspire you to think more creatively in your own business, and even if they don’t, you’re likely to find them highly entertaining…

http://mashable.com/2010/10/06/guerrilla-marketing-videos/#LO2D42Ol0Nk

Ideas: 10 Tips For Posting On Your Business’ Facebook Page

So you’ve got your Internet marketing business on Facebook – now what? How do you engage your fans, sustain a dialog with your prospects, and drive them to your website? Here are 10 strategies…

http://mashable.com/2011/03/22/tips-brand-facebook-page/

Ideas: Need Facebook Ideas?

Here are 10 creative uses for the new Facebook Profile…

http://mashable.com/2010/12/14/new-facebook-profile-hacks/#60671-Alexandre-Oudin

Idea: There’s a Marketing Lesson Here (Somewhere)

You’ll remember that in 2008 an Iraqi journalist threw his shoe at then President George W. Bush. Slapping your shoe against someone is one of the biggest insults you can offer in the Arab world, although it’s doubtful President Bush knew this. What is known is that since the incident, sales of this particular shoe (now dubbed the “Bye-Bye Bush” shoe) have increased 4-fold and the shoe company has hired 100 new employees just to keep up with demand.

Marketing lesson learned? No, it’s not to throw things at heads of state. But if there is an innovative way you can either get your product in the news, or use it to make a stand on a newsworthy issue, you might want to let it fly and see what happens.

http://www.businessunusual.net/odd/byebyebushshoes/

Idea: Most Inspiring Advice Ever??

On the surface, this is just plain funny. But if you give it some thought… well… you probably know someone who could really use this advice…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bVVsDIv98TA

Ideas: How to Make an Extra $50 to $150 per day Online

While you’re getting your Internet marketing business off the ground, you might need to earn some extra cash on the side. And while the following 2 methods won’t make you rich, it can put money in your pocket starting from Day 1.

Forum Posting

Webmasters hire people to make posts for them on forums, to get links, visibility and traffic – and it’s easy work. Simply reply to other members, keep conversations going, and start new threads. To find these jobs, check out sites like Odesk.com and Elance.com, and apply for the forum posting jobs. If you get a job doing this, expect to be paid $0.10 to $0.50 per post.

You might even leverage this into a business in which you hire others to do forum posting for your clients – you find the clients and posters, and as the middle man you keep the monetary difference between the two. This frees you up to focus on getting new clients and expanding this little “side” business of yours while the people who work for you are making all the posts.

Forum Moderating

Forums NEED moderators to block negative comments, spam and so forth, as well as to answer user questions, start new threads, add content, etc. Again, check with sites like Elance.com and Odesk.com to find job listings for forum moderators. Expect to earn anywhere from a few dollars an hour up to $20 per hour, depending on your experience and the forum.

Like I said, these won’t make you rich, but they will put some extra money in your pocket. And should you become a forum moderator in your own chosen niche, it will also help you to build valuable contacts you can use in your own business. Just be sure to keep the two separate – you don’t want to appear unprofessional on the forum.

Ideas: Borrowing a Page From Group Buying for Your IM Business

No doubt you’re heard of Groupon: That’s the site that offers a special deal each day, but only IF enough people say they want the deal. And there are other group buying sites, too, such as LivingSocial. Even Facebook and The New York Times have jumped on the group buying bandwagon.

So how can this help your business? Here are 3 ideas you can implement immediately…

Ask your customers which products you should develop. This can be as easy as using a like button or taking a survey. Let them know that the most popular choice(s) will be created and offered.
Ask which of your current or previous products your customers would like to see offered at a discount. The winning product is placed on sale for 72 hours.
Create scarcity. Suggest a new product you want to develop, but let your customers know it is ONLY available to those who put up their hands and show their desire, and then it’s only available to the first “X” number who ask for it. As soon as you hit that mark, close your offer and bill your customers. If any customer changes his or her mind and doesn’t consummate the sale, simply open it back up for a few minutes until those remaining slots are filled.

You are not only gauging interest with this last one, you are also creating scarcity. Plus you’re getting paid up front for a product you have not yet created.

NOTE: Be sure to create the product as quickly as possible, taking no more than 14 days to do so. Let your buyers know when they can expect delivery, and then make or beat the deadline.

Bottom line? Group buying is a great way to increase both customer interaction and sales.

Resources: 60 Speakers, 60 Minutes

On March 29^th 60 different speakers each spoke for 1 minute on the various ways personalization is revolutionizing the field of marketing. You can get a free transcript and mp3 of the recording by registering here…

http://futureofmarketing.com/

Resources: List of Internet Marketing Forums

Build connections, get your questions answered, and find your next JV Partner – just don’t spend all day on these – remember, you’ve got a business to run!

http://www.affiliates4u.com/forums/

http://affspot.com

http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/index.php

http://ewealth.com

http://geekvillage.com

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums

http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/

http://warriorforum.com

http://www.webmasterworld.com/home.htm

http://wickedfire.com

Resources: Up-To-Date List Of Blog Directories & RSS Submission Sites

You can increase your back links and your traffic by getting your blog listed in these blog directories. Best of all, all of these blogs allow you to list your blog for FREE (no need to pay for a listing, although you might want to use a service to get your site listed in all of these directories and save yourself some time.) And as I understand it, this directory is continually being updated with current links and new directories. Thanks to Robert A. Kearse for this directory, and to my readers, Enjoy!

http://trafficnymphomaniac.com/?p=7

Resources: 100 (Legal) Sources for Free Stock Images

Anytime you’re building a site, adding a blogpost or putting together a document, you might want to add some photos for eye candy. The trouble is, most professional photo sites charge an arm and a leg to let you use their photos. Solution? If you’re willing to do a little digging, you’ll most likely find exactly what you’re looking for here…

http://arcagility.wordpress.com/2007/09/26/100-legal-sources-for-free-stock-images/

This is a complete list of 100 different sites that offer the use of photos for free. Be sure to read the terms on each site, as some allow you to use their photos for commercial purposes and others only allow use of their photos for non-money-making endeavors.

Resources: Free Web 2.0 Blogs List

A web 2.0 blog is basically a cross between a website, a blog and an article directory. You can easily post your own articles and blog posts, your pictures, videos and so forth. You can sell products just as though it were your main website, or you can use it as a feeder site for your long tail keywords. In other words, there are many uses and your imagination may be your only limit. In addition, they even allow you to easily create your own URL.

Rather than go into tremendous detail, we’re going to give you a list of some of the best free Web 2.0 blogs courtesy of TheInternetMarketingResourceGuide.com and let you check them out for yourself if you haven’t already…

http://Squidoo.com – Allows you a maximum of 9 links per lens to a single domain.

http://Hubpages.com – Allows a maximum of 2 links per hub to a single domain.

http://Knol.Google.com – Google’s version of Wikipedia

http://Sites.Google.com

http://Bukisa.com

http://Business.Blinkweb.com

http://Webs.com

http://Quizilla.teennick.com – Teen focused

http://WikiSpaces.com

http://Webon.Angelfire.Lycos.com

http://Posterous.com

http://Soup.io

http://Blog.com

http://Infobarrel.com

http://Viviti.com

http://Tagworld.com

http://Forumer.com – Create your own free community

Article: 4 YouTube Marketing Mistakes Committed by Internet Marketers

YouTube is a great tool for marketing your business – if you can avoid the pitfalls…

Mistake #1 – Thinking all you need to do is upload a video and traffic will flood your website.

No less than 35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute, so the competition to get your video seen by viewers is insane. There are tons of high-quality videos that never get more than a few thousand views, and no doubt many more that get even fewer eyeballs.

What to do? First, tailor your video content to what your viewers want and not necessarily to what you want to show them. Always keep the viewer in mind every step of the video making process and put their needs and desires ahead of yours. Next, you’ve got to vigorously promote your video. Social sites are often the best way to get the word out. And third, realize that it takes time, resources and a good idea to make a video people want to watch and pass on to others. And it takes time and resources to properly promote your video. Don’t expect to slap up any old video and watch the sales role in.

Mistake #2 – Thinking you’re too small or new to make video work for you and your business.

Just because you need to keep your expectations realistic doesn’t mean placing and promoting videos on YouTube can’t have an impact on your business. Any business, large or small, can use video to its advantage.

Think about what you like to share with friends and tailor your video accordingly. Even a few thousand views can increase your business, and if you get lucky, you might even create the next video viral sensation.

Mistake #3 – Creating a commercial. Online video is about engagement with others, not slapping out another “buy my product” commercial.

Think of your video as doing much more than simply selling a product or service. People on YouTube want to consume and share engaging and fun content, so don’t give them a 30 minute speech on why your product rocks, because odds are they won’t watch it.

Instead, inject fun, personality and pizzazz into your videos. Make them emotional, or thought provoking, or funny, or all three. Ask yourself: If I saw this video, would I send it to my friends? If the answer is no, then keep working on your concept.

Another test to see if you’re on the right track: If you with friends, would you show them the video? If not, then you might want to start over. A video should grab attention and keep the viewer entranced. It should be short – usually less than 5 minutes and preferably less than 2.5 minutes. And it should leave the viewer feeling GLAD they saw it, not glad it’s over.

Mistake #4 – Trying too hard. You might think you need to spend thousands of dollars to get a professional video created, when the fact is an amateur type of video might do just as well, if not better.

People generally don’t like “slick” unless it’s of a “Hollywood” caliber – and that’s expensive. People prefer to watch videos of real people doing real things. To illustrate slick versus real, think of an overly smooth sales person trying to sell you a car – isn’t he or she an instant turn off? Now think of an average nice person with a car for sale. She tells you it’s a good car, but the heater takes 10 minutes to warm up and the ride’s not super smooth. Who do you trust?

Or think about the person trying desperately to impress you with how professional he is and how he knows everything about everything, compared again with the average nice person who readily admits she makes bone-headed mistakes and sometimes says or does the wrong thing. Who do you like better?

Bottom line: Do create videos to market your business on YouTube, don’t expect them to get a gazillion views overnight without massive promotion, do be yourself when making the videos, and ALWAYS keep the viewer in mind through every step of the process.

Article: 9 Tips for Better Business Blogging

Blogging can be a great way to position yourself as an authority and create customer loyalty – if you’re willing to devote the time necessary.

Forgo the advertorial dribble. Decades ago some bright entrepreneur realized that if he wrote his sales copy to look like an editorial, he’d get more readers and more sales. Thus we entered into the age of the “advertorial,” and it still works in print publications. Where it does NOT work well is on your blog.

Yes, by all means advertise your products and services on your website, but don’t be devious about it. Don’t make it look like an article when it’s really a self-promotion – it annoys your readers and makes them feel let down when you’ve got them thinking they’re going to learn something new, only to discover they’ve got to pay to get it.

Thus, do not title your blog post, “Revealed: 35 Ways to Drive Traffic” and then reveal nothing about driving traffic except the order link to your new product. Instead, title your blog post, “Revealed: 5 Ways to Drive Traffic,” and then GIVE them the 5 ways. At the end, let them know that if they’re interested, you reveal 30 additional methods inside your product and give them the link. They’ll respect you for this, and because you’ve given them good information and demonstrated that you know what you’re talking about, it will actually INCREASE your sales.

Be the authority. This goes along with Tip #1, because when you’re dishing about all the latest updates in your industry rather than spending all your time promoting yourself, you become the expert in your prospects’ eyes. And who do people want to do business with? The expert. Who can charge more for their products and services? Again, the expert. Offer up the latest news along with plenty of how-to articles and your readers will come to like and trust you, and thus want to do business with you.
Educate, inform and inspire. Whenever possible, use real life stories to inspire your readers. Nothing sells like success, and people love to read how others have overcome the same challenges they’re having. Whenever you’re stuck for a blog post idea, just think, “What do my readers want to know? How can I help my readers and give them value?” Watch the forums for questions that pop up – this is an excellent source for ideas.
Show your personality. Building reader loyalty takes time and more than just great information – it also takes personality. Let your own unique style shine through in your posts, and don’t be afraid to reveal insights about yourself, and to even be controversial when it’s called for. Nothing rallies readers like a good controversy, and nothing makes readers more loyal than if they know you well enough to think of you as a friend.
Promote your blog. It would be great if you could write it and people would come, but it’s seldom that easy. Use your own network to promote your blog by letting them know each time you’ve made a new post. Guest write for other blogs to promote your own blog. And always ask people to share your blog with others.
Ask readers to reply. The more active your blog is, the more appealing it is to new and old readers alike. Always ask your readers to leave their comments on each of your blog posts. You might even consider running a contest to see who can write the best response, and give a prize to the winner.

Whatever it takes to increase comments is something you should consider. Not only does it make your blog appear that much more active and universally liked – it also provides a sense of ownership to each person who takes the time to leave a comment. The more they comment, the more likely they are to tell others about your blog and to return to your blog in the future. And be sure to respond to your reader’s comments so they know they’re being heard and appreciated.

Don’t blog unless you really want to. Blogging is a commitment, and while it might seem exciting and fun in the beginning, writing a new blog post every day or two can get old, especially after the first couple of weeks when you feel like nobody’s been reading it. If you’re not sure you can keep a blog rolling, consider writing guest posts for other blogs, websites and email newsletters. Every publisher is looking for new material, and being the guest blogger or writer puts you in front of an entirely new audience of prospects each time.
If you’re guest blogging, write a GREAT resources box. Offer them something intriguing with tremendous value for going to your site, and then deliver above and beyond their expectations. This is an excellent method of increasing your list of prospects and becoming well known in your niche.
Interview the big dogs. Interviewing others in your niche not only produces great content – it also provides you with powerful contacts and access to their readers when they mention the interview to their own people. So go ahead and ask others in your niche for interviews – the worst they can do is say no, and you’ll be surprised how many quickly say yes. Remember, they want to increase their own readership as well, and it’s a tremendous ego boost to be sought out and interviewed as an expert in their industry.

If there is a tip #10, it is this: Have fun. Whatever it takes to make your blog writing fun is what you should do, since your enjoyment and passion for your topic will shine through in your posts. The more fun you’re having writing your blog, the more enjoyable it will be for readers to visit and linger.

So yes, have a blast, add humor, don’t be afraid to hold yourself up as an example to your readers, (both good and bad,) put your heart and soul into it, and go for it!

Article: How To Add 100+ Subscribers To Your List Every Week

If you’re serious about building your Internet business, then you’ve got to be serious about building your opt in list. Nothing else can guarantee you financial security like having your own list of loyal, dedicated subscribers who read your emails, buy your products and act on your affiliate offers.

Here’s how to add a hundred or more subscribers week in and week out like clockwork, without any magic and without relying on SEO. And if you’re thinking 100 is too small of a number, know that this method can be ramped up significantly once you get the hang of it. One of the biggest mistakes new marketers make is thinking they’ve got to somehow add 5,000 subscribers to their list this week and another 50,000 next week, but it doesn’t work like that. As with anything else, start small, have a plan, and work your way up to the big numbers.

And one more thing – even if you only continue to add 100 subscribers to your list per week, in just 10 weeks from now you’ll have 1,000 subscribers on your list. And if you’re treating your list right, those 1,000 subscribers can mean another $1,000 or more PER month to you – or $12,000 per year. For many people, that’s enough to cover the mortgage or buy a brand new car every 2-3 years.

So let’s get started: The first thing you need is a squeeze page that converts your traffic into subscribers. Hopefully you already have one, but if you don’t, it’s an easy fix. Either Google “Squeeze page templates” and do some searching, or grab these ready made templates here: (insert a link of yours here.)

Upload the template of our choice to your web hosting, making whatever changes are necessary in the verbiage, and add in your autoresponder code. If you don’t yet have an autoresponder, I offer one here that I highly recommend: (insert a link of yours here)

Now then, here’s where you’re going to get your traffic: First you’re going to locate your fellow marketers in your niche who have their own ezine. You can do this by going to forums in your niche, pulling up the ezines you subscribe to in your niches from your email box, and searching Google for additional ezines in your niche. Your goal is to compile a list of marketers in your niches who have their own emails lists.

Next, contact these marketers one by one with a personal email asking them if they would be interested in selling you a paid solo ad to their list, and ask them how much they would charge to send it out.

Before you get worried, know that this can be extremely cost effective. If you choose your lists intelligently, you might get a couple of hundred new subscribers for less than fifty bucks. Also be open to placing an ad within their ezine, preferably at the TOP of their ezine as opposed to buried near the bottom.

Spending some time on Google should provide you with a list of potential ezines, or if you want to save time, check out the Directory of Ezines here. (insert your affiliate link to Directory of Ezines here.) They tell you how many subscribers each list has and what they charge, along with other information that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. And yes, that is an affiliate link, just so you know. I don’t recommend other marketer’s products very often – so when I do, you know it’s something I believe in.

Not every ezine owner you contact will agree to a paid solo ad, but many will because they know it’s easy money for them. Keep in mind, you only need a few good ones to make this work. And yes, you are investing in your business to build your opt-in list using this method. But again, every subscriber you get can mean another $1 per month to you in income if you treat them right. Plus, you can actually MAKE money using this method – Here’s how…

During the opt-in process, make your new list member an offer they can’t refuse. This isn’t the time to go for the $197 sale – they don’t know you yet and have no reason to trust you. But if you can offer them tremendous value at a stupid low price, you’ll be accomplishing several things at once.

First, you’ll be giving them great value. How do you think they’re going to feel about you after they receive far more than they paid for? They’re going to feel great, and they’re going to be open to more offers from you. Heck, they’re probably be LOOKING for more of your offers to take advantage of.

Second, you’re teaching them to buy from you. Once you make a sale to someone, that person is FAR more likely to buy from you again in the future. In fact, every new person on your list who buys from you – even if it’s just a $7 or $10 product – is easily worth 10 subscribers who have not purchased anything from you yet.

Third, you are recouping your advertising costs, and quite possibly making a profit.

Forth, you are FAR more likely to be remembered by your new customer because he or she has purchased from you. This means when you send them an email tomorrow, next week and next year, they’re more likely to open it and more likely to act on it.

Fifth, you are demonstrating that you give tremendous value for their money. Thus – and this ties in with the first 4 points – they are not only more likely to buy from you in the future – they’re also more likely to participate on your blog or forum, more likely to tell others, and more likely to promote your products if they happen to also be a marketer.

I simply cannot emphasize enough how important it is to make them a great offer from the very start. If you’ve got a powerful $47 product or $97 product that is perhaps getting stale, you might consider offering it to new subscribers for $7. Let them know this is their only chance at the deal, and go ahead and tell them the only reason you’re giving them such an amazing bargain is because you want to make a dynamite first impression and turn them into a raving fan.

One last point: Now that you’re building an email list, be sure to give them plenty of great information and education, along with plenty of soft sells. This will keep them happy, opening your emails, and purchasing your offers. Always respect your list, and never bombard them with a slew of offers and no content. If they suspect your only reason for emailing them is to make a buck, then you’ve lost. But if they can tell how much you care about them, they’ll remain your customers for a long, long time.

Article: 6 Tips for Building Your Business With Twitter

Twitter is all about relationships, growing your circle of influence, and yes, RELATIONSHIPS. The better (re: Closer) your relationships on Twitter, the more likely people are to retweet your stuff, visit your Facebook page and websites, join your lists and buy your products. So how do you rapidly grow your Twitter following while wielding influence over your followers? Here are 5 tips….

Be Yourself. Often times people think they’re somehow ‘not good enough,’ and so they pretend to be something they’re not. The problem is people can smell a phony a mile away. Don’t attempt to be Mr. Know-it-All or Ms. Perfect because nobody is buying that nonsense, and even if they were, they want to know REAL people with real lives, real challenges, and real things to say. Always stay true to yourself because you are a one-of-a-kind original, and as they say, everyone else is already taken anyway.
Appreciate Your Followers. Re-tweet their best tweets (or the tweets that are the most important to them.) Give them a #FF, which means you’re recommending others follow them. Or even send them a direct message. In other words, don’t just interact – promote others and expect nothing in return. The more value you can give to others, the more they will like you, appreciate you, and want to reciprocate.
Connect With The Big Dogs. Whatever your niche is, find the influential people in your niche and engage them. Being seen with people in authority is one of the quickest ways to be seen as an authority yourself. Plus, their audience will also notice you, and you’ll gain followers who hold an avid interest in your particular niche.
Engage Engage Engage. Answer everyone who engage with you, and see how many followers you can engage yourself. You never know who is going to become your next big client or customer – it could be that new guy with only 5 followers as easily as it could be the seasoned Twitter person with 50,000 followers.
Add a Heap of Pizzazz. We’ve already said you need to be yourself, and this is perhaps the best advice anyone can give you. That said, it’s okay to take yourself up a notch. You are unique, so go ahead and amplify that uniqueness and be a little bit larger than life. Be friendlier than you are in real life, be a little bit more flamboyount, go ahead and have opinions (your REAL opinions, that is) and by all means, STICK OUT from the crowd. That last thing you want to do is be a wallflower.

And even if you’re shy in real life, that’s okay. This is the Internet, and so it’s not like trying to be the life of the party in real life – it’s more like portraying yourself in the best light, with the most fun, and the least inhibitions. Frankly, there is no better place for shy people than Twitter – it’s a great way to meet tons of people with absolutely zero risk. After all, you don’t have to send a tweet until you’re certain it says exactly what you want it to say – so you can get it right every time.

Have fun. Need we say more? People like to hang out with people who are having fun, and Twitter is no different. So go ahead, have a blast, let the good time roll, and watch your follower numbers increase accordingly!

Article: 5 Methods For Getting TONS of Comments on Your Blog Posts…

…regardless of whether they’re written blog posts or video blog posts. And this can even work on pre-launch videos for your new product launch.

You’ve got traffic, you create great blog posts – and yet only a handful of people bother to comment. Frustrating, isn’t it? You work hard to make a great blog post with lots of information your readers can use, but it feels like nobody cares. Worse yet, your blog has the appearance of a ghost town. After all, the more comments your posts receive, the more popular your blog appears. And let’s face it, everyone wants to be part of something BIG, something that others are involved with.

So how do you get more replies to your blog posts? And for that matter, how do you get people to reply to your pre-product-launch posts and videos? Here are 5 methods I’ve found that work…

Ask them. That’s right – sometimes it can be as simple as asking them to take the action. Ask them to respond to your post or to a specific question you place at the end of the post. Don’t make it a difficult question; Asking whether they prefer chunky peanut butter or smooth peanut butter will pull far more responses than asking how to achieve world peace. (I’m exaggerating the point here, but you get my meaning.)
Bribe them. Offer them one of your paid products for free when they leave a comment. You can either give the product to everyone who comments, or to the best comment, or 5 comments chosen at random, etc. Choose a product that your readers are likely to want, and if you’re awarding the bribe to everyone, be sure to send it within 24 hours of their posted comment. If you’re awarding it to the best comment(s) or to several comments at random, post the winners on your site so that a) your readers know you really gave away the prize and b) it becomes an incentive for them to post a reply to your next blog entry. After all, if someone else won last time, they’ll be thinking they’ve got a shot at winning this time.
Make it a contest. Again, you’re offering a bribe, only this time it’s monetary. For example, offer $100 to the poster who provides the most innovative answer to your question, or to the one who gives the funniest response, etc. Either you can choose the winner, or you can let your readers vote and choose the winner for you. (HINT: This method is also a great way to find out what your reader’s biggest challenges are – thus giving you great ideas for new products your readers WANT to purchase.)
Give away the launch. If you’re launching a new product, give away copies of your new product to the best replies to your post and videos, as well as to random posters. This way you get both the posts that take an effort, and the quickie posts from those who don’t want to take a lot of time posting a well thought out answer. This will increase the excitement, increase the exposure of your launch, and can result in some pre-launch testimonials from those who won the product.
Be controversial. Taking on topics that hold any kind of controversy will almost always get people talking. People love to take sides, express their opinions, and even get into a discussion. Watch for topics in your niche that spark definite opinions and blog about those – and the replies will naturally come.
BONUS Method: While you’re giving rewards out, don’t limit yourself to replies to your posts and videos. Also reward your readers for re-tweeting your content, telling others, referring others, etc. People will jump through hoops for you if you…

a) Are offering great content

b) Make it easy to jump through hoops for you and

c) You reward them for jumping!

Bottom Line: It’s a matter of training your readers to reply to your posts. The more you work to encourage their participation, the more it will become a habit for them to reply. Also take note of which threads tend to get the most response – these are topics that hit hot buttons, and you might want to blog about them more often.

Article: How to Find Hot Niche Markets…

Choosing your niche(s) is perhaps the single most critical element to your success online as a marketer. After all, you can know every marketing trick in the book, but if you choose a niche in which there is no interest, or no money is being spent, or the competition is just too great, you’ll do nothing but struggle. On the other hand, if you choose the right niche, your marketing efforts could be mediocre and you’ll probably still make money.

So how do you choose the right market? Through market research, of course. And before you groan and scroll to the next article because you HATE market research, let me offer you this tidbit of news – market research can be easy and even FUN when you know how to do it. It’s like being on a quest for buried treasure, or perhaps an Easter egg hunt for eggs jam packed full of CASH. Once you find your first treasure or cash-infused egg, you become addicted to a VERY profitable endeavor that’s far easier than most people think.

So let’s get started. Finding a hot, lucrative market consists of just 3 steps:

Discover what’s already making money online
Find out how many people search for this niche
And then research the competition.

Yes, it really is just about that easy. And the more carefully you choose your market, the easier it will be for your site to rank high, get plenty of traffic and make sales. And you can use these 3 steps to research 1 or 100,000 markets and build hundreds of profitable niche websites.

Your first step is to find places where money is being freely spent online. Don’t worry about how many people are searching for this niche or about the competition at this point. Simply focus on finding market topics to explore, and be sure to make a list of them as you go through this process. Otherwise, you’ll forget what may be some very lucrative ideas along the way.

Go to Amazon and Clickbank. Find out what the best sellers are, what’s popular, what’s new and catching interest, and what people are buying in droves. Plan to spend several hours doing this the first time, as it will completely familiarize yourself with these sites and also allow you to build a sizable list of possibilities.
Check out the magazine section of your local bookstore, and buy a handful of magazines on topics you’re unfamiliar with. Reading these will give you ideas you’d never come across in any other manner.
Google topics you’re unfamiliar with and locate the best sites on these subjects. Just like the magazines, this will afford you new ideas for sub-niches that you otherwise would never have thought of in a million years.
Always keep your eyes and ears open – both online and offline. What new trend did you read about in the newspaper? What are they talking about at your gym? What conversation did you overhear at the grocery store? What did your crazy Aunt Lucy send you this time in your email? Listen to people, read the forums and blogs, watch Twitter, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, etc. Write down your ideas as they come. The more you do this, the better you’ll get at spotting profitable niches and hot new areas of interest.
Haunt YouTube. People are using YouTube much like they use a search engine, looking for solutions to their problems or answers to their questions. If a YouTube video has a lot of views, then obviously there’s interest in that topic – especially if it’s a “how-to” kind of video.
Did I mention you should write down every idea when you get it? Even the ones that seem too far fetched may surprise you, so write it all down. Just the act of writing will help you to find more ideas, as you record the ones you’ve already got, it opens the channels for new ones to appear. Carry a small notebook with you everywhere, and if you have to pull off to the side of the road or step out of a conversation for a moment to write down a great idea, do it. That one thought could mean several thousand dollars to you, or more.

Once you’ve been brainstorming for awhile and you’ve put together a list of possible niche topics, it’s time to see which of your niche possibilities are making money online. If it’s not already a lucrative market, odds are you do not want to touch that topic. The ONLY exception is if you happen to be on the leading edge of a new market, but that’s risky and beyond the scope of this article. Right now we’re helping you find “sure bets” that are definite money makers.

You’ve already (hopefully) done your research and you have an idea of what’s selling. Let’s go to Clickbank now, and see if we can find some verification.

Once you’re at http://clickbank.com, type in your first niche topic in the box that says, “Find Products.” Did you get any results? If so, what is the gravity of each one? Look for the abbreviated word Grav: and you’ll see a number there.

If at least one of the products has a gravity of 10 or higher, you may have found a winning niche topic. (Gravity tells you how well the product’s affiliates are doing in selling the product. The higher the number, the more affiliates are selling the product in recent weeks.)

Go through your list and find out how many (if any) products are being sold in each niche topic and what the gravity is of each product. If there are no products being sold in a particular niche, or there are some products but none of them have a gravity over 10, cross that possibility off for now. You can always revisit it in 3 months and see if there’s been a change, but for right now you want to focus only on the niche topics that have products with a gravity of 10 or more.

BONUS: Here’s a variation of the Clickbank technique – While on the Clickbank Marketplace website, find the link to the right of “Find Products” that says, “Advanced Search” and click on that.

Now tick the box for “Gravity – Show items with gravity:” and choose “Higher Than” in the drop down menu. Now put the number 10.0 in the box to the right, and without entering anything else on the page, click “Search.”

You’ll come up with a long list of possible niche topics by looking at these products. In fact, on the day I’m writing this, there are 803 of them.

So why didn’t I send you here first? While it’s a great shortcut, it’s also important that you know how to get ideas on your own and not just copy other marketers. When you get good at this, there will hopefully come a time when you ride a new trend – being one of the first to make it truly lucrative. But again, save that for later.

Another thing: It’s also important to note that MANY products are not sold through Clickbank. Just because you don’t find a product on Clickbank with a gravity over 10 does not necessarily mean the niche isn’t lucrative. But Clickbank is a shortcut for us right now because as we ‘re learning to research niches, it’s the fastest and easiest way for us to get the confirmation we need before moving to the next step, and so that is why we’re using it here.

Now that we’ve narrowed our list to JUST niches in which products are definitely selling, let’s move on to the second step – discovering which of these products enjoy high customer demand.

Basically, we’re answering the question: Are people searching for and interested in this market?

For this, we’re going to go Google – Namely, Google’s Adwords External Keyword Tool, found here: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

With this tool we can find exactly what we need to know in just seconds. Simply enter your phrase into the keyword box, enter the Captcha code, tick the box that says, “Only show ideas closely related to my search terms” and click the “search” button.

Now that you’ve got the results, take a look at the column marked, “Global Monthly Searches” to determine the size of the market. Click on the header, “Global Monthly Searches” to order the results from highest number to lowest, and add up the top 5 relevant results – the number should add up to at least 100,000. If it does, you can move to step 3.

(All of your results should be relevant, but just in case, look carefully. For example, if you searched for “Viral Marketing” and something comes up about marketing virus medicines, then that’s obviously not a relevant result. Also, if there is a duplicate result, such as “viral marketing” and “marketing viral,” only add one of them into your total. Ignoring irrelevant or duplicate results, look a the top 5 relevant results and see if they add up to 100,000 or more.)

Some will say that the top 5 results only need to add up to 60,000 – 75,000 for it to be a viable niche, and that is sometimes true. However, for right now we want to be sure you’ve got a good one, so we’re going with the 100,000 mark just to be safe.

For the niches that do total 100,000 or more, make a note of the top 3 search terms, because we’re going to use this information in just a moment.

Now it’s time to move on to Step 3 and determine how much competition there is in your potential new niche markets, by checking the page ranks of the competition.

So what is “page rank?” It’s a number Google assigns to each website page ranging from 0 to 10. The higher the number, the more highly Google thinks of the page, and the more difficult it will be for you to pass that page in Google’s natural search results.

What we’re looking for isn’t a lack of competition – it’s a lack of really GOOD competition. And ascertaining the average page rank for our top 3 terms is how we determine what kind of competition we’re facing.

For this you’ll need both Firefox and the free SEO Quake plugin. You can download them here…

Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/new/

SEO Quake: http://www.seoquake.com/guide.php

Here’s what to do next, step by step…

Find your top 3 most searched terms for your first possible niche
Open Firefox
Turn SEO Quake on by clicking the SEO Quake icon on the bottom right of your browser
Go to http://Google.com and type in your first keyword or keyword phrase without quotes into Google and press enter or search
Check the search results – under each result you should see something like… “SeoQuake PR: 4|?” If you don’t see this, try refreshing.
Now then, add up the PageRank for each of the pages listed on page 1 of the Google results. If you see any “N/A’s”, those don’t count because Google hasn’t assigned a PageRank yet. Any number from 0 to 10 does count.
After adding the PageRank of each site listed on page 1 of Google’s results, take that number and divide it by the number of results you added up. Thus, if the total is 31, and there were 9 results listed on the first page with PageRank numbers, you would divide 31 by 9, resulting in 3.44. Record this number (3.44) next to your first keyword, and repeat this process for your second and third keyword.
Now average out the PageRank for the 3 keywords. For example, the first page was 3.44. If the second page was 2.9 and the third page was 2.17, adding those up you get 9.11. Divide 8.51 by 3 and you get roughly 2.83 for your overall average.

So what does this number mean? It’s simple: If the number is 3 or less, then you can rank on the first 3 pages of Google within a few weeks. In fact, the lower the number, the faster you can rank on Google. If it’s a 0 or a 1, you might get on page 1 within days.

If, however, the number is more than 3, it’s probably best to look for another niche. A score of higher than 3 means you will likely have to work for months to score well in Google’s natural search results, and we’re looking for a winner now, not months from now.

Simply repeat this process for all of your other possible niches, and use the your results to choose your first niche. Simple!

To recap, remember – your product niche must fit all 3 criteria:

It must have products that are selling
With a high customer demand for those products
And the competition should be low.

The hottest markets ALWAYS fit all 3 of these criteria because it’s where you’re going to make the most money with the least amount of effort. And because there isn’t a shortcut to uncovering these markets, it’s crucial you go through all three steps in the quest for your next red hot niche.

Article: 6 Tips for Writing Great Content

You already know how important content is for communicating your message, getting traffic and making sales. But you might be overlooking a few things that makes your content truly great…

Write for your readers, NOT for the search engines. Sometimes we get so caught up in optimizing our content for SEO that we forget we’re really writing for our readers and not Google. Create content that is useful for people, that helps them, educates them and entertains them. Make SEO your second priority in writing your content, not your first. Otherwise your traffic isn’t going to get past your second paragraph before they’re closing your site and moving on to someone else’s.
Write for your readers, NOT for a certain platform. Today all we hear about is social media and everyone wants to know what to put on Facebook, or what to Tweet and so forth to make money. Again, this is the wrong approach and if taken it will cost you. Instead, identify what your users want, and THEN consider which platforms are best for delivering your content. It’s not about Facebook, YouTube, your blog and etc., it’s about giving people what they want.
Don’t be a control freak. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that all of your content must be published on your website so you can stay in control of it, but that thinking will only limit the number of people you reach. Instead, build your content to travel so that it can be downloaded, embedded or shared – thus capturing many more eyeballs and driving those eyeballs back to your site. Think of your content as ambassadors traveling the world to tell others about you, and sending those people to your site. The more your content travels, the more people it will reach, and the more traffic it can then send back to you.
Be fruitful. Are you writing one article or one blogpost a week? Try stepping it up to one a day, or even more. Release as much great content as you can, and don’t get stuck in one rigid rut, either. Develop a range of different content and see what garners both the most eyeballs and the most response. Pay attention to user feedback – they’ll tell you what’s working, what they love, and what they want more of.
Be open. So you planned a series of videos on topic A, and during the second video you mentioned topic B, and people went nuts asking for more information. What to do? Simple – give them what they want. You can finish your series later if you like, but right now you’ve struck gold and you need to mine it for all it’s worth. Give them great content on Topic B, interview an expert or two on that topic, offer them affiliate products on that topic, and so forth. Sometimes we hit pay dirt when we least expect it, and the most foolish thing you can do is NOT jump on it immediately. Money loves speed, and customers love to have their desires satisfied NOW.

For example, let’s say you’re doing a blog series on working with the media. In it, you mention that you think Charlie Sheen hasn’t gone off the deep end and what he’s really doing is getting a huge share of free publicity. Your readers go nuts over this topic, wanting to know more, how this can be used in their business to get free publicity, etc. You’ve hit a hot button, so run with it. Interview Sheen or someone close to him if you can. If you can’t, interview experts with opinions on it.

Develop a webinar on crazy stunts that garner free publicity, or a course on how to sleep around and make $2 million dollars per ebook (instead of episode.) Whatever. Sure, I’m being a little bit over the top with this example, but you get the point. Stay open to what your readers are telling you they want to know, and be flexible enough to roll with it.

Last, don’t create your content and run. When you make a blog post, go back and ANSWER the replies you get. When you Tweet, stay on Twitter to respond to the responses you get, and so forth. Your follow-up interaction says as much about you as your content, and if you do it right, it says that you’re not just looking to make a fast buck and you DO care about your readers. Which is not only the classy thing to do – it’s also the most profitable in the end.

Article: How to Get Tons of People Reviewing Your Product on Their Blog

From: How to Launch a Product Using Social Media

Okay, let’s face it: Guy Kawasaki is famous enough that if he launched a new book by burying it in his back yard, there’s still a chance it would end up on the best seller list.

Still, this illuminating article of the 12 steps he took in launching his latest book is a great how-to guide for anyone – whether they’re a celebrity or a complete unknown – to launch their own book (or product, for that matter.)

If you’re short on time, jump straight to item #3 – it’s worth its weight in gold to an Internet marketer. Seriously – would you like have 150 interviews and 200 reviews appearing on blogs prior to your next product launch?

http://mashable.com/2011/03/30/product-launch-social-media/

And after you read it, if you’re thinking you can’t afford to physically ship 1600 products, remember this – it costs you nothing to email your digital product.

“But I don’t have a list of 20,000 bloggers.” No problem. Start compiling a list now by building a relationship with them. That way when you launch your next product you’ll have your own list of bloggers who already know you and are eager to review your product.

Plus you’ll enjoy one advantage Kawasaki doesn’t have – because you’re not Uber-famous, your contacts are MORE likely to review your product. After all, if you were one of 20,000 bloggers on a list compiled by a famous guy, would you even bother? Probably not, because you figure you’re one tiny wheel in a massive cog. Plus there’s no accountability when you’re just one of thousands. But when your buddy asks you to review his new product, then sure, you’re going to do the review because you know if you don’t he’ll be asking you what happened.

Thus even if you only have a list of 50 bloggers, odds are you can get a bare minimum of 25 to do a review, and most likely more. Plus you can get 10 or 20 to do interviews as well. And once you’ve got those, it’s simply a matter of leverage – demonstrating to additional bloggers how popular the previous interviews were to entice them into giving you an interview as well.

Brilliant!

Article: How to Create Your Next Product in 10 Days (Or Less)

Work expands to fill the time allotted – and even more time beyond that – if you don’t have a hard deadline. Thus, if you make it a goal to finish your new ebook in 3 months, at the 3 month mark you’ll either just be finishing, or worse yet you’ll realize you’re only halfway done. If, however, you had a hard launch date, then you’ll have the book ready. Deadlines are a magnificent thing – they give you permission to ignore the email, ignore Facebook, turn the phone off, tear yourself away from the video games and television and actually get your work done.

So how can you create product in a short amount of time? By doing two things: First, set a deadline that is almost impossibly close, such as 10 days from right now. Second, hold yourself accountable on a massive scale. That is, call up your best marketing buddy and schedule a live webinar with him or her to sell your new product. Now promote the webinar heavily. Guess what? For the next 10 days you’re going to move heaven and earth to get your product finished for that webinar, and on Day 11 you are going to party!

First, you’re going to be celebrating the sales you made on the webinar.

Second, you’re going to be looking forward to all the sales you will make in the future with your new product. In fact, you’re going to take the momentum that webinar created and use it to contact other marketers and set up more live webinars for their lists.

Third, you are going to feel fantastic. That new product that you thought would take 3 months of your life only took 10 days!

Fourth, you’ve now got a system for not only getting products done fast, but also getting your first sales the moment the product is completed for an immediate payoff.

How great is that?!

Article: How to Know if Your Copy Sucks

You’ve just finished writing the sales copy for your new product. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to test your copy BEFORE you actually send prospects to it? Because think about this – if you send a 1,000 people to your sales letter and NOBODY buys, you’ve just wasted all that traffic. And if you spent money to get that traffic, you’re out that investment. Even if it was free traffic, you’ve still burned your chance to sell them on your product. Odds are even if you do rewrite the copy, they’re not going to go back a second time and read it again. (Unless you offer some kind of incentive, in which case you might be able to bribe them into taking a second look.)

If only there were a way to know ahead of time whether your copy is good or not… wait, there is!

Here’s what to do – turn off the phone, sever your Internet connection and refuse to be distracted for the next hour.

Now then, imagine you are the prospect. You are thinking like the prospect, feeling like the prospect, experiencing the same issues, same problems, same questions as you prospect, etc. Put yourself in their shoes and reread your letter from start to finish. Do not spend time making corrections or anything else – simply read the letter as though you are a prospect considering buying this product.

Finished? Now rate how well your copy accomplishes the following, assigning a number 1 – 5 to each element.

1 means “Practically non-existent”

2 is “Room for serious improvement”

3 means “Not horrible, but could be better”

4 is “Strong”

And a 5 indicates “You positively NAILED it.”

Ready? Here we go…

Does the headline instantly grab your attention? _____
Does the lead-in compel you to read further? _____
Are the headline and lead-in completely believable? _____
Is the headline and lead-in combo likely to resonate powerfully with a significant number of your prospects? _____
Does the headline and lead-in combo offer powerful benefits? _____
Does the spokesperson establish his/her qualifications beyond doubt? _____
Do the emotions you experience while reading the first few paragraphs compel you to want to read further? _____
Is the prospect given a reason why he or she must read this, and must read this now? _____
Does the copy read like a conversation between two friends? _____
Is it clear that the spokesperson truly has the best interests of the prospect at heart? _____
Are the product’s benefits fully explored? _____
Are the emotional reasons for purchasing fully developed? _____
Does the letter entertain and inform as well as sell? _____
Is the price fully justified and trivialized? _____
Is the guarantee prominent and does it restate the benefits? _____
Is there a compelling reason why the prospect should immediately make the purchase? _____
Is there a sense of urgency? _____
Do you feel yourself getting more and more excited as you move through the letter? _____
Is the call to action compelling enough that you would feel silly for not ordering immediately? _____
Is the prospect told exactly what to do next, how to order and how s/he will receive their product? _____
If you were a prospect, would you make the purchase? _____

Scoring

21- 50: Stop right there. Do NOT use this copy until make significant changes.

51 – 65: Not good, but at least you’ve made a start. Now go back and make the adjustments your letter needs.

66 – 80: Not bad for a draft, but not good enough to use unless you just don’t have the time to fix it, OR your offer is so compelling ($100 cars, for example) that it doesn’t need a strong letter.

81 – 95: Looking good. A little tweaking here and there can still improve your conversions.

96 – 105: Congratulations! Maybe you should be writing copy for a living!

Opinion: My 2 Cents

So many times we don’t want to tackle anything new until we know step by step what we’re going to do and how we ‘re going to do it. You might call it the paralysis of analysis – instead of taking action we…

…think about how we’ll do it and

…try to work out all the details and

…do more research and

…think about it some more until

…enough time passes that we

…just blow it off and decide we’re going to do something else.

Hopefully you can see why this step-by-step mentality can be a real motivation killer for you. You’ll never know every step it’s going to take to achieve something because you simply don’t know everything that’s going to happen (and not happen) along the way. Personally, I think all you need are 2 things to get started on any project: You need to know what your end goal is, and you need the first step to take to begin moving towards that goal. Oh yes, and then you need to TAKE that first step. Once step 1 is out of the way, step 2 will reveal itself and so forth.

With this mindset there is nothing to bog you down and nothing to get in the way of taking action and making progress, even if the progress turns out to be discovering a way that does not work. Remember Edison and the light bulb – he discovered hundreds of ways NOT to make a bulb, clearing the way to inventing it.

Dean Hunt has his own take on the step-by-step mindset of knowing every step you’re going to take before you begin the journey. In fact, he has a brilliant 3 letter word for it – but I won’t steal his thunder, so you’ll want to watch his short video to discover what that word is…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpIs1OfbHic&feature=player_embedded