Entrepreneurs Pray and Meditate More

As a busy entrepreneur there is rarely time to do anything other than to focus on business goals.  It takes skill and talent to be able to balance chores, family needs, and entrepreneurial responsibilities.  Despite the time related challenges of running a successful business, studies show that entrepreneurs find time in their busy schedules to pray and meditate.

Studies Show That Entrepreneurs Pray More

Studies show that entrepreneurs spend more time in prayer and meditation than those who are not entrepreneurs.  The question is do the steady pressures of owning a business bring people to their knees to pray and meditate or are people who naturally lean on God more apt to start and run a business.  The constant pressures realized and risks taken when you are an entrepreneur can easily bring anyone to their knees to ask for guidance, support, a breakthrough and sometimes a miracle.  On the other hand, people who lean on God have a faith that enables them to take on the challenges of starting a business with little or no fear

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The Baylor Religion survey is a study that has addressed the relationship between entrepreneurs and religion.  The Baylor Religion survey data was not able to answer whether people who naturally lean on God are more likely to start a business.  However the study was able to show that entrepreneurs were just as likely as everyone else to believe in God, read scriptures, and attend religious services.  The study shows that entrepreneurs see God as more personal than non-entrepreneurs.  The study is also able to tell us that one third of American entrepreneurs pray and meditate daily.  Only a quarter or less of non-entrepreneurs pray as much.

Conclusion

There is conclusive evidence that entrepreneurs pray and meditate more than people in other occupations.  What does this mean?  Perhaps it means that the stressors of being an entrepreneur gives more reasons for someone to find themselves on their knees praying to God.

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How to Proofread Your Online Documents

How professional you appear online to others is determined by the copy that you publish in your name.  If you publish copy that is informative, compelling and free of errors then your image will appear to be more professional then someone who publishes copy that has an error.  Notice that I said has “an error.”  Sometimes just having one error spoils the copy in the eyes of a reader.  Some readers will stop where the typo is and not finish reading the rest of the copy.  Therefore it is very important to proofread and publish copy that is free from mistakes.

Proofreading means to read text carefully and correct any typos, errors in grammar, or any other mistakes found in the text. 

Proofreading should be done in two stages.  There are things that you should do before you proofread and things that you should do while you proofread.

Things to Do Before You Proofread

Make sure that the bigger issues of your copy have been addressed before correcting words and sentences.  For example, make sure that the overall arrangement of your copy is the way that you want it to be before working on typos and grammatical structures.

Once you are satisfied with the overall text development and arrangement step away from the text for about 15 to 30 minutes.  Sometimes if you proofread a document immediately after writing it your eyes will see what you meant to write.  Stepping away from the document for a short period of time before proofreading the document will help you to see mistakes that you have made more easily.

Read your copy thoroughly and eliminate words that are not necessary.  A good guide to use to help you make your writing more concise is “The Writer’s Handbook, Clear and Concise, Sentences found at https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ClearConciseSentences.html.

Make a list of all of the types of errors that you normally make when writing.  This way you will have a check list of what to look for.

Things to Do While You Proofread

If you can, one of the things that you should do when you are proofreading your copy is you should read it in printed form. Keep yourself from skipping ahead of mistakes by covering the lines underneath the line that you are reading with a clean white sheet of paper.  Read your copy out loud.  This will help you find errors that you may not detect when reading silently.

Consult the list of errors that you commonly make and search for each one of these error.  Afterwards, read the document backwards to search for fragments.  Read the document through forward to make sure that the subjects and verbs agree. 

Return to your computer and make the corrections.  Afterwards, use the computer to search for common errors like using the word its instead of it’s.  Another common error that can be found using a computer search is the omission of closing quotes or parenthesis.

Finalize your search with using the spell check function on the computer.

Conclusion

Giving your online document a good proofreading prior to publishing it is an essential step in preserving your professional image.  I hope this posting has been helpful.  Good luck in your proofreading efforts.

Facts for this posting has been retrieved via https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Proofreading.html

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Announcing: Article Marketing Lives!

I am new to article marketing.  In fact, I came on board after the major Panda and Penguin updates have begun.  So, I was not merrily dancing down the career path of content marketing during the “old days” when you could take one poorly written article and broadcast it to hundreds of article directories and get the backlinks with no penalty.  Well, not to beat a dead horse but those days are over.

 

Is Article Marketing Dead?

In the aftermath of the Panda and Penguin updates you would hear many people ask is article marketing dead.  What I gather from researching what others have to say on the web about the status of article marketing is that article marketing is not dead.  What did die is article spamming. 

What is article spamming?  Article spamming includes but is not limited to the following:

1.       When you submit an article to thousands of directories with just one click.

2.       When you pass off a PLR article as your own work.

3.       When you take another person’s article and publish it as your own work.

4.       When you use article spinning software to transform one article into thousands of “different” articles.

The reason these actions are considered spam activity is because they do not produce content that is different or useful and most people don’t want that kind of content.  If you listen to some of the online videos of Matt Cutts, Google’s webspam expert, you will see that Google wants to see content on the web that adds value and is unique. 

Article Marketing Is Alive and Kicking!

Well, now that we have established what has died, let’s talk about what is alive and kicking.  Article marketing is very much alive.  The article marketing that survived focuses on the following things:

1.       Providing quality:  Make sure that you deliver value with your article.  Give the reader what you promise them in you headlines.  If your headline reads 7 ways to write a good article; then, give a list of 7 ways to write a good article.  Don’t just fill up your page with a bunch of filler and key words and then point to a landing page

2.       Guest posting:  Get brand recognition and high quality backlinks by guest posting on one of the more successful blogs in your niche.  Offer really good articles in exchange for a link back to your blog or website.

3.       Researching keywords thoroughly:  This is to make sure that you are using the best phrases possible in your articles. 

4.       Putting content on your site first:  The best content marketing should start with your own website or blog.  The best that you write should be reserved for your own website.  The next best content should be used as a guest blog offering or an article directory entry.  You want to build up your own site's rankings first. 

Conclusion

Article marketing is still very much alive and is even more vibrant as a result of the new updates.  The updates forces those who do want to participate in article marketing to only add quality articles to the web.  Because of the updates internet users will be able to get the quality experience that Google desires for its users to have. 

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Secrets of Copywriting as it Applies to the Order Page

Your prospect has clicked on your ad, entered their information into your squeeze page, received your autoresponder messages, clicked through to your sales page, and from there have clicked through to your order page.  By the time your prospects reaches the order page they are really lukewarm and ready to buy.  Notice that I’ve said that they are ready to buy.  The job is not done just because they reach the order page.  In fact, 50% of the people who reach the order page don’t buy.  We would like to lessen that percentage.  There are several secrets listed in this blog post that you can do on your order page that will push the prospect into becoming a customer.  

Safety First

One of the things that you can do on the order page to ensure that there is a sale is to reassure the prospect that they are safe. People feel vulnerable when they are purchasing something.  Especially if they are purchasing online.  Make sure that you are offering a secure order form and a money back guarantee.

Back Up the Buying Decision  

A second thing that you can do on the order page to ensure that there is a sale is to construct the page in a way that it backs up the decision to buy.  The order page needs to be nurturing and needs to reassure the buyer that they are not going to feel badly after the purchase with feelings of buyer’s remorse. On other pages in the sales funnel you want to be exciting and stimulating.  Not on the order page.  The order page is where you want to take great care not to screw up all of the work that it took to get the buyer this far into the sales process.  This is the page where you want to reassure the buyer that they have made a good decision and to list the reasons why the buyer is making a good decision. 

Use Affirmative Copy

A third thing that you can do on the order page to ensure that there is a sale is to use affirmative copy.  Affirmative copy is using the inner dialogue of the buyer in your script.  Imagine that a little balloon is floating above the heads of the buyer that is filled with their thoughts just like in a comic strip.  These are the thoughts that would be used in the call to action on the order page.  An example would be “Yes, I am ready to receive my new membership.  Yes, I realize that I will start receiving my benefits immediately.”  This technique uses the inner dialogue and affirms what is going on in the buyers head.

Stand Alone Order Page

A fourth thing that you can do on the order page to ensure that there is a sale is to make sure that the order page is a sales pull by itself.  This way if someone comes across the order page by itself it could still pull a sale.  It will not do the full 11 steps of a sales page however there should be enough information on the page that if the buyer saw the page by itself they would still know everything that is involved in the offer.  This means that your page would include more than just the ask for the name, address, email address, etc.  The page would actually include the benefits of buying the product and information about the product.

Write the Order Page First

A fifth thing that you can do with the order page to ensure that there is a sale is to write the order page before writing the sales letter.  This is because the order page should be a summary of the offer.  Writing the order page first makes sure that all of the benefits of the offer gets listed on the order page.  When the offer is summarized on the order page it makes the sales page easier to write.

What’s in a Name?

It is tempting to just label the page that takes the order as the “Order Page.”  However, that might not be such a good idea.  Up until now you have romanticized the prospect, have gotten them lukewarm and have gotten them to put their hands in their pocket to whip out that credit card.  The word's Order Page is like pouring cold water on the prospect waking them up to the fact that they are about to spend some money.  You want to do something that will keep them in that nice fuzzy buying mode.  If you are selling memberships then “Registration Page” would be a better option.  If you do use the word order in the title then add 100% risk free or 100% secure to the title to make using that credit card easier. 

Conclusion

Hopefully this blogpost has been helpful by listing things that you can do to your order page to ensure that there is a sale.  Good luck with your order pages!

The facts used to compose this blog were taken via The Copywriter's Guild.

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5 Senseless Autoresponder Tricks to Avoid

You will unfortunately find that there are autoresponder tricks that are done that just should not be done.  These tricks are probably not done on purpose.  Nevertheless they are done.  This article addresses some of these tricks. 

Don't Take Messages Way Off Target

The first autoresponder trick that is done, that should not be done, is to take messages way off target.  There are people who actually think that because they have an audience they can talk about whatever they want.  They rant about religion, politics, sex, etc.  You should keep the targeted prospect in mind at all times when composing your messages.  Whichever topic you marketed when your reader opted in is the topic that your messages to that reader should center around.  Now, there is a certain principle that states at some point your prospect is going to want to know you a little personally.  So, there is a time to tell a little bit about your story and some of the things that you do.  However, this is not for autoresponder messages.  The reason is because when a reader gets the first couple of messages they are thinking do I really want to buy something from the sender.  If you can’t stay on topic the reader may subconsciously think that you are too scatter brained or too interested in your own personal needs to actually give good customer care.

Misplaced Humor

The second autoresponder trick that is done, that should not be done, is misplaced humor.  Humor can be like a land mine.  It takes more than just being a funny person to pull off humor in sales correspondence.  You have to know how to use humor in sales.  The problem with humor is that most humor has to do with some sort of bias.  You will easily find that what one person finds funny may not be funny to another person.  When you use humor you run the risk of someone who may have otherwise done business with you unsubscribing simply because they found your joke offensive.  Now don’t get me wrong.  You don’t have to stay so straight faced that you are boring.  The two types of humor that work well when sending autoresponder messages is 1. When you can be humorous about yourself; or 2. When you can be a little humorous about the problem (not the victim). 

 

Don't Send Pushy Sales Pitches in Place of Value

The third autoresponder trick that is done, that should not be done, is sending pushy sales pitches instead of sending the free valuable information that you promised the reader. It is understandable that you would want to push a sale because you put a lot of time and effort into getting the reader to the place where they are accepting follow-up messages from you.  However, your reader has not been knee deep in the process as you have been.  They are just getting to know you through the messages that you send.  So you want to take it easy on them.  You have to put yourself in the reader’s shoes and see things from their perspective not yours.  You have to make sure that you give them the information that you promised them and subtly introduce sales dialogue.

Don't Be Boring

The fourth autoresponder trick that is done, that should not be done, is to be boring.  You want to keep the dialogue with your reader interesting.  You want to talk about what is exciting about the topic.  You could also talk about solutions, possibilities, and problems.  To quote from The Copywriter’s Guild “There are no boring topics there are just boring writers.” 

Don't Be Hard to Understand

The fifth autoresponder trick that is done, that should not be done, is being hard to understand.  This is really tough to steer away from as the writer because of the time and the effort that is spent to become well versed about a topic that you are writing about.  It is easy to forget that you did not always know all of the big words and the fancy concepts.  You have to try to remember that you may need to “dumb it down” in order for your reader to understand what you have written.  You really are going to want to simplify what you are writing for the reader because the amount of money that you make varies with your readers ability to understand what you have written.  The harder the text is for the reader to understand the less money you will make.

The facts used to compose this blog were taken via The Copywriter's Guild.

If you have learned anything new from this post then leave us a comment.  Also, look below and share us on Facebook and Twitter.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Marketer, Do You Have a Swipe File

What is a swipe file?  A swipe file is a collection of ads, landing pages, headlines, etc. that really catch your attention.  Google defines a swipe file as “a collection of tested and proven advertising and sales letters.”  It further goes on to state that “keeping a swipe file (templates) is a common practice used by advertising copywriters and creative directors as a ready reference of ideas for projects.”  You don't have to be a professional advertising copywriter in order to use a swipe file.  If you are trying to build any type of business online you should have a swipe file.

Is Using a Swipe File Stealing?

Don’t think that using a swipe file is stealing or even borrowing.  You would not be copying the item(s) found in a swipe file you would just be using the swipe file to inspire you when you run out of ideas.  You can also use the swipe file for templates. Swipe files are valuable tools to use to spark creative thoughts.

What is The Trick to Maintaining a Successful Swipe File?

There is one trick to maintaining a successful swipe file that you should know.  The swipe file needs to be organized correctly.  You would organize the file by the type of block in creativity that you would get.  If you often get writer’s block then you would start a file entitled writer’s block if you get email call to action blocks then you would start a folder entitled email call to action.  You should probably start a folder for each type of creative writing that you do.  It is quite human to get blocks in creativity and you never know when it is going to strike you.

Organizing a swipe file into folders by the type of block makes it easy to use.  The tools that are highly suggested to use for your folders include Google Docs and Evernote.  You could also use your smartphone to take pictures of outdoor ads and email them back to your inbox to be filed later.  You can actually use any type of medium that is used to collect data to keep a record of something for your swipe file.  This would even include a conventional notebook.

 

How Often Should You Add to Your Swipe File?

You should be constantly adding to your swipe file.  Set aside time in your daily schedule to surf the internet and look at how successful advertisers write their copy.  Add copies of their ads to your swipe file.  Also, if you do any email marketing then sign up to opt in to lists that  belong to people who are really good at copy writing and add their newsletters and emails that they send you to your swipe file.  You can never have too many files to refer back to because you never know which file is going to be responsible for your next great idea.

Conclusion

A swipe file is a tool that all online and offline marketers should have.  It has been responsible for many great marketing ideas and will continue to be so in the future.


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If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

10 Super Magic Marketing Words

Words are powerful.  They can be used to convey ideas and control emotions.  They have been the cause of success and the catalyst for ruin. 

Successful marketers who participate in online marketing use the written word to make hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.  Those that have learned to become skilled word smiths and copy writers can write their own ticket anywhere in the world.  If this is a skill that you wish to learn I wish you the most success.  Keep in mind, however, that it is a skill that is not often perfected overnight.  Sometimes it takes months to get the hang of it.  Nevertheless, I want you to do well and will give you a head start.  There are 10 magic words that I will share with you that will help you in your marketing campaigns.  Use these words in headlines, your articles, your blogs, your ads, etc.  These words are known to bring about an increase in productivity of ads, landing pages, etc. 

The 10 Magic Marketing Words and Email Marketing

A word of caution.  Be careful using the 10 magic words in email marketing because they might trigger spam filters.  This is usually because spammers also use the magic words.  Be mindful that what works well in landing pages and other copy might not work too well with email because it might not be able to make it through the filters.  If you are going to use the magic words in your emails then I suggest that you go to Google search page and type in “free spam score checker.”  The search results should include some free spam score checker software.  Be diligent in using this software to find out if the language that you wish to use in an email is indeed safe to use.  Aweber has a wonderful spam score checker.  Their spam score checker actually gives you a score as well as gives you the information you need to pass your emails through the spam filters.  Ideally, if you are not sending spam you should not have to worry about using a spam score checker.  However, in the real world, spammers use the same language as legitimate marketers making it difficult for those who wish to market legitimately.  So definitely use the spam score checker.  Now let’s get back to the magic words. 

10 Magic Marketing Words

The first word that I will share with you is free.  Google defines free as “without cost or payment” This is a word that grabs just about everybody’s attention.  People love to get something of value without having to pay for it.

The second word(s) that I will share with you is the word(s) you and yours.  Google defines the word you as a word “used to refer to a person or people that the speaker is addressing.”  Using the word you makes the reader think that you are speaking directly to them.  It creates a powerful subconscious connection between the reader and you

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The third word that I will share with you is announcing.  Google defines the word announce “as to make a public and typically formal declaration about a fact occurrence or intention.”

The fourth word that I will share with you is introducing.  Google defines the word introduce as to “bring (something especially a product a measure or concept) into use or operation for the first time."

The fifth word is new.  Google defines new as “not existing before, made, introduced or discovered recently or now for the first time."

The third, fourth, and fifth words are known as news words.  They all imply events that are now happening that were not happening previously.  These words are good for headlines and sub headlines.  They are also good in Adwords ads.  Use the word new in article titles.  People don’t get tired of these words.  These words are very powerful.

The sixth word is secrets.  Google defines secret as “not known or seen or not meant to be known or seen by others.” You, as a marketer, have a wealth of information that your readers probably don’t have.  This information is currently a secret from them and you can share this information as secrets.  Your prospect wants to be in on your secrets as much as you want the opportunity to share them.  Using the word secret(s) increases the perceived value of the information.  The prospects will definitely become curious if you use the word secret(s).

The seventh word(s) is how to.  Google defines how to as “providing detailed and practical advice.”  People like how to articles and books.  People want to know how to do things.  At one time there were 7500 how to books that you could buy.  Writing an article or an Adwords ad starting with the words “how to” is very powerful.  Take for example you are advertising prize winning roses.  Your book could be entitled “Prize winning roses” or “How to Grow Prize Winning Roses” Which one do you think would interest the gardener more?

The eighth word(s) is guarantee, guaranteed.  Google defines guarantee as “a formal promise or assurance (typically in writing) that certain conditions will be fulfilled especially that a product will be repaired or replaced if not of a specified quality or durability.”  People have a heightened level of vulnerability when they are buying something.  This is especially true if they are buying online.  Having a guarantee makes them feel a lot safer.

The ninth word(s) is magic and magical.  Google defines magic as “the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces."  These are two very good words to use if you want to give a feeling of wonder about how something will happen.  It also gives a feeling that a desired result will happen with little or no effort.  People love magic.

 

The tenth word is easy.  Google defines easy as “achieved without great effort.  Presenting few difficulties.”  This is a word that lets your prospect know how much easier their life will be if they use your product or service.

The facts used to compose this blog were taken via The Copywriter's Guild.

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The Ideal Blog Post Length

In the world of blog writing, writers are always looking for that magic combination that will rank well, engage the reader, and increase readership.  One of the questions that a motivated blogger will ask is “What is the ideal blog post length?”

   

The Benefit of a Long Blog Post

In an article that I have written for Ezinearticles found at http://ezinearticles.com/?Which-Is-Better-Long-Blog-Posts-or-Short-Blog-Posts?&id=8545847 I noted that 10 top Blogs, as ranked by Google, were all written with a minimum of 2000 words.  In fact, the more words within the blog the higher it was ranked.  One of the reasons that these longer blog posts ranked so well with Google is because they have a lot of words.  The more words that they have the more keywords that they have.  The more keywords the more opportunities for Google to identify these keywords and rank the article.

The Benefit of a Short Blog Post

Now that we have established a benefit of long blog posts, don’t start filling your 250 word blog posts with filler words just to stretch it to a 2000 word post hoping that Google will rank your blog well.  We are still writing for the reader.  If a 250 word post addresses all of the issues then that’s the length that it should be.  Besides, there are some shorter blogs that have also ranked well.

There is definitely a place for shorter blog posts.  In fact, you will find that some long blog posts of larger sites are broken down into smaller posts.  Why?  First because breaking these longer posts down into smaller posts results in additional sets of tags and keywords.  Secondly, breaking these posts down results in more internal linking.  Thirdly, breaking these posts down makes your library appear to be larger. 

What Blog Post Length Does the Reader Prefer?

Well, we have now identified reasons for longer blog posts and for shorter blog posts.  But what does the reader prefer?  The average reader does not read each word in a blog post.  It has been shown that the average reader skims a post.  So writing for the reader can be done in either a 250 word post or a 2000 word post as long as it’s easy to skim.  The most important thing is to make sure that all the points are covered and that the points are organized with appropriate subheadings.  Because the reader usually skims a post it could be deduced that what the reader usually prefers is to get the information as quickly as possible.  Organizing the sentences of the post under appropriate subheadings makes it easier for the reader to skim and to get the information that they are searching for.

Conclusion 

There is no magic number of words for a blog post.  There is a place for longer blog posts as well as shorter blog posts.  Remember that both can rank well.  The most important thing is that you add value with your blog.  If you are adding the information that your readers are looking for and you are adding it in a way that is organized well with appropriate subheadings then you should receive a good response from your readers.  Having good SEO is also an admirable goal because in order for the value that you offer to be realized by your readers your blog has to be found.  You just have to find a way to include keywords, etc. without sacrificing readability.   

If you have learned anything new from this post then leave us a comment.  Also, look below and share us on Facebook and Twitter.

  

Marketers, Learn to Apply the Rule of 7 : Make More Sales

The Rule of Seven is one of the oldest adages in marketing.  It generally says that a person has to see a marketing message at least seven times before that person will buy whatever is being promoted.  This could be challenging online because it takes a lot of work to get someone to visit your website to view your marketing message once let alone return to your site seven times.  So that leaves the next best thing to do which would be to repeat your marketing message seven different times seven different ways within the same website or even the same page.  Well, now I see the wheels turning in your heads. Perhaps you are wondering what if you don't deliver the marketing message exactly seven times. Don’t worry, the number seven is believed to be just a number of preference.  It could have very well have been the rule of eight or five.  What is very important about the rule is that a marketing message needs to be seen and/or heard repeatedly before the prospect will take action and actually buy the product. 

How to Make the Rule of 7 Work for You

There are reasons why you should consider the rule of seven while marketing online and offline.  The following sections discuss these reasons and how to make the rule of 7 work for you.

Clamor ( Noise )

The internet is a world wide web full of millions of sources of information all shouting through their many headlines to get your attention.  There is everything from political action groups to weight loss companies all competing at the same time to be seen and heard.  Online marketing messages are not the only commotion that your prospect encounters.  There are also hundreds sometimes thousands of offline marketing messages that your prospect comes across every day.  It has been estimated that the average person is introduced to a combination of at least 3,000 online and offline marketing messages a day.  This, of course, includes walking past labels in a grocery store, the labels on the close you wear, etc.

How can you make your message stand out among all of the noise?  Apply the rule of 7.  Repeat your marketing message as many times as possible.  Know that a prospect is going to ignore your message the first few times that they see it.  This is because we have built up a resistance to advertisements.  In fact, your prospect is not going to hear your message two out of every three times that they see it.  So, it has been suggested that the rule of 7 is really the rule of 21.  One important thing to grasp is that if your marketing message is not working it is not necessarily the message.  It could be that you just need to repeat it more often.

Just an additional note about overcoming the noise with repetition.  Repetition has been known to create familiarity which leads to liking.  This is one thing that you want to happen.  You definitely want your prospect to like your advertising and begin to have ideas of liking your product. 

Prospects May Need Your Product…Later

Don’t always think that just because a prospect does not buy from you that you have targeted the wrong group.  Chances are that you targeted the right group and it just so happens that that prospect does not need your product just yet.  This does not mean that they will not need your product later.

How does the rule of 7 help with prospects that don’t immediately need your product?  The rule of 7 helps through repetition.  Repetition helps us to memorize.  I am sure you remember as a youth repeating your multiplication tables over and over again until you had them memorized.  This is the same thing that you want to happen with your prospect.  You want them to see and/or hear your marketing message enough times that they remember it and where they can get your product.  

Products That Are A Bit Pricey

There are times when you just can’t charge a bargain cellar price for an item.  Although you might want to undersell a product it is known that part of the perceived value of a product often comes from the price.  Sometimes if you price a product too low then it will not sell as well because the perceived value is low.  So, your only option, then, is to price the item high.

How does the Rule of 7 help to sell those pricier items?  Repetition.  As mentioned earlier, repetition causes familiarity and familiarity causes like.  The more you repeat the marketing message and the value in a product the more familiar a prospect will become with that product and begin to accept its value as you have portrayed it.  Remember, through repetition the prospect not only becomes familiar with the ad and the product, but they feel more familiar with you causing trust and more likelihood that they would pay the higher price for the product.

Yours Is Just Another Marketing Message

As mentioned earlier, there are millions of messages on the internet.  Your marketing message is just one of the millions.  What I am trying to say is that in most cases your prospect will not know you any more than they know any of the other people behind marketing messages found on the internet.  Initially, they don’t know you nor do they have any reason to trust you.

How does The Rule of 7 help with trust issues between you and your prospect?  As mentioned earlier familiarity results from repetition.  Not to beat a dead horse, but the more a prospect sees your marketing message the more familiar he/she will become with you and the more they will trust you.  Repetition will set your message apart from the millions of other marketing messages.

Conclusion

The Rule of 7 is one of the oldest concepts in marketing.  Quite frankly it is one of the tried and proven.  The more a prospect sees a marketing message the more likely they are to buy the product.  Repetition increases memory of the product as well as increases the familiarity of the product.  I recommend that those who are not using repetition in their marketing messages to begin using it.  There is no doubt that using repetition in your marketing messages will increase your sales.

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How To Get Subscribers With Your Blog

Blogging is really tough territory if you are a newbie or newish.  You try your best to add value to industry by spending hours writing unique and compelling content.  You know that if you want to get then you are going to have to give.  So you give and you give and you give some more all to the tune of zero subscribers.  So what’s going to make the difference?  Are you going to spend the rest of your life blogging and getting no results?  Let’s hope not.  The following paragraphs offer some strategies that you can use to begin getting subscribers.

First Impressions Count

One thing that I want to remind you of is that first impressions really count.  They count offline as well as online.  So, what does your visitor see the first time that they visit your blog?  Does the title of your blog leave them clueless?  Do they see a site that looks like it has been done by an amateur because of the flashy fonts and an over-abundance of links?  Are the sides cluttered with ads? 

Consider changing the title of your blog if it does not give a clear idea of what your blog is about.  Make it a title that gives a clear idea of who you are and how your blog can help.  Remove some of the clutter from your blog.  Don’t have more than two self-serving links in the body of any blog post.  This is in addition to the self-serving link that you will add in the PS line at the end of your blog.  Keep the fonts simple and only use a change of color sparingly.  If you have an over-abundance of ads in the side bar remove some of them.  There really should not be more than four to five ads in the sidebar.

 

Who Is Writing The Blog?

Is your blog is missing an “About Me” page?  An “About Me” page is an important part of the blog.  People want to know who they are reading from.  They want to know that there is a real person behind the text.  People attach to people.  They follow people.  They want to know people.  So let your readers know that they are reading from a real person by including an "About Me" page.

Who Is The Blog Written For?

Can the target audience of your blog be easily determined?  Do you have a target audience?  If not then you should choose one immediately.  If you try to write to everyone chances are you will ultimately reach no one.  So don’t be a Jack of all trades and a master of none.  It is no secret that readership increases when readers feel that the text was written just for them.  Spend time determining who you want to write to and tailor your blogs to speak to that audience.  Know what keeps your targeted audience up at night, what their dreams are, what their likes and dislikes are and write accordingly.  Readers return to sites that they feel are written just for them.

Why Should Your Readers Opt-In

You have achieved a major task by getting a reader to your blog.  You have shone through by providing great content and you wish for the reader to opt-in to your email list.  After all, there really is money in the list.

How do you get the reader to make the commitment to receiving email updates that you have posted a new blog post or to receiving your newsletter?  After all, they really could just check your blog from time to time to see if there are any updates.

The way that you get your reader to opt-in to your blog is to offer them a knock em out incentive.  Something that they will sweat bullets about if they do not have it.  Get into your targeted prospects head and figure out what they really want to know and offer it to them in the form of an incentive.

Conclusion

Getting subscribers with your blog takes work.  However, it can be done because there are people who are doing it every day.  If they can do it then so can you.  I have confidence that you can do it.

IIf you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

Should You Use Popups?

I hate popups.  They are annoying.  However they work.  If you are building an email list then, trust me, popups have been known to increase an email opt-in list. 

Why Use a Popup?

One thing to consider when thinking about using popups is that popups are annoying and you don’t want to annoy or chase away your online visitors.  Think of it this way though, if you are offering something that your customer really wants then a pop up will not deter them from staying on your site. 

Another thing to consider when determining whether or not to use a pop up is your content.  Do you fill your webpage with value or are you offering second rate content?  If you are offering value then a pop up will not chase a visitor from your site. 

One very good reason to use popups to build your email lists is the phenomena known as inattentional blindness.  Wiki.org defines this type of blindness as “a failure to notice an unexpected stimulus that is in one’s field of vision when other attention demanding tasks are being performed.  Think about this definition and imagine what is happening to your email form that is in the side bar of your site, especially if you have really good content.  The reader will be so focused on your content that they will not notice your email form.  So it really is in your best interest to use a popup to get the reader's attention and hopefully their email address.

What Are The Numbers?

Wpbeginner.com makes a big claim regarding the percentage increase of opt-ins they experienced once they started using a popup.  Prior to the use of the popup they claim that they got 70 to 80 new opt-ins per day.  After installing the popup they claim that their email signup rate rose 600% to 445-470 new subscribers per day.  The popup plug in that they used to bring about such an increase is Optin Monster.

Kissmetrics.com has also released some noteworthy data regarding popups.  They report that Socialmediaexaminer.com experienced a 375% increase in their email list between January 2012 and January 2013.  Nearly 70% of that increase was attributed to the sites popup form.

What Could Go Wrong With Popups

Sometimes a popup can interfere with your sites functionality if it is not performing properly.  A popup that is not operating properly could leave a floating box over your text that will force the reader to exit out of the page in order to get rid of it. 

Another thing to be mindful of when using popups is the number of times your popup appears.  People who are fully engaged in reading do not like to be interrupted.  One popup could be forgiven however no matter how engaging your article might be a popup that appears to the same visitor each time they visit your site could leave a bad taste in the reader’s mouth and consequently hurt your brand.  To rectify this you could always use popups that allow you to set them on a timer. For example, you could set the popup to only appear to each unique visitor once every thirty days.   

Conclusion

To use popups or not use popups that is the question.    Popups have definitely increased opt-ins for some users.  They definitely get your attention.  The conversions do happen especially if you offer a value filled site with a good opt-in offer.  I think that a lot of success could be had with the use of popups if they are used correctly.  It's like so many other things, it is often not what you do that matters but how you do it.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

What’s In a Domain Name

The Domain name that you choose can easily make or break your website or blog.  It is the first impression of your online presence.  It is what your site/blog visitors will see prior to anything that your site/blog has to offer.  So you want to thoughtfully choose your domain name. 

The following tips are posted to help you develop a domain name that will not only represent you and/or your business well but will be easy for online visitors to use.

Don’t Choose a Domain Name That is too Long

When choosing a domain name, don’t choose a domain name that is more than three words long.  Domain names that are longer than three words are harder for people to remember.   Shorter domain names are also easier to fit onto business cards and advertisements.

Choose Domain Names That Are .Com.

These days, there are all types of extensions that you can put at the end of your domain name.  There is .net, .biz, .org, .tv, .pro, .me., .cc., .gov, and .info.  Even though there is a variety of extensions offered to you it is best to choose a .com.  Why?  It is best to choose a .com because most people are conditioned to using .com.  Using an extension other than .com makes life difficult for your targeted traffic.  So keep it less problematic for those who want to find your site and use a .com domain name.  Keep in mind however, that once you buy the .com it might be to your benefit to add the .net and .org, etc. extensions to your collection to keep your competition from buying them.

Choose a Domain Name That is Easy To Spell

How often do you think your targeted market will visit your site if they have a difficult time spelling your domain name.   Don’t choose a domain name that requires your targeted traffic to use a spell checker in order to get it right.  Use words that are easy to spell.  Steer away from domain names that have an  “ie” or “ei” because they are among the words that are most often misspelled.  Consider buying additional domain names that are the misspelling of your chosen domain name.

Don’t Choose a Domain Name That Sounds Like another Business Name or Domain

Don’t pick a name that sounds like another business’ name.  Nothing is worse than your phone ringing off the hook or you receiving thousands of hits on your website because everyone thinks you are some other business.  Choose a domain name that is unique.

Choose a Domain Name That Fulfills Expectations

The domain name that you choose should give a good idea of the type of content that you will find on the site.  Unlike domain names like Monster.com and Amazon.com names like Careerbuilder and Photoshop.com lets the site visitor know the type of information they will find on the site.  Domain names that give an idea of site content require a lot less branding than domain names that leave the web visitor clueless.

Don’t Choose a Domain Name That Has a Hyphen or a Number

Choosing a domain name that has a hyphen or a number is a big mistake.  It is difficult to express these types of domain names to others.  The site visitor has to guess whether the number is spelled out or not and if a hyphen should be used. 

Conclusion

Choosing the right domain name is one of the most important steps in designing your website/blog.  Careful consideration must be given to its composition and the impression it will make.  If you already have a domain name but now realize after reading this post that you will like to change it you can do so without losing any SEO.  If you are technically savvy you could type into the search engines “change domain name” and find sites like http://www.webseoanalytics.com/blog/seo-guide-how-to-change-your-domain-name-without-losing-your-rankings/ that walk you through the process.  If you find that you are not able to make the change by yourself then I recommend hiring one of the online freelancers at odesk.com.  I contacted them myself and was told that there are plenty of freelancers at Odesk that can help with Domain name changes that keep the current SEO intact. 

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.  

How to Have a Blogging Mindset

It all starts with the mind.  Every action that you do begins with a thought.  This would include blogging.  Therefore, if you want to be a successful blogger you must have a blogging mindset.

Realize That It Sometimes Takes Hours of Commitment to Write a Successful Blog

A blogging mindset realizes that, at times, it takes hours of commitment to write a successful blog.  This is not just in the beginning when you first start out but also after you have reached some blogging success.  Once you have gained some traction as a blogger there will be times when you will still need to be willing to commit many dedicated hours to your blog in order to continue to captivate site visitors and compel them to return.

 

Begin to See the World Differently

You have to begin to see the world differently.  Prior to blogging your view of the world included your family, friends, and perhaps coworkers.  Now as a blogger you have another perspective that you have to consider, you have your target audience.  

You have to be willing to become a content creating machine; a machine that creates content that your new target audience will consider to be valuable.  As a content creating machine, every new experience that you encounter in your niche should be viewed as a story to share or a lesson to teach.  If you are searching the web and you come across something new in your niche then write about it.  If you take a new course and it relates to your niche then write about it.  Nothing in your niche becomes immune.  Everything in your niche is a topic to be explored and written about in your blog.

Give Back To the Community

A blogging mindset requires that you give back to the community  You have to decide, when you sit down to write your blog posts that you are writing for the benefit of your target audience.  This includes knowing what their problems are, researching the solutions, and presenting the answers in a way that will inform, interest, and compel your site visitors.  You have to determine from the time you begin writing your post that your readers will get what they came to your site for.

Have the Mindset of Successful People

A blogging mindset incorporates the mindset of successful people.  Successful people have a growth mindset.  The opposite is someone who has a fixed mindset.  People with a fixed mindset think that they are born with a certain amount of talent and intelligence and that’s the end of it.  People with a growth mindset know that their talents and abilities can grow with practice and perseverance.  So invest in your blogging if you can.  Invest in courses that will help you be a better writer and consequently a better blogger.  Grow your blogging muscles and increase your talents. 

Conclusion

In conclusion I will reiterate that writing a successful blog starts with a blogging mindset.  Know the required dedication and be willing to commit.  Begin to see the world through the eyes of a storyteller and a teacher.  Be willing to give value back through the expertise that you have developed.  Have a mindset that is willing to learn, grow, and share.

If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.