7 Ways to Beat Procrastination Now!

“My advice is to never do tomorrow what you can do today.  Procrastination is the thief of time.”—Charles Dickens

Procrastination affects each and every one of us at one point or another.  Don’t be dismayed if you find yourself struck by procrastination from time to time, all is not lost.  The following easy techniques will help you to get over the hump.

Beat Procrastination Now By Starting Easy

Break down difficult tasks into smaller portions and start with the easiest portions first.  Once you get started you will start to build momentum.  Once you build momentum the harder portions will begin to flow.

Once you get started by completing the easy portions the unfinished portions will be stuck in your memory.  This is called the Zeigarnik effect.  The unfinished portions will continue to pop up in your mind until you address them.

Beat Procrastination Now by Starting Anywhere

Starting easy is smart however it might be difficult to figure out where to start.  Planning can help to figure out where to start but beware.  It is easy to fall into the trap of too much planning and not enough doing.  One tip that you can learn from artists, writers and other creative is to just start anywhere.

The stuff you start with might end up in the dead file but at least the project will be started.

Beat Procrastination Now By Taking It Easy On Yourself

The common thought would be in order to beat procrastination you must be tough on yourself.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  In fact, it’s been scientifically proven that if you want to beat procrastination you should be nice to yourself.  Have compassion on yourself for the times that you have slacked off in the past.  If you forgive yourself for when you slacked off in the past you will feel better about the task and will then be more likely to reattempt it.

Beat Procrastination Now By Knowing Yourself

Know what your habits are.  If you are not a morning person then schedule your challenging tasks for later in the day.  If you are easily distracted then change your work environment to a place will distractions are few.

Beat Procrastination Now By Finding Your Why

Dig down deep and find personal meaning in your task.  This will make your tasks easier and perhaps even fun.  I am sure that you would agree that it does not take a whole lot to get yourself to do something that you value.  Spend time thinking about why you want to or need to complete the task.

Beat Procrastination Now by Being Mindful

You might find that at the root of some procrastination lies perfectionism and fear of failure.  One way to identify if these are the reasons that you procrastinate is to listen to your inner dialogue and noting all thinking that is less than productive.  If you find yourself thinking that “this is going to be a mess” or “this needs to be perfect” try to doubt your doubts.  It has been scientifically proven that if you shake your head while having negative thoughts it will help your thinking to get back on the right track.

Beat Procrastination Now by Not Relying on Memory

Sometimes procrastination has more to do with memory loss than intentional thinking.  One solution to this problem is to not rely on memory.  Write it down.  It does not matter where you write it just as long as it is written in a place that you will see it every day.

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

How to Have a Limitless Mind

“Our problem is that inside us there’s a mind going, “Impossible, impossible, impossible.  I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”  We have to banish that mind from this solar system.  Anything is possible; everything is possible.  Sometimes you feel that your dreams are impossible, but they’re not.  Human beings have great potential; they can do anything.  The power of the mind is incredible, limitless.”—Lama Yeshe

The mind automatically puts limits on the thoughts that we have as well as the tangible world around us.  We assign a value to everything that we see internally or externally.  We see limits more than we see possibilities.  We totally miss the opportunity of having a limitless mind.

Maybe the reason that we see limits to everything is because we assign a number to everything we see or think about.  We assign a number to how many pounds we weigh, how fast our car goes, how tall we are, how many friends we have, etc.  We even use numbers to try to estimate or guestimate the outcome of some event.  We are so used to assigning a number to things that it escapes our minds that there are some things that actually do not have a limit to how far or how much.  Having a limitless mind completely eludes us.

One reason that people assign a number to everything is because the ego is very competitive.  The ego not only competes with others it competes with itself.  The ego fights against the notion of the limitless mind.  It prefers to place a number on things.  It is constantly trying to outdo and trying to do more.  Whether it’s eating chocolate chip cookies or running for sport the ego is going to try to force you to do more.  One more cookie or one more mile.    The ego is so competitive that it will force the body to do more of things even to the detriment of the body.  The ego does not seem to reason that extreme behaviors damage the body even though the ego needs the body to travel through this physical world.

Numbers are needed for the purpose of measurement and I am not suggesting that you get rid of them altogether.  I will merely suggest five things that you can do so that numbers don’t become a mind limiting obsession.

Have a Limitless Mind by No Longer Searching for One Answer to Everything

Everyone in society seems to search for the one thing that will be the answer to all of life’s ills.  We search for the one answer to a richer and healthier life.  Stop looking for that one cure all.  There really isn’t a magic pill.  One saying is “There is no elevator to success.  You have to take the stairs.”  You will actually have to do the work to achieve success.

Have a Limitless Mind by No Longer Looking for More Information

In the age of the internet we have become information junkies.  We are constantly compiling and regurgitating random facts that don’t have much to do with what we really need or want out of life.  Stop compiling endless streams of senseless information and begin to search instead for information that will give wisdom.  Search instead for data that you can actually apply to your life.  This is how you will grow past boundaries.

Have a Limitless Mind by Seeing Time Differently

No longer say “I don’t have time.”  Everyone is given the same 24 hours in a day. Stop watching your watch all day.  You have more hours in a day than you know.  Manage your time differently.  If you get rid of all of the unnecessary people and activities that don’t add any spiritual value to your life you will see how much time you actually do have.

Have a Limitless Mind by Getting Rid of Unnecessary Lists

Stop making unnecessary lists and live in the moment.  If you can’t remember what it is then you don’t need it right now.  Many of the lists that we make on paper or in our minds just give the ego a way to feel as though it has accomplished something.  These types of lists serve only to create barriers and stress.  How much further could you go if you no longer keep limiting lists?

Have a Limitless Mind by No Longer Counting Numbers (Start With Money)

Constantly counting money creates limits.  If you spend most of your time talking about money, reading about money, or thinking about money your perspective will be limited.  Mentally reaching for that perfect amount of money forces your mind to think in much smaller terms than it is actually capable of achieving.

Conclusion

Follow the five tips that are listed in this article.  Incorporate them into your daily thoughts.  Once you do this you will see that other parts of your life will begin to fall into place.  You will free up your mind and limitless possibilities will begin to appear.  Enjoy your limitless mind and endless possibilities!

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

“The Parable of the Eagle” (king of the birds) by James Aggrey

(image of eagle taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_eagle)

While researching a topic for my next blog post, I stumbled upon a wonderful parable that I would like to share with you.  You who are truly eagles, king of the birds, and not mere chickens to be kept in a pen…

The parable goes as follows:

“A certain man went through a forest seeking any bird of interest he may find.  He caught a young eagle, brought it home and put it among his fowls and ducks and turkeys, and gave it chickens’ food to eat even though it was an eagle,” king of the birds,

“Five years later a naturalist came to see him and, after passing through his garden, said: ‘That bird is an eagle, not a chicken.’”

“’Yes,’ said its owner, ‘but I have trained it to be a chicken.  It is no longer an eagle, it is a chicken, even though it measures fifteen feet from tip to tip of its wings.’”

“’No,’ said the naturalist, ‘it is an eagle still: it has the heart of an eagle, and I will make it soar high up to the heavens.’”

“’No,’ said the owner, ‘it is a chicken, and it will never fly.’”

“They agreed to test it.  The naturalist picked up the eagle, held it up, and said with great intensity, ‘Eagle, thou art an eagle;’” king of the birds “’thou dost belong to the sky and not to this earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly.’”

“The eagle turned this way and that, and then, looking down, saw the chickens eating their food, and down he jumped.”

“The owner said: ‘I told you it was a chicken.’”

“’No,’ said the naturalist, ‘it is an eagle.  Give it another chance tomorrow.’”

“So the next day he took it to the top of the house and said: ‘Eagle, thou art an eagle’” (king of the birds); “’stretch forth thy wings and fly.’ But again the eagle, seeing the chickens feeding, jumped down and fed with them.”

“Then the owner said: ‘I told you it was a chicken.’”

“’No,’ asserted the naturalist, ‘it is an eagle, and it still has the heart of an eagle; only give it one more chance and I will make it fly tomorrow.’”

“The next morning he rose early and took the eagle” (king of the birds) “ outside the city, away from the houses, to the foot of a high mountain.  The sun was just rising, gilding the top of the mountain with gold, and every crag was glistening in the joy of that beautiful morning.”

“He picked up the eagle and said to it: ‘Eagle, thou art an eagle’” (king of the birds) “’thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly!’”

“The eagle” (king of the birds) “looked around and trembled as if new life were coming to it; but it did not fly.  The naturalist then made it look straight at the sun.  Suddenly it stretched out its wings and, with the screech of an eagle, it mounted higher and higher and never returned.  It was an eagle” (king of the birds) “though it had been kept and tamed as a chicken!”

Conclusion

People might have put you into a pen and fed you with the chickens.  Telling you over and over again what you can’t do.  Because of this you might have even begun to believe that you are a chicken.  You are not.  You are an eagle, king of the birds.  Stretch forth your wings and fly.

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

How Any Internet Based Company Can Get More Traffic to Their Website

Wednesday’s Wisdom:  If you own an internet based company you are going to want to join the thousands of website owners that use article marketing to boost their sales.  Don’t get left behind.  Invest the required time to launch an effective content marketing campaign.  Content marketing is the wave of the future of online marketing.

Articles play a very important part in the success of any internet based company.  As far as product promotion goes they are the life blood.  They are a driving force of traffic to commercial web sites.  If your internet based company is for the purpose of creating profit then good articles are key.  Business owners must include articles in their campaigns to create credibility for themselves and their product or service.

Articles are instrumental in creating links to your website and achieving higher ranking on the search engine result pages.  This is important because sites that rank the highest receive a bigger slice of the traffic flow pie.  The more traffic that comes to your website the more potential for profit to be gained by your internet based company. 

As an internet based company your online reputation is very important so you don’t just want to stuff your site full of weak articles.  You want to make sure that your articles are relevant to your niche and are very helpful.  Also, the articles that you present on your site needs to peak the interest of site visitors and keep them coming back for more.

Take note that whether you are only displaying your articles on your site or you are also submitting some of them to outside directories you need to focus on some aspects that will keep the traffic coming to your site.

The following are three reviews of necessities that will help you, the owner of an internet based company, get control of your article marketing and consequently get more traffic to your site.

Keywords and Keyword Phrases

Keywords and keyword phrases must be the center of your marketing article.  Site visitors search for specific terms.  They arrive at your site because they have typed a keyword or phrase into a search engine.

It is your job to make sure that the content in your website includes popular keywords and keyword phrases.  An example would be if your internet based company sold auto parts then you should have the auto parts listed in your articles.  Google search the words “keyword tool” to help you choose popular keywords to write about.

Keyword Density

The keywords and keyword phrases that you choose should be used throughout your web site content.  Keyword density is important because it is what search engines use to “feel” their way to your site.  If you want your site to rank high in the search engine results page you should have at least 10 to 15 percent keyword density.

The number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used in an article is the keyword density.  An article that is effective will have a keyword density that is neither too high nor too low.  If the keyword density is too high then the writer will lose the essence of the article and will consequently turn off the reader and/or the search engines.  On the other hand, a low keyword density may easily be ignored by the search engines.

Good Article Content

As it has already been stated, it is not to your benefit to riddle an article with keywords.  You want your article to be considered good reading material.  Your article must be entertaining as well as helpful and not just a list of keywords.  Your article should be well written with no spelling errors and with impeccable grammar.  One of the main ideas of a marketing article is to get people to trust you so you want to make sure that your article is well thought out.

If you can, fill your article with facts.  Figures and statistics usually resonate well with people.  Use your researching skills to compile as many facts possible.  An article that is well written will boost your reputation as an expert in your niche.  If your articles are well written people will believe in you and will begin to trust your products.

Conclusion

Owning an internet based company can be very profitable.  Well written articles that include well placed keywords and keyword phrases will bring in hoards of traffic to your website.  Hoards of traffic usually means more profits.  If you are submitting your articles to article directories make sure that you include a brief description about you and your site along with a link to your website.  People who like your articles will click on your link and visit your site.  Good luck with your article marketing!

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

Online Sales and Marketing: Tips for Great Success

Online sales and marketing is different than offline sales and marketing.  However they are the same in one way.  That is if you ever expect to have a successful online or offline business you must learn to sell.  If you are not naturally someone who can sell or you do not learn how to sell the chances of your business becoming successful are financially are slim.

There is no real quandary here.  If you are someone that HATES selling or you just do not know how to sell you can be sure that you will not make money, Period.

Online Sales and Marketing Requires Specific Things

In addition to knowing how to sell you need at least one of the following three things.

1.       A great money making idea

2.       A product that solves a specific problem, and/or

3.       A winning income producing opportunity

Know this, even if you have all three of these things and you do not know how to sell, you will not be able to monetize your ideas, no matter how great the idea is.

Online Sales and Marketing Necessities

If you are reading this article then the chances are that you already have a great idea or product.  Now you have to produce a sales letter that wins.  Most online sales and marketing campaigns will not be successful without a winning sales letter.

The following lists what it takes to churn out a successful sales letter.

1.       Very Good Writing Skills

More than likely you will be writing your own sales copy.  One reason to write your own is that it costs upward towards $10,000 to hire a good copywriter to write sales copy for you.  You will need to have a good command of the English language and good writing skills.  Lessons on how to write good sales copy can easily be found online.  There are also copywriting membership sites where you can learn from writers who are more experienced.

2.       Personality

You might think that because your business activities only include online sales and marketing and you will probably never meet your prospect face to face that your personality does not matter.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  You really do have to let your unique personality shine through.  The sales letter is a personal letter between you and your prospect.  You want the sales letter to be friendly.  You also want the sales letter to portray you as being someone who is approachable.  Make sure that your sales letter is not stiff.  A stiff sales letter will bore your reader and turn them away.

Present a mix of your personality with your writing skills and you will writing a killer sales letter.

3.       Take action

You can find a wealth of information online that will tell you how to write successful sales copy.  Use the information to your benefit.  Once you have developed your sales copywriting skills you need to set up a web page that will market your products.  There are quite a few online companies that will help you build a successful sales pulling website.   If you Google search  “website builder” you will find some of these online companies that will help you build your website.

Conclusion

Successful online sales and marketing is within your reach.  You merely need to set yourself to learning how to write successful sales copy and move forward with your website.  It does take time, motivation and commitment to find success online.  However, you will find that once you have reached success it has all been worth it.

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

How to Multiply the Results of Your Advertising with Magnetic Internet Marketing

Monday’s Tip of the Week:  The days when you could just direct a prospect to ‘click here’ without offering any incentive are fading fast.  Today’s prospect asks “what’s in it for them.”  The wise marketer will let it be more than just their bottom line.

This is a fail proof marketing method.  It magnifies your marketing efforts with whatever you are selling or promoting.  Magnetic Internet Marketing works on the principle of giving before receiving.  It prospers you by offering more in value than you receive in cash.  The prospects that you come across today are part of the “what’s in it for me” wave.  They want to know that there will be an increase for them before they will interact with you.  Magnetic internet marketing will fill that criteria.

What Is Magnetic Internet Marketing?

Magnetic internet marketing wins the consumer by offering them something of value first.  It is unlike ezine classified advertising and solo ads that try to close the deal with one swoop by trying to drive the consumer to a website.  Instead, it offers the prospect something that they can’t refuse. 

Consider the following examples of non magnetic internet marketing:

1.        “Catch the Buzz-Discover Revolutionary Health and Wealth”

2.       “As seen on TV Superfood is now yours to use and make $$ with”

These are not the best of ads but they are meant to give you an idea of what non magnetic internet marketing looks like.  Don’t misunderstand.  This kind of marketing does work.  However, it only yields a trickle of results compared to the massive results that come about when you use magnetic internet marketing.

A major problem with the ads that I have displayed is they attempt to excite the prospect and to get them to ‘click here’ without offering them something in return that could really get them motivated.

Consider changing those ads to magnetic internet marketing ads.  See the following example:

“Did you know Free Radicals Accelerate Aging and Cause Cancer?

Discover everything you NEED to know about the massive damage

They cause, & the most essential antioxidants needed to fight them.

Learn little known secrets of health, anti-aging and disease

Prevention in this free e-course”  ‘click here’

This ad is now magnetic because you are no longer trying to immediately ‘make the sale’ or drive your prospect to your website.  Your prospect now feels driven to get into contact with you.  They now become your lead.

They are interested in the valuable information that you have to offer.  They feel as though they are now benefitting from the many autoresponder messages that you send them.  The valuable free information that you send them gives them the feeling that they know you.  They may even like you at this point.  They definitely will trust you more because they now see you as a valuable source of information.  They are now more likely to do business with you.

Magnetic Internet Marketing Works with Every Niche

You can use magnetic internet marketing with any type of business or niche category.  Take the time to put together content, from within your niche, that would be helpful to your readers.  Give them something of value to subscribe to.  Make it your business to provide answers to their problems.

Conclusion

Magnetic Internet Marketing is easy to incorporate into your business model.  Instead of publishing ads that put what you want the prospect to do first start publishing ads that first answers your prospects pressing questions first and displays a soft closing line secondly.  Your prospect will begin to like you because of the free information that you would be offering them.  Once they like you it will be easier to direct them to buy from you.  Good luck with your magnetic internet marketing.  To your success!

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

Marketing My Business: How to Survive Online

The way that business is done is ever changing at a rapid pace.  We have traveled through telephone answering services, VOIP, video conferencing, email support, and the almighty internet.  Business owners today are faced with many decisions that their parents and grandparents never had to deal with.

Many of you probably keep hearing from other business associates that marketing on the internet is the number one way of increasing business and creating a good foundation for customer support.  There’s only one thing that keeps you from jumping onto the bandwagon.  You have only recently learned how to send an email!  You have no idea about SEO, content analysis, pay per click, web design, ROI, etc.!

Should You Hire an SEO Company?

You are now faced with a dilemma.  You wonder if you should hire an SEO company or do you learn how to do it yourself?

One of the good things that we can say is that we as business owners do not slack when it comes to investing time into our business.  However, often, when it comes to learning new methods we are quick to reach for our wallets and contract anyone we can find that seems like they might be the right person to help with the situation.  This is by far the worst possible decision you can make.

You could dive right into the internet marketing community with your eyes closed and your wallet opened and hire an SEO company.  However that will probably result in a disaster if you are not schooled on how to wisely spend your money.  The answer is not to hire an SEO (search engine optimization) company to siphon your money.  Try instead to work with someone who offers SEO training so that you yourself or someone in your company can learn what is required online, how much effort is needed, and the pitfalls that should be avoided.

You as the business owner could blindly search online and hire an SEO company however, you won’t have any idea of what you would be actually getting into.  The secret to promoting your business online is that there really are no secrets to promoting your business online, only hard work.  Keeping this in mind I am sure that you can see that anyone with a computer and some gumption can learn how to get their company high search engine rankings. 

Old Fashioned Marketing Strategies

Back in the day using old fashioned marketing strategies (and still practiced today) owners of businesses would come up with their own marketing plan through business cards, flyers, newspaper ads, print media, radio ads, and TV ads.  Using these methods a company would track their results by trial and error.  Through these old fashioned marketing strategies companies could really find out what actually works for their industry.

Old fashioned marketing strategies include a simple trial and error process.  Marketing on the internet also requires a trial and error process.  It is unfortunate that many business owners don’t have a clue of how to start an internet marketing campaign and they fail to even try. Instead, they open their wallet to anyone that seems feasible and say here’s my budget you tell me what to do.  Forgive me for saying so, but this is a ridiculous practice.  Consider how much work and effort it took for you to get to where you are today and as soon as it comes to marketing your business online you simply shut down.

Internet Marketing Success Takes Time

One of the ultimate secrets to internet marketing is simply time…

T              Try and try again

I               Internet changes all the time

M            Marketing opportunities are around every corner

E              Eventually you too can succeed

Keep in mind that you could be 10 months out of the gate and still be locked in Googles sandbox.  (Google search Google’s sandbox)  Most likely internet marketing success has not eluded you it just takes time.  Hopefully within this 10 months you have only linked to companies that have something to do with your niche and your link popularity is starting to grow.  You may now just be beginning to come through on Yahoo and MSN search results.  You may even be able to find your company in the 200^th spot in Google’s search results.  All of these things show some internet marketing success.  Still you are now probably wondering why this is taking so long.

Well, such is the wonderful world of marketing your company on the internet.

Time is a key to internet marketing success.  If you want to win you must have patience and stay at it.  Learn as much as you can learn every chance you get.

Those who just opened their wallets during the first 10 months of marketing their company online will find that they have not found as much internet marketing success as those that actively learned how to do the marketing themselves.

Conclusion

Take the time to learn more ways to increase your internet marketing campaigns.  If you really don’t have the time to learn it for yourself then hire someone within your organization that can do the learning for you.  Remember that it takes T.I.M.E. to reach success on the internet.  Good luck with your internet marketing endeavors.  To your success!

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

Announcing What It Takes to Be Successful Doing Business Online

It is completely understandable if you get overwhelmed by all of the money making websites and emails that bombard you every day about doing business online.

I know that I get overwhelmed.

I bet you didn’t know that this is the main reason why many people won’t succeed at doing business online.

Information Fatigue Syndrome

Information overload is definitely a culprit.

Believe it or not, there are internet marketers that count on you to have information fatigue syndrome so that they can make their thousands perhaps even millions of dollars.  They count on the fact that you are looking.  They count on the fact that you are impressionable and they supply sales letters that are strong enough to get you hooked.  After that what becomes of you?

So, let’s just say that you have found the perfect opportunity online.  An opportunity that guarantees that if you take advantage of it you will gain freedom financially and will amass the wealth that you desperately seek.  You read through the many lines of the sales page and find yourself becoming very excited.  You either order the product or submit your email address.  You know, deep down, that you have found “the one”.

You download the product or ebook that will get you doing business online and then what do you do next?  Unfortunately most people don’t do anything next.  Usually this is where it ends.

Before you even finish reviewing the product that could get you doing business online you are struck by shiny object syndrome.  Your eyes are caught by the next big offer and you are on to your next big idea.  You totally forget about the idea that you were previously working on and it just sits on your desktop where you leave it to sit and collect virtual dust.

You must stop this nomadic behavior now!

Resolve Yourself To Make a Decision

Now is when you must make a decision!

Legitimate ways to make money by doing business online are in existence.  Sure they are surrounded by a whole lot of hype, but they do exist. 

Decide on a product.  Give it a thorough evaluation.  Research that product.  Then do it!  Stick with it!

It Takes Commitment

Is the reason that most people fail lack of knowledge, ideas, or resources?

No!  The reason most people fail is lack of commitment.

Hoards of people want to make money by doing business online.  They want to fire their boss.  They want to work from home.  However, everybody does not have what it takes.  Commitment.

Doing Business Online Successfully Takes Work

I am sure that you have come across the marketing ploys that tell you that you can make a fortune by signing up with a particular program, pay the small fee, complete a few simple steps and the money will come pouring  in.  Eureka you’re rich!

Such a thing does not exist.

Whichever route you take, whichever program you choose, you are going to be required to work hard, invest time and be committed.

The rewards are usually great.  You certainly can work from home, make more money online than on any conventional job and you certainly can become free financially.

The Time is Now!

The time is now!  Join the ranks of internet marketers that are successfully doing business online.  The mere fact that you are reading this article indicates that you have what it takes.  You probably already have an idea about what you would like to do.  Move forward and do research about the idea.  Build upon the idea.  Most importantly, do it!

When other ideas present themselves, think “does this idea fit in with my current project.”  If the new ideas don’t fit in with the current project then discard them.  If they do, use the useful parts and ignore the parts that don’t fit in.

Conclusion

The intent of this article is not to sell you on any program.  It is not to pitch you on the next big thing.  It is merely meant to have you reach deep inside yourself and make a decision about doing business online.  No longer should you allow your uncertainty to make others rich.  Make the commitment and create your own path to financial freedom.

Stay focused and commit.  Most importantly, never give up!  Much success to you!

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

Top Ways to Earn Money Online

FYI, 95% of the people who have started internet businesses fail.  Perhaps it is because of the amount of noise and hype that you find on the internet but most people don’t realize that all of the fancy ideas and techniques you can find won’t work if you don’t understand the business model that you are using to attempt making money on the internet.

There are three business models that are the most popular.  These are:

Affiliate Marketing Programs

Affiliate marketing programs are perhaps the most popular business model on the internet.  It is a good business model for those who are new to internet marketing.  You usually don’t need licensing or special permission to become an affiliate marketer.  In fact, just about anyone can do it.  Most affiliate marketing programs are free to sign up for and you can usually start marketing immediately after signing up.  With affiliate marketing programs you get commissions when someone buys the promoted product.

Being an affiliate marketer is predominately risk free.  This is because the affiliate marketer does not have to worry about the cost of designing the product, handling customer service, bothering with merchant accounts, signing up for an autoresponder, etc.  You may not even need to invest in a website for some affiliate programs.

Some affiliate marketing programs require a little monetary investment but most are free.  Because of the little or no required cost to become an affiliate thousands of people sign up to promote products as an affiliate.  In fact, affiliate marketing programs are one of the main reasons that the internet is inundated with advertisements.

Even though there are millions out there that promote affiliate marketing programs.  Only a small percentage of affiliate marketers make any real money.  To be exact, only 5% make any money and only 1% make the big bucks.  The 1% are referred to as the super affiliates and they have a very different way of marketing affiliate products.  Perhaps this is why they make the big bucks.

Write an Ebook for Profit or Record a CD

This is a great business model to follow because there are literally thousands of possible products that you could create.  There are thousands of niche markets that you can write an ebook for profit about.  You could write a course on how to grow and care for Japanese gardens, how to start a child care service, etc.  There are thousands of topics and more that have not yet been explored by online marketers.  If you don’t think that you are a good writer you can hire a ghost writer.  If you think that you are no good at recording an informational CD you can hire someone to produce the CD.

Unlike affiliate marketing if you want to write an ebook for profit you have to invest a considerable amount of time to get up and running.  You also have to invest some amount of money to get the business up and running.  Settle yourself with the fact that if you want to write an ebook for profit you are going to have to learn a lot more than what is required to be an affiliate.  Even though the investment of time and money is considerably more than if you're going to become an affiliate the payoff that you get when you write an ebook for profit is much more rewarding.

The reason why marketers who write an ebook for profit or record a CD make more money is because they have very low production and maintenance costs.  In fact, it does not cost any money to reproduce thousands of copies once the product is produced.  You can easily recover your startup costs just by selling a few copies of very high-margin ebooks.  Once you have your own product developed you can sign up thousands of affiliates to sell for you.

Earn Money With Adsense

Many people are now starting to earn money with Adsense.  Oodles of people have given testimony that they are making outrageous income from this program.

Adsense by Google is an advertising program that allows webmasters to display ads from Googles extensive list of advertisers.  Member sites display inconspicuous text-based ads.  These text-based ads yield a commission for the webmaster every time someone clicks on the advertiser’s links.

Google has devised a system that will undoubtedly allow you to earn money with Adsense.  The system works very well.  The ads that are delivered to the webmaster’s page are highly relevant to the content of the page.  Google’s technology assures this. 

It is very easy to earn money with Adsense.  You first need to build a website that is full of content that relates to your particular niche.  Afterwards, you would register with Google’s Adsense program.  Upon approval you would be given a code to paste onto your page.  Once you upload the changes to your server the ads will start to appear.

Conclusion

Google has not shared publically how it shares revenue per click with its partners.  However, we do know that the amount earned per click varies with topic and product.  Products that are priced on the low end will net a smaller pay per click than products that are priced on the higher end. 

We have discussed the three most popular online business models.  Any of these models could work for you if you know the basics.  Choose a business model that is most suited to your comfort level and only buy informational products that are relevant to that business model.  Information overload can be a block to you.  Choose a business model and move forward with confidence.  Good luck with your online business.  To your success!

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

Make Money No Website Needed! Real or False?

Wednesday’s Wisdom:  If it seems too good to be true then it probably is.  

Hello Internet Marketing Newbie!  You have visited many websites and have decided that it’s time for you to step into the fascinating world of internet marketing.  Eventually you are faced with the question of whether or not you will need to have your own website in order to make money.

One of the reasons that it is important to explore the notion of making money online without a website is because there are advertisements on line that state that you don’t have to have your own website to make money online with their company.  You might have seen the pitch “No website needed.”  Is it actually true that there are ways to make money online that don’t require you to have your own website?  Well, the answer to that question is definitely yes.  However, they might not be in the ways that you are thinking.

Trading the Stock Market for a Living

One way to make money online without a website is trading the financial markets.  If you have enough knowledge and know what you are doing you can certainly make quite a bit of money trading the stock market for a living.  You could do this and would not need to have your own website to be successful.  This probably was not on your list.

eBay Auction Site

Another way to make money online without a website is through auction selling on sites like eBay.  Selling through eBay auctions is a good part-time opportunity.  It even somewhat qualifies as a good opportunity for full time employment.  Keep in mind, that most successful auction sellers on eBay do have their own websites.  So this is a case where you still might want to have your own website.

Make Money No Website Needed

So, you have to wonder, where the make money no website needed advertisements stem from.  Some of these no website needed claims come from marketers who, themselves, don’t have much experience and are therefore not credible sources.  Some of these ads that state that you don’t have to have your own website come from those who use this as a marketing ploy to gain the interest of those who are “faint of heart” or are only somewhat suited for internet marketing.  The “no website needed” pitch is actually used as a half-truth bait.

Conclusion

Are there internet marketing techniques that can be used without a website?  Sure there are.  However, these same techniques are used more effectively if you have your own website.

Launching your own website is not as difficult as it might seem.  Hosting for your website can be obtained at a very low monthly fee.  Go Daddy has hosting plans that start at $3.49 per month.  Go Daddy like other hosting programs have website development software that can help you design a professional looking website.  So don’t be intimidated by the notion that if you want to reach optimum success by marketing online you really do have to have your own website.

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

Is Internet Marketing Easy? Four Easy Tips…

If you are marketing goods and services on the internet you are probably doing so through an affiliate program.  You probably signed up for this affiliate program for free and you were given a user name or number as an affiliate ID.  You may have even received a basic package to help you start marketing that included solo ads, text ads and banner ads all with a link to your affiliate sales page.

 

Is Internet Marketing Easy?

Now internet marketing sounds pretty easy doesn’t it?  You will find that this is a process that actually works.  The only problem is your probability getting conversions.  You will also find that there is a very very very low probability of actually converting traffic into sales.  For instance, you have to drive thousands of people to an affiliate sales page before you make your first sale.  What do you think about those odds?  Not very good, huh?

I Made a Sale! Finally

It is unfortunate that most people do this.  They put a lot of money and time driving people to their affiliate sales page, finally make a sale and earn their percentage of the commission.  What’s even worse is you can spend the time and money to drive all that traffic to your sales page and make only one sale and earn a $10.00 commission.  You might think that earning $10.00 is great but it really is not because it is probably stated in the terms and conditions of your affiliate program that you don’t actually get a check unless you have generated at least $20.00 in commissions.  So you go back to driving thousands of people to your sales page to make another sale and finally get a check.  Gracious!  Now when you ask “is internet marketing easy” what is your answer.

Inside Sales Tips

This is not all meant to discourage you.  Hang in there.  Internet marketing can be a great way to earn extra income, but you have to know the inside tips.  One tip is that you should never directly advertise your affiliate program.  There is a four step process that you have to use.  Take note of the following four step process maybe it will help you change your answer to “is internet marketing easy.”

1.       Don’t just include ads and sales pitches in your website, blog or email messages.  Provide value.  Give away a lot of valuable information.  Ways to do this would be to offer an ebook, email course, or special report.    These are all great ways to distribute free information.

2.       This step coincides with the first step.  Wait until you get an email address before you give away your valuable information.  You cannot implement the next step without capturing the names and addresses of your prospects.  Drive your traffic to a squeeze page where you will capture names and email addresses.  You could also drive your traffic to a blog or website where you can give an incentive for opting into an email list.

3.       Send informative emails to the people who are on your list.  If you are providing relevant and helpful information then people will begin to know you, like you and trust you.  If you give them information that will save them effort, money or time they are going to make sure that they read anything that you send, as long as the information is still relevant.  The one reason that it is important to get that email address is so that you can consistently send helpful information and build a relationship with your prospect.

4.       People will be much more likely to buy what you recommend once they know you, like you and trust you.  If you can convince them that what you are recommending will be cost effective, worth their money, and helpful to them then it will be even easier to get them to buy from you.  The simplest way to convince people of these things is to recommend something that you actually use.  Give a personal testimony of how the product has helped you and why you are sure that it is worth the money that you paid for it.

Conclusion

Is internet marketing Easy?  It can be.  You just need to be aware of the ins and outs and have a working knowledge of the inside tips that make internet marketing a success.  Utilize the tips found in this article and stay focused and on track.  If you use the tips found in this article you should see a noticeable difference in how many sales you make.  Good luck to you in all your internet marketing endeavors.  To your Success!

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

10 Ways to Increase Sales Online Significantly

Monday’s Tip of the Week:  Don’t let your sales cycle end with the first purchase that your customer makes.  Take the opportunity that that sale gives you to collect the customer’s contact information, upsell products and pass on coupons.

The following are 10 ways that show you how to increase sales online significantly.

Follow up With the Customer

One way to increase sales online is after you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer.  One way to follow-up with them is to email them a “thank you” note.  Include in the note one or two ads for other products that you offer.  Follow-up with them periodically.  One of your goals should be to build a relationship with your customer.  In order to do this you need to constantly stay in touch with them.

It Does Not Hurt to Upsell

When your customer has reached the order page they have already decided to do business with you.  You, at this point while they are whipping out their credit card, have their attention.  A way to increase sales online significantly is to take the time while their eyes are on you to tell them about related products that you offer.  While they are in the buying mode it is easier to get them to add on the additional products.

Offer Incentives

Make it worth your customer’s while to play on your side of the fence.  Offer them incentives to play on your team.  A way to increase sales online is to tell your customers that if they refer four customers, that buy, to your website that they will receive a full rebate of their purchase price.  This is one of the easiest ways to get three sales for the price of one.

Offer Affiliate Programs

A way to increase sales online is to be one of the websites that offer affiliate programs.  When a customer buys from you give them the option of joining your affiliate program so that they can earn money by selling your product.  This will multiply the sale you just made.

Sell Reproduction Rights

Sell the resell (reprint/reproduction) rights to your digital products.  Marketers are constantly looking for fresh new products to sell.  One way to increase sales online is once your customer has purchased a product from you give them the opportunity to brand the product as their own and sell it.  This would give them 100% commissions on their sales once they have purchased the rights from you.  This will also give you the additional sale of the resell rights.

Cross Promotion Marketing

Sometimes it’s better to work in teams of twos and threes.  Team up with other businesses and cross promote your products.  A way to increase sales online is to offer a package deal that has both your product along with another business’ product.  Include in the combinations ads for other products that you offer.  This way when the other business sells the package deal they will also be selling your other products.

Distribute Coupons

It is easier to sell to customers who have already purchased from you.  A way to increase sales online is when you deliver your product to your customer include in the package a coupon for other related products that you sell.  This will expose them to your other products and invite them to buy.

Send Catalogs

One way to increase sales online is to develop a mailing list of your customers and send them a catalog of products that compliment the original product that they purchased.  Add-on products could include upgrades, attachments, etc.  If the customer enjoys your product they will be very likely to purchase the extra add-ons.

Sell Gift Certificates

A way to increase sales online is to offer the opportunity to buy gift certificates for your products.  Not only will you make a sale from the purchase of the gift certificate, the customer may also buy other products from your website.

Give freebies

Don’t be afraid to give freebies.  Increase sales online by including free products with your customer’s order.  Make sure that the freebies has your ad printed on them with a clear way to order products from you.

Conclusion

The list in this article is not all inclusive, but it is a start.  These are easy yet powerful strategies that you can begin to implement immediately.  Using these strategies can increase your sales rate substantially.  Use these strategies as well as others that make your customer feel special.  Enjoy selling.  To your success!

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

3 Things Needed to Run a Successful Internet Business

There are basically three things needed in order to have a successful internet business.  You need a product, copywriting, and traffic.  There is no need for rocket science here.  If you have these three things competently performed you can have a successful internet business.  The following is a brief discussion about competency in these three areas and how you can master each one.

Most Sought After Product

In order to have a successful internet business you have to offer a product that is most sought after.  You won’t do very well if you offer a product that people don’t want.  Don’t fall into the trap of offering a product because you think it’s cool.  There are two things that you can look at to help you determine if a product is a most sought after product. 

1.        Do you see that a lot of people are searching for that product?  (You can use the Overture Tool to find this out.)

2.       When people are buying you will see a significant amount of marketers who are willing to pay a significant amount of money for traffic for that search term.  Is this what you are seeing with the product you have chosen?  (You can use the Overture tool to figure this out.)

In order to have a successful internet business you have to be careful not to get too hung up on the product.  The product is actually the least important of the three items.  Copywriting and traffic is infinitely more important to your business.  Don’t spend an inordinate amount of time developing a product.  There are thousands of products available online that you can market and earn a percentage as an affiliate.  Searching for products to find a most sought after product should not take very long.  In fact, choosing a product to sell should take a half an hour or less.

Killer Copywriting

To have a successful internet business you have to have killer copywriting.  Once you have chosen a product that people want you need to describe your product.  This will be done in a variety of ways.  One way that you describe your product will be by a sales page that you create on a website.  You may also write small text ads to run on PPC search engines to describe your product.  Another way that you will describe your product is by writing ads similar to PPC ads to enter into affiliate networks.  Finally, you will write articles and resource boxes for those articles as well as signature lines for forums to describe your product.

The main idea is that copywriting is what conveys the message about your product.  Copywriting is simply clever ways of presenting your offer with words.  Sometimes pictures are used and sometimes videos are used but what actually does the selling is the words.  Now that you are an internet marketer you are in the business of words.

Deciding which words to use can be tricky.  If you are a beginner copywriter you have three choices available to you. 

1.        Hire a copywriter.  The good ones are fairly high priced.  They can easily range from $5,000 to $10,000 a sales page.

2.       Get your words scored by copywriting software. 

3.       Fail forward as you learn.  Persistency is what works with this option.

Traffic Traffic Traffic

After you have developed copy that sells, you need drive people to it.  This is called driving traffic on the internet.  If you want to have a successful internet business you need to drive traffic to your site.

There are many ways to get traffic on the internet.  The two ways that come recommended for beginners because they are free are search engine optimization and article submission.  Search engine optimization gets you free traffic when you rank high for search terms associated with your product.  Article submission requires you to write articles.  The articles that you write can get you recognition as well as backlinks to your site.

There are three factors to search engine optimization that you should focus on.  Urls, on page optimization and links to your site.

Choose Domain and URLs that include keywords.  Optimize your sales page using key words.  If you are having trouble with keyword selection or search engine optimization try out The Beginner’s Guide to SEO by Moz.  This guide can be found online.  As far as getting inbound links to your site use article submission.  At the end of each article you should include a resource box that includes a URL that leads back to your sales page.  You should also optimize that resource box.

Conclusion

That’s it in a nutshell.  This is all you need in order to run a successful internet business.  You simply need to choose the right product, the right words for your copy and the right means of generating traffic. 

Good luck in your own efforts to run a successful internet business.

To your success!

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

How to Drive Traffic to Your Site for Free

If you own a website you are amongst the thousands, maybe even millions when you dream of how to drive traffic to your site.  There are literally millions of sites and getting yours noticed among the masses can be a pretty tedious task.  It is not uncommon for people to think that they have to spend hundreds or thousands on pay per click campaigns or to have someone optimize their site for search engines.  I am happy to tell you that you don’t have to spend the big bucks in order to get your site noticed.  There is a very easy way to get traffic to your site without investing a single dime.  The way is simply content.  This article will explore how you can use content to draw more traffic to your website.

What Meta Tags Do I Need, Or Do I?

Before we go any further lets dismiss the notion that Meta Tags are key in getting search engine traffic.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Meta tags are important, however the thing that really solicits the attention of search engines is content.  The goal is to have as much content about a subject as you can on your site.  The chances of getting traffic from a search engine is directly influenced by how much information regarding a subject is included. 

Are Keywords Important?

Learning how to drive traffic to your site for free is easy.  You just have to remember to do simple things like making sure that you mention your topic plenty of times on the page.  Make every effort to not be too redundant but try to mention a keyword at least six times.  Be careful not to do any keyword spamming because this could get you blocked from the search engines.  This means don’t just type your keyword over and over again without adding any noteworthy content.  Just an FYI, don’t make your content frame based because search engines have a harder time picking up these pages.  Make your content pages single pages.

How Much Content Is Enough?

One thing to consider when thinking on how to drive traffic to your site is the number of content pages that you will need to deliver.  The number of content pages that you need will depend on the topic of your site.  Topics that are unique will not require many pages.  However, if the market that you have chosen is saturated you might need to produce hundreds of articles to get your site hoisted to the top of the search engine results pages.  It may sound like a lot of work but it really is not so bad once you get into it.  Just start with writing a few articles each day.  Within a month you will have more than enough content to start receiving the traffic you deserve. 

Another thing to think about when considering how to drive traffic to your site is producing enough content in order to make the search engines happy.  There are actually several ways that you can come up with content.  One way is to revisit old trainings that you have bought and use the material in those trainings as topics.  A second way is to visit Barnes and Noble and seek out books on your niche.  Look for lists in these books and use these lists on your site.  A third way to come up with content is to hire a free-lance writer.  You can find plenty of these easily on line.  Even Fiver offers people who will develop content for you for just five bucks.  There are also sites that offer content for free. 

Conclusion

Keep in mind when considering how to drive traffic to your site for free that if you build the content the traffic will come.

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

Which is Better for Increased Website Traffic Pop ups vs Banner Advertising

There is not one person who uses the internet that does not know that if you use the internet you will be presented with advertisement.  All types of companies and products are advertised on the internet.  Advertisements on the internet, no matter how annoying, has become accepted as a necessary evil.  The acceptance of web advertising has led to the creation of millions of pop-ups and banner ads on the internet.  Both pop-ups and banner ads have their place in internet marketing.  However some wonder which creates more website traffic.  Consumers have given a clue by use of statistics of effectiveness.

Pop ups Are Annoying

Most people view pop-ups as annoying advertisements.  Pop-ups that include blinking lights can be dangerous for users with certain medical conditions.  Pop-ups have ranked as the most hated form of advertisement.  Taking note of how annoying pop-ups are do you wonder why they are still used?  The fact is that even though pop-ups are annoying they are very effective.  Millions of people actually respond to pop-ups when they appear on their screen.  One of the reasons that people participate with the pop-ups is because many pop-ups are used as a medium to offer free services to site visitors.  The operators of these pop-ups will merely state that in order to offer the site for free they must use pop-up advertisements.  Users who want to use the site without paying will often accept this excuse without further ado.

Pop-up ads have their difficulty.  Many programs, these days, will not allow pop-ups through.  This simply means that when a pop-up is meant to appear a pop-up blocker program does not allow the pop-up to happen.  It effectively blocks the pop-up ad from reaching the online visitor.  Pop-up blockers are very effective and ultimately costs the advertiser plenty of money when the advertisement does not reach its intended viewer.  Technology has changed a lot and now advertisers  can use newly programmed pop-ups that can bypass “blockers” delivering the ads to your screen whether you want to see them or not.

Banner Ads Advertising

Advertisers began offering banner ads because of the annoyance site visitors felt with the pop-ups.  Advertisers had hoped that in offering a less bothersome form of advertisements the results would be better.  Webmasters began to stick banner ads in every available spot on their site.  Site owners quickly found out that even though pop-ups are more annoying they are far more effective than banner ads.   People do not interact with the banner ads as frequently as they interact with pop-ups.  One reason is that banner ads are not thrust into the site visitor’s face like pop-ups are.  They are usually set off on the side margin.  Most of the people who come into contact with banner ads are probably struck with inattentional blindness.  This means that their eyes are so focused on the content of the page that they fail to notice the banner ads in the margins of the page.

Many users prefer banner ads.  The reason is that banner ads are easier on the eye and are unnoticeable.  This is a good thing for the user but not the advertiser.  Advertisers want their ads to be noticeable.  They would prefer to annoy the site visitor instead of having their ads go unnoticed.  Many sites have discontinued using banner ads because of their ineffectiveness.  In fact some say that banner ads are dead.

Conclusion

The answer to the question which is better pop-up ads or banner ads will vary with whoever is doing the answering.  The consumer will most likely say that banner ads are much better than the annoying pop-ups.  Advertisers will most likely tell you the opposite.  Both have their own distinct place on the internet.  The truth be told, is that unless users dramatically begin to boycott pop-ups, they will continue to replace banner ads.  Right now, the advertisers are the ones that get to choose which is shown more often.  Since this is the case, pop-ups will probably continue to replace banner ads for years to come.

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