Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

2010-02-08T05:59:00.003-06:00

Google AdWords Tips: When You Want Traffic FAST!
Getting targeted traffic is always on every business owner's mind. So we'll take this week to look at the absolute quickest way of bringing visitors to your site, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Of course, that speed in attracting visitors comes at a price. You can't do PPC marketing without spending any money. You pay for every visitor you receive through these ads.

This strategy, therefore, is not for you if you have no money to invest in promotion. It is not for you if you're starting your business on a shoestring and need strategies that rely on investing your time instead of your money.

That said, though, it is almost impossible to beat when it comes to how quickly it can generate traffic. Set up an account in the morning and you can be seeing visitors from it by noon.

That's why it's the strategy of choice for many established marketers when they enter a new market. I'll give this warning, though. It can also be an enormous money drain if you go into it blind and don't consistently track and improve your ads. You have to approach AdWord intelligently.

Over the rest of the week, I'll share tips about using PPC profitably. I'll share:

The best sources of PPC traffic
The three key rules for keeping your PPC advertising profitable
An absolute must for PPC advertising that almost all beginners overlook
The essential questions to ask yourself before starting PPC advertising
My favorite resources for PPC marketing

Admittedly, this week will be a basic-to-intermediate look at PPC advertising in general and Google AdWords specifically. I won't go all the way back to ground zero and explain, "This is what Google is," or "This is what an ad is."

I'll assume you know enough to set up your ads without me walking you through the basic steps. This will be more along the lines of what to do to keep your bank account from being drained by common AdWords mistakes.

I won't go into advanced strategies, though. If you're already fairly advanced in Google AdWords and want to step up to play with the AdWords big boys, you might want to check out a very special event that is starting soon.

One of my mentors, Perry Marshall, is teaming with copywriting legend John Carlton to hold an eight-week, online workshop called Adwords Copywriting Intensive that starts next week.

This workshop will apply all of John Carlton's copywriting genius to Google ads, opt-in pages, sales letters and email followup (the killer "sales funnel" developed by Perry that STILL is the top producing formula online).

WARNING: this workshop is NOT for beginners. But if you think you have what it takes to boost your AdWords skills to the upper echelon, by all means check it out!
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-07T07:18:00.003-06:00

Are You Giving Up Too Soon?
Here's a favorite quote from H. Ross Perot:

"Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown."

How true this is! We've grown up with instant this and instant that. We've come to expect instant success.

If we don't achieve business success on the first try, we give up. We complain about our "bad luck." We complain that the "system" is holding us back.

Or we assume that the fault lies with us. Something is lacking in us that "successful people" have.

In reality, most of our "failures" are simply a case of giving up too soon. We try something to promote our business and don't get instant results. So we abandon that and try something else.

Or we wait until our backs are against the wall and we need that success RIGHT NOW just to survive. We look for the easy switch to turn on success. Then when we find that there's no switch for us to turn on, we find ourselves with no resources left to keep us going what we get our business going.

The key is to choose a direction and then follow it through to success. Build momentum. Give it time to grow.

You don't plant an acorn in the ground and expect a 40 foot oak tree to be there the next morning. You watch it grow at its own rate.

The same thing goes with businesses. You don't cut them off because they're only shoot and haven't grown into a tree yet.

Hang in there! Keep moving forward. Learn from your mistakes when momentum slows. But DON'T GIVE UP!
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:BlinkDel.icio.usDigg
FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-06T06:20:00.001-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Being Observant
This is one of my favorite ways of finding a topic for articles -- and an absolute staple of my blog. I love to find connections to new business insights in such mundane things as watching a bridge being built, walking past an unrented storefront, passing a business sign that someone has covered with a tarp, or the change in household duties required by my wife's broken wrist.

If you can keep track of the ideas that unconnected events trigger in your mind, you can have an almost unlimited supply of engaging article ideas that you can share with others.

The problem is not that no ideas exist about which you can write an article. The problem usually is that we simply haven't trained our minds to recognize the multitude of article ideas that bombard us every day.

Train your eyes to see those ideas. Then, go out and write some articles.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-05T06:24:00.002-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from PLR Content
If you have trouble coming up with ideas for articles, Private Label Rights (PLR) content is a great way to get ideas. Most people feel more comfortable editing content rather than writing it from scratch. PLR content gives you prewritten content that you can edit to make it uniquely your own.

The temptation with PLR content is to take the prewritten articles and submit them -- as is -- to article sites. The problem with that is that many other people buy those same articles and submit them to the same directories.

It doesn't take much for the article directories to catch on that article A is identical to article B. Once they find that, you can forget about them accepting that article. You could even find yourself banned from submitting to that directory ever again.

Use PLR articles to get you started. Get your idea from the PLR article and then take it from there to make your article unique. I'm not talking about changing a word here or there. I'm talking about making your article completely UNIQUE.

Most PLR articles I've seen are pretty lame, anyway. Most are pretty generic. They desperately need better writing and more useful content.

Take the PLR articles you buy and make them your own. You're much more likely to get them accepted that way.

By the way, if you'd just as soon outsource your article writing to someone else, check out Spin Ready PLR. You work with writers who write specifically for your niche (as opposed to most PLR sites who write articles for a variety of niches that might not always be a good fit for you). And they present your finished articles to you in a way that makes it extremely simple to "spin" them into a completely unique article.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-04T06:09:00.000-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Old Books on Your Market
Unless your niche came into existence yesterday, you can step back into the past for an article topic. Look at older books about your niche. Consider what has changed and what hasn't.

Those changes (or lack of them) give you several angles to use in approaching your topic.

What has changed and how those changes affect your readers
Why things have changed
What those changes suggest about the future of your niche
What hasn't changed and remains as a timeless value to you and your readers
What things that have dropped out of favor are ripe to be rediscovered

Does this work only if your niche has been around for 3,000 years? Absolutely not. Any niche that has changed over any period of time is ripe for this approach.

Consider the Internet. It has been commonly used only for the past 15 years. Yet look at how much it has changed over that time!

Any niche that has grown and developed gives you a chance to use this approach. Things DO change in virtually every niche. Take advantage of that fact.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-03T07:15:00.002-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Classic Stories
Another good source for articles is by taking a universally known story, like a fairy tale, and drawing a connection between it and your area of expertise.

Classic stories resonate with people because they touch a familiar chord in their own experience, even if they've never stepped through a looking glass, or done a taste test of porridge in a house built by three bears, or accompanied a Jedi knight on a quest to save the universe.

Tap into the shared experience that cause people to connect with those stories. Tie those shared experiences in those stories to your topic and you'll engage people's curiosity to see what new insights you're leading them toward.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-02T07:12:00.000-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Quotes, Products, and News
Another place to get article ideas is from quotes that strike you. You can use an insightful statement from someone in your industry and create an entire article off of your reaction to it. What emotional response does it trigger? What further insights does it generate in you?

If your industry isn't one in which insightful quotes abound, you can write about your reaction to news, to products, to trends. If you have a good pulse on your industry, you should find no end of topics to write about.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-02-01T07:07:00.002-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Other People's Lists
Look for a topic you'd like to write about. Find an article that is written in list format - " Five Ways to...," "Seven Best Tips for...," "Three Little-Known Ways to..."

Look at the items in the list. Chances are that each of those list items could be fleshed into a solid article all on its own.

Focus on whatever items you can cover in more depth than the original list did. Write a complete article on that one item.

As I've said in other article idea tips, don't copy. Don't even paraphrase. Use what you found in the other writer's article strictly as an idea from which you provide your own, unique viewpoint on the issue.

By hunting for these list-type articles, you'll get ideas for not just one, but multiple articles that you can write.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-31T07:14:00.000-06:00

From Opposite Points of View
Here's a favorite quote from Winston Churchill:

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

I'm not sure what I can add to this one. Its blessed simplicity says it all. Two people looking at the exact same situation can see two different things based on their point of view.

In reality, I'm not sure there even is a difference between difficult and opportunity. They are two sides of the same coin. They always come joined as one.

The key is to look at the side of the coin that serves you best. And by that, I mean to see the opportunity. I am firmly convinced that all difficulties are just a kind of school bell ringing to tell you it's time to learn something.

Train yourself to look for that lesson when you experience difficulty. Train yourself to look for the opportunity. It's all there. You just have to look for it.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:BlinkDel.icio.usDigg
FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-30T06:53:00.000-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas by Creating a List
Take a topic that you can easily break down into a list – " Five Ways to…," "Seven Best Tips for…," "Three Little-Known Ways to…"

Readers love this kind of articles. It suggests to them that the subject is simple to understand and easy to break down.

It doesn't even matter if you know that more list items could appear on your list. As a matter of fact, being able to come up with more is even better.

Include in your article the number of tips you chose in your title to cover. The fact that you know of even more that could have been included in your list gives you an opportunity to encourage readers to visit your site to find out the rest.

Put more tips in a special report. Then, in your resource box, tell readers that they can get however many more tips in your special report that they can get from your site. This gives them an incentive to visit your site and sign up for "the rest of the story."
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-29T06:46:00.000-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Other Writers
You can get ideas for your own articles from other people's articles. Don't get me wrong on this. I'm not suggesting you plagiarize other people's work. You can, however, take an IDEA from somebody else's article and take that idea in your own direction.

Don't copy their words. Don't even paraphrase them. Take the idea and use your own experience with the subject to give it a completely different perspective.

I find that doing this not only gives me a lot of article ideas that I wouldn't have identified on my own, but it keeps me from beating to death a lot of the pet subjects that jump into my brain when I try to generate an article idea off the top of my head.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-28T06:53:00.002-06:00

Time to Set Sail
Here's a favorite quote from Mark Twain:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover."

This one has a lot more meaning for me as I grow older. Some things have already passed me by. I always wanted to rock climb. I always wanted to explore caves. I never did either, and the chances of doing that now are pretty much gone.

With my wife now being limited by a bad knee, athletic activities like those are not likely, unless I choose to do them on my own. Frankly, starting hobbies that would exclude her don't interest me. But I sometimes wish I would have done them when I had a chance -- and when I could have shared them with my children.

Even if some of the things you once wanted to do have passed you by, there are still things that haven't. You have things right now that are ripe for you to do. But the time may come when those things pass out of possibility for you. Don't make the mistake of letting that pass by, too!

Throw off the bowlines! Sail away from the safe harbor! Catch the trade winds in your sails! Explore, dream, discover!

There's still time. And that time is now!
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:BlinkDel.icio.usDigg
FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-27T07:28:00.002-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas Turning Your Knowledge into Multiple Articles
Do you have knowledge in your subject area about a topic that is too broad to work for a single article? Break it down into multiple articles.

Many tasks or processes lend themselves quite well to this approach. Many times the parts of a process can stand alone as complete articles. For example, you can do separate articles on various tasks involved in setting up a website:

How to buy a domain name
What to look for in hosting
What technical steps to take with your hosting once you have it
What site building tools to use
And so on...

(Or, ahem, you could do a series of articles on different ideas for getting ideas for articles. Oh, wait. Somebody has already done that.)

The point is, you have a lot of knowledge in your field that you can break down into bite-sized chunks from which you can create articles. Just take a process or an area of your expertise and break down how many different standalone articles you can create out of it.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-26T07:25:00.002-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Problems You Solve

As you do a task or tackle a problem that your target audience also experiences, write down what you do. As you answer a question that one of you target audience asks, write down the advice you give.

Stuff like that is a goldmine for articles. Not only does it give you a great idea, but as you write out your answer, you end up with a complete article that merely needs a little polishing in order to present as a quality article.

Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-25T06:55:00.002-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas by Repurposing Old Content
This week I'm sharing ways to come up with articles that you can syndicate to article directories or to content sites that agree to publish your articles. Yesterday I told you how the idea for this whole week's worth of blog posts came from commenting on someone else's blog post.

Plenty of other ways of getting ideas for articles exist as well. You can take things you have written for another audience and repurpose it for a new one. For example, many of this week's blog posts will come from articles I had already written for different audiences.

With a little bit of tweaking and updating, an old article becomes fresh and current and new. It's a fairly quick way of writing an article -- much quicker than most people's ordeal of sitting down, scratching their head about what to write, and slogging through a new article from scratch.

One thing, though, is essential for this approach. When you write something, keep track of it. Organize yourself. I know. "Organize" is a dirty word for some, but it's a remarkable time saver.

File it electronically in folders that let you easily find it when you choose your topic. That way, you'll always have content at your fingertips that you can quickly work into articles that you can submit.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-24T07:08:00.004-06:00

Keys to Article Marketing - Getting Great Article Ideas from Your Own Blog Comments
You've heard it many times before. Content is King when it comes to the Internet.

Good content draws people to your site. Good content keeps them there.

What if you draw a blank when you sit down to write all that great content, though? Throughout this week, I'll give you some tips to help you find ways to get past that dreaded "blank screen syndrome," so you can create the quality content you need. Here's the first.

Post comments on other people's blogs. I create a lot of my content that way. I add my insights to whatever topic the blogger discussed. Then I take my insights and flesh them out into a full article on the subject that is 100% unique.

I've found that the act of commenting triggers my creativity and gets me out of the "what should I write about" swamp. I rarely sit down and try to think of a topic anymore. Even when I need to write on a particular subject, I always get myself going by seeing what others have said about the same subject. Inspiration comes quickly and easily that way.

Incidentally, this blog post came directly from a comment I posted on someone else's blog. And once I had this post, it was only natural to see how I could create an entire week's worth of posts out of the subject, describing other tips that I use to spark ideas.

One blog comment = two weeks' worth of content. Not a bad technique for overcoming the blank screen syndrome!
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-23T07:14:00.000-06:00

How to Find Out Exactly What Your Customers Want

Yesterday, I talked about the importance of listening to your potential customers. Today, I want to share an incredible free webinar on keyword research that lays out a killer way of finding out exactly what is on your customers' minds and tapping into it.

Grab a cup of coffee settle in. It's two hours, but it's well worth you time!

The first half is OK. It covers a lot of basics about the differences between market research versus keyword research.

The best part of the first half laid out the different goals that different people might have for their research and what types of tools were best for each type.

The second half is what really blew me away, though. Keyword research expert Jim Morris spent a full hour walking listeners through every step of finding a profitable niche.

He dealt with details that most people don't even think of. It is really a must-hear for anyone who is about to research a niche.

I'd even recommend it for anyone whose business is not as profitable as they hoped. Following the tips he gave can apply equally well to someone who wants to take their existing site and go back to make it more effective.

Check out how the master of niche research does it.

Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-22T07:27:00.001-06:00

The Magic of LISTENING to Your Customers
Throughout the early part of this week, I've talked about the importance of making connections with other business owners. They are not the only group of people with whom it is important for you to make connections, though.

It is crucial to make connections with your customers, as well. Yet many online marketers try to structure their business to limit their contact with customers to nothing more than handing over their money or, at most, a simple question or two in preparation for handing over their money.

You can make a lot more money, though, if you simply train yourself to listen to your customers. How do you do that? Here's something I shared with another group of marketers not so long ago about this subject.

+++++++++++

Ever dreamed of taking your $500 startup to the top of a multi-billion dollar industry? A man name Tom Monaghan did exactly that.

He did it in a way that industry analysts said was impossible. He did it by actually doing what his larger competitors only paid lip-service to.

And what he did serves as a lesson for anyone building a small business into something larger.

A story of improbable success

In 1973, Tom Monaghan ran a small, but growing pizza chain, Dominos. Ten years earlier, he and his brother had bought a single, failing pizza restaurant for $500. Monaghan had much higher ambitions, though, than running only one store.

He wanted to take Dominos into the top three pizza chains in the world. Experts dismissed his dreams. They said he didn't have nearly enough money to buy enough market share against larger brands.

Lacking the money to buy his way in the traditional way, he went at it from another direction. He listened to his customers.

What his competitors missed

His larger, fat-cat competitors paid lip-service to the idea of giving the customers what they wanted. They turned to "market experts" and their artificial market research decide on how to win the hearts of customers.

Dominos, though, developed ways to listen directly to customers and respond quickly to their needs and preferences. While the biggers chains guessed, Monaghan took action on what customers really wanted.

Dominos became and remains the fastest-growing pizza chain in the world. They did this mainly because they consistently are the first to adapt to changes in the market. They accomplish this because of the systems they developed for listening to customers and anticipating changes in market demand.

It serves as a graphic reminder of the value of listening to your customers.

Ways to find out what you're clients are thinking

Listen to your customers when you talk to them face to face. Pay attention to their questions. Note what they say they like or don't like.

Ask them questions. Even read between the lines to unearth things that they might not say about what they want or how they feel -- even things that they might not be consciously aware of themselves.

Do the same with emails or phone calls they send you. Keep a log of what you learn from their communications with you. Look through that log occasionally to spot patterns that can help you better respond to their needs.

If your business is in an area that people talk about online (such as health, decorating, beauty, etc.), follow those blogs and forums and take note of what's important to them.

What about using surveys?

You can even do surveys, either on paper or online. Be careful, though, not to bias the surveys by asking questions in ways that telegraph what you expect them to answer. Ask them in ways that encourage them to give more details.

Instead of, "Do you like...?" ask, "What do you like best about...?" Instead of, "Is there anything you don't like about...?" ask, "What could we do better about...?"

Keep it simple. Ask them at least three questions, but don't be disrespectful of their time. Don't expect them to devote an hour of their time to answering your questions unless you've offered them a nice gift for their effort.

As much as possible, ask questions that encourage them to give details. You don't want every question to request an essay, but stay away from simple Yes/No questions, too.

Instead of Yes/No questions, put them in the form of rating from one to five or one to ten on how much they agree or disagree with a statement.

Make sure that your most crucial questions get them to answer in their own words, as described above. While you may find those answers harder to categorize, they can reveal the greatest insights about your business.

Take action on what you discover

As you listen to your customers, make sure you take action on what you discover. Tom Monaghan didn't build his business so dramatically by listening to and then ignoring his customers.

He dug into their wants and needs so he could better fill them. Take action on what you learn from your customers so you can grow, too.

Final thoughts

Tom Monaghan built a massive franchise that nobody thought he had the money to build. He did it with a tenacious determination to listen to his customers and incorporate their greatest wants and needs into the services he offered them.

Listening to your customers is an absolutely free way to build your business. And, as Monaghan shows, it's a powerfully effective way, too.
Jeff

P.S. Did you find this article helpful? It is one of the chapters in an upcoming book I am writing. I've been giving weekly previews of that book -- and another book -- to interested readers. If you'd like to find out more about getting previews like this one on a weekly basis for FREE, check out the page where I explain what I'm doing and why. I'd love to have your feedback.

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-21T07:22:00.001-06:00

The Fastest Way to Succeed
Here's a favorite quote from Brian Tracy:

"The fastest way for you to succeed is by piggy-backing on the good advice and counsel of men and women who have already spent years learning how to succeed. When you do this on a regular and systematic basis, you will open up doors of opportunity and possibilities for you that today you cannot even imagine."

Starting your own business can be a intimidating task. There's so much to learn!

Most people slow up their progress by going at it the wrong way. They scramble all over the Internet, trying to piece together little bits of unrelated strategies. Then they pat themselves on the back for having "learned" Internet marketing.

Brian Tracy points out, however, that the fastest way to success is far different. Instead of learning the strategies successful marketers have learned, you can succeed more quickly by studying the Internet marketers themselves.

As I've said many times. The secret is not in the tools; it's in the way you use them. And the only way to learn to use the tools successfully is to see how those who succeed at using them use them.

Personally, I learn from several mentors. I have to say I've learned much more in this way (and had much greater success) than I ever had just trying to plug in one random strategy after another.

I'll mention just one of my mentors, Jim Edwards. My biggest breakthrough in marketing has come from what I've learned from observing him up close for the past several years.

I highly recommend Jim's "The Net Reporter" training site to anyone who wants to learn from a master. Jim freely shares all the details of his successes -- and his failures. And if you want proof that you can move from where you're at with your business to where you want to be, all you have to do is look at how he moved from bankruptcy and living as, as he calls it, "trailer trash" a few short years ago to running a multi-million dollar business.

Jim's mentoring has meant a lot to me and I continue to look to him primarily as my role-model and my teacher. I invite you to do the same. You won't regret it.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:BlinkDel.icio.usDigg
FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-20T07:40:00.002-06:00

Early-Bird Special on Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar
I've been talking about Yanik Silver's Underground seminar for the past couple of days. Maybe you've thought out it. Maybe it simply isn't in your plans.

Either way, that's cool. If you've been thinking about it, though, I suggest you check it out quickly if you want to save a bit of money on it. Their early-bird special ends soon.

The price will soon go up. So if you've been waiting on checking out the seminar, I suggest you check it now. You'll save money and you'll get a couple of cool bonuses.

I'd tell you what the bonuses are, but that would be going against the hush-hush, "secret agent" theme of the seminar. So, it you're thinking about going, check out information about the seminar before you have to have to wave bye-bye to the early-bird special prices and bonuses.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-19T06:16:00.000-06:00

About Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar
I've mentioned Yanik Silver's Underground seminar the last couple of days. It's time I shared a little more about it.

It's one of the premier learning seminars in the world. It features underground entrepreneurs who have each made millions in their niches.

You get NO marketing gurus and NO pitches for marketing products. These people have no marketing products to sell, so you get nothing but the strategies that made them rich.

On top of that, Yanik offers a $10,000 "prize" to the presenter whom attendees vote as having given the most nugget-packed presentation. Yanik donates $10,000 to that presenter's choice of charity. But presenters compete like crazy to win the money for their favorite charity.

On top of that, it's a great networking event. You'll meet other marketers from all over the world.

Don't underestimate the value of networking. Even if you've always planned for your business to be something you did all by yourself with no outside contact, having other marketers to whom you can turn can be a lifesaver -- and a business-saver.

Frankly, I wouldn't still have my business if it wasn't for the networking I did at a seminar much like this one. But I've told you that story the last two days.

This year's seminar features Web 2.0 visionary Gary Vaynerchuk as the keynote speaker. The second keynote speaker is Jessica Jackley, co-founder of KIVA.org, an organization that connects investors with business startups in developing nations. KIVA, in four years, has helped loan out over $100M and connected thousands of people across 120+ countries.

As usual, most of the other speakers are unannounced. It plays in with the cool "secret agent" theme of the entire seminar. And it also protects them from competitors signing up for the seminar just to gather competitive intelligence on the precise strategies these presenters have used to dominate their markets.

These presenters, remember, are not the usual crowd of Internet marketing gurus that go around from seminar to seminar to pitch their stuff. They are highly successful business owners who are largely unknown outside their niche, but big names within them.

At any rate, those are the key points about Yanik's seminar. Check it out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it. Will it make the difference in your business that the seminar that I attended made in mine? I don't know. That's up to you.

But whether you go to Yanik's seminar or another one, if you haven't started making connections with fellow business owners, it's time you started looking for a way to start. You'd be surprised what a difference that making those connections can have.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-18T06:58:00.003-06:00

A Tale of Two Internet Marketing Seminars
I related a major turning point in my business in yesterday's post. I described how going to a live, Internet marketing seminar led me to change my mind about closing my business and returning to my old, 9-5 work world.

I want to stress one thing, though. Simply going to a marketing seminar is not a magic wand. You need to go into it with the right mindset. The seminar that turned me around was not the first one I ever attended.

I had gone to one a year earlier as well. I went there looking for information. I took copious notes. I pretty much ignored everyone around me, though. I struck up few conversations. And those conversations I had, were all brief and functional.

I gave out no business cards and got none in return. I used my meal breaks to get a table by myself and study my notes rather than meeting other business owners.

I went home from that first seminar with lots of notes that I've never put into action. I went home from that first seminar still carrying the weight of my business on my shoulders, and carrying it alone. It wasn't that the seminar wasn't any good. It was that my approach to it stunk.

I came home from the more productive seminar with ideas that I've put into action -- because those that I met there were carrying them out, too. Sharing where we all were at in integrating those strategies into our businesses kept me focused on making use of what I learned instead of filing it away.

I came back with people to bounce ideas off of and share my insights with in return. I came back from that more productive seminar feeling energized, rather than feeling even more overwhelmed.

Why would I get more out of a seminar that I went to as my "last hurrah" before closing my business? I suppose it was because I wasn't so focused on information at that seminar. I went to have fun than to cram every bit of knowledge I could into my head for future reference.

And in having fun and making connections, I was able to realize that making connections was the most important thing I needed in order to succeed at the business I was about to throw away.

Business is all about making connections. You make connections with customers. You make connections with other business owners whose businesses overlap yours. Without connections, you're toast.

Like I said yesterday, a golden opportunity is here for you to experience the same boost to your business that turned mine around. Yanik Silver's Underground seminar is open for registration. You'll get prime opportunities for learning, for fun (check out the "secret agent" theme Yanik weaves through the entire seminar experience), and, most importantly, for the connections you need to boost your passion and find like-minded individuals who can make a big difference in your business.

I encourage you to check Yanik's seminar out. And if not Yanik's seminar, find another one. I can't stress how much a good seminar can do for your business.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-17T07:28:00.002-06:00

How a Successful Online Business Nearly Drove Me Back to Work
In January of 2007, I made a decision. I was closing my business.

It wasn't because I wasn't making any money at it. For five years, I had made my full-time living online.

But I was willing to shut it down. It had become a burden to me. Going back to the 9-5 work world looked more attractive than working from home.

Doesn't that sound crazy? I'm sure it does to anyone stuck in a 9-5 job that they hate, anyone who longs for the freedom that running their own business would bring.

But I missed certain things about working for someone else. I missed being able to pop into the next cubicle and bounce ideas off of someone -- or just shoot the breeze. I missed having someone say, "Good job!" for a job done particularly well.

I missed people.

I had structured my business to have minimal contact with others. I had a few clients, but I reported to them on a limited basis. I had some customers online, but interaction with them was pretty limited as well.

I sat at my computer -- on my own schedule -- and did whatever tasks I wanted. I made all my own decisions and didn't have to deal with any diverging opinions. I was my own boss.

Many people would kill to be in the position I was in. But I had grown to hate it. I had grown to hate it so much that I had decided to shut it down.

I was already job-hunting. I had one, last hurrah as a self-employed person. Then I would wind things down.

See, before I had made my decision to shut my business down, I had signed up for a big Internet marketing seminar. I had already paid for it. I already had the plane tickets and the reservations.

Other than the hotel cost and incidentals, I wouldn't get that money back anyway. So my wife and I decided to go ahead with the trip. My daughters would fly there, too, and see the town with her, while I would go to through the motions at the seminar. Then I would come home and shut my business down.

A funny thing happened at that seminar, though. My fire returned.

I made new friends. I formed joint ventures. I ate lunch with business owners who had gone through the exact same feelings of isolation and found out how they dealt with them.

Don't get me wrong. My renewed excitement wasn't just about meeting people. I learned a lot from the speakers, too. I learned strategies that have served me very well in building my business since then.

I came out of there with with a lot of quality ideas. Still, all of that would have been meaningless if I hadn't solved that feeling of isolation. The most important thing with which I came out of that seminar was the realization that I was not alone.

I had people to bounce things off of. I had people to share experiences with. Some of us formed a mastermind group that still meets regularly to encourage each other and hold each other accountable.

I would not still have my own business today if it wasn't for that seminar.

That seminar comes to mind right now because one of the biggest -- and best -- seminars is approaching. Yanik Silver's Underground Seminar is open for registration now.

Whether you've reached the point in your business where you're starting to miss the camaraderie of the job site or not, I highly encourage you to look into this seminar -- or whatever others you can find.

You'll leave there with new ideas and new strategies that will be immensely valuable for your business. You'll leave there with new, human connections that will be absolutely priceless.

One thing about Yanik's Underground seminars: Yanik always makes sure his attendees have fun!

It's not your typical business seminar. He weaves a spy theme throughout his seminars. Check out the information page and you'll get an taste of the fun he weaves in.

Bottom line, if you're isolating yourself in your business, MAKE CONNECTIONS! Take some of weight of working alone off your shoulders. And even if you don't feel that weight yet, MAKE CONNECTIONS before you do.

Going to a seminar three years ago made the difference between me having my own business now and being stuck back in my old 9-5 world. Consider going to Yanik's seminar, or whatever other one you can find. I think it will make a huge difference in your business -- and your life -- too.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-16T16:00:00.001-06:00

Is Online Business Really an Escape from the World?
Lots of people go into business online with the idea of escaping the daily work world. Many picture a life where they don't have to deal with bosses or irritating co-workers.

They picture a life where they can wear what they want, work when they want, and do what they want without bosses telling them otherwise. They picture a life without having to wrestle with co-workers over how to do things. They picture a life that doesn't force them to pick up the slack from a lazy or incompetent co-workers in order to avoid having their joint tasks fail.

In other words, they picture a life where everybody leaves them alone.

Internet marketing doesn't work that way, though. In any business, there's this little thing called CUSTOMERS. If you try to cut yourself off from potential customers, they never become PAYING customers. And if you don't get any paying customers... well your refrigerator gets miiiiiighty empty.

If you're starting a business to get away from people, you're going to change that attitude -- or you're going to fail. It's that simple. If anything, starting a business puts you that much closer to a lot more people.

Your contact with them involves more than just sharing responsibility with them for getting tasks done. You have to be able to get into their heads. You have to be able to identify and fill their needs.

Starting a business is not an escape from people. It's a commitment to embrace people more than ever. If you can't -- or don't want to -- interact with others, starting a business isn't for you.

Over the next few days, we look at embracing others. I'll share with you some stories of how I went from isolation to socialization in my business and the differences that change made. And I'll share some ideas of how to get started making any shifts you need to make in your thinking to make your business more successful.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you how working at home nearly drove me back into the 9-5 work world. See you then!
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb

2010-01-16T07:37:00.002-06:00

Internet Marketing in the 2010s -- The Death of SEO
The SEO that we've all "grown up" with is dying. The days when you could check your ranking and know that everyone who searches for that keyword will see your site in the exact same position is long gone.

The search engines have long taken the location from which a search initiates into consideration. They boost listings that are geographically closer in cases where they believe that the searcher would prefer listings nearer to where he or she is.

The days are coming, though, where the results for someone a block away from you may have no resemblance to the results you get for the same search. Personalized search will make it much harder to state with any certainty what your rank is.

The search engines infer more and more about individual searcher intent from the way they see the searcher respond to their search results. They tweak future results to try to better anticipate each searcher's intent.

Sites on which a searcher stays longer before returning to their search results get a boost in rankings for that searcher in future searches. Sites from which a searcher immediately abandons gets downgraded for future searches. Sites that consistently keep their visitors engaged get a ranking boost for searchers who have given no prior preferences.

What does this mean for you? Increasingly in this new decade, it will be essential for you to engage your audience, increase stickiness, and increase conversions. The more useful your site proves to be for searchers, the greater your chances of ranking well in more people's individualized search results.

Does all this mean that the many major seo companies will die? Those who don't adapt will. The smart ones, though, will shift their focus from merely making simple onsite tweaks and gathering incoming links. The smart ones will add services that help clients engage and serve their visitors better.

Make sure you understand how to retain and convert your visitors better. This is fast becoming crucial in boosting your search engine rankings. And, even if it played no part in your rankings, it is still key to your bottom line.
Jeff

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS:
BlinkDel.icio.usDigg

FurlGoogleSimpySpurlY! MyWeb