Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

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

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

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

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

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

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

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

Labels: marketing, networking, start business, Underground Seminar, Yanik Silver

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

Labels: marketing, networking, start business

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

Labels: marketing, predictions, search engine optimization

Internet Marketing in the 2010s -- Videos Disrupt the Value Equation
With video getting easier for anyone to do online, ebooks are becoming less and less valuable in the minds of your potential customers. This decrease in perceived value will continue throughout the new decade.

You can't charge the same price for a downloadable ebook as you can charge for that exact same information in a nicely packaged, physically shipped, video DVD. And with it becoming increasingly easy for any marketer to produce nicely packaged, physically shipped, video DVDs, those who stick strictly with PDF ebooks will get left in the dust.

The more technologically advanced way that information is packaged, the higher customers perceive its value. That means that as video becomes more common online, the more that people expect that valuable information will be packaged in that way.

Does that mean that ebooks are dead? By no means. They will still serve a valuable purpose as supporting materials. You will still be able to increase the value of your video product by including bonuses in written form:

• Transcripts of your video
• Fact sheets
• Step-by-step process blueprints
• Cheat sheets
• Tip sheets
• Resource lists

They will also serve a valuable purpose as low-end door-openers to introduce yourself to potential customers and get them into the sales funnel for your higher-end products. Ebooks won't go away. They simply won't be the core of selling information online.

The days of getting $97 for an ebook are fast disappearing though. (Although you still might be able to get $97 for the same information in a set of DVDs with assorted bonuses.)

It will become important as the decade progresses to master creating products in forms that customers perceive as requiring higher technological skill. As I said before, these skills are increasingly available to marketers, so there's not reason not to learn them.

If you're currently feeling a little behind the curve of Internet product creation, I suggest you check out Jim Edwards' "The Net Reporter" training site. Jim is at the forefront of teaching marketers how to create all of the product types that have the highest perceived values. And you'll get training not just on product creation, but on all aspects of promoting your products, too. TNR is the one business expense I would never cut unless I was closing my business forever.

Whether you're already comfortable with creating products in forms that have higher perceived value or looking to learn, it will be important to move your product creation into those higher perceived forms.
Jeff

Labels: Jim Edwards, marketing, predictions, The Net Reporter, video