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Is the “heyday” of Internet information products now over?  Although it may be currently more difficult to market online information products, this is far from true.  New products are being created on a daily basis.  In many ways, Internet information products are similar to books in the more traditional publishing industry. After all, aren’t online products usually just e-books?

First of all, just because an idea has been taken, doesn’t mean you can’t create your own improved or targeted version.  As in any industry there are usually several major competitors present in order to give consumers a choice and the lowest possible prices through competition.  In addition, consider just how many ideas that exist as products today didn’t even exist 6 months ago.

Why then is it considered difficult to create new products by many Internet marketers?  Or, why do many get stuck?

Jason Fladlien of Rapid Crush Consulting believes in cutting the fluff from products.  In other words, “one product, one solution.”  What is just one way to run a Facebook ads campaign, for example?  Jason’s first product was called “How to write an article in 7 minutes or less.”  His product, published Nov 12th, 2007 sold initially for $4.  At the time, Paypal took over 10%, and he had 268 sales in less than 24 hours.  He increased the price to $7 and later to $17 and continued to make more sales.  Even today, selling for $47, the same product earned him $188 in 10 days this month.

But isn’t Jason an accomplished copywriter, and don’t  you need to be Superman to do this?  Not according to Jason, because in his experience, speed is the most important factor holding most back from their own breakthrough.  Profits from low cost, simple products can be used to invest in future products.  And success is inevitable, because every completed product adds an asset to your business regardless of whether or not it produces immediate financial return.

Can anyone do this, really?  Most people are held back by their own belief systems, which must usually be destroyed first.  Jason’s own success came through a simple principle of first creating a product in one sitting of two hours or less.  After this, he was he able to move on to creation of more in depth, complex products.  Jason’s Rapid Crush software products are also often the result of leveraging existing works that haven’t been properly marketed, further keeping the process as simple as possible.  Concentrating on bite-sized chunks can increase your own belief system through your own initial results.

Jason is now offering a repeat of his very successful product creation eclass including these and additional concepts from his own success.  So, as an entrepreneur, whether you’re looking to become an author or the next Internet marketing sensation, this may be the place to be.  It is certainly worth a look if you believe you just might have that spark within that needs to be released.  Jason will introduce his class in a webinar on Saturday, January 21 2012.

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Chris Kent is having a new year’s party at his home.  It’s a “list building” party.  In network marketing Chris believes firmly in building a list of contacts.  Of course this is wise practice for anyone who is the the sales realm.Chris Kent Numis Networks Fouder

But in network marketing, the proprietor is truly a sole proprietor, although often backed by a multi million dollar (or in some cases billion dollar) enterprise.  In a recent meeting among distributors in his business (which is Numis Network), Chris asked how many attendees had actually made a list of at least 100 prospects to contact.  Only about 6 in attendance had actually completed this basic task.

Why is this the case (assuming it is true in many companies) for the vast number of network marketing distributors?  After all, the list is crucial to success in the industry.  In fact Chris refers to a network marketer’s list as their “proprietary capital,” meaning their most important asset, and something that is unique to each individual.

This factor is the key ingredient that separates network marketing from more traditional businesses.  Sure, it is possible to pour large sums of cash into a network marketing business through advertising, but it isn’t a necessity, as is more often the case with traditional business.  A network marketer’s “proprietary capital” is free, although it must be continually refined and developed.

But why don’t more distributors follow through on this crucial step that could spell the difference between failure and having moderate or even a level of success beyond their wildest dreams.  Perhaps failing to “dream” is why?  They possibly need to get back to the dreaming stage before attempting their list building exercise.  And if sufficiently energized by their dreams, list building would just “come naturally.”

Belief and desire must come first.  Chris suggests that network marketing distributors must first imagine, vividly what their eventual success would look like.  It is crucial to get a clear mental picture of success, by even rehearsing, if needed.  Some of the most successful distributors took painstaking, detailed steps in visualizing and “acting out” their eventual success, well before it became a reality.  Then, with a clear picture and belief in their eventual outcome, the seemingly more mundane tasks such as actually taking the time to build a list are more likely to be accomplished, if not automatic.

Is network marketing easy?  No.  Is any business venture easy?  Not usually.  The degree of internal fortitude needed in order to persist, often through multiple failures is significant in any case.  But if you’ve made the decision to think big, get a clear picture of your eventual outcome with the realization that you’ll need to hang onto it very tightly.  Maybe you won’t enjoy the ride, but if you persist to your destination, it will be worth it.  This is true whether you’re attempting a more traditional venture or the somewhat offbeat network marketing model.

 

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PowerPoint may be one of the most under-appreciated software packages on the Internet marketer’s hard drive.  But slide presentations have been the leading presentation tool for decades.  Daniel Hall uses PowerPoint to create publications, e.g., the #17 Bestseller at one time on Amazon, “Cervenzia Fria – 30 Minutes to All the Vacation Spanish You’ll Ever Need,” over five years ago.  He also did a 6 part series on how to become a speaker on cruise ships in 2006.  He is creator of the “Real Fast” brand of information products, which encompasses a popular series of information products for online marketers.

In 2011 consumers spent $6 billion on physical  information products.

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There are 3 steps to his process of monetizing PowerPoint, including getting traffic, creating effective messages, and making money.  Using PowerPoint to get free traffic rests on the concept that valuable content already exists in your mind, on your blog, etc.    Then, given this main assumption, the steps for leveraging your content using PowerPoint are as follows:

  • Converting articles and blog posts into PowerPoint slide shows.  This can be done by first creating a template that brands content to your website, and then cut/pasting content from your article or blog post into the PowerPoint template.  Before recording, set-up the slideshow to allow a custom user size, to match YouTube‘s 640×480 default as closely as possible.
  • Recording with Jing.  All you have to do is start recording and read your article to create a SWF file.
  • Converting SWF to AVI using www.flash-swf-converter.com.
  • Upload to YouTube and others including Vimeo, MySpace Videos, etc.  In the description field, begin with the URL you want your visitors to visit and to make a “clickable” link to generate free traffic and a backlink.  Then, take them to a squeeze page from there that includes a free offer in order to capture their email information.  Note also that vid.ly offers unlimited length video service that produces content compatible with almost all mobile devices.
  • Upload to SlideShare.net, AuthorStream.com, SlideBoom.com, etc.
  • Convert to pdf (using Google Docs) and give away on Scribd.com, Calameo.com, Docshare.com, etc.

Other ideas include using Join.me for free conferencing and/or uploading your content to GoogleDocs, and making public in order to avoid the overhead of GoToWebinar.  Some key ideas to consider for most effective messaging include:

  • More pictures and less words, e.g., PowerPix.com
  • Custom backgrounds (frame text using money for subliminal messaging) for slides; always using large black text (bold 24 non-serif fonts, e.g. Arial) on white background
  • Include a professional picture on your slides (use Fiverr.com for custom images) and use the same branding from your website
  • Put your URL in the lower third of each slide
  • Include a call to action in every PowerPoint
  • Tell your story for credibility
  • Rehearse your slides and know what to say, solving your prospects’ problems
  • Repeat the important content three times

When trading products for money, the use of your time is more effective than when trading time for money.

As far as making money goes, there are several reasons people will buy your content, which must be considered, including making money for themselves, saving money, escaping or relieving pain, buyer pleasure and/or saving time.  For most effective communications and impact you should cover each of these advantages in your close.   Daniel’s RealFast DVD product takes the next step and provides a method for creating physical products from traditional Internet-based information products to facilitate truly making more trading products for money vs. trading time for money.

 

Internet marketing expert Keith Dougherty is a proven SEO master, with real results to prove his skills.  Just do a Google search for “Marketing Expert” and you’ll see his work in action.  Using the basics is his speciality, based on the simple fact that Google wants their search results to be relevant for the common person.  How is he able to consistently get his clients ranked for the most important terms?  Quite simply, it is through solid keyword research, implementing important on page factors, and leveraging tools for the best off page factors.

Google wants their search results to be relevant for the common person.

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For Keith, keyword research always begins with the basic Google Keyword Research Tool.  Using exact match, he looks for terms in his chosen niche with more than 3,000 local searches.  Relative competition can be checked by putting the term in Google Search enclosed in quotes. Then using autocomplete in the search window of any browser will uncover the most relevant related keywords.  This can be done manually, but automated tools are available to save lots of time.

On page factors come next.  The most important factor is the domain name.  The title tag is also important, and shows up as the title in Google search results for your site.  The meta description is also used in search results, if present, and should be filled with the most relevant keywords.  In a blog, three headings should be used in every post, H1, H2, and H3.  Google assumes that the most important things on your site will be in headings.  Finally, your keywords, both main and LSI keywords) should be in the actual content on your post/page and can be emphasized with underline, bold and italics.

Although the Wonderwheel has been discontinued by Google, equivalent LSI terms are still included on search results, which every marketer should pay close attention to.

Latent semantic indexing keywords which were prominently included/displayed in the Google Wonderwheel, are still available for every search result and should be considered, especially as WordPress tags and for off-page relevancy.  Keywords should also be used as alternate text in images, but in a natural way vs. giving the appearance of merely including them for marketing purposes.

Off page factors put the icing on the cake.  The best way to get “noticed” by the authority sites and search engines, is to have other highly relevant sites “recommending” your pages/posts.  One way is using tools such as Quantcast, Domaintools and others to generate interest in your content.  A new tool which is available from Keith, quickly registers  your website or page/post in several hundred authority sites, as well as providing a simple keyword tool, and even an article spinning tool for article marketing.

Other factors include backlinks, which can be generated by article marketing and RSS feeds.  What are the results?  Getting free traffic is an obvious advantage, but can also lead to spin-off benefits such as branding yourself, generating leads, and unlimited other possibilities.

 

Ken Michaels started in Internet marketing in 1993, after realizing he hated selling.  His area of expertise is developing systems to automate the lead generation process using social networks.  His specific area of focus is creating Facebook pages for small businesses.  Finding clients using specific online tools and automated systems is his expertise.Facebook 4.74 Degrees of Separation

Just 5 years ago, most businesses were interested in getting websites setup and leveraging Google through SEO.  In the last few years, social media started to take over, led by Facebook and YouTube.  Today, most people are obsessed with Facebook, where 4.74 is the new “degrees of separation.”

There are several easy ways to generate Facebook fan page leads including:

  • Manta – This is a directory of small businesses, which categorizes businesses by company revenue.  According to consultant Ken Michaels, targeting businesses under $1 million can have an advantage of ease of contacting the decision maker.  In addition, these businesses often hire-out specialists for specific tasks such as  marketing online, since they really only have time to run the day-to-day operations.
  • Yellow Book – In this directory, businesses are listed according to the level of advertising that they currently own:  Gold, Yellow, or Blue.  The ones to target are the ones already spending money on advertising.  In addition, businesses that have paid Yellow Book to create a video can be selected (Note:  the videos that have been produced are very poorly done, including a promotion at the end for Yellow Book!).

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  • Social Bakers – This website is a directory of Facebook pages, including the number of fans, and complete details on every existing Facebook page.  The best target businesses are those with between 100 and 300 “likes.”  This is the point where most fan pages “die off.”

Developing leads in an automated fashion can be done with automated systems.  FB Cash Accelerator leverages Social Bakers to generate thousands of leads, in minutes, including contact information when available, applications used, and if the Facebook page has been claimed by the owner.  In addition, a full contact manager is included, including support for virtual assistants and outsourcing the lead generation.

Why do some people not make it in network marketing?  First of all, some people never get to work.  Others quit.  Some pick the wrong company, e.g., money games, which are destined to go out of business, etc.  Some are distracted by other things or paralyzed by fear.  Some lack self-confidence (this is the biggest problem of all).  Finally, some lack motivation and drive.

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What are the most basic steps of action that the average person can take in order to overcome these hindrances in reaching their goals?

It starts by choosing success.

  1. Make success as easy as a decision.  Failure isn’t an option.  Most people, unfortunately don’t make it this clear-cut.  But by making network marketing your only option would have a different end result.  If you were to choose a franchise instead, which had a $100,000 investment up-front, would you take different actions?  Or, if you needed to “invest” enough to have a $50,000 or $100,000 residual income for retirement, how long would it take?
  2. Focus on the activities that make you the most money.  Obviously, in network marketing, prospecting and finding new customers are all that matter.  For example, prospecting time should be when people are available.  Marketing, researching, and non-revenue activities should ONLY be done after hours or before hours.  You must keep tabs on your time.
  3. Build your self confidence.  Many will avoid the activities that matter most, because they lack self confidence.  Self confidence is built one step at a time.  Lack of self confidence is a temporary state.  In spite of how you feel about it, you MUST start taking action.  One call at a time.  One presentation at a time.  You’re successful if and only if you take action.  If you want success and freedom in your life, you’ll eventually face your fears and start taking action.
  4. Get emotional.  What is the real reason you’re in business for yourself?  Of course most are looking for time freedom and/or financial freedom.  But what is the real core reason you are in network marketing?  Consider a situation where someone is attempting to harm one of your children.  What actions would you take in order to prevent it?  That is the level of passion and engagement needed to overcome the most powerful hindrances to your success!
  5. Get good because you can.  Network marketing is learnable because you’ve chosen it as the only possibility for you.  Any one who sets their mind to it and engages in the process of learning the skill can do it.  Todd Falcone, a leading industry trainer suggests recording your own prospecting calls and then listening to them at the end of the week in order to self-critique and make changes.  Have time-saving, canned responses to commonly asked questions, e.g., “Is this a pyramid?…No, because I don’t do pyramids; any other questions?”  Excellent marketing training and books are available to anyone wanting to improve their skills.  At least 30 minutes should be spent on marketing and personal development training or reading each day.
  6. Take responsibility for yourself.  Stop talking about and start doing it.  It’s not your sponsor’s fault, the company’s fault, or because someone quits.  Even if you despise your boss and hate your job, you go every day.  Why?  Is it because of a false perceived sense of security?   Nothing is going to happen in your business unless you make it happen.  Get in with a group of people who are making it happen and NEVER make excuses why they’re not succeeding.  Keep tabs on yourself, be honest about your own failings, and make the necessary adjustments without complaint.

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  7. Enlist a mentor.  A mentor will direct you in the correct direction and hold you accountable for the changes you need to make in your own business for success.  Even Tiger Woods, when he was the best in the world, needed coaches in order to keep on top of his game.

Could you be doing more than you are now doing?  Do you want more and can’t seem to get yourself to do more?  Do you ever feel you need help?  Do you find yourself avoiding the things that need to be done the most?  My Lead System Pro offers an amazing support and training system as well as state-of-the art tools for those seeking to be successful in network marketing and/or internet marketing.  The Accountability for Entrepreneurs Academy, A-Team, offered by Todd Falcone, is an excellent 12-week immersion experience that provides accountability, detailed training, coaching, and feedback for the more serious network marketer.

In 2008, the Google slap undercut many Internet PPC marketers, forcing them to find alternative leads sources.  In late 2010, the emerging Facebook giant was looking promising as a paid ads alternative.  But a Facebook slap has followed this year, already shutting down many marketers.  Additional paid traffic sources can be exploited, but the best traffic source in the history of mankind still remains organic search tra.

As the following traffic heat map shows, the majority of search traffic goes to SEO-driven traffic anyway, with only 5% going to paid searchSEO Networker 3.0 training, developed by Raymond Fong and Ferny Cellabos is available for a short time,  providing a complete system that leading experts know, but have been reluctant to share.  The following modules are included:

  1. SEO Traffic 101 – Get inside Google’s secret “voting” methodology and learn how to exploit it for page 1 rankings, as well as the most profitable keywords that include buying intent.
  2. Plan of Attack – How to take over your competitor’s rankings, by exploiting their keywords.
  3. Your Website – Secrets of on-page SEO including critical checklists and tune-ups forgotten by most website designers.  The 80/20 rule of SEO.
  4. Link Building – This is the voting system used by Google.  What type of links will get you the best results and 3 link type strategy.
  5. Advanced Linking – The lazy man’s way to build thousands of links.  The most comprehensive link building resources and tools available anywhere.
  6. Integration of All Parts – Scheduling system to do SEO while you sleep.  The technique to uncover the best keywords to improve your search results.

SEO Networker 3.0 is neither black hat nor white hat, according to Ray.  Although no miracles are possible and lack of effort is the factor leading to most failure, for those interested in a constant stream of traffic and buyers.  In addition the traffic generated will be free after implementing the key training concepts.

Raymond Fong and Ferny Cellabos claim to have invested $350,000 in this training system and are only making it available for a very limited time.

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Fortunately, a 30 day refund policy as well as an introductory video training series will allow subscribers to “test the waters” ahead of time.  These two have been highly successful in the past and are likely to deliver outstanding, exclusive content this tme around as well.  A decision to purchase should be based on a business need for SEO results as well as an appropriate technical apptitude.

The three biggest niche marketing segments online are health, wealth, and love.  Marketers that are in these areas have a lot of competition, but by working hard, it is possible to reach the top.  Sub niches are easier, however, e.g., “losing weight” within the health niche.  Regardless of niche, Mike Cowles, teaches that it is much faster to do affiliate marketing in your chosen niche vs. creating your own products.

Here is what is needed in either case:

1.  Squeeze PageSqueeze Page TemplateAlthough a squeeze page is easy to create, most people will enter a “fake” email address.  What is really needed to build a list quickly is a way to actually get your prospects’ “real” email.  Your target opt-in rate should be 40% or better, which means you’ll need a very good offer.

2.  Initial Email – Once on the list, tell your subscribers that you’ll be sending them some special information soon and to look for it in their mailbox.  This will improve your opt-in percentage, plus start the process of building a relationship with your new prospect.  Use a picture or send a video to personalize your introduction.

3.  Separate Your List – You should include a paid offer fairly soon, in order to separate your list into “lookers” and “buyers.”  In general, for every two emails offering valuable free information you should include one paid offer.  You can also survey your list to separate further into those that are aggressive vs. just interested in getting occasional information.  Mike Cowles suggests to subscribers who are in the process of an opt-out, an opportunitty to receive only infrequent, valuable special offers.  List automation supporting all of these features can be set up using Aweber.

4.  Joint Venture – Make an offer to several (up to 10 or 20) other marketers to put one of their products in your email sequence (forever), if they will send out one email to their list with your offer.  Let each one of them know that you’ll be doing this with 10 other marketers (especially if you don’t have a big list yet), so they’ll know you’ll be building a worthy following in the near future.  You also want to get your offer to go viral if possible, for maximum impact.

Using this technique can definitely get 1,000 people on your list within a week.  To facilitate the process, Mike Cowles now offers a new Rocket List Builder system, based on an innovative Facebook App.  His App captures his prospect’s “real” email and writes to their Facebook wall, so that all of their friends will see the offer as well.  Thus you’ve now leveraged the viral aspects of Facebook, making it really a slam dunk for your success.  To see how this works and to get a free copy of our squeeze page code, just click the button below for immediate access to the download.  An overview and detailed training by Mike is also available.

 

 

 

Image representing Marlon Sanders as depicted ...

Marlon Sanders

Google, Facebook and joint ventures are three major examples of centers of influence.  Google and Facebook are too big without any laser-targeted focus, and therefore would be difficult to leverage.  Joint ventures are hyper-competitive and front-end heavy, but on any given day there are hundreds of potential products available to promote.  But by combining the viral properties of Facebook with a little bit sneaky joint venture partnership we can come up with a method of finding a center of influence inside of big centers of influence such as Facebook.

Our criteria include only paying after results, choosing a venue that can be quickly tested, and one that isn’t abused by the masses  Here is one innovative method, recently devised by master marketer, Jason Fladlien:

Step 1 – Find people on Facebook, who sell products, that you have an affinity with, who you respect, and who have a responsive following of between 1,000 and 5,000 friends and a fan page of at least 1,000.

Step 2 – Use the principle of flattery to get them to endorse to your their followers, promote affiliate products with your ID attached, and be happy about it.  They’ll actually be promoting their own products to their own followers using your affiliate ID.

To do this, you’d create a Fan Page like: “Marlon Sanders is so cool.”  For the website, you could use one of Marlon’s products with your ID.  Make a flattering comment in the About section.  Static HTML iframe tabs can be added to the page, renaming to Home and make this the default landing page.  For content, you could write a review, while simultaneously dropping in your affiliate links.  An example is at iamstalkingjasonfladlien.com, although this is a website vs. fanpage, developed along the lines of this concept.

Every day spend only 17 minutes doing this process for one new person.  Within 30 days, Facebook’s viral properties will result in an average of $120 per day affiliate earnings, according to Fladlien.  Additional 5 methods will be presented live by Rapid Crush Consulting in their Traffic eClass.  As an example, we built the following page:  “Jason Fladlien is a Really Cool Geek,” with a review of the Easy Redirect Script software.

 
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Not too long ago, the only “social media” was email.  Local businesses were only interested in Yellow Pages, TV, newspapers and radio ads.  And, Mark Zuckerburg only allowed college kids on Facebook.  Today, there are nearly 700 million users on Facebook, but mainly for social reasons.  Is it possible today, to leverage Facebook to quickly produce income in today’s economy?

As most savvy marketers are intuitively aware, Facebook is a goldmine for business.  In fact, in the marketing world, there has never been a more powerful tool, especially due to its viral properties.  Facebook’s “viral” concept for businesses is primarily via its “Like” button.  In the old days, setting up a “Tell-A-Friend” script was very difficult by comparison.  In addition, it’s Ads are demographically targeted, which is impossible on Google and integration with PC”s and mobile devices is seamless on Facebook.  Finally, its built in tracking  provides much better information than Google’s Insights.

But, since Facebook is an inherently social platform, it requires a certain “finesse,” which many fail to understand.  Sending and/or directly posting ads for products and services is actually grounds for immediate cancellation of an account.  Ads are allowed on Facebook Fan Pages, however, and in particular, can be placed as a “profile picture.”

Fan Page creation, which is easy and instant,  includes several nice features.  Up to 5 images can be uploaded with URL, which appear on the main page and can be linked to affiliate products (hint: market by targeting Facebook Groups).  Fan Pages can be created for products & free reports (including  PLR).  Here is a  strategy for consultants working with small businesses (business owners willing to develop in-house can simply create their own pages using some of the tools mentioned below).

  1. Pick a local business niche with high customer transaction value or high consumption volume.  Service businesses are best, e.g., restaurants, bars, dentists, chiropractors, gyms, etc.  These type of businesses are willing to pay $500 to $1500 upfront and a monthly maintenance fee of $50-$500 (for reputation maintenance) to manage their pages.
  2. Create generic industry Facebook Fan Page templates in advance with placeholder content and offer it to business owner in that particular niche.    This is fairly easy to accomplish from the Developers menu in Facebook, by “embedding” a website that is 580px in width.  In addition, several tools to facilitate the process are available including a WordPress theme by Rapid Crush Consulting, that is specifically designed for this purpose.
  3. Maintain control of the page and lease it to customers, so that  in the event of non-payment control of the page can be maintained.

Businesses are now recognizing the value of Facebook pages in increasing numbers.  Not only is Facebook an extremely viral advertising tool, but it is a high profile website that seems unlikely to face competition in the near term.  If Google can’t make a dent in Facebook’s preeminence, it is unlikely that any other challenges will soon appear.

 

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