My Software Gold Mine Web Log

Archive for June, 2006

How To Bring Traffic To Your Site - Part 1

June 27, 2006 4:30 pm

This may not guarantee the peak placement for you in those
search engines, but it will surely increase your
probability to be incorporated into the pertinent and
relevant results. Of course, in the world of online
businesses, competition is very high. Sometimes you are up,
sometimes you are down. You’ll never know unless you take
the risk and indulge further.

Regard the information below to be a one-sided
recommendation, and advice only, which have been pulled
together and accumulated based on both knowledge and
research. You must note that all search engine technologies
are continuously developing and evolving nowadays, meaning
that tactics and strategies that worked last month are most
likely useless or less effective today.

Well, of course, the main key to keeping your website on
top of the search results is providing enough content so
that your customers and others are interested and will come
back to your website.

Generally speaking, these search engines have been
developed and created by people who are much skilled with
storing, gathering, and analyzing data, programmers, the
mathematicians, and all of the other talented people who
contain innovative ideas.

But during the age when almost anyone in this free world
had access to the Internet, the ratio of the people who
gave raw information has abruptly increased. In short, some
people don’t even care about information in the same way
that search engine experts and designers would.

Search Engine Optimization is considered the bridge over
the gap. It aims to bring the people with the standard
computer skills to all the information they look for. It
goes beyond the sometimes too-much mathematics-based
search-engine technology, which takes you a step nearer to
the target audience.

SEO mainly should be about investigating how the people
will try to look up the information on the web and the
useful means and tricks on how to invite them to your
website.

Choose the right keywords to increase your traffic. Do not
use a keyword that you know will not help you increase your
ranking due to the ferocious competition. And of course,
you must not choose a keyword that nobody is looking for.
Do not use a keyword that is unrelated to the content of
your site. You should use the general and popular keywords
to meet the targeted traffic you want.

To get the right keywords to your website, use
Wordtracker
, Keyworddiscovery and/or Overture.

There are keywords that can affect your traffic and cause
your site to be filtered or banned in the search engines.
Do not use such filenames or the ALT tags that may allow
your site to be filtered from the search engines.

Use dynamic pages so that functionality is a necessity. The
best strategy is to use relevant content that is well laid
out to separate the pages.

Your title should not be very long. It should contain
maximum 60 characters only. The title should also not begin
with the domain name. Have it unique, catchy, and easily
remembered by people.

The reason why the domain name shouldn’t be included in the
title is because it will be considered spam. You should use
a different filename for the title tag and the domain name
too. It will also be considered spam if you don’t.

If you want to use the perfect keywords, use the Traffic
For Words
package to showcase the best keywords for your
site. All other web sites are using this package to
increase their sales and traffic in the Internet marketing
world.

It’s not only you who are looking for the best keywords.
There are hundreds of thousands in the community who are
competing so you should be able to have one that is
definite and perfect for your site detail.

Search engines generate finances as well. Finances are
collected either from selling your own advertisement
placement and selling listings or both. So think carefully
about your keywords. Make sure that they are worth it.

Traffic For Words will reveal the secrets that the best
SEO’s have in mind. Secrets that let you smell the success
and secrets that are made to put you in the right place
where you want to be.

Also get SEO Made Easy, a free PDF resource you can
download here.

Web Traffic Explained says it all!

Gilles Rais

June 5th Week

June 26, 2006 4:10 pm

Everywhere you go online, you hear the same thing… you
must find a niche for your business. If you are new to
Internet marketing you will do well to heed this advice.

Every day thousands more people come online in search of
wealth. Many jump right into the existing markets that are
already completely saturated and then wonder why they are
not making any money.

Given unlimited time, money and patience, they might
succeed. For those that do not have unlimited supplies of
these precious resources, aiming for a smaller niche market
can be a much smarter way to start your online business.

So just what is a niche?

If you want the long answer, you can buy any one of the
thousands of ebooks being sold online about niche markets.
You can go to a dictionary and see what definition of niche
it gives. But the short answer is niche simply means
distinct or individual.

Internet marketing has been defined as strategies that are
used to market a product or service online. These marketing
strategies include search engine optimization, search
engine submission, copywriting, web site design, reciprocal
linking and email marketing, etc.

A new person coming online to start a business has little
chance of knowing enough about all the above areas to be
able to compete in this market.

So how is a new person to have any chance at success?

Think smaller - think Niche!

Just from the above definition you can come up with the
following niches:

Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Copywriting
Web Site Design
Promotion
Linking
Email Marketing

Even if you are lucky and are already extremely
experienced in one of the above niches, you will still have
a lot of competition in such broad topics. You need to
whittle these down even further to find tightly targeted
sub-niche markets that aren’t as competitive.

When it comes to finding niche markets, three of the best
resources available online are Wordtracker, Overture, and
Keyworddiscovery.

Wordtracker and Keyworddiscovery are the better options as
they bring everything together in one place for those trying
to find a good niche. However it does come at a cost so if you
can’t afford this, try Overture - it’s a free service.

To drilldown Internet marketing into sub-niche markets,
just type in “Internet marketing” in either Wordtracker,
Keyworddiscovery or Overture and look at the results that pop
up. Each of these results become ideas that you could drilldown
even further to find tightly targeted sub-niches that are highly
related to the parent niche.

Having a smaller, less competitive niche will give you a
much better shot at being successful then trying to build a
site around a broad topic like Internet marketing.

Remember - success in any business always comes back to
supplying a product that the public has a demand for and
that the market has room for. Find the right niche and you
are on the right path.

You can learn more about creating your niche webiste with the
Niche Site Manual, a complete and comprehensive resource
on finding a profitable niche and building related websites.

Have a great week :-)

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I have some great news. From now through June 30, 2006,
WebPosition is offering a 20% discount on WebPosition 4
Professional Edition.

WebPosition Professional Edition delivers the advanced
functionality search marketers and SEO professionals require.
Includes all Standard Edition features plus paid keyword visibility,
advanced reporting, private labeling, unlimited domain support,
and more.

If you are looking for a great tool to improve your rankings,
don’t miss this offer!

June Special - 20% Off WebPosition 4 Professional

Can’t afford it?

WebPosition Standard Edition includes a basic toolkit for search
marketers looking for complete visibility and keyword research into
a web site’s organic search positions. Supports up to 5 domains.

You can try it for free by following the link below:

WebPosition Standard Edition Free Trial

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Coming Soon at My Software Gold Mine:

One of the best ways to get a steady stream of quality traffic to your
website(s) is to utilize the power of Viral Marketing.

If you are already a Subscriber to my Newsletter, stay tuned! You
will be going Viral very soon!

If you did not yet subscribe to this wonnnderful free Newsletter :-D
do so now by clicking here, get your bonuses and go Viral with us!

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The 60 Second Weekly Tip…

Do you know out of ALL of the emails your subscribers will
ever receive from you, which one they are most likely to
read?

… Your VERY FIRST message, ie the first “welcome”
message they get after signing up to your list!

This is when your subscribers are most eager to read your
emails. You see, they personally made the decision to join
your list, so they are consciously waiting to receive that
first email from you. This being the case, it is important
that you don’t waste this moment.

That initial mailing should be something more than just
the standard “thanks for subscribing and here’s the
download link to the report I promised you.” Sure, you want
them to read that report, but you also need to take
advantage of that one moment when you have their full and
undistracted attention.

While you don’t want to scare them off by immediately
bombarding them with a bunch of “hard-sell” offers, it’s
the perfect time to give them another option that is
directly related to your niche topic.

For instance, here are just a few things you could do:

- Offer them a special one-time discount…
- Give them an article to distribute…
- Ask them to complete a survey…
- Give them an additional freebie…
- Ask them to join your affiliate program…
- Offer them an affiliate incentive…

While this may go against everything you’ve learned about
building a relationship with your readers BEFORE you start
hitting them with your offers, you’ll be shocked how
effective this tactic can be and how much of a positive
impact it can have on your business.

Try it. You may be pleasantly surprised :-)

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For your enjoyment (and information), here is this week’s
quick trivia question…

What do the words ALMOST and BIOPSY have in common?

As usual the answer can be found later in the newsletter.

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Featured Article
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Do You Have a Master Plan?

There is so much written on planning these days that it’s
hard for anyone to argue against the value of planning.

Some people like to live by the “seat of their pants,” and
no one would argue that a little spontaneity is great to
have in your life. But you do need to plan something at
some point, or your life will simply be one reaction after
another.

The non-planner will end up taking no proactive action to
improve his or her life. The most successful people plan
their goals and are motivated to accomplish them. So with
that said, everyone needs a master plan.

Do you have one?

A master plan should include long-term goals, short-term
goals, and objectives. You may also want to build in some
rewards to motivate you to accomplish them. Let’s look at
each item that should appear in your master plan:

Lifetime goals…

The first things you should include in your master plan
are your lifetime, or dream goals. These are goals that you
want to do at some point in your life and they shouldn’t be
dependent on money, time, or skill. For example, if you
want to make a six-figure a year online income, write it
down so you can visualize it.

Create a long list by finishing this sentence by adding
your lifetime goals:

“If I had unlimited money, time and skill, I would want
to…”

Short-term and Long-term goals…

Once you have your lifetime goals list, you should break
them down into things that you can realistically do in the
short-term and in the long-term.

Short-term goals might be anywhere from the present to the
next five years. Long-term goals are likely anything five
years and beyond. Don’t worry yet about how you’ll
accomplish them; we’ll get to that in a moment.

List your goals in order from the things you want to do
sooner to the things you want to do later!

Objectives…

Once you have developed your goals, now you need to create
objectives for each one. Objectives are the steps that you
need to take to reach your goals.

Let’s use the example from above… if you want to
generate a six-figure online income your objectives would
outline the small steps you need to take to reach your
short-term goals, such as:

- find someone who is already doing this
- follow their blueprint for success
- allocate $x and at least 1 hour a day to learn
- take the necessary action to make your first sale
- rinse and repeat to make your next sale

Then once you’ve met your short-term goals you should then
develop a new set of objectives to reach your long-term
goals.

You might look at this list and say “easier said than
done!”, but by breaking down all of your goals into smaller
objectives it does become easier to do. You now have some
small steps to work on to get you to the next level.

Now what does all this have to do with e-business? Simple.
For many entrepreneurs, a long term goal might be financial
freedom. Building your business might be one of the
objectives to reach that goal.

And within that “main” objective of building your business
will be the smaller objectives that must be reached to do
the building. The more you break down the steps that need
to be taken, the easier it will be to reach your goal.

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This Week’s Trivia Answer
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Here’s the answer to the trivia question I asked earlier…

What do the words ALMOST and BIOPSY have in common?

Answer: Their letters are in alphabetical order.

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Off-Line Marketing Strategies
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Formatting Your Press Release!

Once you know the basics involved in writing a Press
Release, you’ll find it’s a pretty simple process to put
one together. In fact, if you conform to “industry
standards” and include the information that reporters and
editors are expecting to find, your press release stands a
very good chance of actually being used.

Here are the formatting rules you need to follow:

Use mixed case. NEVER SUBMIT A PRESS RELEASE IN ALL UPPER
CASE LETTERS. As you can see, it’s much more difficult to
read that way.

Always follow the rules of grammar and style. Errors in
grammar and style affect your credibility. Excessive errors
will cause your press release to be rejected.

Don’t use HTML. When sending your press release to online
Media, do not embed HTML or other markup languages in it.
Including such formatting will negatively impact the
readability of your press release.

Use more than one paragraph. If you can say everything in
only a few sentences, then chances are you do not have a
newsworthy story. (*Note: You may hear that your press
release should “never” be more than one page long.

I have found that a press release should be as long as it
takes to tell your story. If that means one and a-half or
two pages, then that’s how long it should be. Do your best
to keep it short and sweet, but don’t take out important
information just to make it fit on one page.)

Include a summary paragraph for online submissions. Some
online news services request that you include a one-page
summary of your press release. This is because some
distribution points only receive your headline, summary and
a link to your press release.

If you are submitting to online services, not including
the summary paragraph may reduce the effectiveness of your
press release. This is not usually necessary with print,
television or radio media.

Write your press release on a word processor instead of
composing it online. When you’ve finished writing it, print
it out, and proofread it. Rewrite, edit, and proofread
again, until you’ve got it exactly how you want it, and
there are no mistakes.

Because most people have a harder time proofreading their
own writing, ask someone you trust to proofread it for you.

Do not include your e-mail address in the body of your
release - especially when submitting your press release
online, or publishing your press release on your website or
in your blog.

You can include your email address in the contact
information if you wish, but if it goes online be prepared
to be spammed. Most online media services will have a place
for your email address in the submission process, for your
protection, and most of your local media will prefer a
telephone number to contact you with.

Here is a basic template you can use when writing your
Press Release:

Starting at the top of the page, on your company
letterhead, write the words “PRESS RELEASE” in all capital
letters, centered and bolded.

Hit the enter-bar twice, so you go down two lines.

On the left hand side of the page, write the date you want
the information to be released, or if it’s “FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE” write that, again in all CAPS and bolded.

On the same line, but to the far right, write the words
“CONTACT INFORMATION” again, bolded and in capital letters.
Go down to the next line, and list the contact person and
their phone number.

It’s always a good idea to have two contact people
whenever possible and two phone numbers for each of them -
for example, the office number and cell phone numbers. You
can also put your email address here.

Hit the enter-bar twice again, and type in your headline.
(It needs to be centered and bolded, but not necessarily in
all CAPS). Your headline needs to be short, snappy and
relevant. You want it to grab the reader’s attention.

Go down two spaces again.

The body of your press release should be double spaced and
typed in an easy to read size 12 font, such as Times New
Roman or Arial. Leave lots of white space in your press
release - use at least one to two inch margins around your
page.

The first paragraph of your press release needs to provide
the reader with enough basic information to make them keep
reading. It should answer the “W” questions - who, what,
when, and where and why. As you’ve only got a few
sentences, make every word count.

The second paragraph of your press release will answer the
“so what” question. It needs to explain who is going to be
interested in this information and why they should care
about it. The second paragraph is an ideal place to include
a quote, or a touchie-feely “Kodak” moment to add human
interest to your story.

The third (and often final) paragraph of your press
release should answer any other questions the reporter or
journalist might still have about your story. Here is where
you can include information about your company, or any
technical stuff.

Make your press release long enough to say what you need
to say. If it goes beyond one page, then centered under the
last line on the first page, write the word “MORE” in all
caps and bold it.

Then on the second page, on the top right hand side of the
page, write “Page 2″ and on the line under that, write the
title of your press release again.

Continue where you left off. When your press release is
finished, put these symbols centered under the last line
“###” (without the quotation marks.) This lets the reader
know that you’re done.

That’s all there is to it.

Although the information you provide will be different
each time you write a press release, the basic format will
always stay the same.

You’ve now got enough information to be able to write your
first press release. So, “write” on and good luck!

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Have You Got Any Comments?
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This is your chance to speak out.

Comment on articles I’ve run in the newsletter, give me
your thoughts on changes or your ad testing results or
questions relating to your business, etc.

In other words, just talk to me about what you think I
need to do to improve the newsletter.

Be sure to include your website address too, because if
I use your comments in a future issue of the newsletter,
I’ll thank you by posting your address so that you can get
additional free traffic to your site!

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That’s a Wrap for this Week
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That wraps up another week’s newsletter and I hope you
enjoyed this issue.

Don’t forget to send me any comments or questions you
may have to the Feedback Loop. I would be only too happy to
help you in any way that I can.

From time to time I’ll send you important updates
that will provide information that has the potential to
greatly improve your online business… and of course
your profits!

However, you can rest assured that I will only ever
recommend products that are considered to be of HIGH value
and will provide indisputably benefits to help you grow
your business… that’s my guarantee!

Your friend,

Gilles Rais

Audio Streaming & Internet Marketing

June 25, 2006 9:55 pm

A glimpse of the past before audio streaming

Before we had computers, we had the manual typewriters.
Then we had the electric typewriter. Then computers entered
the picture. Then a revolution came about, making each
component, each part of the computer smaller and smaller.
And yet, as they were getting smaller, they were getting
more powerful and powerful.

What is the significance of this reminiscing if it’s audio
streaming that we’re talking about?

Computer meets radio. This is the crux of the matter.
Information technology, the computer revolution, the
globalization of the economy made the world smaller and far
easier to reach. Here’s when the combination of these two
forms of medium excited the e-industry. What does the World
Wide Web have in store?

It’s been making one lucrative source of living for many
who have discovered its goldmine: Ecommerce. From food to
travel tickets, just about anything is offered in the web
nowadays. It became one great source of income for many
people who saw the promising future of offering products
and services online. These people are whom we gave the
monicker “web marketers” or “Internet marketers.”

Computers and Internet Marketing

Marketing used to be a tedious footwork for many product
endorsers. But with the advent of technology, computers
came to rescue those who suffer the hardships of the
marketing business. Now the footwork that easily induces
burnout to many marketers turned to simpler handwork
because of the computers and of course the Internet.

With the Internet’s help, various less complex methods of
marketing stole the scene. Marketing methods that were
discovered and practised by web marketers. These include
affiliate marketing, search engine optimization,
podcasting, web development ideas, etc.

Combining these types of Internet marketing is tantamount
to combining efforts to profit more from the online market.

More and more marketing tactics are learned each day. PPC
or Pay-Per-Click advertising came about and a large number
of Internet aficionados just went gaga over its offer of
getting paid for every online advertisement hit with their
cursors. Blogging also improved driving traffic to
patronize various products.

Search engine optimization-friendly articles stuffed the
online world to stealthily earn while making customers
learn. The list goes on and on with more and more Internet
marketing techniques discovered or invented each day –
Audio Streaming.

And now, what do you know? Another strategy to make one’s
website pleasant enough to keep on making visitors go check
out the site and eventually avail of the products it
endorse.

Audio Streaming and Internet Marketing

So how does audio streaming secure a spot in Internet
Marketing? It simply provides ear candy as opposed to the
boring texts that are commonly found on websites.

How does audio streaming accomplish this noble deed?

One of the key elements in online marketing is to create
the right selling environment. Aside from the sales copy,
ways on how get names and email addresses and ways of
keeping in touch with prospects, the design of the site
counts a lot.

These factors are what will make web site visitors become
one’s customers or “convert” traffic to money for Internet
marketers. Audio streaming assists in making this endeavor
a lot simpler.

Audio streaming serves the purpose of enhancing the way
messages are conveyed to customers or prospects when they
visit a website. A welcome message in the form of an audio
streaming may help in facilitating the navigation
experience of a website’s visitors.

This qualifies audio streaming as one excellent
confidence-building tool. Once a decoration, now audio
streaming portrays a more important role — making clients
get a better grasp of what a website presents.

Blogs, which are also utilized as very viable Internet
marketing, also take advantage of the technology of audio
streaming. Helpful tips may be integrated on one’s blog
through audio streaming.

Newletters that contain updates on different products and
services can also make use of audio streaming to better
engage their recipients. These make this technology very
indispensable in improving one web marketer’s relationship
to his or her mailing lists or blog readers.

Customers will surely appreciate one good web marketer’s
effort in making their browsing one pleasant experience.
This can only be carried out if the audio streaming is done
in a more conversational matter.

Resources to create and insert audio streaming on your
websites:

Webmaster Media Maker

Total Web Audio

Integrity and sincerity may be easily sounded off through
audio streaming. Using it on your websites surely won’t
hurt.

Gilles Rais

Reducing Stress Through Time Management

June 23, 2006 9:36 pm

Studies have shown that those who have poor time management
skills suffer more stress, depression, and anxiety then
those who manage their time wisely and work efficiently at
meeting their personal and business goals.

The root of time management is order and organization. For
those who have little order or structure in their lives,
they are often running around confused, and wasting
valuable time. This confusion and lack of completing goals
leads to depression and stress.

Scientific research has now found a direct correlation
between stress and a lowered Immune System. This means
that for those whose lives are disorganized and stressful
that they are actually putting their health in jeopardy.

By taking certain steps to bring order into the daily work
and personal life, stress is reduced and the Immune System
is strengthened, this brings about a new outlook on life,
one that is characterized by health, happiness, and peace;
not strife, stress, and sickness.

Some of the signs and symptoms of stress caused by a lack
of time management include running around to finish
errands; constantly working to meet urgent deadlines; non
stop focus on work and work activities; continuously
“taking” work home with you.

This will also have a detrimental effect on family
relationships (including spouses and children); friends
will suffer because eventually there will be no time to
nurture those relationships; and work will suffer because
of the lack of organization.

Not only will this have a negative impact on those around
you, but remember, your health is at risk as well. Many
people are familiar that heart attacks, high blood
pressure, and strokes may all be related to too much
stress. You owe it to your health to reduce stress.

Many people never make the correlation between stress and
their lack of time management and never make the changes
necessary for their health or for their quality of life.
They never realize how important balance and time
management is for their life.

You may have heard the saying, “They are working me to
death”, and this may very well be the truth. If you are
working in a disorganized and chaotic manner, your stress
level is undoubtedly high. You must take the necessary
steps to work in a calm manner.

Some professions are naturally more “high pressure” then
others. For these employees stress is accepted as part of
the territory. Time management for these workers is an
essential if they are going to remain at their peak and
keep their health as well.

By setting goals, a plan, and removing stress factors, you
can create a plan that will bring your life and work into
harmony and balance. Once your work life is in order, you
will have more time for rest, relaxation, and family.

To begin your time management overhaul, you will first need
to take a good look at your life. If you are already
suffering from too much stress, then you will most likely
need to cut out some activities in your life.

Employers have many burdens resting upon their shoulders,
and a lack of time management can lead to unnecessary
stress and anxiety. Employers should look for ways to
manage their time more effectively and eliminate
unnecessary tasks that others can do.

If you find an area where someone else can handle the job,
by all means delegate the task. This is one of the best
ways to successfully manage your own time, and find more
free time as well. Through delegation you can remove a lot
of stress and tension.

Continually assess your plans and your goals. Make yearly,
monthly, weekly, and daily goals and plan to meet them
daily. Live a life of habitually assessing your goals and
create the plan that will help you achieve them.

Another very important fact to look at is the area of “time
wasters”. What is it that is wasting your time, or
distracting you from the task at hand? If you have a set
work schedule and are continually rushing to meet
deadlines, then something is wrong.

Find out what is distracting you then take steps to prevent
the distraction. Is it the television, the telephone,
unannounced visitors? Find out the cause of the
distraction then address it. Preventing these time wasters
will help you use your time wisely.

By setting goals, preventing distractions, and delegating
tasks, you can begin to effectively manage your time and
reduce stress. Find new ways to relax throughout your day
as well. You may still work hard, but make sure there is
plenty of downtime too.

Your health depends on your ability to manage your time
wisely, whether it is your work life, personal life, or
family time.

Gilles Rais

Planning For Time Management

June 21, 2006 9:36 pm

When it comes to time management you have to carefully plan
your activities to make the best use of your time. It may
seem ironic, but you need to set time to plan for saving
time. With careful planning, your time management will be
successful.

Educational facilities, workforces, business owners, and
teachers are just some of the members of society who value
the importance of careful time management. Students are
often bogged down with heavy class schedules and often have
a hard time relaxing.

Stress, anxiety, and other anxiety related disorders are a
common result from improper or neglected time management.
Time management is necessary not only to perform our jobs
but also to complete our goals with our optimum level and
performance.

You will need to plan for time management by taking steps
to make sure that your goals are being met, to set your
daily goals and To Do lists, to prevent “time wasters”, and
to prevent interruptions and distractions.

By planning for your goals and time management you are
essentially planning and preparing to be a success. It
isn’t enough to just plan and prepare mentally, you must
also write down your dreams, goals, and aspirations.

When you write down your goals, something significant
happens. You have created a record of what you plan to
achieve. It is much easier to reach your goals and to
manage your time wisely when you have your plan written
down on paper.

Preparing your goal list can be a fun activity. It helps
to use your imagination and first brainstorm all of the
ideas that you have for your future. Take the limits off
and create a “dream” list. Ask yourself what would you
like to do if you had unlimited resources.

You would be amazed that after you list your dreams down,
that many of them are more attainable then you may have
first imagined. The only possible way you have of ever
living your dreams is to make a plan to manage your time to
achieve them.

After writing down your dreams, then you will need to make
a plan of which steps you need to take to realistically
achieve them. Of course, some dreams may not be grounded
in reality and are pure fantasy and you will have to put
those off to the side.

Take a good look and list the dreams and goals that you
have that you can achieve and categorize them as long term
and short-term goals. Now you will need to make your plan
for yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals.

By working from each category list every day, you will find
that your goal list will be completed, and that you will
continuously add new goals to your list. This is the most
effective way to manage your goals in a timely fashion.

You should plan to make a daily “To Do” list, (preferably
the night before) that contains some goals from your other
categories (yearly, monthly, and weekly). Check off your
goals as you complete them, and reward yourself as well.

Now that you have set your goals and have created your
daily “To Do” list, it is important that you identify
potential distractions and time wasters and work to remove
them so that you can meet your daily aspirations with
success.

Look for some ways that you are being distracted from your
work. Unexpected visitors and telephone calls,
emergencies, watching television, inability to focus,
children, and spouses are some common distractions.

You will need to plan ahead of time to make sure that you
have removed these distractions before they can strike.
There is not much you can do for emergencies except work
around them, however there are other preventive measures
for other distractions.

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that if someone is
working from home that they aren’t really working. They
think that they are the perfect person to call when they
need a babysitter, a ride to the store, or just feeling
friendly and want someone to talk with.

You can try hanging up a “Do Not Disturb” or “Work in
Progress” signs on your front door. Hopefully, that will
deter your visitors. If you have someone persistently
knocking or ringing the doorbell, you may want to ignore
it. They will get the point and leave.

Try not to read the news or watch television shows during
work hours. Plan ahead for a set time when you will watch
television or browse the Internet. This can be a very
effective way to remain focused on your work and to manage
your time wisely.

By planning ahead of time for distractions you can avoid
these unpleasant annoyances and make the best use of your
time.

Gilles Rais

June 4th Week

June 19, 2006 5:49 pm

These days one of the most powerful ways to build your opt
in list is to use co-registration and product giveaways.
This is a great way to build your list fast and uses other
leverage techniques that can save you time and money.

However, there are some disadvantages to using these
techniques.

1 - The person signing up for your list is also signing up
for someone else’s who is most likely in direct competition
with you. Keep in mind that when they are sending out
information on products and services, you will probably be
doing the same thing and giving your list member the same
email twice and a reason to unsubscribe.

One way around this is to always send out unique emails so
that they never get the same email twice. This is
especially true in Internet marketing.

2 - By promoting products as an affiliate you will more
than likely be sending your members or site visitors to a
squeeze page. This is where they will enter their email
information and join the list of the person whose product
you are promoting.

Now this is great if you get a commission, but even so,
after you get this commission you will no longer have this
person as a customer. However, the affiliate product owner
now has this persons email to continue to promote to thanks
to you.

A good way to avoid this is to offer your site visitors a
free e-book or report in relation to the product you are
promoting. This way they are sent to your squeeze page
first and you get the email as well. Then you simply
promote the affiliate link within the report you are giving
away or in your auto responder.

Yes, you will have a similar situation as mentioned in the
first scenario, but the email you obtain will be much more
targeted and the member will now know you.

3 - The last item to mention is giveaway products. Many
authors will allow you to give away their e-books freely to
your website visitors and list members. The drawback here
is the contents of the e-book.

There is nothing wrong with having the authors name, URL
and company information within the e-book. After all they
did write it. The thing is many authors now have complete
opt in forms or require that you register to gain access to
the complete e-book. This will also be redirecting possible
subscribers to your list.

Try a variation of #2 and have them opt in to your list
before giving them the download link. There are also
programs available that allow you to giveaway the e-book
with your product or opt in details as a back end offer.

You can also bundle several related e-books and offer them
as a reward for signing up for your list. You can even brand
this package with your details using Instant Profit Brander.

Try to get resale rights as well. This may allow you to re-
brand the e-book with your opt in information. This way the
author gets credit and you can still get the subscriber.

Using co registration and product giveaways are a two way
street. The key is to try and get the visitors email as
well as give them a valuable tool or service.

List building is largely about building relationships.
What better way to start than to give them something of
value? Just make sure that you get something valuable in
return. When it comes to marketing online, what’s more
valuable than your subscribers?

Have a great week :-)

Don’t forget to check our new viral list buidling software:
Viral Master List Builder

or make them signup while reading your articles with:
Article Site List Builder

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Market Research Wizard

This is a great resource where all you need to do is type
in three words describing the product you want to sell, and
in minutes “The Market Research Wizard” will analyze the
niche and give you detailed information on:

* How much Demand there is on the Net for that product

* How much Competition you will be up against

* What kind of Advertising others are using to sell that
product

…and much more!

You can download the fully functional Market Research
Wizard for free by simply going to the below link and
clicking on the “free trial” link at the bottom of the
page:

http://www.worldwidebrands.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Just wanted to let you know ASAP about a new promo from
the Secret Article Converter group - you can get 500 private
label right articles just by trying the site out.

Secret Article Converter’s site has evolved into a massive
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The Article Converter is being constantly updated and now
features a one click “is it unique” feature where you will
see instantly if your new article is indeed unique.

No more guessing and crossing your fingers…

You now know instantly if your article is unique.

If you’re using Private Label Rights content, you need to
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Save yourself hours of brain strain each week by using the
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This offer is only good for the next 100 Folks who respond,
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Paul Smithson at XSitePro recently released a series of videos.
These were only available to registered users of the software,
but I’ve just heard from Paul and he’s said he’s happy to let
everyone have access to these videos for a limited time only.

If you’ve never seen this great web site building software in
action now’s your chance. These videos give you a real insight
as to why so many Internet marketers are now using XSitePro
on a daily basis.

I don’t know how long he’ll be making these videos available
for, so I highly recommend you check them out whilst you’ve got
the chance.

XSitePro Videos

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The 60 Second Weekly Tip…

If you’re an affiliate marketer, I assume you have set-up
an affiliate “landing page” so that you can capture the
contact details of your visitors before you send them to
the site you are promoting.

Once you’ve done this you virtually get a “second chance”
to pre-sell your visitors. To do this you need to write
your autoresponder message as if you were having a one-to-
one conversation.

Pretend you’re sitting down to talk to a friend. Allow
your message be friendly, animated and informal. You can
even use some slang if it’s appropriate. And be sure to
emphasize the benefits of the program you’re promoting.

Ask yourself…

… “What does the customer get out of this product?”

The answer should be something like “more time,” “more
money,” “more enjoyment,” “an easier life,” “better
health,” etc”

Then include a “call to action”.

You need to explain exactly what it is you want your
readers to do after reading your message. Whether you want
them to reply to your email, ask questions or to visit a
website - you need to tell them what you want them to do in
a compelling, urgent, benefits-oriented way.

If your goal is to get them to visit a website, a good
strategy that works extremely well is to highlight a
problem your readers may be facing, and then give them half
the solution to this problem to wet the appetite. Then ask
them to visit the website to get the rest of the solution.

You’ll be surprised how this one tactic will improve your
results. Good luck :)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

For your enjoyment (and information), here is this week’s
quick trivia question…

These very old iconic symbols were responsible for what
modern system…

The Moon, the Sun, Saturn and the Anglo-Saxon gods: Thor,
Tiw, Woden, and his wife Frig.

As usual the answer can be found later in the newsletter.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Featured Article
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A Simple Step-by-Step Plan To Save You Valuable Time and
Energy!

The secret to boosting your productivity sounds almost too
simple - start working from checklists!

The best kind are those that you create yourself. By all
means use someone else’s checklist as an idea-starter - but
remember that we all work in different ways and we all
learn at different rates.

You might find that you suddenly get stuck when using
someone else’s checklist because they seem to have left out
a vital step. It’s more likely that as far as they’re
concerned, they haven’t left out anything - they probably
automatically do whatever it is, so it didn’t even occur to
them to write anything down.

When you run any kind of business, you tend to repeat
certain tasks over and over. However, when these tasks are
new to you, they can take a long time.

You make mistakes. You get stuck. You spend hours working
out how to do a relatively simple task.

Then, NEXT time you have to perform the same task, you get
stuck again. You can’t believe that you didn’t scribble
down a few instructions as you went. Now you have to search
for the same information AGAIN. Aaarrgghh!

Get organized now and you’ll never again have to waste
time repeating a search for essential information. Here’s
how you do it.

1. Create a new folder on your desktop. (Right-click on
the desktop and choose NEW then FOLDER.) Call it “HOW TO”.

2. Open Notepad. If you haven’t used it before, you’ll
find it here: Start/All Programs/Accessories/Notepad. To
put it on the desktop, RIGHT click Notepad and choose “Send
To Desktop”. In future, make it a habit to open Notepad
before you ANY new task, ready to jot down notes.

3. Type the name of the task you’re about to start on.
(For example: Uploading Web Pages.) Save your document -
using the same name - to your new HOW TO folder.

4. Minimize Notepad. You can do this by clicking the
‘minus’ sign in the top right hand corner of the window.
The icon for Notepad will be placed in the task bar on the
bottom of your computer screen. Whenever you need to make
another note, just click on this icon and it will bring the
document up on the screen again.

5. Begin working on your task. At the completion of every
successful step, bring up Notepad from the task bar and
type what you did. Save your document every time you do
this (just in case your computer shuts down unexpectedly).

6. If you have to send off a query to a help desk, or put
in a support ticket, or stop to do some research, make a
note that this is what you did. Copy and paste the URL of
any website you go to for help. This could be invaluable to
you later.

7. When you have successfully completed your task, go
through your step-by-step notes. Tidy them up, and if
necessary clarify a step here and there. Make sure that
this is a reliable, useful checklist that you can follow
the next time you need to do the same thing.

Follow the same process every time you perform a new task.
As time goes on, you will have an invaluable set of
personalized checklists that will help you run your
Internet business smoothly. You also have the basis of a
useful ‘how to’ product or e-book that will help others who
are just starting out.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This Week’s Trivia Answer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Here’s the answer to the trivia question I asked earlier…

These very old iconic symbols were responsible for what
modern system…

The Moon, the Sun, Saturn and the Anglo-Saxon gods: Thor,
Tiw, Woden and his wife Frig.

Answer: These all represent the days of the week :-)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Off-Line Marketing Strategies
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Real World Advertising Tips!

Many people jump into online business enterprises and
neglect real-world or offline advertising opportunities to
grow their operations. A good mix of offline ads with your
online campaign helps present your message and even
reinforce it for those who have already spotted your online
presence.

Plus you can target people who have Internet access and
email capabilities by remembering to add your URL or web
site address and/or your e-mail, autoresponder or ezine
subscription address in all of your promotions.

To make the most of your offline advertising, here are a
few tips from the pros:

1. Computer Related:

When placing print classified or display ads targeting a
website, target magazines that have a computer related
section for your ad, when possible. This will help attract
people with Internet access and email.

2. Lists:

Purchase or rent postal mailing lists and set up regular
direct mail campaigns. If you make sure the lists include
email addresses, you’ll be able to cross promote via email
and know they probably have Internet access, too, to help
draw them to your site.

3. Commercial Spots:

Check into commercial spots on local cable television.
Pricing ranges vary, and you could get a bargain early
morning spot & catch business people who are early risers.
Target your campaign around shows that feature Internet use
or computers when you can. See about being in the same
spot just before or after a regularly scheduled program to
target the same readers over and over, so that they’ll
commit your site to memory and click it on.

4. Decks/Mailers:

Advertise with other businesses in card decks or direct
mail packages. Check to make sure they are targeted for
your audience.

5. Event Marketing:

Create a CD-ROM, disk or DVD about your website, products
and services. And distribute them at trade shows, workshops
and other special events. Note: Have your contact
information and website on the cover in case the items do
not function right when installed.

6. Freebies:

Give away free pens, pencils, mouse pads, note pads,
yellow stickies, etc. that carry your website on them and
contact information. Put your advertising on the mouse pads
and give them away at computer or Internet events.

So reach out and advertise offline to compliment your
online strategy. And remember to include your URL or web
site address and/or your e-mail, autoresponder or ezine
subscription address in all your promotions.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Have You Got Any Comments?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

This is your chance to speak out.

Comment on articles I’ve run in the newsletter, give me
your thoughts on changes or your ad testing results or
questions relating to your business, etc.

In other words, just talk to me about what you think I
need to do to improve the newsletter.

Be sure to include your website address too, because if
I use your comments in a future issue of the newsletter,
I’ll thank you by posting your address so that you can get
additional free traffic to your site!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
That’s a Wrap for this Week
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

That wraps up another week’s newsletter and I hope you
enjoyed this issue.

Don’t forget to send me any comments or questions you
may have to the Feedback Loop. I would be only too happy to
help you in any way that I can.

From time to time I’ll send you important updates
that will provide information that has the potential to
greatly improve your online business… and of course
your profits!

However, you can rest assured that I will only ever
recommend products that are considered to be of HIGH value
and will provide indisputably benefits to help you grow
your business… that’s my guarantee!

Your friend,

Gilles Rais

Outsourcing Secrets - Part 3

June 17, 2006 10:54 am

Outsourcing is the purchase of goods or services that were
previously provided internally. Generally, it is used for a
broad range of information technology functions that are
selectively contracted to an external service provider.

For most companies, outsourcing is an interesting option,
but they are reluctant to explore this option. Many
companies are not even aware of outsourcing possibilities.

The decision to outsource is a difficult one that many
executives now face. Outsourcing is a difficult issue. The
perceived advantages of outsourcing include better control
of costs, accountability and the ability to focus internal
resources on more business critical tasks.

There are so many risks involved. If you neglect these
risks, your business would terribly suffer. Here are some
problems often encountered in outsourcing:

Communication is one of the most crucial issues in
outsourcing. It can kill projects and the whole outsourcing
relationship. There are various sources of communication
problems, such as language barriers, inability to
communicate bad news or problems, cultural differences,
etc.

Misunderstandings and language barriers are also
contributing factors to communication problems. When work
is outsourced the time spent on communication will increase
considerably.

Global team management. When a software development team is
dispersed globally, through many time zones, it is often
difficult to manage and synchronize teams and pay attention
to team and individual needs. Resources and time spent on
these activities usually increases.

Cultural fit. Here we have to think of, among others, work
ethics, work style and corporate culture as well as more
general cultural issues. In some parts of the world 9:00 AM
means around 9:00 AM which might not be sufficient enough
for our purposes. We also have to consider the fact that
weekly, public and religious holidays are at different
times in different countries.

This can cause quite serious timing problems and even
communication breakdown. Cultural differences influence
management and work style as well as the way people deal
with problems, deadlines and stress.

Security. These days security concerns are paramount which
influences off-shore outsourcing. Questions like “Is this a
safe country or city?” are asked more often and people
expect an elaborate and reassuring answer.

These questions also relate to the general business climate
and political stability in the country in question. But
security could also mean other measures a company is taking
or required to take in order to meet certain requirements.
On-site access security: security cards are used to access
the premises and also for instant personal identification,
or the building has 24 hour guard for example.

Network and IS security - measures could include hardware
and software firewalls, virus protection, power supply,
backup and fall back operation, fire control, redundant
hardware and software, etc.

Training costs. At our outsourcing partner people often
must be trained or re-trained to meet our requirements. It
can be cross-cultural, general management, communication
training for the top management, technology, process,
project management, language training for the technical
staff. In case training must be provided it will definitely
increase our direct costs and can cause delays and timing
problems.

Service level. There is a very real risk that while we are
busy relocating our IT operation off-shore our service
level at the home ground will drop. Clients are lost, new
clients are not acquired because of dropping service level.
And news travel fast to the competition. The fear from
dropping service level is one of the main reasons why
companies have decided not to go off-shore with their IT
operation.

Employment. In these days, when unemployment in the IT
sector returned to Europe and the US, employment became a
very serious domestic and political issue. Social tension
is growing against relocating jobs off-shore. The issue is
often linked to globalization.

Staff turnover. Influence on staff turnover and other HR
issues is very limited. It carries the risk, for instance,
that one day a key project manager just leaves the company
without any notice, leaving a gap behind which might cause
delays and cost increase.

This would place you in a better leverage situation when
choosing and transacting with outside service providers.
The following problems will quell your fears and help you
bravely take advantage of the benefits of outsourcing in
the new global economy.

Find where to hire freelancers, how to deal with them,
protect your business and get professionnally written contract
templates in the Outsourcing Survival Kit.

Gilles Rais

Outsourcing Secrets - Part 2

June 15, 2006 10:52 am

Outsourcing does not necessarily take away from your market
share. In today’s business world, a key factor in
maintaining customers and acquiring new business is to
provide a quality product or service. Many competitors may
also be able to provide high standards of quality in their
products and services.

Outsourcing has become essential in the role of continuous
improvement of any product or service one has to offer.
Outsourcing allows you to benefit from the expertise of
another company, without accumulating the expenses of new
equipment, training, and the crazy world of
non-conformances.

Now you may be thinking what steps you need to get started
on expanding via outsourcing. Well the very first thing for
you to do is to see if you have a good clients base where
you are:

Define the scope and time frame of a project. Define your
project requirements up front. Service providers need
accurate, complete information to present you with
realistic proposals and to quote you a reasonable price.

Give vendors as much information as you can about what you
need delivered and the way in which you need the work done.
Be clear and realistic about your schedule requirements,
project schedules can have a huge impact on project costs.

Evaluate a service provider. Do not be afraid to ask
questions, when you’re evaluating proposals from service
providers. Check their references and ask for feedback from
other clients who have used their services.

If you have any concerns about a vendor’s specific
capabilities, voice your concerns. Don’t just stew about it
and hope for the best.

Get samples of their work. Examine the vendor’s previous
work and make sure that their previous work meets your
expectations for quality and style. If you’ve evaluated a
vendor’s portfolio, references and previous experience and
are still unsure of their capabilities, consider asking
them to do a quick mock-up or provide a basic outline of a
work plan.

A service provider who really wants to win your business
might be able to give you a rough concept so you can better
understand their approach to solving your problem.

Define a work plan for your outsourced project with clearly
defined milestones. Having scheduled checkpoints where you
review the status of the project as it works toward
completion. It is an easy way to ensure that you meet your
final deadline and that the final product meets your
standards. Tie the vendor’s payment to these milestones.

Negotiate ownership of work up front. Make sure that you
are clear about who owns the resulting work product and any
important components of that product. Make sure the service
provider understands how you intend to use the deliverables
that they are agreeing to provide.

Don’t forget about the warranty after the project is
complete. It’s a good idea to specify a warranty so that
you are assured of some amount of continuing support from
the vendor after the project is complete. It’s much easier
to negotiate a support clause before the service provider
begins work, rather than after the completion of the
project.

Suppose you need some changes to a business plan based on
feedback that you get from potential investors. Specifying
some amount of free support or negotiating discounted
prices for future modifications can save you time, money
and headaches later on.

Get it in writing. During the course of a service
engagement, the scope of the project, deliverables or even
the agreed upon price may change. Make sure that you
clearly communicate any schedule, scope or payment changes
to your service provider and get confirmation from them in
writing that they understand and agree to the changes.

Likewise, keep a record of any agreement changes requested
by the service provider and whether you accept or reject
those modifications. Save copies of any email exchanges
that you have.

You can access top-notch expertise any time you need it
without the overhead of hiring full-time staff. By staying
focused on your core competencies and hiring expert
freelancers for your other needs, you can compete with the
delivery capabilities of larger organizations while
maintaining your independence

The fact remains that in these days of heavy competition,
it’s become a necessity to outsource certain components of
a business in order to remain competitive.

Find where to hire freelancers, how to deal with them,
protect your business and get professionnally written contract
templates in the Outsourcing Survival Kit.

Gilles Rais

Outsourcing Secrets - Part 1

June 13, 2006 8:25 am

So you are thinking on how you can expand your operation,
do more business and make more money? If you are thinking
this right now then Outsourcing might be for you.

Outsourcing is a familiar concept to many entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs and small business people are always looking
for creative ways to accomplish more of their business
goals for less money.

One strategy that can help you save time, money and
frustration as you start and build your business is to
outsource as much work as possible to skilled, but
cost-effective, external service providers. Many large
companies turn to outsourcing to cut costs. In response,
entire industries have evolved to serve companies
outsourcing needs.

But not many businesses thoroughly understand the benefits
of outsourcing. It’s true that outsourcing can save money,
but that’s not the only reason to do it. Outsourcing too
much can be an even bigger mistake than not outsourcing any
work at all. The flat economy caused many companies into
huge layoffs and subsequently outsourced functions that
were better kept in-house.

Wise outsourcing, however, can provide a number of
long-term benefits:

Reduce or control capital costs. Cost cutting may not be
the only reason to outsource, but it’s certainly a major
factor. Access to outside providers lower cost structure is
one of the most compelling short-term benefits of
outsourcing.

Outsourcing converts fixed costs into variable costs,
releases capital for investment elsewhere in your business,
and allows you to avoid large expenditures in the early
stages of your business.

Outsourcing can also make your firm more attractive to
investors, since you’re able to pump more capital directly
into revenue-producing activities.

Improving efficiency. Improving efficiency are the most
typical reasons that companies turn to outsourcing. An
outsourcer, through efficiencies of scale and replicable
best practices, may improve efficiency and save money.

Companies that do everything themselves have much higher
research, development, marketing and distribution expenses,
all of which must be passed on to customers. An outside
provider’s cost structure and economy of scale can give
your firm an important competitive advantage.

Reduce labor costs. Hiring and training staff for
short-term or peripheral projects can be very expensive and
temporary employees don’t always live up to your
expectations. Outsourcing lets you focus your human
resources where you need them most.

Start new projects quickly. A good outsourcing firm has the
resources to start a project right away. Handling the same
project in house might involve taking weeks or months to
hire the right people, train them and provide the support
they need. And if a project requires major capital
investments, the startup process can be even more difficult.

Focus on your core business. Every business has limited
resources, and every manager has limited time and
attention. Outsourcing can help your business to shift its
focus from peripheral activities toward work that serves
the customer, and it can help managers set their priorities
more clearly.

Delivering results. No matter how many times you tell them,
most salespeople don’t do enough prospecting to keep their
pipelines full. They frequently don’t enjoy cold calling
and would far rather be negotiating or closing a deal. This
is a sweeping generalization but it holds true in many
organizations. By outsourcing you are assured of a steady
stream of new prospects.

Level the playing field. Most small firms simply can’t
afford to match the in-house support services that larger
companies maintain. Outsourcing can help small firms act
big by giving them access to the same economies of scale,
efficiency and expertise that large companies enjoy.

Reduce risk. Every business investment carries a certain
amount of risk. Markets, competition, government
regulations, financial conditions and technologies all
change very quickly. Outsourcing providers assume and
manage this risk for you, and they generally are much
better at deciding how to avoid risk in their areas of
expertise.

Outsourcing can make your business easier to run and more
profitable. You’ll free up time and resources so you can
concentrate on your core business concerns. Creative firms
offer a broad range of integrated services to move your
company forward.

More than ever, business survival depends upon the ability
to effectively market and promote your services, as well as
keeping costs down.

Find where to hire freelancers, how to deal with them,
protect your business and get professionnally written contract
templates in the Outsourcing Survival Kit.

Gilles Rais

June 3rd Week

June 12, 2006 10:41 am

It’s no secret that the most difficult aspect of building an
online business is being able to drive targeted visitors to
your website. This is often the difference between being
successful or not.

The trouble is that most of the Internet marketers seem to
think of website promotion as just submitting to search
engines, directories, link building and ezines or pay-per-
click advertising.

However you need to understand that most people in the
world spend most of their time off-line. They read
newspapers, magazines, listen to radio, watch TV, talk with
their friends, neighbors and family. Not all their time is
spent surfing on the Internet.

In simple terms, by ignoring the value of off-line
marketing you could be leaving as much as 70% of your
profits on the table!

So, if you’re a smart marketer and you’re willing to use
off-line marketing strategies to grow your business, here
are some suggestions for creating an off-line campaigns:

Let your local papers know that you have an unique product
that will benefit the local community and you are able to
help them save time, learn more and be more effective in
their daily lives.

This could lead to an interview with a local reporter or
even with a national with your website product as a
featured item and will drive people to at least see what
the buzz is about.

At the very least it will create an awareness of your
domain name or product in their sub-conscience mind.

Try finding a local business that is related to your
product and offer them a discount voucher to give their
customers for your product.

Take out small ads in local or niche magazines to
advertise the product. Some ads are relatively cheap
comparable to a solo ad in a main ezine.

Try handing out flyers with a special offer in the high
street or find shops that would allow you to leave them on
the counter for customers to pick up.

Try sending a fax broadcast to businesses that could
benefit from your product. Some companies have lists of fax
numbers and can send out the fax for as little as interview
each.

If you can develop a unique twist or benefit of your
product or service, then you could become newsworthy and
even get an interview with a local reporter, who can write
a better article than any you could put together for their
readers or listeners.

Investigate the possibility of sending out Press Releases
to the local media. Send them your product for review. Get
a well known celebrity to endorse your product.

I am sure you can think of many other ways to use off-line
marketing and later in this issue you will find additional
methods for using off-line marketing other than sticking
notes on lamp-posts to create an awareness of your site.

Have a great week :-)

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The 60 Second Weekly Tip…

If you spend countless hours staring at a blank page
trying to come up with compelling ad copy for that “killer”
sales letter (you know, the one that’s going to make you
rich beyond your wildest dreams?)… then STOP!

Why drive yourself nuts and give yourself a major headache
trying to train yourself to be a professional copy writer
overnight? Do what the gurus do… start a “swipe file.”

A swipe file is probably a little misleading as it sounds
unethical. Please understand, I am NOT condoning
plagiarism. But every so-called “Internet Marketing guru”
openly admits to having a swipe file that they use when
they need a little inspiration.

So what is a swipe file and how do you use it legally and
ethically?

Basically, whenever you come across an ad or sales letter
that makes you want to run and grab your wallet… stop and
print out or save that copy! Highlight or circle the parts
of the ad that have you excited and eager to make a
purchase. Then put it away in a folder or notebook. This is
your swipe file.

Eventually, you’ll accumulate quite a stack of great
professional quality ads. Then, when you’re staring at that
blank page trying to compose your next ad campaign or sales
letter, you can refer to your swipe file and you can use
these as a basis to create your OWN ads or sales copy.

DO NOT copy from your swipe file word for word. Substitute
your own words and put your own stamp on them. Mix and
match different approaches from different ads.

Remember, this is meant to be inspirational, not criminal.
NEVER copy these ads. Just analyze how the ad is
structured, what types of words are used, and then create
your own UNIQUE sales copy by emulating the successful
advertising techniques from your swipe file.

The idea is to study copy writing techniques as you go.
Eventually, you’ll find you won’t need to refer to your
swipe file as often. Your blank pages won’t stay blank for
long because you’ll have learned how to write killer ad
copy of your own.

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For your enjoyment (and information), here is this week’s
quick trivia question…

Why was Dr Who’s time machine called the ‘Tardis’?

As usual the answer can be found later in the newsletter.

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Featured Article
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Using Market Analysis to Create More Profits!

The term “market analysis” is often confusing to
entrepreneurs, especially for people who focus on a
specific niche or market segment.

In fact, many small business owners don’t understand the
process or complain that conducting a market analysis is
too complicated or too expensive and wonder why or if it is
necessary.

But what is market analysis?

In the most basic terms, a market analysis is an
assessment of:

- A particular problem or opportunity in a market.
- The needs of the target market relating to the problem
or opportunity.
- Ideas for marketing a particular product or service that
fills the needs of the target market.

When should you conduct a market analysis?

- When you are starting a business.
- When you are entering a new market.
- When you are considering a new product or service.

Why should you conduct a market analysis?

- To minimize business risks.
- To understand the problems and opportunities.
- To identify sales opportunities.
- To plan your marketing/sales approach.

The process of conducting a market analysis can be divided
into three parts:

Part 1 - Understanding Market Conditions

This gives you basic information about your entire market -
the size, the competition, the customers.

Part 2 - Identifying Market Opportunities

This gives you more targeted information about potential
problems or opportunities in the potential market, and
includes information about growth, current and future
trends, outside factors and more information about specific
competitors.

Part 3 - Developing Market-Driven Strategies

Here is where we get into what market research does for
you. It helps you to pinpoint opportunities to grow your
business. By understanding the market and knowing what
opportunities are available you can create a marketing
strategy that leaves your competitors in the dust!

Here are some questions that can help you get started:

1. What is the market I want to reach?

- Who are they? (Basic Demographics)
- What is their biggest problem in relation to this market?
- Are their needs being met by the products or services
provided in this market?

2. Who is my competition in this market?

- Are they successful in this market?
- Are they marketing a similar product or service?
- What is the market share of the three biggest
competitors in this market?

3. What is the size of this market?

- Is there room for growth?
- Is the industry growing? Stable? Saturated? Volatile?
Declining?

4. How is my product or service different from the
competition?

5. How can I reach this market?

- How is my competition currently reaching this market?
- Is it the most effective way?
- What are the alternative ways of reaching this market?

6. What are the business models of my competition in this
market?

- Are they effective?
- Is there a way to do it differently or better?

7. What do customers expect from this type of product or
service?

- What are the core competencies of this product or
service?
- What would make the product “new” “different” or
“better” for the customer?

8. How much are customers willing to pay for this product
or service?

9. What is our competitive advantage in this market?

Knowing the answers to these questions will not only help
you figure out if there is a need for your product or
service, it will help you figure out the best ways to reach
your customers, price your products or service and
ultimately make more sales!

Are you ready to create your own products?
Get your Information Product Creation Maual today and start
right away!

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This Week’s Trivia Answer
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Here’s the answer to the trivia question I asked earlier…

Why was Dr Who’s time machine called the ‘Tardis’?

It’s an acronym - Time And Relative Dimensions In Space.

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Off-Line Marketing Strategies
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How to Find 100 Prospects Every Week!

Regardless of your niche industry, there will also be
businesses or people interested in what you have to offer.
This is why you should have no difficulty in coming up with
at least 100 fresh new leads on a weekly basis.

(If you can’t find people who are interested in your
product or service, then you’re in the wrong niche as it’s
not viable, so you should cut your losses and look for
other markets)

The more your business grows the more apt you are to begin
receiving referrals from your existing customers, however
this should still not stop you from prospecting for new
customers.

All successful sales people know that their success is
greatly dependent on their ability to effectively prospect.
And as sales are based on numbers it only stands to reason
that the more people you contact, the greater the odds of
being able to set an appointment to meet with them to gain
their business.

When developing your strategy it is important to create a
prospect system. You have basically 2 choices to do this.
You can do that the old-fashioned way by creating a manual
card file using plain 3 x 5 index cards. Or, you can set up
a contact management program on your computer.

Whichever method you choose, here’s a checklist you might
like to follow:

1. Information you will want on each lead:

Name of the business.
Address with zip code.
Telephone number.
Name of owner(s) with title(s) if available.

2. How to create your 100 leads weekly:

Grab yourself a recorder so that while your out on the
road you can list names of business and other pertinent
information that you see while travelling. Later, while
listening to the recorder, transfer the information to a
card or your contact management program.

Using the yellow pages, create leads from a variety of
businesses.

Visit your local library and use either Contacts
Influential, Inside Contacts or any other printed directory
and create leads using the geographical section (by zip
code) or the SIC (Standard Industry Code) Section. SIC has
all busin