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How to find what your looking for

Test this ebusiness start up program for the next 30 days

		Wednesday, 11 November 09 - 11:32 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

Would you like to start making money online right away... without
risk?

Good -- because I've arranged for you to try out the Internet
Marketing Center's best-selling ebusiness start-up program
for the next 30 days, without risk or obligation!

http://www.theimcmethod.com/insidersecrets/835261

Insider Secrets contains literally *everything* IMC has EVER
learned about making money on the Internet... that's a LOT of
knowledge, considering they've generated $100 Million in sales!

And they're constantly updating this step-by-step program, so it
always contains the MOST up-to-date techniques and newest test
results.

Their latest update? They've just added a brand-new series of
expert-led webinars that will show you how to make even MORE
money with THREE hot new techniques, including Twitter and
AdWords!

And what's really great about this trial is that it's NOT just a
limited version that only gives you access to a small portion of
the program.

No, you'll get complete, unlimited access to the entire
step-by-step program that thousands of people have already used
to start profitable businesses!

PLUS... to make sure you've got ALL the help you need to get
started, for a limited time, IMC is adding $500 worth of additional
training and assistance.

I can't recommend this program strongly enough. If you want a
clear, easy-to-understand roadmap to making money online, this
is definitely it!

To activate your no-obligation 30-Day trial, and see for yourself,
just click here: http://www.theimcmethod.com/insidersecrets/835261

John C Thomson

P.S. My contact at IMC told me they're only offering the $500
worth of additional help and training for a limited time, so be
sure you activate your 30-Day trial of Insider Secrets right
away.

They're Concealing $28,250,000 in Closely-Guarded Money-Making Secrets…

		Tuesday, 08 September 09 - 01:19 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

They're Concealing $28,250,000 in Closely-Guarded Money-Making Secrets…

Mark your calendar. Starting September 10, MaryEllen will be interviewing three men who can make you wealthy:

• Rich Schefren - skilled entrepreneur and Internet marketing consultant. He knows the one thing EVERY marketer does wrong. This secret drove one client's sales from $10,000 a month to $12 MILLION a year!

• Mike Koenigs. He heads up a multi-million dollar company. He's created 300+ websites and over 40 products. Plus, he has access to 4.5 BILLION potential customers. (And not in the way you think…)

• Clayton Makepeace. He's heralded as the world's highest paid copywriter. His marketing strategies and sales copy have brought in over $1.5 billion in sales for his clients.

You’d pay thousands of dollars to get their advice normally. Now you can have it for free. Join MaryEllen while she grills them by attending our "Hot-Seat" teleseminar series. Reserve your spot now.

 This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Make Mine Thin Sliced

		Tuesday, 01 September 09 - 11:52 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 

Make Mine Thin Sliced
By David Cross

My wife strode across the yard from the chicken coop, clutching our sharpest kitchen knife. A rivulet of red ran down her forearm. Her hands were stained crimson, and a solitary feather stuck to her palm.

"Hi, Honey!" she chirped. "I was just seeing whether the new chicks liked strawberries."

Assumptions, I am reminded, are the mother of all screw-ups. And some of the worst assumptions are made by website designers who make it hard for people to find what they are looking for.

The assumptions we make are all about our perceptions and how our brains interpret them. The human brain needs very little information in order to synthesize the bits and pieces in any scenario and immediately form a whole picture. Read on...

In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell calls this ability of ours "thin slicing." Apparently, we developed it thousands of years ago. When our distant ancestors hunted and gathered and danger approached, they needed to make the decision -- in a split-second -- whether to fight or flee.

At heart -- more correctly, "at brain" -- we are still hunters on a trail. But instead of food, we are searching for information.

The prey has changed, but the way we hunt hasn't. When you're looking for something online, whether through search engines, within an e-mail, or on a website, you are tracking it. You forage, seek, scan, and click for clues to guide you.

You ignore anything that appears irrelevant, and move on quickly. Very quickly. In fact, usability experts like Jakob Nielsen believe most people spend only a few seconds -- 10 to 15 seconds -- skim-reading something that looks like it might be useful.

Understanding your customers and the assumptions they make when they're searching online will help you create a more user-friendly (and, therefore, more successful) business. But first, you have to make sure you're not making some incorrect assumptions.

Many Web designers figure that when they put a certain label on a website button, its meaning is obvious. And they assume that if a visitor to the website doesn't understand it, that person must be stupid. But take the example of a button labeled "Programs." Does that mean educational courses? Or downloadable software?

The problem is that most technical folk are probably not your average customer. What appears obvious to them probably isn't obvious to the people who matter most ... your customers.

This is why, when improving the "usability" of your website, you must strive for simplicity. If anything on it requires an explanation from a webmaster, Web designer, or technical whiz-kid for you to understand it, it will confuse the heck out of your website visitors.

A confused website visitor is a bad thing. He'll believe he's on the wrong trail. And guess what? He'll bail. He'll exit your website and take his money elsewhere.

Businesses spend a lot of time and money driving traffic to their websites. But once they get them there, few consider the user experience. This is akin to collecting water in a leaky bucket.

Don't assume there are no holes in your bucket. Have someone conduct an audit of every aspect of your online business. That includes your promotional e-mails, website, shopping cart, and order confirmations.

An audit doesn't have to cost much or take long. (One hour can reveal a lot to a trained eye.) You don't even have to call it an audit. Call it "discovery." The main thing is for you to be open to accepting anything you find that may need changing. This means looking through fresh eyes at your existing business. Taking a step back and trying to forget the assumptions you made about what does or does not work. Trying to see what your customers see when they use your website, read your e-mail, buy from your shopping cart, and call your 800 number.

Usability is something you can (and should) measure. Most analytics software -- like Google Analytics, WebTrends, and software most Web-hosting providers install for you -- provides usability statistics. This can help you determine the changes that should be made to your online business.

Let's say your goal is to sell $10,000 worth of skateboard helmets a month, and you are currently at only $5,000 a month. You look at the reasons people are leaving your site without purchasing, and it appears that many are bailing during the checkout phase. So you modify the process to make it simpler, to make people feel more secure, or to allow them to complete the transaction in less time.

You continue to make changes to the checkout process -- one at a time. And you measure the results. As long as the results are positive, you keep making changes.

This is a worthwhile exercise for any online business. If you meet resistance when you suggest it, simply say, "Why don't we test XYZ and see what happens?" The main thing is not to be tied to a particular way of doing things. Results are what matter, not whether John's or Jane's approach works best.

Remember what I said earlier: Assumptions are the mother of all screw-ups. An audit challenges the assumptions you've made about your online business and compares them to the assumptions your customers are probably making. Ultimately, you want to understand and predict the assumptions your customers make, and do everything you can to make it easy for them to do business with you.

Here are some examples of what I mean:

• By removing the top and bottom navigational menus (both of which contained multiple links) from a pay-per-click landing page, one client of mine doubled the number of sign-ups for their e-mail newsletter. Offering too many choices creates confusion. Focus on the action you want your site visitors to take and make it simple for them to take that action.

• An online company selling motorcycle jackets offered free shipping, promising delivery in five days. By giving customers the option to pay extra for expedited shipping, they significantly increased sales. The reason: Customers who wanted their jackets immediately were put off by having to wait five days.

• By changing the format of their e-mail newsletter to use predominantly text with fewer images, one business increased its monthly income from the newsletter by three-fold. Most e-mail programs and service providers do not turn on images by default. Yet website designers still create image- and graphics-heavy e-mails that conflict with the real world of e-mail delivery and display.

Ask yourself the following questions:

What assumptions have I made about the way I've set up my e-mails, website, purchasing process, and telephone system that are actually quite complex, require explanation, or just plain don't make sense?

How can I improve these things to make it easier for my customers to do business with me?

Does that animation on my home page help or hurt my goals?

How do my e-mails look in the preview pane in Outlook? (Studies suggest that's where 65 percent of people read their e-mail.)

Do my links work in AOL? Hotmail? Yahoo? Gmail?

Any online business willing to make changes can make significant improvements in its results. Enjoy turning over the stones ... and watch out for your assumptions.

P.S. I've just shown you that your online sales can be directly affected -- in a big way -- by making it as easy as possible for prospects to navigate your site, read and understand your promotional e-mails, and get through your purchasing system. Each week, I reveal practical tips like these in my newsletter the Internet Rant. Go here to find out more about my "contrarian" take on Internet marketing.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Blogger Test Drives

		Monday, 31 August 09 - 10:30 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 Blogger Test Drives

An automaker is interested in providing vehicles for bloggers to test drive for a few days and to write about the experience. They’re not looking for auto bloggers, they’re looking for lifestyle bloggers who cover topics like travel, fine dining, and culture. They will arrange the drop-off and pick up of the vehicle.

If you’re interested, please contact list@technorati.com with your blog name, content overview, URL, Technorati authority, and contact information.

Mamapedia Featured Bloggers

		Monday, 31 August 09 - 10:30 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

Mamapedia Featured Bloggers

Mamapedia.com is looking for bloggers who write on topics that are of interest to moms to feature on Mamapedia Voices. They launched earlier this year and are reaching an audience of almost 1 million moms. You can get more information by signing up here: http://bit.ly/agucO. Please be sure to mention that you found out about this opportunity from Technorati.

IBM A Smarter Planet

		Monday, 31 August 09 - 10:29 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 IBM A Smarter Planet

IBM is hiring bloggers to write articles for A Smarter Planet. A Smarter Planet provides thought-provoking content and a starting point to talk about the issues raised. You can see some of the content here and here. Topics they’re looking for include:

• Smarter Cities: As populations grow at a fast clip, they are stressing our city infrastructures. Smarter transportation, policing, governance, and grids promise relief to urban areas.
• Smarter Energy: With smarter grids, utilities can manage the flow of power through their systems. And consumers can manage their appliances and use of energy at the household level.
• Smarter Healthcare: Using tools like electronic medical records, wireless computing devices and health support networks, innovators are making our systems smarter and more affordable.

If you’re interested, please contact list@technorati.com with your blog name, content overview, URL, Technorati authority, and contact information.

"Absolutely Brilliant and Spot On."

		Friday, 28 August 09 - 10:43 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

"Absolutely Brilliant and Spot On."

"Just had to say that Rich Schefren has really hit the nail on the head about the media and so called 'journalism' in his article 'How to Make More Money During a Recession.'

"Absolutely brilliant and spot on. They have to fill so many newspaper/magazine pages and so much TV airtime that any 'news' item is completely overexposed and hyped up. (Swine flu is a good example.) It also seems that many journalists really don't know much about the subjects they are writing about. Fortunately, the same cannot be said about Early to Rise.

"Keep up the good work."

Karen Letherby
Cheltenham, UK

 This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

What a Product Should Do: Revive the Love

		Friday, 28 August 09 - 10:40 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

What a Product Should Do: Revive the Love

"What is the perfect investment newsletter?"

"What do you mean?" I wanted to know.

"From a subscriber's point of view. What kind of content should the perfect investment newsletter have?"

This was a smart guy. He wasn't looking for obvious answers. He didn't want to hear about cutting-edge ideas, emotional relevance, or actionable advice. He was looking for something more fundamental.

I thought about it. "The ideal newsletter," I said, "makes the subscriber feel excited and informed -- the way he felt when he read the promotion."

Now it was his turn to ask what I meant.

"It's like the perfect spouse," I said. "Someone who loves you always the way she did when she first fell in love with you."

"Yeah, right," he said.

But that's what I meant. Every business should attempt to have every one of its product meet this level of perfection.

 This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Has the FDA Been Bribed by the Mercury Merchants?

		Thursday, 27 August 09 - 05:56 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

"Forced" to Start a Business

This is no time to start a new business, the "experts" say.

But a recent New York Times article indicates that many are ignoring that advice. (Thanks to Don Hauptman for this tip.) The Kauffman Foundation's latest numbers show more businesses started in 2008 than 2007. Driving that trend are the unemployed.

"You have the time. Why not focus your energy on something, rather than just trolling Craigslist and sitting and watching TV?" Lisa Marie Grillos says.

Grillos has been selling handcrafted bike bags online since she was laid off in January. She says business is getting better.

Good for her. And good for every other unemployed person who is starting an Internet-based business. They are easy to start. They are cheap to fund. And they have unlimited potential.

And history proves that tough economic times can be good times to start businesses. Fact: More than half the companies in the Fortune 500 were founded during recessions. These include FedEx and Microsoft. Same goes for the small-business-focused Inc. Magazine 500.

***

Eliminate "Overwhelm" for Good… - Sidestep all the information about Internet marketing out there that’s confusing, frustrating, and often COMPLETELY BOGUS. Let a Rogue Marketing Genius show you his $275 million dollars worth of secrets – in just seven minutes a day. Read on…

***

Has the FDA Been Bribed by the Mercury Merchants?

The FDA recently declared that the mercury in dental fillings is not harmful. Not even for children and pregnant women.

That's not true, according to Melanie Segala, Editor of Total Health Breakthroughs. She says mercury is dangerous -- even a small amount. If you have lots of fillings, the danger is greater.

Mercury can cause brain damage. It can also retard development. You can ingest a good deal of mercury, experts say, by eating fish. That's why doctors recommend limiting fish intake to once or twice a week.

But mercury in the teeth? Is that really a threat? The FDA says no. Its position is based on a "comprehensive review of scientific studies." But Melanie Segala doesn't trust the FDA's conclusion. "Many of those studies were industry-funded," she told me. "If you look at the independent studies, the facts are clear."

***

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

This Is Going To Be Hard for You to Hear ...

		Thursday, 27 August 09 - 05:53 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

This Is Going To Be Hard for You to Hear ...

Dear ETR Reader --

What's going on with the economy? Why can't we get this recession past us?

The answer is simple if you know the basics:

• We are an economy that is 70 percent driven by consumer spending.
• To get the economy going again, spending must increase.
• But Americans are reluctant to spend.
• And banks are reluctant to lend.
• And even if banks did lend and people did spend, it would just get us all deeper into debt.

Is there any way out of this?

Yes, and it's very simple. We can't spend our way out of indebtedness. We can only work our way out.

You won't hear this from our politicians. And you won't hear it from media pundits either. It is politically incorrect to suggest that people have to work harder.

"We already work hard," they say. "You can't ask us to do more."

But doing more work is the only way out. We have to work harder and make more money. And then we have to save some of that money and spend some too.

I made this point in Automatic Wealth. I said that most wealth-building books are flawed because they never say the truest thing: that the only way to get rich is to save a lot of money, and the only way to save a lot of money is to make more -- much more than you are making now.

If our politicians really wanted to fix the economy, they would do everything they could to increase entrepreneurship in the U.S. Entrepreneurship, more than anything else, is responsible for the creation of jobs and wealth.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban says that the most patriotic thing you can do is start a business in America and become extremely rich. I agree. Starting a business is the best way to boost your income, increase your savings, accelerate your spending, and help America work its way out of this recession.

  This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

How Much Does It Really Cost to Start a Profitable Internet Business?

		Tuesday, 18 August 09 - 11:49 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

How Much Does It Really Cost to Start a Profitable Internet Business?

By Bob Bly

In this article, I’m going to give you a definitive, to-the-penny answer to that question. Something I don’t think you’ve gotten elsewhere. 

I find the rule for start-up money to be the same for an Internet business as it is for many home-based businesses. It’s a “time or money” equation. (Michael Masterson has written about it many times.) 

The “time or money” rule dictates that you need either time or money to succeed. 

If you have little money, you must put a lot of your time into the start-up. That’s what’s known as “sweat equity.” 

If you have little time but plenty of cash, you can pay others to do a lot of the work.

Time or money. Either one will do. 

It is extremely difficult to start a home business if you have no money and no spare time. 

However, with an Internet business, we have a big advantage.

You can’t run an Internet business with zero dollars. You need to buy domain names, pay for hosting, have Web pages designed, and so on. But it is much easier — and far less expensive — than an offline business. 

It’s also far less risky. 

As Gary Scott said at an American Writers & Artists Bootcamp, “The Internet is very forgiving of mistakes.”

For instance, if an e-mail marketing campaign to your subscribers bombs, you don’t make much money that day. But sending an e-mail promotion, even to thousands of subscribers, is so inexpensive, you don’t lose much either.

On the other hand, running a business offline … especially one selling a physical product … can cost a small fortune. And all of it is risk capital.

Take, for example, the business magazine — Portfolio. It was launched by Conde Nast in April 2007. Two years later, it was gone. According to the New York Post, the total loss for the publication’s two years of operation was $120 million.

In my little Internet information marketing business, I never spend much more than $1,000 to develop and test a product. Usually, I spend considerably less. My first product, an e-book, cost me a total of $263.

Since most of us have grand plans, ambitious dreams, and big ideas, but not much money, I suggest you start your Internet business with your own labor rather than begged or borrowed capital. 

Especially at the beginning, you’ll have to put in a lot of time. But that will give you an edge over your competitors. Most of them simply will not make the effort. 

“If you work more hours than somebody else, during those hours you learn more about your craft,” writes Randy Pausch in his book The Last Lecture. “That can make you more efficient, more able, even happier. Hard work is like compounded interest in the bank. The rewards build faster.” 

It takes a lot of hard work to start and build a profitable online business … much more than many “get rich quick on the Internet” promoters would lead you to believe. But once you get going, Internet marketing can generate a steady stream of passive income. That’s the “compound interest” part of it. You create a product once, and then sell it again and again. 

That’s not the case with a service business, such as freelance copywriting, coaching, consulting, or speaking. 

In a service business, the start-up is simpler. You just start advertising. But service businesses generate mostly active income. You have to keep working, with a high level of activity, to make a high level of income. 

A business that generates passive income pays bigger dividends down the line. And, as I said, you can start an Internet information marketing business with very little money. But not zero. 

Exactly how much do you need, then? 

If you do most of the work yourself at the beginning, you can get started with less than $1,000. 

Take a look at my budget for my first product on the Internet, an e-book titled “Write and Grow Rich”: 

• Writing the e-book — zero (I assembled it from previously published articles.) 
• Hiring a designer to put my Word file into a PDF format — $75
• Registering my domain name — $9
• Creating the landing page copy — zero (I wrote it myself.)
• Paying a company to design the landing page — $175 (I outsourced to an overseas firm.)
• Monthly shopping cart software subscription fee — $4 (The company I use — automateyouronlinebusinessnow.com — charges $49 to $99 a month, depending on the software you select. But they offered a one month trial for only four bucks. I started with that.)
• E-mail distribution — zero (I was already paying a flat monthly fee to have the e-zine I send to my copywriting clients distributed, and I never came close to the maximum number of e-mails I can send for that.)
• Total out-of-pocket, excluding my own labor: $263
• Total revenues: $2,958 (for 102 copies of the e-book, sold at $29 each)

As you can see, even with a budget of only a few hundred bucks, you should have enough to cover the initial start-up costs. That includes hosting … domain name registration … design of your landing page … creation of your first information product … setting up a merchant account … and shopping cart software.

The bottom line: If you have ambition, vision, and desire … and are willing to work hard, at least in the beginning … you can start a successful Internet marketing business for under $500.

To launch a business for under $500, however, you need to spend your money wisely — finding quality service providers that charge reasonable fees.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

You need to grab one now

		Thursday, 13 August 09 - 10:00 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 Dear Fellow Entreprenuer,

This is HUGE!

I just discovered that the Internet Marketing Center is
running a crazy deal right now...

They're looking for real people who can testify their new
five-step  online success program can help regular folk quickly
make up to $10,000+ a month -- or more.

... And to get those "real-life" testimonials, they're
giving away trials of this "secret weapon" for just $2.95!

If making a LOT of money (at least $100,000+ in your
first year) is something that interests you, I urge 
you to activate your trial of this new profit system
and give it a try!

If it doesn't work for you, no big deal... Just cancel it
and it won't cost you a penny more.

You can take part in this risk-free trial by going to:

http://www.marketingtips.com/5-step-profits/t/835261

Here's your chance to finally start making money online,
and all it will cost you is a pocketful of change.

All the best,

John C Thomson

P.S. I'm not sure how many trials they're giving away so if you
want to take part in this great opportunity I suggest you act NOW.

http://www.marketingtips.com/5-step-profits/t/835261

Unlock The Twitter Traffic Tempest

		Thursday, 13 August 09 - 09:55 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

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 This article appears courtesy of American Writers & Artists Inc.’s (AWAI) The Golden Thread, a free newsletter that delivers original, no-nonsense advice on the best wealth careers, lifestyle careers and work-at-home careers available. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.awaionline.com/signup/.

The World's Craziest Online Business Model

		Saturday, 01 August 09 - 11:04 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

"There's a lot of money being made in marketing information products online today."

- Bob Bly

The World's Craziest Online Business Model

By Brian T. Edmondson

"Bill" - an old friend of mine - invited me to dinner to pick my brain about doing business online. (He knows that I've been making my living online for several years now.) He explained that he's been trying to make some extra money by selling "stuff" on eBay. And the more he told me about it, the crazier it sounded.

He buys products in bulk and stores them at home. And every time he makes a sale, he has to pack up the goods and go to the post office to ship them out. Oh, and I should also mention that these products have a very low profit margin.

Now I don't know about you, but to me that seems like an awful lot of work just to make a few dollars. And the business model isn't scalable. If Bill wants to double his income, it's going to take double the amount of work. If he wants to increase his income by a factor of 10, it'll take 10 times the inventory, 10 times the labor to pack and ship the products, and 10 times the risk.

If you think that sounds a lot like a traditional "bricks and mortar" business, you're right! As a matter of fact, the only differences I can see are that the actual sales are made online and he doesn't have a physical storefront.

So then I told Bill a little about my online businesses.

I sell mostly digital information products, so I don't need to buy or store any inventory. When I make a sale, the product is instantly delivered online. In many cases, I don't even own the products I'm selling, so it's completely hands off. On top of that, because the cost of storing and producing digital products is so low, they have extremely high profit margins. Best of all, the products I choose to sell are in high demand markets - so I'm not hoping sales will be made, I know they will.

Needless to say, Bill wanted to know more. So I shared with him what I'm about to share with you right now: my top three proven ways to make money online.

1. Context-Specific Website Advertising

Can you attract steady streams of visitors to your unique, information-rich website or blog? Great! Then sign up with an online advertising program that pays you for showing their context-specific ads on your site. This "pay-per click" model of revenue generation is probably the quickest way for you to start making money online.

Your "work" consists of adding a small piece of code to your Web page (anyone can do it!) that triggers ads relevant to your audience. For example, if your site is devoted to yoga exercises, yoga-related ads will appear. Then, whenever one of your site visitors clicks on one of those ads, you get paid. (This is a very simplified explanation of the process, but it gives you an idea of how it works.)
 
Although there are almost 100 recognized advertising programs available for Web publishers, the most popular by far is Google AdSense. It has the largest network of partners and is at the forefront of contextual advertising for websites, mobile technologies, search engines, and syndicated feeds.

2. Selling Other People's Information Products (Affiliate Marketing)

Affiliate marketing is another good way to make money online. In particular, consider selling other people's digital products (e-books, software, video courses, etc.).

Here are some of the reasons I love affiliate marketing:

• Commissions are high - often 50-75 percent for both new and established digital products.
• Product owners offer built-in marketing support (e.g., sales letters and banner ads that you can use).
• Product delivery, customer service, and payment processing are handled by the product owners.

To get started, sign up with a popular digital marketplace like ClickBank or Commission Junction and search their database for products that are related to your niche. Then promote these products on your website in the form of "product reviews" or "recommended resources."

3. Creating and Selling Your Own Information Products

Many people are happy just with the consistent income they can make as an affiliate marketer. Eventually, though, you may want to create and sell your own information products - and have your own affiliate "army" to promote them.

There are many ways to create information products. You can write reports, do teleseminars with experts, and record video presentations, just to name a few.

What does it take to create an information product that sells? One good way is to do some research to find the kind of questions people in your niche are asking. You can then write an e-book that offers solutions to those problems. You may even want to give away your best solution to the biggest problem for free to build your e-mail list - and then sell the complete e-book to the people on that list.

As you sharpen your skills and establish your online reputation, you can build out your product funnel with e-courses, teleseminars, and even full-fledged home study programs.

Most of my online businesses generate income with a combination of these three proven methods: context-specific advertising, affiliate marketing, and information product creation. I also generate income from speaking, membership sites, and several other sources. However, when you are just getting started, my advice is to concentrate on the top three.

If you're unsure of where to begin, I highly recommend that you join me and the ETR team at our "Show Me the Money" Info Marketing Bootcamp in November.

MaryEllen Tribby has assembled a world-class group of thought leaders from all over the nation for this event. They will be revealing some of their top business-building and moneymaking secrets to a select group of future Internet millionaires. (That could be you!)

These experts won't bore you with the same old song and dance you've heard a hundred times before... con you with one-trick ponies... or tease you with gimmicks that work for only one person in 10 million. They won't give you the stuff you already know.

They will show you EXACTLY how to start bringing in "new found" cash right now - and how to keep it coming in as the online world transforms and marches forward into the new decade.

This is your big opportunity to finally start the information marketing business that could make all your dreams come true... or finally stop "working" at your business and watch it soar to new levels of profitability.

Even if you have just a flicker of an idea for your own Internet business, you should make a point of joining us in November. Get all the details - including how to sign up for our "full refund + $1,000 cash-back pledge" - right here. Don't delay - your $600 Early Bird discount ends this coming Monday.

 This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

THIS SHOULD WORK ALMOST OVERNIGHT

		Thursday, 30 July 09 - 09:59 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 Hi Friend,

What's stopping you from making money on the Internet?

Is it lack of time? Lack of money to invest? No product to
sell?

In MANY conversations with my subscribers over the years,
these have turned out to be the "big three" deal breakers
-- so you're definitely not alone there.

Which is why I wanted to bring this to your attention:

The experts over at the Internet Marketing Center have
recently developed a simple five-step system you can use
to eliminate ANY of the challenges you've been facing... 

... so you can start earning the money you deserve.

When you follow these five simple steps, you'll finally be
able to start making profits online, even if you have:

>> NO products (The IMC experts show you what to sell, then
   help you source it)

>> NO upfront investment (don't pay a cent until you're
   earning money)

>> NO time (start today, and be earning you first profits in
   24 hours)

And here's the real kicker: You won't even need a website!

Sounds like something that would come in handy right about
now, right?

You can learn the 5-steps by visiting:


http://www.marketingtips.com/5-step-profits/t/835261


To your success,

John C Thomson

The Secret to Creating Tremendous Luck in Any Economy

		Wednesday, 29 July 09 - 10:57 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 

"Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves."

- Larry King

The Secret to Creating Tremendous Luck in Any Economy

By Tom McCarthy

I live an amazing life. I've been married for 18 years to a wonderful woman. I have two great kids. I live in a multimillion-dollar home in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the United States. And I earn large sums of money from the four companies I own - my training business (speaking and consulting with business leaders and athletes all over the world), my insurance agency, a supplement business, and an online business. 

But it wasn't always this way. I can still remember being three years old, looking out the window and seeing a taxicab pull up to our house. A man in uniform got out of the taxicab and walked up to the door. He had come to inform my mother that my father, an Army officer, had been killed in Vietnam. That day changed my family's life forever. We went from a comfortable middle-class lifestyle to barely making it on a small government stipend. Many of the little things I take for granted now were only a dream to me as a child. 

I distinctly remember thinking that life wasn't fair, and I was extremely envious of the people I knew who seemed to be so much luckier. Well, I'm happy to say that those times are long gone - and I can guarantee that I will NEVER feel that way again. Why? Because I have discovered the secret of so-called "good luck" - and with this secret I can create as many opportunities as I want. It is totally up to me. 

This secret applies not just when the economy is thriving. It applies in any economy. In fact, it may be even easier in a challenging economy. And it has been extensively tested in a study known as the "Luck Factor." (This is now the title of a book by Richard Wiseman.)

Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire studied people who were consistently experiencing good luck. No matter what they did or where they went, these people - named The Lucky Ones by the researchers - seemed to have good fortune following them. Their businesses thrived. They were constantly being introduced to new opportunities. They had many friends who were always ready to help them. Their relationships were strong and their health was vibrant. 

I can't give you every characteristic they shared or every action they took in this short article. But here are four things you can focus on that will start to generate more luck for you. 

1. Expand your network.

Plain and simple, the number of opportunities you will be exposed to will be determined by the size and quality of your network. The more influential people you know, the more opportunities will come your way.

Now I'm not saying you should look at every person you meet with dollar signs in your eyes. That's the fastest way to make a bad impression. Instead, work on being more outgoing, friendly, and helpful. Meet as many people as you can, and find ways to add value to the lives of those you find interesting. In addition, develop strategies to keep in touch and keep adding value to their lives. What will happen, and this never fails, is that they will bring you opportunities that will transform your life.

I have heard the most inspiring stories... including how a neighbor of mine went from being a ski instructor to being named president of a major golf company as a result of developing a relationship with a man (the chairman of the company) he met in one of his ski classes.

2. Expect to succeed.

It is an absolute fact that there never is a lack of opportunity. Even in your most difficult times, you had more potential opportunities than you could have ever acted on. The problem was that you were not noticing them.

Your expectations are critical. Lucky people expect great things to happen to them, and unlucky people expect to be unlucky. Both fulfill their expectations. In a study done in the UK, lucky people almost always found money placed in their paths, while unlucky people walked right past the money without even noticing it. The opportunity was the same for both, but the expectations of the lucky people trained their brains to spot it.

3. Trust your intuition.

People who are lucky in business, investing, and even love have something in common: They listen to their gut instincts.

Your intuition is your subconscious mind trying to communicate with you. It does so by creating a feeling in your stomach or heart. This feeling is meant to guide you in the right direction - and lucky people heed it. Unlucky people, on the other hand, often ignore their gut instincts and act based on fear, greed, or some other negative emotion. Those are actions they almost always regret.

Have you ever noticed that your gut instincts are usually right? The former CEO of GE, Jack Welch, even wrote a book titled Straight From the Gut in which he said leaders should make decisions based on intuition.

4. Turn bad luck into good luck.

Now let me first say that I really don't believe in bad luck. I think that, in hindsight, you can always find some benefit in everything that happens. But this is not the way everybody thinks. Some people spend their whole lives feeling sorry for themselves because of something that happened years before.

I mentioned earlier that my father died when I was only three. While I have wished many times that I could have gotten to know my father, I can see that the challenge of growing up without him brought with it many benefits. For one thing, it made me much more mature than other kids. I think that's the main reason I had so much success in business at an early age. I was one of the top financial advisors in a Wall Street brokerage firm at the age of 22... I was instrumental in running and growing Tony Robbins's company at 25... and I started my own training, coaching, and consulting company at 27.

There are two sides to every situation, a good side and a bad side. The side you see depends upon the way you look at it. Lucky people have a knack for seeing the good, even in the worst circumstances. This creates opportunities out of the ashes of disappointment.

Okay. I've given you four things to focus on that I guarantee will generate more luck for you. The question is, will you apply them? If you do, and do it consistently, you will get to live the life most people only dream about.

I'm not saying this is going to happen overnight (though it might). But if you give it time, it will happen!

What have you got to lose? Isn't it time you started living your dreams? 

[Ed. Note: Business and success coach Tom McCarthy knows all about luck. He's been studying it for years, and believes there's an actual science to being lucky. You can discover exactly what it means to be lucky this November at ETR's 2009 Info Marketing Bootcamp. Not only will you get the chance to meet Tom McCarthy and find out exactly how YOU can change your luck for the better... you'll also get up-close-and-personal access to a dozen of the Internet's most powerful thought leaders and their top strategies for making money online. In fact, each of these visionaries has agreed to send you away with an idea, technique, or trend that could make you $100,000 in the next 12 months alone. Get all the details here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Sit Back, Relax, and Let the Profit-Building Secrets Pile Up

		Wednesday, 29 July 09 - 10:43 AM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

"The problem is the average person isn't tuned in to lifelong learning, or going to seminars and so forth. If the information is not on television, and it's not in the movies they watch, and it's not in the few books that they buy, they don't get it."

- Jack Canfield

Sit Back, Relax, and Let the Profit-Building Secrets Pile Up

By Paul Lawrence

The three grand I made almost instantly was just the beginning.

You see, I'd taken advantage of a powerful strategy that many people overlook. It can result in immediate cost savings or an income boost. It can help generate continuous, long-term streams of cash. It can help you attract new customers and explore easier, faster ways to spread your marketing message. It can give you personal access to high-level mentors. It can produce new partnerships. It can introduce you to cutting-edge technologies. It can help you start a successful business. And much more.

In my case, it gave me an "insider's" look at a simple technique that made it possible for me to take a product I was about to launch and produce a $3,000 profit in only a couple of days.

But, as I said, that was only the beginning...

Employing this powerful strategy also allowed me to hook up with a hugely successful Internet publisher who agreed to market another one of my products to his list of hundreds of thousands of qualified prospects. And because we did this deal on a joint venture basis, I didn't risk one nickel. He sent out a promotion to his list, and we split the profits.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I use this strategy religiously - and it always puts real money directly into my bank account.

The best part is, it often requires little more than sitting back and listening to a slew of experts (and perhaps taking notes). Sure, putting what you learn from them into action takes a little extra "work" - shaking hands, pitching your product and business, and following up. But it is surprisingly fun.

Sounds nice, doesn't it?

I call this strategy the "Moneymakers' Marketplace" secret. And you can use it to power up your income, form profitable business alliances, and get breakthrough cash-generating ideas from the top people in your industry.

Putting the Moneymakers' Marketplace secret to work is a simple three-step process:

Step 1. Subscribe to and read the top newsletters and magazines in your field. If you are a dog breeder, for example, read the top dog breeding publications. If you are a beer brewer, read the top beer brewing publications.

You probably do this already. In fact, if you are involved in Internet marketing, I know you do it... because you are reading Early to Rise!

Step 2. When these publications host live events - conferences, seminars, workshops - do whatever you can to attend. Where else are you more likely to connect with people who share your business interests? Maybe more important, where are you more likely to hear from - and be able to interact with - people who have the latest and best information about your industry?

That's why I call these events Moneymakers' Marketplaces.

Step 3. You go, you listen, and you learn. And then you ACT on what you learned.

That is exactly what I did to secure both of the deals I mentioned earlier (and many others).

Let me tell you a little more about the one that put $3,000 in my pocket in just a few days.

I've flown clear across the country to put the Moneymakers' Marketplace strategy to work, and it was always well worth it. This time, the opportunity was a lot closer - a business-building conference right in my hometown.

When I found out about it, I signed up right away.

At the time, I was preparing to release my latest educational product, a program on how to get rich by making deals with bigger partners. And though I was introduced to a lot of great ideas at the conference, there was one I knew I could put into action immediately: three powerful ways to launch a product on the Web. It was shared with conference attendees by one of the top Internet marketing gurus out there.

Briefly, here's what he told us during his presentation:

• To get people excited about your product launch, post brief "teaser" videos on your website.
• E-mail a countdown to your e-mail list during the five days prior to the product release, mentioning a different product benefit each day.
• Send out news releases to other publishers and bloggers.

I knew he was right on the money. So as soon as I got home, I did what he said.

The results: A clean three grand in my bank account within days.

If you don't yet have a business of your own, I can think of no better way to quickly come away with the inspiration - and concrete ideas - you need to get started than to take advantage of the Moneymakers' Marketplace.

Even if you already have a business, I still think it's one of the smartest things you can do to help grow your income.

Every time I employ the Moneymakers' Marketplace strategy, I pick up something new and valuable. And now you've got an opportunity to do it too - and very soon.

You can use the Moneymakers' Marketplace strategy this November, when ETR gathers together a dozen of the Internet's foremost thought leaders for a roundtable like you've never seen.

These expert cash-generators have agreed to reveal secrets like these:

• How anyone can access more than 4.5 billion customers worldwide...
• How to get started with $1,000 and earn up to $250,000 in just 12 months...
• How to easily add an extra $50,000 to $100,000 to your bottom line...
• How to figure out what's holding your business back from reaching its full potential...
• How to sidestep 7 years of trial and error to reach - and even exceed - your wildest Web traffic and sales goals...

And that's just a small sampling.

The men and women that MaryEllen Tribby and her team have assembled for this event will boggle your mind. You simply will not find a group of visionary moneymaking giants like this anywhere else. It's only ETR's size and sterling reputation that has gotten these people to reveal their insider tricks for making huge profits directly to you.

I'm going to be there - and I strongly suggest you consider going. If you want more information about it, just click this link right here.

 This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

The Skill That Generates Billions of Dollars in Revenue

		Monday, 27 July 09 - 12:05 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 

"The most valuable skill in business is the ability to sell."

- Michael Masterson

The Skill That Generates Billions of Dollars in Revenue

By Marc Charles

Clayton Makepeace has it. Bob Bly has it. Michael Masterson has it. The late, great "infomercial king" Billy Mays had it. I'm talking about a simple skill that, if you learn and apply it, will ensure that you NEVER go hungry.

This skill has enabled me to successfully negotiate multimillion-dollar deals. Plus, it has given me a quiet assurance, a pit bull type of confidence in myself.

The skill I'm talking about is knowing how to close a sale. Basically, all it takes is asking your prospect a simple question.

It doesn't matter what you're selling or whether you're doing it in person, on radio/TV, in an e-mail newsletter, or via direct mail. When it's time to close the sale, you ask your prospect...

"What can I do to make this work for you?"

I know... it sounds like a used-car pitch. But let me explain the logic behind it.

The best salespeople understand that, in order to make a sale, they have to first understand what the prospect wants or needs. When you really understand what it's going to take to "make it work" for your prospect, you'll be able to craft an irresistible offer.

How do you find out what it will take to make a deal work for your prospects? Ask them! Most of the time... they'll tell you. And, most of the time, it will be doable on your end.

What happens if they ask for something outlandish? In that case, you're probably not working with a serious buyer. Don't waste your time. Just say, "Sorry. The best I can do is..." and let 'em walk. There are plenty of other prospects out there.

Once you understand how to apply the "What can I do to make this work for you?" technique, new opportunities will open for you - whether you use it to sell your own products or someone else's.

But selling someone else's products is the opportunity I want to tell you about today.

Getting Started as a Freelancer

Fact is, no matter what happens with the economy, independent sales reps, and especially closers, will always be needed.

And getting started as a freelancer is a lot easier than you might think. Real estate, information and network technology, building contractors, direct-mail services, medical equipment and supplies, pharmaceuticals, vacation rentals - these are just a few of the industries that desperately need independent salespeople.

Identify the markets that interest you, and start digging for independent sales opportunities.

Very few companies will turn you down if you tell them you can bring them business.

Years ago, I met an entrepreneur who was struggling to keep his business going. He manufactured modular and mobile homes - and his sales were going the wrong way. Down.

I proposed selling for him on a freelance basis, as an independent contractor. I knew the market for modular and mobile homes was huge. I also believed that if he would be willing to offer low-interest financing to his customers, he could blow his competition out of the water.

The entrepreneur agreed, and I was right. I increased his sales five-fold. Then, before moving on, I trained his sales staff in the "art" of closing sales - in particular, I introduced them to the "What can I do to make this work for you?" technique.

What's in It for You?

To survive, just about every business needs people who can make sales. And most business owners are receptive to freelancers, because it means less "out of pocket" for them. They don't have to provide freelancers with such things as health insurance, a pension plan, and paid vacation and sick time.

The downside for freelancers is that they have to forgo the benefits that usually go along with a salaried position. The upside is that their commissions usually far exceed what they could make with a "regular" sales job.

On top of that, they have the freedom to work on their own terms.

One of the main benefits I've enjoyed as an independent contractor is being able to work at my own pace, without management breathing down my neck or poking their heads into my office whenever they felt like it.

I began selling advertising for publishers as an independent contractor in 1996. Since then, I have sold tens of millions of dollars' worth of advertising.

When I started, I had several other business ventures going at the same time, so I did it only part-time, one or two days a week. But my first commission check was all the proof I needed to know that freelance selling was for me.

It could be a perfect fit for you too.

[Ed. Note: You don't need a fancy investment portfolio to build a substantial retirement nest egg. With help from "King of Business Opportunities" Marc Charles and the rest of the "Off Wall Street" experts at the Liberty Street League, you can discover unusual and off-the-beaten path methods of creating wealth. We're talking little-known or overlooked investments as well as hot business opportunities. You can get special alerts about profitable moneymaking ideas by joining the League today.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Avoid - or Recover From - Burnout

		Monday, 27 July 09 - 12:02 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

 

"We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

4 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Avoid - or Recover From - Burnout

By Yanik Silver

Nearly every successful entrepreneur I know has grappled with burnout. I've personally gone through it and come out the other side several times. I did it by using these four techniques:

1. Truly disconnect.

In today's business world, we are constantly tethered to our BlackBerries and "always-on" connections. As a result, when we truly disconnect from time to time, the effect is almost magical.

By "disconnecting," I mean being totally out of touch with work.

On a recent trip to Baja, for example, I did something that might seem a bit over the top: I "black holed" all my e-mails during that week. Everyone who e-mailed me got an automatic response letting them know who to contact for help or support while I was gone, and asking them to e-mail me again after my return if they still needed me. Then their e-mail was deleted.

Most businesspeople are scared to death to do this, worrying that they might miss something incredibly urgent. Then they come back from vacation and are even more stressed out than they were before they left, because they've got 2,313 e-mails sitting in their inbox.

If you just sorta disconnect instead of completely disconnect, there's always a tiny voice in the back of your head replaying, over and over again: "Wow! I wonder how much e-mail I'll have to catch up on? I wonder what's going on back at the office?" You've got to totally cut this off to free up more "Psychic RAM" in your head.

2. Refocus on your successes.

Many times, the feeling of burnout occurs because things are NOT going "right." Keeping in mind that "right" is a relative term (and I believe everything ends up the way it should be, no matter what), the way to overcome this form of burnout is to change your focus.

Focusing your energy on what's wrong only creates an endless spiral of more and more negativity. Instead, take out a piece of paper and start making a list of every "victory" you've had during this year, this quarter, this month, or this day. When you do that, selective perception kicks in... and you'll see that there is significantly more good than bad going on.

3. Set a major goal that you cannot achieve on your own.

I admit, I've only just started doing this. But I can already see how it leads to a powerful change of direction, intention, and motivation. And that can get anyone out of a funk.

I'm talking about setting what Jim Collins and Jerry Porras call a "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" or BHAG - a concept they introduced in their book Built to Last. This is the kind of goal that rallies the troops and gets them to transcend what they themselves thought was possible. One famous example is Microsoft's original goal of "A computer on every desk and in every home."

Our company's 2020 BHAG is three-fold:

• Motivate, inspire, and educate 1,000,000 young entrepreneurs to start their own ventures.
• "Maverick-ize" 1,000,000 successful entrepreneurs to buy into the philosophy of making more, having more fun, and giving more.
• Have 1,000,000 cumulative items checked off entrepreneurs' BIG life lists.

And the ultimate goal is to change the way business is played. To me that means bringing more fun into business and never doing things the same way they've been done.

4. Get back to the fun.

Think back to when you were a kid - to the things that got you really jazzed and excited. What did you like to do? For me, it was playing sports, drawing, and making people laugh. That's why I still play ice hockey and beach volleyball. Why I've taken art classes and stand-up comedy classes. I make sure I incorporate activities into my life that give me enjoyment by making them a priority.

How many times have you heard yourself saying, "I'd love to ___ BUT I can't because I'm too busy." That's total B.S. What you're really saying is that you have not made that activity enough of a priority in your life. Or that you feel guilty about having fun.

For most entrepreneurs, work is our default setting unless we have something else scheduled. Don't settle for enjoying life only when you can squeeze it in between business. Put fun activities, rewarding experiences, and exceptional adventures on your calendar and protect them like you would any other appointment.

As Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz say in their book The Power of Full Engagement, "The richer and deeper the source of emotional recovery, the more we refill our reserves and the more resilient we become."

Give all four of the above ideas a try when you're feeling burned out or when you're trying to break free. They've worked for me - and they'll work for you too.

[Ed. Note: The inspiration for Yanik Silver's Maverick Business Adventures came during a period when he was feeling personally burned out. Now, Yanik sees it as a way to help other entrepreneurs avoid or recover from their burnout. Find out all about it right here.

If you're constantly feeling burned out at work, you may be in the wrong job. Starting your own business can give you freedom you never imagined. The freedom to set your own hours, pursue your interests, make as much money as you want, and even have some fun. Discover how to start your own Internet business right here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

6 Ways to Take Your Online Income to the Next Level

		Monday, 27 July 09 - 12:00 PM (GMT -06:00) By John C Thomson in Internet Marketing/News

"There's almost no end to what you could do with your existing information. You do the hard work of writing the book... then you repurpose the material almost endlessly without a lot of extra effort."

- Alex Mandossian

6 Ways to Take Your Online Income to the Next Level

By John Wood

Fortunes continue to be made by people selling information online.

If you're interested in claiming your piece of the online pie, a great way to get started is to turn one of your passions into an e-book. And once it's finished, marketing it is a snap. There are companies that, on top of processing your online transactions, give you access to a ready-made sales force to help you sell your product.

Clickbank.com is one such company. In business since 1998, they have an affiliate program that is 100,000 members strong.

As soon as you set up a Clickbank merchant account (for a fee of $49.95), just follow the easy step-by-step instructions for listing your e-book in the Clickbank marketplace. This is where active Clickbank affiliates search for products to promote with their websites or e-zines.

Let's say you have a passion for fly fishing. So you write an e-book titled How to Become a Fly Fishing Expert and list it on Clickbank. A Clickbank affiliate who specializes in products for fishermen sees the listing and decides to promote it. He writes a sales blurb and posts it with his affiliate link on his website. In exchange, he gets a piece of any sales made as a result of his efforts.

You determine the percentage of the sale price you're willing to give up. (A 50/50 split seems to be the most common.) And Clickbank takes care of paying the affiliate his share.

As time goes on, you could have hundreds (or even thousands) of Clickbank affiliates helping you promote your e-book.

For you, it's found money. Without lifting a finger, you're making sales to people you otherwise may never have reached.

Now, to generate an even bigger income stream, you can make "backend" sales to those same customers.

These people have just bought your e-book and love your innovative fly fishing tips. You've got them very interested in what you have to say, so now is the best time to sell them something else. Here are six ideas for additional products you could easily develop:

1. Another e-Book

You could write an e-book about more advanced fly fishing techniques, or one that details The Top 50 Fly Fishing Spots in North America.

2. Online Course

Can you teach someone how to fly fish online? Why not! There are plenty of resources available to tell you how to do it. Just type "develop an online course" into any search engine for examples that you can use to develop your own.

3. Teleseminar

Hire a moderator to interview you about fly fishing, or invite an expert on a related topic to participate in the call with you.

A teleseminar gives you several ways to generate income. You can charge people to listen in on the live call. You can record the call and sell the recordings at a later date. You can sell another one of your products during the call - maybe that second e-book you wrote or the online course you developed. Or you can sell someone else's product in exchange for a commission. If, for example, you have a travel agent join the call to talk about a special fly fishing vacation package, you would work out a commission deal with him in advance.

4. Webinar

A webinar adds a visual element to the information you're presenting. It may consist of an online PowerPoint presentation, a text chat, a video (of you reeling in a beauty perhaps?) or even a live video of you via your Web cam. A webinar is a convenient and economical way to make conference-like presentations to your prospects, no matter where in the world they reside.

5. Subscription-Based Site/Service

If you can always think of something new and interesting to say about your area of expertise, you could set up a membership site to publish your information - and charge members to access the content. For example, if 200 avid fly fishermen subscribe to your "members only" e-newsletter at $10 per month, that's $24,000 a year right there.

6. Live Event

As your list of customers grows, you may want to organize a conference, seminar, or workshop that you can invite them to - and charge a pretty penny for. Not only do fly fishermen love to learn about fly fishing innovations, they love to mingle with other fly fishermen. The added bonus: If you video or record the event, you'll instantly have another product to sell.

No matter how you decide to market your backend products, never lose sight of the fact that "It's all about your customer" - not you. Frank Bettger hit the nail on the head in his classic sales book How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling when he said that marketing is about "finding out what people want, and helping them get it."

Keep that in mind as your backend strategy evolves.

Now I said I'd give you six ideas for turning something you already love to do into an ongoing stream of income... but I really want to share a seventh one with you. In fact, it's quite possibly more exciting than any of the opportunities listed above. I'm talking about a low-tech, spare-time source of truly passive income.

Copywriter Nick Usborne put this moneymaking strategy to work himself by taking a few simple steps. He spends a few hours on it each week. And last week, he pulled in $4,447. But that's just the tip of the iceberg...

You, too, can learn how to create a steady, consistent second income just by repeating the simple steps Nick followed. Discover the four-step process right here.


[Ed. Note: John Wood is a copywriter with American Writers and Artists Inc. Learn how to write effective online sales copy that converts website visitors into cash with AWAI's free newsletter, Wealthy Web Writer. Get your complimentary subscription now.]

 

 This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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