August 7, 2008 Newsletter - Don’t Ruin Yourself Before You Even Start

Whenever a new product is created, the creator of that product is very anxious to get the product on the market. The creator is anxious to get his creation into the hands of customers and he’s also excited to start racking in some money. The same is true when a person begins to offer a service online. She just can’t wait to actively offer the service to as many people as is humanly possible. But these people need to be careful and you need to be careful too. You don’t want to ruin yourself before you even start.

Too often people are so anxious to get started with a new business or to sell a new product or offer a new service that they forget to make sure everything is all set. Launching something new, without first planning everything out, can and will have disastrous effects.

Let’s take a very simple example.

Say you decide you want to sell t-shirts in your community. So you plaster posters everywhere and you put an ad in the local paper. You put your phone number on the poster and before you know it the calls are rolling in. But you have one problem, you forgot to set-up a way to take payment from people. And you also forgot to have a mailbox set-up to take orders if you were unable to answer the call. So in no time you miss calls and you fail to make sales because you can’t get people’s money and complete their orders fast enough. This all leads to your failure. Not only will it make you fail in the short term with whatever you launched but it will also brand you as being unreliable and make it difficult for you to succeed in the future.

Of course this is a very simple example but hopefully you get the point. You need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you decide to do anything in business. Otherwise you will probably fail and your failure may have nothing to do with your product or service.

So don’t ruin yourself before you even start. Before you launch anything be sure that you are ready for launch. Be sure you’ve thought of everything and that you are ready for whatever happens after the launch. Then you won’t be causing yourself to fail before you even get started.

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Another mistake many new business owners make is that they try to launch their business without a solid business plan. The business plan is the foundation of any business… If you need help with your business plan, check Business Plan Basics out.

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Do You Need a Good Business Plan? Of Course You Do

What is a business plan? Simple enough question right? Maybe not so simple. A solid business plan is the lifeblood of any successful entrepreneurial endeavor. It defines a companies capabilities, or core competencies, as well as its strategies and aspirations. This is done so the outside world a has a true understanding in clear technology of the companies focus and direction. It also aids in the identification of several other key factors: the start up stage of the company, launching a new product or service, opening go up of a new market segment, and other strategic developments impacting your basic business structure.

Who uses a business plan and for what purpose? In the various stages of a business development, it is necessary to make determinations on several issues that have an immediate and direct impact on operations. These could include but not be limited to areas of finance, manpower or staffing, sales and marketing, and correspondence with local, state or federal agencies. All the key members of these areas of the company, especially upper management, need to have clear lines of communication and responsibility so key decisions can be made for the best interest of the enterprise.

As we stated above, the importance of a good business plan is very evident. With this realization, who is the best person to put this plan together? The owner, or entrepreneur is most likely the best suited to write the most successful business plan. He or she is the brainchild of the business, and what better person that the one who conceived and nurtured the idea from inception. Professional assistance may be required to give added polish to the plan, but the core ideas still should come from the entrepreneur or owner. This will ensure that whoever interacts or corresponds with the business will get the proper message the business seeks to convey.

In summary, a good business plan must present a mirror image of a business that is presented in a concise form with key elements that look at the past, present, and future of the enterprise. It should also be based on key fundamentals such as sales and marketing estimates, financial projections( cash flow, profitability estimates etc.) and other market conditions to include analysis of the competition. Performance must be measured through a systematic appraisal and reporting mechanism in order to ensure the maximum level of success.

Mark Volansky is a top internet marketer and mentor whose mission is to inspire others to reach the highest levels of personal and professional development and to achieve true time and financial freedom. Visit Mark at http://www.topwealthstrategies.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Volansky

July 31, 2008 Newsletter - JV: Your Key to Success

In the Internet Marketing world being able to market directly to people through email is huge in determining how well a product launch goes. Obviously the way to market directly to people is to have a large list. However, to market to even more people, it’s a good idea to Joint Venture or JV with other Internet Marketers who have huge lists. In fact, getting good JVs can be your key to success.


Joint Venture actually refers to someone else agreeing to market one of your products to their list in exchange for a commission on the sales that are made. The commissions are usually a high percentage of the sale since the person who has the list is really doing (or has already done) most of the work for the sale. Also, usually anyone you want to get as a JV partner is an established Internet Marketer with a great list and therefore would command a high percentage.

It’s always very difficult for any new IMer to get good JVs. You really need to build-up a good reputation in order to even get the more successful IMers to even consider being a JV with you. However, one way you can get more JVs is by hooking-up with a mentor. A mentor is a built-in JV partner for you (usually) and any good mentor will usually be able to get his/her friends (who
usually have large lists too) to consider being a JV for you too.

Of course, you can go about finding JVs on your own. The best place to do this is on IM forums. If you can become a positive presence on a forum then you can begin making friends that way. Over time you will develop good relationships with people who will be great JV partners. To help with this process you’ll have to be sure to make quality posts and you’ll also want to consider going out of your way to help others on the board. This will help you stand above the others posters and will greatly increase your chances of finding great JV partners.

Launching a product on the Internet is always very exciting. However, after the excitement dies down all that really matters is whether that product is successful or not. In order to help ensure success you need to be able to directly market your product to as many people as possible. The best way to reach people is by getting people to Joint Venture with you. In fact, getting JV partners is your key to success with any product launch.

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For more detailed information about joint ventures including instructions on how to develop JV relationships with Super Affiliates, check out Super Affiliates JV here:

 

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11 Joint Venture Ideas To Get You Started On The Fast Track To Quick Profits

  1. Find someone in your target market that either publishes an ezine or has a website. Ask them if they would like to join your affiliate program and promote your offers in their ezine, or on their site. In return, you’ll give them the product at no charge, and if you have an ezine or website, offer to promote something for them. Remember to make it an irresistible offer for them!
  2. Use your own visitors and subscribers. Give them something free that has some sort of small advertisement of yours on or in it. It doesn’t have to be a flashing sign. Just a subtle ad with your URL or subscribe email placed somewhere visible. By using this method you could have your little ad all over your entire market! It takes a snowflake to start a snowball! Your visitors and subscribers will be happy to get something for free, and they’ll be even happier that it doesn’t have ads ALL over it. DON’T get greedy. Give a little and get a lot! Find someone else in your market that does the same thing. Offer to give their “give aways” out if in return they give your “give aways” out.
  3. If you can’t beat ‘em… Join ‘em! Round up several others in your market who you think there would be a mutual benefit to partner with. Have a “Joint Venture team”. Your team could pool your resources and beat the “big guys” in your market. Those in your “Joint Venture team” could cross promote each other’s products, services, and/or programs also!
  4. Find 5, 10 or however many ezine publishers who are in your target market. Offer them all discounts to their subscribers on your offer. Give them your product for free also. Let them know that you are partnering with other ezine publishers for your discounted offer, and that you will give the ezine publisher who produces the most result a bonus. Just make sure your bonus is GOOD! Make it something unique and semi-personal. I’ve always thought when rewarding someone I do business with that I shouldn’t give them a “business gift”. Try giving a semi-personal personal gift. You may not really know that person, but there are sites online that will tell you the gifts women like and the gifts men like. Use those sites to find semi-personal gifts. (*Please note that this does say semi-personal. Business is business, so make sure your gift/bonus is appropriate.)
  5. I got a great idea from a site the other day. This is a WONDERFUL idea. The basics of the concept are placing other people’s ads on your Thank You page. What a great time to send your customer off to your most trusted JV partner while the customer still has their credit card out! You’ll want to be careful when doing this though. Make sure you’ve already sold that customer all that you can before passing them to your Joint Venture partner.
  6. Contests are a WONDERFUL way to market, and you can conduct them for any type of market. Contact an ezine publisher or website owner in your market. Offer to hold a contest giving away an item or items you are offering. In return for this, ask that they run your ad, or place your ad on their website. If it’s a really good contest, ask that they run your solo ad, or put your ad in a very prominent spot on their site. Another way to use contests is by doing a “contest swap”. Let them know you’ll promote their contest if they promote yours. If they don’t have one offer to come up with one for them. Explain the benefits behind having a contest. Offer to have one for them. Let them know you’ll donate the prize (it doesn’t have to be anything really expensive) if they would like, and show them how to set it up. This is relationship building at its best. The next time you approach that person with a JV they will trust you because you were willing to go out of your way to help them.
  7. We all know that article writing is one of the best ways to market. You show people that you know something about the topic you are writing on, you are automatically giving them something (your article), and it’s a viral way of marketing. Your article could go all OVER the place. Online and offline. If you know an ezine publisher or website owner who publishes articles on your market topic, ask if they would like to swap articles. You promote their article, and they will in turn promote your article. The best thing about this idea is you can do it with many people, and you can do it over and over by writing new articles.
  8. Another writing idea would be for you to write a column on your market and offer it to an ezine publisher or website owner. I would suggest that you write unique content for each ezine publisher or website owner if you are wanting them to advertise you or for you. I know ezine publishers and website owners would go for this idea because as an ezine owner and website owner, I am currently seeking several people to write original content for my many sites and ezines in exchange for free advertising.
  9. Swap business cards with others in your market. Your hand out your joint venture partners business cards and they hand out yours. This is just like word of mouth advertising, which is the best kind around. Business cards are a wonderful way to put your advertisement in someone’s hands. Putting it in their hands in one of the keys to selling.
  10. If publishing and ebook, you could offer part of your ebook for free. Offer one chapter to potential customers, so that they can “test” your ebook. Find other ebook publishers in your market and ask if they could do the same with their ebooks. If they agree you could advertiser their free chapter, and ask that they advertise your free chapter in return. This can also be done with membership sites. Offer a 3-day free trial. Find others in your market that offers memberships to their sites. You advertise their free trial, and ask that they advertise yours. What about software? Many people offer free trials for software. If you offer a free trial to your software, go to www.download.com. Search for software related to your market. When you find software that isn’t in competition with yours, but that would compliment the other person’s software, contact them and ask to do a JV where you promote their software and they promote yours! I’m sure you can think of a way to do this with your product or service.
  11. Survey swap? You bet! Surveys are hot right now. Sometimes you have to offer your visitor or subscriber a little bit of an incentive to do it, but the information you will get is well worth it. Find others in your market that asks their visitors or subscribers to take surveys. Let them know that you also ask your visitors or subscribers to do take surveys. Ask if they would put a link to your survey on their site, and in return you could do the same thing. If you are asking for personal information on your survey be sure not to share that with the other website owner. If you do, make sure that it is noted in your privacy policy or you could lose visitors or subscribers!

After coming into the Internet marketing world with a bang, and sharing her secrets to quick profits, Liz Tomey has now created http://www.JointVentureSeeker.com which teaches marketers the true POWER of joint ventures!

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

July 24, 2008 Newsletter - Writing Articles - The Right Way

Just about anyone who has a business on the Internet uses article marketing as part of their marketing efforts. Article marketing is when a person writes an article related to a product or service they’re offering in an attempt to get more people to become their customer. Unfortunately not many people even know the right way to write articles.

One of the keys to writing articles is to make sure they will rank high on the search engines. This is done through search engine optimization. This means that the article is written using a keyword or a keyword phrase in the article so that the article appears when that keyword or keyword phrase is searched for.

Just about everyone who writes articles knows that the articles have to be search engine optimized. So this is followed but the other key for the right way to write articles is completely overlooked. The other key ingredient is to make sure the article is well-written, easy to read, and informative.

Too many people simply write an article as fast as they can and pump it full of keywords or a keyword phrases and then throw it up on the Internet. The article is not educational and has no value to anyone. So people will find the article but they won’t go any further.

So anyone writing an article has to remember there are two steps that must be taken by any potential customers. First the person has to find the article and then they have to read it and find enough value to want to continue to where the article directs them.

There are many people who write articles but absolutely hate it. Many of these people also have no idea how to write a good article. Luckily there is a formula they can follow.

The first part of a good article is the title. The title should include the keyword or keyword phrase and it should also promise to give a benefit to the reader. For example, it might promise it will tell them how to save money on gas or it might promise to tell them how to write an article the correct way (just as the title of this article does). One thing to keep in mind is to always give people a list or a specific number of solutions to a problem. People love reading these types of articles.

Next an introduction has to be written. This will introduce the reader to the topic and should include a “hook” – something that will keep the people reading.

Then in the body of the article, you should give them the benefit that was promised in the title. Make sure you give them what was promised. If you promised “4 Ways to Save Money on Gas” then you better give them 4 ways to save money on gas. If not, they’ll get disgusted and simply click-out of your article.

Finally, in the conclusion you should just sum-up what the entire article was about. Some people like to make the conclusion a mirror image of the introduction.

Many people write articles and post them on the Internet but not many people actually know the right way to write articles. A good article needs to be optimized for search engines and it also needs to be well-written so that the article leads the reader to where you want them to go.

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Article Marketing Snowballs Into A Mess

Have you fallen for the article marketing trap? Sending out second rate articles, worrying too much about word count and ignoring all the things that would make your effort more successful?

Article marketing has swept through the internet like an avalanche. Virtually everyone knows about the technique but very few are doing it well. Many people are actually ruining their reputation by ignoring article marketing best practices.

As an article newsgroup moderator and article marketing expert I am in the trenches everyday. Increasingly, I reject more articles than I accept. More and more often I hear complaints from publishers that the articles submitted to them are pure crap. Many of these publishers complain that article submission software is to blame. I have to disagree. Here is what I think is causing the majority of problems:

* People who want to use the technique without learning how.
* Private label articles flooding the market.
* Plagiarism and copyright violations.
* Lousy articles with no redeeming values.
* Off topic articles driving publishers crazy.
* Articles that are too short or too long.
* Writers who won’t divulge their identity and only use their by-line for advertising a website.

Can you connect the dots to find out where the article marketing problems lie? With the article marketer. The article marketer, like myself, loves the technique but is often strapped for time. Instead of writing unique articles or hiring a ghostwriter to write for them they get lazy. Stupidity and carelessness is also a factor but I bet being lazy causes most of the problems.

I believe that laziness is the root of all evil in the article marketing world. Any type of marketing with not work unless effort is expended and techniques are repeated regularly and reliably. Please do me a favor. If you can’t make the effort then don’t use the technique.

Article marketing done badly is far more damaging then not using the technique at all. It only works when you create quality work and follow submission rules. Don’t blame the publishers for your shoddy articles and don’t spend hours on forums complaining that the technique doesn’t work. It does work. It has worked for me and for many others but it won’t work for you if you insist on being lazy and irresponsible.

Make a commitment today to write well, submit only on topic unique articles and to hire help if you need it. Your best efforts will be the catalyst to better results and will support the growth of the article marketing community. Let’s use the technique wisely so that it remains a viable part of Internet Marketing.

© 2006, Davis Virtual Assistance. Reprint rights granted to all venues so long as the article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.

Bonnie Jo Davis is an experienced and successful article marketer and author who built her entire business marketing with articles. Hire her to teach you how to exploit the power of article marketing or join her affiliate program by visiting http://www.WriteYourWayToProfit.com.

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