Do Butterflies Buzz?

Unless you're really new to internet marketing or you've been locked in a closet for the last 6 months, you know who Mike Filsaime is since someone mentions his name in an email almost everyday. And you also know his name is associated with both Instant Buzz and Butterfly Marketing. (Maybe butterflies do buzz or Mike's got a think about insects.)

Anyway, today I'm going to mention his name because I recently listened to 1 of his interviews and want to share some of the information he gave since he answered questions many online marketers have.

Here are 5 of the questions and answers.

1. Should I use an autoresponder service or an autoresponder package uploaded on my host?
   
   Mike and I both agree that using a service is the best way to go.
   
   Why, well in addition to the problems of uploading and maintaining, Mike points out, "the bottom line is it’s a bad thing to be e-mailing from your own server. After your list grows over 10 to 15,000 people and you’re sending two e-mail broadcasts out per week - AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, and Yahoo and all these huge ISP’s, which make up over 50 percent of the e-mail addresses on your list, blacklist you because they see that too much e-mail is coming through your server."
   
   
2. Should I have a blog?
   
   Again, Mike and I agree that having a blog is a good thing.
   
   Here's what Mike says about it, "... if you don’t put a blog then people are going to see the site once, and then they’re going to say, “I’ve been there, I’ve done that. I don’t need to go back.” But if you put a blog they’re constantly going to go back. They’re constantly going to seeing your face and things like that. And it’ll help with the relationship of building your list."
   
   
3. Should I have a list?
   
   Guess what? Mike and I agree on this 1 too.
   
   "... the average person will come to your site four to seven times before they buy. They need to see your sales letter four to seven times before they buy it."
   
   "... if you’re an information marketer and you're selling an information product online, that’s the time when you want to use a squeeze page." Remember, when you drive traffic to a site, "97 percent of the people are not going to buy."
   
   If you have an e-commerce site selling physical products you should also have a list but you may not need to promote it as actively.
   
   
4. What are some of the best ways to drive traffic to your site and build a list?
   
   According to Mike there are 3 basic ways to get traffic to your site. You can "buy it, borrow it, and create it." Buying traffic are things like PPC, banner impressions, and magazine/newspaper/radio ads. Borrowing traffic are things like joint ventures, having an affiliate program, ad swaps and free classifieds. Creating traffic is a little bit slower and are things like posting articles on the Internet, writing a press release, optimizing your site for search engines with keywords and putting a signature in your e-mail.
   
   
5. How do you go about building the relationships with your list?
   
   I totally agree with Mike's answer and urge you to follow his advice.
   
   "Don’t promote products that you wouldn't use or don't own or don't know the people that are credible that are selling the product. You know, those three things are very important, because if you recommend a product that the person that owns it is not credible, you need to be held accountable, too. Don't use too much or any hype in your e-mails. Hype is a derogatory word. So look at your e-mails. Make sure you don't use things that say, "You'll kick yourself in the morning if you don't click this link." Or, "This is the most important e-mail I'll ever send you." All that type of stuff is just hype."
   
   When you write an email to your list you are not broadcasting a message to the world, you're writing to each list member as an individual person. "Always write it as if you're writing it to that one person."

Wow, it's truly amazing how much Mike and I agree.

Now Mike provided more information during this interview than what I've shared above. He talks about branding, how to use affiliate links, backend offers and a form of viral marketing.

Now I wish I could say you could hear the interview on my site but unfortunately I can't. If you look at the ad at the top of this page you'll see the link to the free membership site that offers this interview to its free members.

There are other interviews also available but I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet since I am still trying to absorb and implement some of Mike's advice.

Now you may not be a follower of Mike Filsaime. You may not have the skills or the resources to use his Butterfly Marketing concept. And to be quite honest, I have no idea who Joseph Bajjali is or what he has to offer besides the interviews.

But ...

I do know good advice when I hear it (especially when it's the same advice I've been giving) and this interview with Mike Filsaime is full of good advice for anyone who wants an online business.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS Sorry if you think the above tip sounds like a sales pitch but I was very impressed with the interview because it answered questions I receive in my inbox every week and I want to give you the opportunity to listen to it. And - I am not pushing you to buy into Mike's Butterfly Marketing concept since there are already a ton of them online right now. I am, however, recommending his free advice since it is the backbone to good online marketing.
-------------------
Susan has been helping people with their online marketing for more than 3 years. You're invited to join her free membership site at:
http://www.friendswhocare.us/join.htm

You may re-publish the article in its entirety, with the resource information at the bottom left intact.

How To Create Custom Buttons With Word

Since I am currently working on a new site and have been creating menu buttons I'd like share the method I'm using.

Originally I was going to include several screen shots to make it easier to understand but since all those picture would make this page take forever to load I decided not to. Instead, I am going to list the steps and tell you where you can download the free PDF file I've created that includes both the steps and the images.

Oh, I should also mention that while the instructions are written for MS Word they can be easily adapted to MS FrontPage.

For those that use another word processor or html editor, you may be able to adapt these steps to the 1 you're using. In case your word processor doesn't provide drawing tools or you don't have a word processor, you can get a free 1 called OpenOffice at:

http://www.openoffice.org/index.html. Open Office works slightly different but does provide drawing tools so you can use it to create the buttons.

To find the Drawing tools available in Word and OpenOffice you can go to the 'View' menu item. Highlight 'Toolbars' and select 'Drawing'.

Below are the 38 steps to creating custom buttons. Don't be intimidated by the number of steps because they're all easy and once you've done them a couple of times they become almost automatic. And like I said, there's a PDF file , CustomButtons, showing pictures of how to do these steps. The PDF file has these 38 steps grouped into a more manageable 13 steps and also includes a couple of hints I've learned as I've used this method.

38 Steps To Create Custom Buttons Using MS Word

1) Open a new document in Word

2) Select ‘Autoshapes’ located at the bottom

3) Select ‘Basic Shapes’ from the menu

4) Select the rounded brackets and click the left mouse button

5) Create a rounded bracket shape in the ‘Draw Box’

6) Select Fill Color located at the bottom.

7) Select ‘Fill Effects’ from the menu.

8) Select the Gradient Tab.

9) To get blended colors select ‘Two Colors’ or ‘Preset’.

10) Pick the colors you want and click ‘OK’.

11) Select ‘Line Color’ located at the bottom.

12) From the menu select ‘No Line’.

13) Open a ‘Text Box’.

14) Type the text you want i.e. Home, Main, etc.

15) Highlight the text and select the font size, color and bold you want.

16) Using the ‘Fill Color’ and ‘Fill Effects’ buttons at the bottom, select ‘No Fill’ and ‘No Line Color’ for the text box.

17) Drag the text box and place it over the rounded bracket image.

18) You may have to resize you image if it’s too large or too small for your text.

19) To keep the rounded corner effect of you picture you need to set the image on a background that is the same color as the background where the button will be placed on your web site.

20) Select ‘Format’ located at the top.

21) Select ‘Background’ from the menu.

22) Select your background color.

23) Select ‘Print Preview’. You can use either a button or the menu item found under ‘File’.

24) Open Irfanview.

25) Turn on ‘Screen Capture’.

26) Have the ‘Print Preview’ of your Word document on your monitor screen.

27) Do a screen capture (Cntrl + F11).

28) An Irfanview window will popup where you draw a box around your button image.

29) Select ‘Crop’ from the ‘Edit’ menu located at the top.

30) Select ‘Image’ from the top menu items.

31) Select ‘Resize/Resample to set the size of your button.

32) Select ‘File’ from the top menu items.

33) Select ‘Save as’.

34) Go to the folder you want to save the image.

35) Type in a file name.

36) Save as either a GIF or JPG file type. (I use GIF).

37) Open your html editor and ‘Insert’ the button image you created where you want it.

38) You can then give this image a hyperlink to the web page you want your visitors to be sent when they click it.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS The PFD file CustomButtons is free and you may share it with others if you want. It is contained in a zip file so you'll need an unzip utility plus a Acrobat Reader.

PSS Last week I told you where to get the free graphics editor Irfanview and if you didn't get it but want it, the link is inside the free PDF file.

Susan

Where To Get A Free Graphics Editor

While it is true that the graphics on a web page don't do the selling the words do, it is also true that most pages have them because they help capture the attention of your site visitor.

Now creating good looking graphics for your site can be done through some expensive software like PhotoShop. However for those who don't have the money to buy or the time to master an expensive package there is a very popular free and easy alternative called Irfanview. You can get a free copy at:

http://www.irfanview.com

I've been using Irfanview for a couple of years and find it works very well. It allows you to do things like capture screen shots, crop images and change the colors of your graphics. And it works with many types of images like gif, jpg and bitmap and will convert 1 type to another.
Now I learned about Irfanview thorough a very useful ebook

called "How To Master Web Graphics In 10 Easy Steps" by Louis Allport.

In this ebook Louis not only tells where to get Irfanview but also has videos showing some of the things you can easily do with it. So today rather than write instructions on how to do something I am giving you access to 1 of the videos in his ebook.

To find out how to add text to an image using Irfanview, watch the video at:

http://www.friendswhocare.us/video9.htm

If you have a slow internet connection or your browser is messed up like mine, please allow time for the page to come up. I've tested the link and it works it just takes a long time to come up for some of us.

To Your Success,

Susan

PS The above tip was not meant to be a sales pitch since this ebook has been available for quite awhile and many subscribers already own it but haven't taken the time to use it. However if you don't have it and would like to know more about Allport's ebook you can see the lessons it contains at:

http://www.friendswhocare.us/deals/library.htm.

If your interested in getting a copy of it but don't want a 14 ebook collection you can get it inside our members' area at:

http://www.friendswhocare.us/friends/deals/allport/
You'll have to login to access this page and this ebook is about half way down the list.

How To Guarantee Failure

After having an online business for more than 3 years I can speak from experience when it comes to making some bad decisions since I've made a few along the way.

So to help those who are thinking about having an online business and to those who've started but are getting discouraged because it seems to take forever and are thinking that there must be a quicker way - This tip is for you.

First let me say that very few become overnight successes and if you've been struggling for awhile trying to get your site up, get some traffic to your site or make some sales from your visitors then you doing some things right. The overnight "wonders" who became successful in a short time are the exceptions and had something like previous experience or lots of money when they started.

For the rest of us who come online with no experience in anything that would help get a site up or advertise or convert visitors to buyers and who must learn how to do everything ourselves, there is a lot to learn, a lot of work to do and a lot of time to wait before there's money coming in.
And it's during that time of learning, working and waiting that many new online business owners fall into some of the same "waste your time and money traps" as those thinking about having an online business.

So to help you learn from some of the same mistakes I and others have made here's a list of things to avoid because these are the most common ways to fail fast.

3 Ways To Fail Fast

1. Get Rich Quick Schemes - Someone promises you that you can make money in little or no time or you can make money with little or no work.
   
   This is the number 1 reason most people fail online.There is so much hype out there about how easy it is to make money online it's easy for inexperienced or discouraged people to be persuaded to spend money to get cash quickly.
   
   Don't do it because "Get Rich Quick Schemes" don't work!Oh, sometimes you may get in at the top of a pyramid scheme and make a few bucks but it won't last. And, if you've associated your name with the scheme you may find it harder to get a legitimate business going since people will associate your name with the failed program.
   
   And while most who try a "Get Rich Scheme" will just quit and give up when they don't make any money, there are some who will try several "Get Rich Schemes" and lose lots of money looking for the "Right One" before they give up.
   
   
2. No Business Strategy or The Wrong Business Strategyis the second biggest reason new online businesses fail because most people want to get their business up and making money fast.
   
   Now in case you're not sure what a business strategy is, it's your business plan. It includes what your business will look like when you start, how you intend to get traffic, possible things you may have to modify, future plans for growing your business and of course your goal.
   
   "Throwing a web page online and buying traffic to make tons of money" is not a good business strategy for a beginner. In fact, even those who have hundreds or thousands of affiliates driving traffic to their sales pages put more into the business strategy for their sales page than this.
   
   So if you don't have a business strategy, get one. And if you've got one and it doesn't seem to be working, start modifying the things that aren't working.
   
   
3. Trying To Become A "Super Geek"
   A "Super Geek" is someone who knows how to do all the technical work for your online business and develops all the code to get all the latest "bells and whistles" on your site. Sure, you have to know some things to get your business started but you don't have to be a "Super Geek".
   
   Automation is great, audio is great, video is great, etc. but you don't need all of it when you're first starting. In fact, one of the things I love is how most of the sites selling audio and video packages don't use their own product for their sales page. If these things are really necessary to increase sales then why don't they use them to increase sales? It would sure help me think harder about getting them.
   
   The bottom line is, after you've mastered enough web programming to get a simple page online you should be spending at least 80% of your time driving traffic to your site. If you want to add more technical stuff then learn about it and develop it in the 20% of your time you're not using to get traffic.

Every successful online business person has had to learn how marketing on the web works. For the 90% who failed, they failed because they didn't take the time to invest in the right education. The 10% who succeeded know that to be successful online you must not go down the 3 most common paths for failure: "Get Rich Schemes", not having a plan and trying to be a "Super Geek". Instead, they invested their time and money into learning how things work and they continue to learn as the web changes.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS Today I was going to write about how to install a small 7 file automation script on your site. However, after spending more than 2 hours with it and never getting it to work I've decided that the number of files and whether or not they use a database does not determine the degree of difficulty in using an automation script. (I have large automation scripts that use databases uploaded and working on 2 other sites. And while getting the scripts uploaded and working was fairly easy and straight-forward, modifying the code to look and feel like my site takes a great deal of time and programming skill.)

So until you've mastered a lot of basic web skills like html, autoresponders, uploading files, getting traffic, etc., I recommend you put off automation scripts until you have time to master some of the more advanced skills like php and cgi programming and installing databases.

Susan

7 Short Term Solutions For "I Don't Know How To"

Much of the email I get from subscribers include statements
like: "I am still learning" and "I don't know how to ...".

And although I have an advantage over some of you because I can
read programming code and understand what's going on even when I
can't write code in that language, I can still understand where
you're coming from. In fact, it's because of my background both
as a programmer and programming teacher that I have great
admiration for those who struggle to teach themselves how to
write and use web programming languages along with all the other
things you have learn to have an online business.

But today I am not going to give you another coding tip to
learn, or give you a pep talk about keeping up the good work or
tell you how to handle information overload. (If you are going
through information overload there's an archived tip inside the
Member's Area you should read.)

Instead, today I am going to make a statement that many internet
marketers probably don't think I should make.

You don't have to know how to do everything to get your business
started or to get it growing.

So rather than tell you the basics like get a domain name and
hosting account, create a web site, build a list, learn to use
AdSense or other pay-per-click services, create a membership
site, etc., I want to share a few alternative that may solve
some of your "still learning" and "don't know how" problems.
These are short term solutions to get you started but allow you
to have a web presence to practice with and give you some time
to learn and experiment with what you're learning.

7 Short Term Solutions For What You Need To Learn:

1. Don't know how to create a web page -
   
   1 solution is to create a blog at a free blogging service like
   Blogger.com. They're easy to set up and even if you don't know
   how to modify the template you can still start adding content
   that will be archived. The template code has some very advanced
   coding techniques like the use of CSS and dynamic content
   commands however once you know a little about basic HTML you
   will be able to begin making some modifications. Your
   modifications will go inside the <body> section and you'll find
   the template code full of comments telling you which part of the
   blog page is being done with that code.
   
   You can experiment with your blog and use it like a free online
   training tool. If you want traffic to it you can use it that way
   or you can just use it for yourself and not share.
   
   
2. Don't know how to use FTP -
   
   For me, this is not a problem. Not because I know how to use FTP
   (which I do) but because I don't use it.
   
   I currently own 3 hosted web sites, all on different hosts, and
   every 1 of them has a control panel that allows me to upload
   files without using FTP. And these hosts are not an exception.
   Every other hosted account I've had access to has also had some
   form of administration control panel that allowed the same
   thing.
   
   While some will say that the best way to get your files uploaded
   is through FTP, I actually don't know of any reason why anyone
   would ever need to use it since I've uploaded web pages,
   graphics, ebooks, script packages and everything else through
   the easy to use control panels provided by the hosting account.
   The only advantage for using FTP that I know of is that it
   allows you to upload complete folders with your web files rather
   than having to create the folder and move each file separately.
   And since I don't upload complete folders of information that
   often it's easier and faster to spend the time doing it through
   the control panel instead of getting an FTP program set up
   properly. (Maybe I'm just not geeky enough.)
   
   
3. Don't know how to set up an autoresponder -
   
   If you can read and you're able to learn simple things then you
   can set 1 up. You can learn the bare basics using a free one
   like FreeAutoBot.com until you're ready to spend money and
   understand some of the more advanced features.
   
   When I started my newsletter I used a free service provided by
   Yahoo and FreeAutoBot.com for some niche lists. Since I moved
   the newsletter off of Yahoo several years ago I don't know if
   they still provide the service but FreeAutoBot.com is alive and
   well.
   
   Set up a free account, subscribe to your own list, play with the
   autoresponder until you're comfortable with how it works and
   then get into the habit of sending email to your list.
   
   It won't take long before you're comfortable enough to move onto
   a bigger and better service. And when you do move your list you
   can ask them to re-subscribe or just keep both places to send
   your mailings. (If you ask them to re-subscribe be prepared to
   lose most of your list so I'd suggest you do this while your
   list is still very small.)
   
   
4. Don't know how to find and use keywords correctly -
   
   This is a problem everyone shares and the only way you'll learn
   how to do it is to get started. If you do it wrong then you
   really have nothing to worry about unless you've abused the use
   of keywords by over using them because no one will know about
   your web page.
   
   So get that page set up with your best guess for the proper
   keywords. Then as you learn more about how to choose and use
   them to get search engine traffic, go back and modify your page.
   (Search engines like to see pages that get updated frequently -
   especially when it's the content that's getting changed.)
   
   
5. Don't know how to use AdSense or other pay-per-clicks -
   
   If that's the only reason you don't have a site up then you're
   just stalling because there are so many other ways to get
   traffic to your site. And while pay-per-clicks are an extremely
   good way to get traffic they can also get expensive until you
   have a good conversion rate.
   
   I very seldom use any pay-per-click services and recommend you
   don't try it until you either have a page with a high conversion
   ratio or have some deep pockets.
   
   
6. Don't know how to install some type of automatic script -
   
   There's a lot of hype out there telling everyone they should
   have a free membership site or a free directory site or a free
   giveaway site, etc.
   
   Hey, it's just hype because I've had this site up for more than
   3 years and started the free membership area last year without
   installing a script. And while it may not have some of the bells
   and whistles that are provided by a script, it gets the job
   done. Also, it wasn't hard or complicated. I made 1 simple
   change through the control panel on my host to make 1 folder a
   private folder and then put all the pages for our area inside of
   that private folder. No script - No database
   
   Now having a directory site or a giveaway site and using an
   automatic script with a database would really make things a lot
   less work overall, even those types of sites could be set up
   without 1. Giveaways usually last for a short period so while
   you may have a lot of manual work during the giveaway, it would
   only be for a short while. Directory type sites are meant to
   last so if your heart is set on having one then you probably do
   need to learn how to install or pay someone to install a script.
   If you do it manually and the site starts getting the traffic
   you're hoping for you'll have to hire someone to do the work a
   script would do automatically.
   
   
7. Don't know how to get traffic to my site -
   
   First, until you have some place for the traffic to go then you
   don't need it.
   
   As you're setting up your site or blog take a few minutes
   everyday to investigate all the ways of getting traffic. After
   you've seen some of the ways to get traffic, pick out 1 or 2 and
   start using them when your site is available.
   
   Getting traffic is something you'll always be working on so be
   prepared to refine what you're using and to increase the number
   of ways you get traffic as you work to grow your business. Just
   remember, you don't have to use them all when you're starting or
   even after you've had your online business for awhile.

"But I don't know to (fill in the blank)" -

There's a lot of things we don't know how to do when we're
getting started and I've just scratched the surface with the
above list. But it's OK if you don't know how to do something
because it may not be something you need to do right away. If it
is something basic like a creating a site, building a list or
getting traffic then use the available free workarounds to get
started and keep learning.

There are very few who start an online business with enough
resources to pay to have it all done for them and even fewer who
must do it themselves and already know everything there is to
know.

The most important thing to learn about having an online
business isn't knowing how to create a web site, how to build a
list, how to get traffic to your site or even how to make a
sale.

The 2 most important things to learn are:

1. Learn to conquer your fear of the unknown and your self doubt
   and get started with you plan. Unless you break the law, only a
   few "jerks" will care if you make a mistake and most of the time
   no one will even know you made 1. After you've taken that
   1st scary step you'll face others that are just as frightening.
   But as you conquer each of these steps they begin to get easier
   and less frightening.
   
   
2. There's always something new to learn. No matter how much you
   learn it seems that there is always some new technology or
   someone who's improved on the use of an old one. So after you
   have the basics figured out you'll need to keep learning or get
   left behind in the dust.

Once you've mastered the 2 most important things to learn the
rest will follow. And if you need some time to learn the basics
there's usually an easy short term solution available.

To Your Success,
Susan
FriendsWhoCare Newsletter
http://www.friendswhocare.us/newsletter

PS While I've listed the use of blogs, control panels and the
use of private folders as short term solutions they are also
very good permanent solutions. After you have your site set up
using the control panel to upload your pages you can start using
your blog to drive traffic to your site and your site to drive
traffic to your blog. And there are other ways to use a blog to
help you with your business but that's outside of the scope of
today's tip and 1 of the things you can learn about after you've
conquered the basics.

7 Short Term Solutions For "I Don't Know How To"

Much of the email I get from subscribers include statements
like: "I am still learning" and "I don't know how to ...".

And although I have an advantage over some of you because I can
read programming code and understand what's going on even when I
can't write code in that language, I can still understand where
you're coming from. In fact, it's because of my background both
as a programmer and programming teacher that I have great
admiration for those who struggle to teach themselves how to
write and use web programming languages along with all the other
things you have learn to have an online business.

But today I am not going to give you another coding tip to
learn, or give you a pep talk about keeping up the good work or
tell you how to handle information overload. (If you are going
through information overload there's an archived tip inside the
Member's Area you should read.)

Instead, today I am going to make a statement that many internet
marketers probably don't think I should make.

You don't have to know how to do everything to get your business
started or to get it growing.

So rather than tell you the basics like get a domain name and
hosting account, create a web site, build a list, learn to use
AdSense or other pay-per-click services, create a membership
site, etc., I want to share a few alternative that may solve
some of your "still learning" and "don't know how" problems.
These are short term solutions to get you started but allow you
to have a web presence to practice with and give you some time
to learn and experiment with what you're learning.

7 Short Term Solutions For What You Need To Learn:

1. Don't know how to create a web page -
   
   1 solution is to create a blog at a free blogging service like
   Blogger.com. They're easy to set up and even if you don't know
   how to modify the template you can still start adding content
   that will be archived. The template code has some very advanced
   coding techniques like the use of CSS and dynamic content
   commands however once you know a little about basic HTML you
   will be able to begin making some modifications. Your
   modifications will go inside the <body> section and you'll find
   the template code full of comments telling you which part of the
   blog page is being done with that code.
   
   You can experiment with your blog and use it like a free online
   training tool. If you want traffic to it you can use it that way
   or you can just use it for yourself and not share.
   
   
2. Don't know how to use FTP -
   
   For me, this is not a problem. Not because I know how to use FTP
   (which I do) but because I don't use it.
   
   I currently own 3 hosted web sites, all on different hosts, and
   every 1 of them has a control panel that allows me to upload
   files without using FTP. And these hosts are not an exception.
   Every other hosted account I've had access to has also had some
   form of administration control panel that allowed the same
   thing.
   
   While some will say that the best way to get your files uploaded
   is through FTP, I actually don't know of any reason why anyone
   would ever need to use it since I've uploaded web pages,
   graphics, ebooks, script packages and everything else through
   the easy to use control panels provided by the hosting account.
   The only advantage for using FTP that I know of is that it
   allows you to upload complete folders with your web files rather
   than having to create the folder and move each file separately.
   And since I don't upload complete folders of information that
   often it's easier and faster to spend the time doing it through
   the control panel instead of getting an FTP program set up
   properly. (Maybe I'm just not geeky enough.)
   
   
3. Don't know how to set up an autoresponder -
   
   If you can read and you're able to learn simple things then you
   can set 1 up. You can learn the bare basics using a free one
   like FreeAutoBot.com until you're ready to spend money and
   understand some of the more advanced features.
   
   When I started my newsletter I used a free service provided by
   Yahoo and FreeAutoBot.com for some niche lists. Since I moved
   the newsletter off of Yahoo several years ago I don't know if
   they still provide the service but FreeAutoBot.com is alive and
   well.
   
   Set up a free account, subscribe to your own list, play with the
   autoresponder until you're comfortable with how it works and
   then get into the habit of sending email to your list.
   
   It won't take long before you're comfortable enough to move onto
   a bigger and better service. And when you do move your list you
   can ask them to re-subscribe or just keep both places to send
   your mailings. (If you ask them to re-subscribe be prepared to
   lose most of your list so I'd suggest you do this while your
   list is still very small.)
   
   
4. Don't know how to find and use keywords correctly -
   
   This is a problem everyone shares and the only way you'll learn
   how to do it is to get started. If you do it wrong then you
   really have nothing to worry about unless you've abused the use
   of keywords by over using them because no one will know about
   your web page.
   
   So get that page set up with your best guess for the proper
   keywords. Then as you learn more about how to choose and use
   them to get search engine traffic, go back and modify your page.
   (Search engines like to see pages that get updated frequently -
   especially when it's the content that's getting changed.)
   
   
5. Don't know how to use AdSense or other pay-per-clicks -
   
   If that's the only reason you don't have a site up then you're
   just stalling because there are so many other ways to get
   traffic to your site. And while pay-per-clicks are an extremely
   good way to get traffic they can also get expensive until you
   have a good conversion rate.
   
   I very seldom use any pay-per-click services and recommend you
   don't try it until you either have a page with a high conversion
   ratio or have some deep pockets.
   
   
6. Don't know how to install some type of automatic script -
   
   There's a lot of hype out there telling everyone they should
   have a free membership site or a free directory site or a free
   giveaway site, etc.
   
   Hey, it's just hype because I've had this site up for more than
   3 years and started the free membership area last year without
   installing a script. And while it may not have some of the bells
   and whistles that are provided by a script, it gets the job
   done. Also, it wasn't hard or complicated. I made 1 simple
   change through the control panel on my host to make 1 folder a
   private folder and then put all the pages for our area inside of
   that private folder. No script - No database
   
   Now having a directory site or a giveaway site and using an
   automatic script with a database would really make things a lot
   less work overall, even those types of sites could be set up
   without 1. Giveaways usually last for a short period so while
   you may have a lot of manual work during the giveaway, it would
   only be for a short while. Directory type sites are meant to
   last so if your heart is set on having one then you probably do
   need to learn how to install or pay someone to install a script.
   If you do it manually and the site starts getting the traffic
   you're hoping for you'll have to hire someone to do the work a
   script would do automatically.
   
   
7. Don't know how to get traffic to my site -
   
   First, until you have some place for the traffic to go then you
   don't need it.
   
   As you're setting up your site or blog take a few minutes
   everyday to investigate all the ways of getting traffic. After
   you've seen some of the ways to get traffic, pick out 1 or 2 and
   start using them when your site is available.
   
   Getting traffic is something you'll always be working on so be
   prepared to refine what you're using and to increase the number
   of ways you get traffic as you work to grow your business. Just
   remember, you don't have to use them all when you're starting or
   even after you've had your online business for awhile.

"But I don't know to (fill in the blank)" -

There's a lot of things we don't know how to do when we're
getting started and I've just scratched the surface with the
above list. But it's OK if you don't know how to do something
because it may not be something you need to do right away. If it
is something basic like a creating a site, building a list or
getting traffic then use the available free workarounds to get
started and keep learning.

There are very few who start an online business with enough
resources to pay to have it all done for them and even fewer who
must do it themselves and already know everything there is to
know.

The most important thing to learn about having an online
business isn't knowing how to create a web site, how to build a
list, how to get traffic to your site or even how to make a
sale.

The 2 most important things to learn are:

1. Learn to conquer your fear of the unknown and your self doubt
   and get started with you plan. Unless you break the law, only a
   few "jerks" will care if you make a mistake and most of the time
   no one will even know you made 1. After you've taken that
   1st scary step you'll face others that are just as frightening.
   But as you conquer each of these steps they begin to get easier
   and less frightening.
   
   
2. There's always something new to learn. No matter how much you
   learn it seems that there is always some new technology or
   someone who's improved on the use of an old one. So after you
   have the basics figured out you'll need to keep learning or get
   left behind in the dust.

Once you've mastered the 2 most important things to learn the
rest will follow. And if you need some time to learn the basics
there's usually an easy short term solution available.

To Your Success,
Susan
FriendsWhoCare Newsletter
http://www.friendswhocare.us/newsletter

PS While I've listed the use of blogs, control panels and the
use of private folders as short term solutions they are also
very good permanent solutions. After you have your site set up
using the control panel to upload your pages you can start using
your blog to drive traffic to your site and your site to drive
traffic to your blog. And there are other ways to use a blog to
help you with your business but that's outside of the scope of
today's tip and 1 of the things you can learn about after you've
conquered the basics.

"Place Your Ad Here"

Have you ever been driving and seen an almost empty billboard with only the words: "Your Ad Here" followed by a phone number? (In case your not familiar with the word "billboard" it's a large outdoor signboard that holds advertising and you can read them as you drive on highways.)

Now placing your ad on a highway billboard is not free however you may have something that's just as effective and is totally free.

If you are building a list of subscribers or selling products other than affiliate products you have your own billboards. You probably call them "thank-you" and "download" pages.

Every time someone joins your list or buys something from you you have captured their attention and they are reading what you have to say. Sure you need to say "thank-you" and maybe you even need to give them some instructions for completing the subscription or getting their product but you can also make a recommendation for another product, service or list.

While many internet marketing experts state that you should use this space for your upsell, I'll tell you that it's unrestricted space and you can use it however you want. Sure, if you've got an upsell product then this is the perfect place to let your reader know about it. But if you don't have an upsell product you can still use it to recommend a product that is related to what they've just signed up for or bought.

An even better way to use this empty space is to give your new reader or customer a good quality gift like a free report or ebook. By giving them something extra you are now seen as someone who delivers more than expected and that will help you with future sales.

If you do give a gift the important things to remember are:

• The gift should be of value to the intended receiver.
• The gift should be about something they are interested in so they will use it.
• The gift should be something that will help you with your business. A viral ebook, a report promoting another product, a tool with your brand are just a few of the things that make a good gift.

Saying thank you is a must. Leaving the rest of your online billboard empty is wasting some of your most effective free advertising space.

Remember, those who get to your thank you and download pages are part of your targeted market, they're interested in your offer because they've just accepted 1 and giving them another offer is free. And that's as good as it gets in online marketing.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS If you've ever seen a "One Time Offer" after you've signed up at a free membership site you've seen an effective use of a thank-you page. The "OTO" was designed to:

1. Create a sense of urgency so the reader would make a purchase.
2. Get new affiliates to advertise the membership site. (Viral marketing at work.)

The "OTO" is 1 example of how you can put your free advertising space to work.

Do You Have To Be Hit By A Car To Learn?

When you're a parent it seems you're constantly trying to teach things to your kids.

When they're very young you're trying to teach them the basics like walking and talking.

A couple of years later you're trying to teach them to look both ways before crossing a street and to not interrupt someone who's already talking.

Why do you do these things?

Because they need to know the basics and they need to know how to do them correctly. Walking in front of an oncoming car is Not doing it correctly. Take it from someone who learned the hard way, getting hit is NOT the way to learn that you need to look both ways. (I actually got hit by a motorcycle).

Now let's pretend you're fairly new to internet marketing and someone like me is trying to teach you the basics. We tell you that you should be doing something but for 1 reason or another you don't do it.

Since we aren't sitting next to you at your computer we can't pull you back from the oncoming car and scold you. We have to assume that once you've been told you'll heed our advice and do it.

While the above is true for most who offer advice I am putting my secret "mother's-method of knowing what you're doing" to work and scold you for not doing something that I and many other internet marketers have told you to do...

Use 2 of the freest forms of promoting your site or products:

1. Signature files
2. 404 error pages

At least 85.7% of my readers are not using both of these methods and at least 77.78% are not using the 1 that everyone can use whether they have a site or not - Signature files.

Maybe you're not doing these because you think they don't work. In truth - they won't make the bulk of your income unless that's the only way you promote your site and products however, it's free advertising and getting only 1 new subscriber or 1 sale from them makes them worth more than you paid for them.

Do internet marketing giants use them? Sometimes - it depends on:

1. If they remember to set them up. (Sometimes even gurus forget things.)
2. Who's getting the email. (They have several email accounts. Personal friends, family and business partners accounts won't have a signature file but replies to all potential customers like subscribers and previous customers often do.)

Let's check a couple of popular sites to see if they're using 404 error pages - and remember, we're doing research so don't stop to buy anything.

Last week we talked about the butterflys so let's check:http://www.butterfly.com/. Ok, now go to http://www.butterflymarketing.com/xyz.htm. How about http://www.getresponse.com/ and http://www.getresponse.com/htl.htm.

Heck, why don't you check Google and Yahoo too. Just type /makeupsomething.html after the .com part.

Here are the important things to remember when you're deciding if you should take the time to create your own signature file and 404 error page.

1. It will cut down on the frustration factor for site visitors who are trying to find your site.
2. It may get you a subscriber or a sale.
3. It's free and used by the "big guys" when they remember.
4. The "big guys" have the luxury of forgetting because of the amount of traffic they get - you don't get that much traffic and need to use every possible resource available.
5. If it's good enough for the best known sites on the web, Google and Yahoo, it's good enough for me.

Now consider yourself pulled back and scolded because you're not doing 2 of the basics. And remember, I have my methods and will continue to get on you about this every once in awhile until I think you've got it right.

To Your Success,
Susan

We Don't Learn Japanese to Drive a Toyota

At some point we're all newbies at something. Fortunately when I
was just starting my online business I discovered the
Newbie Club and that's where I've gotten today's tip. If you
haven't yet checked out Joe Robson's club I highly recommend you
do. It's been a highly recognized and respected site for around
6 years and membership is free. And please don't think it's 1 of
those "fad" freebie sites popping up all over because it's not.
There's a lot of content inside Joe's membership area and
newsletter. - Susan

We Don't Learn Japanese to Drive a Toyota

By Joe Robson

Some time ago I wrote a Direct Mail Package and full page
magazine ad for an International Database Developer Software
company. What's that? Well I didn't know either. It is so
technical it took me a week to translate their existing sales
literature from 'Techie-Speak' into English.

Their literature was written and aimed at very technically
minded people. Computer Programmers in particular.

However, I wrote the new sales messages in 'layman's language'.
Why?

Because even technical people don't always understand everything
technical. And tomorrow's 'Techie' is today's 'Newbie'. And
TODAY'S customer.

Sales increased by 400%.

I'll repeat that - 400%. Does that tell you anything besides the
fact that I like to show off?

------ What does that tell us?

Maybe it tells us that 'Techies' also understand

'Newbie-Speak' but not the other way round.

Here's an ezine Ad I came across from a 'Techie' who has never
heard the word 'Newbie'.........

####

XYZ Jukebox is integrated digital music-management software for
the home. It combines a CD ripper,MP3 encoder, play list maker,
ID3 tag editor, and media player in one package. CD audio is
digitally extracted and encoded directly to MP3 format with no
intermediary WAV file, using Xing MPEG encoding technology.

####

Hmmm I wonder if it would play music CD's on my computer....

The point I'm making is that this piece of software may make a
great deal of difference to my lifestyle. If I knew what it was
I may well be tempted to buy it!

I am reminded of an experience some years ago when I ventured
out to buy a new Hi-Fi system. You've been there.

I visited FOUR stores and was blinded with science by 17 year
old 'sales executives' with fluff on their chins, whose sole
purpose in life seemed to be to exhibit their superior knowledge
about electronics. Sub Whoofer? I want music, not an aquatic
Rottweiller!

I finally came across a PROFESSIONAL salesman who asked me what
I WANTED from a Hi-Fi, and demonstrated a system that SUITED MY
NEEDS. He made a $1500 sale to a Hi-Fi Newbie in 10 minutes.

The fact that when I got it home I couldn't understand the
Manual wasn't his fault! It was written in 'Techie-Speak'!

------ Everyone was a Newbie once.

This wide spread use of Jargon on the Web is the very reason Tom
Glander and I set up The Newbie Club at

http://www.newbieclub.com

It's a brand new concept designed to teach PC and Internet
Newbies the basics of using computers and the Web. Because they
were blinded by Techie-Speak by the salesperson, and
confounded by the same language in their user manual!

Using the unique Newbie Club Learning System, the products and
the site itself are 100% free of Jargon and technical terms of
any kind.

In fact the System is so unique and successful it's being used
by Banks, Computer Societies, and individuals alike.

So remember this before you write your Sales Copy.....

Just because your product is 'technical', don't assume that it's
the language your readers prefer - or even understand.

They don't.

They want to know what the BENEFIT of your advanced technology
is going to do for them.

In English .... In Newbieish .... In Anyish.

But not in Gibberish!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joe Robson is author of Make Your Words SELL! co-authored by Ken
Evoy. Joe and Tom Glander are Co-Founders of The Newbie Club
which is bulging with revolutionary Internet and PC Newbie
tutorials. CLICK ON OVER to http://www.newbieclub.com and look at their very
professional Affiliate Program. It's BIG! Joe's Copywriting site
is at http://www.adcopywriting.com

========================================

I hope you enjoyed and learned something from today's tip. And
if you ever find Techie Gibberish in this newsletter - Please
let me know!

To Your Success,
Susan

10 4-Letter Words You Need In Your Vocabulary

When you were growing up did your parents teach you not to use 4-letter words?

Mine sure did.

Oh, they didn't mean "all" 4-letter words, just a select few but those were a real no-no in my house.

Well, today I am going to list 10 4-letter words that you should not only be using but should be living if you want your online business to succeed.

----------

Work - "sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result"

While this is a word we would all like to get out of our vocabulary it's 1 that we can't avoid - especially when you're first starting your online business.

There are no true "get rich" schemes or programs although there are many that make that offer. And it's true that someone does "get rich" with them - the ones who "worked" to set them up!

---------

Time - " the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues"

While we would all like less "work", we would like to have more "time" - there's just never enough of it!

But in online businesses there is no such thing as "instant". Yes, there are those who promise "instant" results but the truth is - it takes "time" (sometimes a lot of it) to achieve those "instant" results.

---------

Plan - "a method for achieving an end"

Unfortunately, most people who start online business don't understand what a "plan" is or how to create one. We are all so busy learning and trying new things that we forget we need to map out the steps we need to take to build a successful online business.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, there are many ways to build a successful online business. The trick is identifying the 1 that will work for your business and then staying with it until you succeed.

---------

Give - "to put into the possession of another for his or her use"

Most of us have heard the saying, "It's better to give than receive." And it's true!

To be a successful online business person we must continually give the best we have to offer. We must "give" quality information, products or services to prove our worth to potential customers. And if we provide something worthy of being shared, we can have our gift spread the word about our business (also known as viral marketing).

---------

Sell - "to deliver something to another for money"

Most people don't like to "sell" things. In fact, many of us have been taught to be wary of salespeople.

It's because we don't want to "sell" that there are programs promising "no selling required." But before you leap to 1 of those offers, stop and think about it. If no one has to sell anything how can money be made?

The sad fact is, you have to "sell" something to make money online. When you recommend products or services, when you make suggestions, when you negotiate partnerships, you're selling. So if your online business is to succeed, you must learn to sell!

---------

Help - "to change for the better"

Helping others is what it's all about!

While a successful online business must sell things it must also provide information, products or services that "help" others. If you're not truly trying to "help" others those who get what you're offering will soon realize you're just trying to make a buck by selling them things.

---------

Free - "not costing or charging anything"

While I like "free" as much as anybody I'll tell you right now that there's not much on the internet that's really "free"!

We can get "free" websites, ebooks, reports, autoresponders, hosting, traffic, etc all without paying money for them. But we usually do have to give something in return - our email information.

Because most people think of "free" as not costing money we can offer "free" items in exchange for their email address. And getting a list of those who accept "free" items is 1 of the basic building blocks for a successful online business.

---------

List - "a series of email addresses to whom you have permission to send email "

If you haven't heard, "the money is in the list", then let me be the first to tell you.

However, while there may be money in the list of those who've accepted your offer of a "free" gift, the successful online business person is collecting the emails of those who've made purchases because that's the "list" that produces all those "see how much I made" results.

---------

Cost - "the amount or equivalent paid or charged for something"

Have you noticed how everything seems to be getting more and more expensive? With the rise of gas prices we know why physical products are becoming more expensive but it seems to be affecting the cost of digital products too.

True, there are many that equate high prices with quality and that's 1 of the reasons people charge for their products. (Of course they want to make money too.) The important thing to remember is that you must provide enough quality in your product that people will feel that they've received more than they've paid for and you must keep the price at a level where you'll make the most sales.

---------

Cash -"money or its equivalent (as a check) paid for goods or services at the time of purchase or delivery"

This is what most online business people are working so hard to get. And believe me, it's getting harder all the time otherwise there wouldn't be so many "big names" promoting each others products and so many articles being written about why you have to "buy things" to make money.

However, while you are working to make some "cash" you have to remember what many have forgotten. You first have to have something that will "help" others and then "sell" it at a "cost" they can afford.

---------

As you go out and build your online business you need to remember all 10 of these 4-letter words and what they mean. All of them are important and all of them are a vital part of every successful business.

To Your Success,
Susan

You Did It Wrong So Just Give Up

How would you rate your online business?

• Super - My site and system are up and I'm making a "good" profit.
• Great - My site and system are up and I'm making some money.
• Average - I am making some progress and will be ready soon.
• Good - I am working on it but haven't finished anything yet.
• Fair - I have no idea what to do but am learning.
• Poor - I tried but am ready to give up

Now I'll tell you that my business goes between Great and Super on a monthly basis since I don't have everything in my plan done yet. However, last week I listened to a recorded seminar that almost threw me into the "Poor" category.

No, I am not mentioning names because I don't want you to go searching for the same recording I heard. It was just way too depressing.

However, I will share what was said that made me almost quit and then tell you why I didn't.

The speaker gave a definition of what an online business is and stated that everyone is doing it wrong. He quoted from books I had read and agree with. He showed some impressive charts. He made some statements that made a lot of sense. And he told us how to compute what our time was worth (his example showed our time as being worth $210 an hour.)

But the "gotcha" statement was: If you can pay someone else to do a job for less than what your time is worth, then you should because if you don't, you're wasting your time and you don't have a "real" business. (This is not an exact quote since I was in too much shock to write it down.)

When I heard this speaker's proclamation that all online business owners should be paying someone else to do just about everything there is to do to have an online business I went from feeling "OK" with my business to "I may as well throw in the towel now and give up."

Fortunately, 1 of my readers back in 2003 gave me the nickname, "The Lady Conqueror" because I don't give up without a fight. (Thanks Hodges, it was that nickname that reminded me to "push back and "fix it ".)

But how do you fix the problem of not wanting to or being able to hire someone to do most of the work for your online business?

Answer: Examine exactly what was said and know exactly where you are in your online business.

Here's what I did to examine what was said:

1. The speaker's statement that we're all doing it wrong - That was a good attention grabber.
2. The speaker's definition of business and his quotes from well known authors affirmed his attention grabbing statement.
3. His charts and statements were great because all online business people could emotionally identify with them.
4. His walk through on computing what our time was worth was impressive since he used numbers we could easily assume as our own. And the end value was very flattering (I've never earned $210 an hour - have you?)

Hey, I just listened to a video "sales letter"!!!!! (Oops, I forgot to mention he was having people register for his next big coaching session.) By the way, I computed the hourly rate after I regained my senses and found his end result was 3 times what it should have been.

To know where you are in your online business:

1. First understand that a business should be able to operate when you're not around so until you've got it going like that you are considered "self-employed."
2. For most people starting any type of business, "self-employed" is the first stage. (You think Bill Gates started by hiring everyone who works for him now when he first got started?) Since we're all working to get to "business", that's the term I'll keep using for us.
3. Until you get to where you want to or can afford to hire out some of your work, you automate as much as possible.
4. When you start making an income you re-invest in your online business to not only expand but to also hire-out some of the work.

In case you're wondering if I pre-registered for this speaker's next coaching session the answer is - No.

Not because he's not good - he's probably a great mentor if you have a ton of money to spend to start or expand your business. But from his sales pitch I suspect that:

• Most newbies can't afford his coaching or his methods.
• Many of those who think they can afford his coaching will find that they've overextended their budget and can't afford to implement his methods.
• Of those who can afford to implement his methods only a few will because most won't be able to come up with projects to spend their money on.

So while he'll make a ton of money from the 1000 who buy his coaching, only a few (less than 10) will use what he has to offer and make any "real" money.

While I may be wrong in my suspicions, at least I have conquered my feelings of giving up. I know where I am in my business and no matter how my business rates, I am feeling good about it.

Can you say the same?

To Your Success,
Susan

PS The day after I sent this article to my readers I discovered an inexpensive eBook that explains how to get your business going in 6 steps. While the product is extremly short it contains links to 6 online videos that show exactly how to do each of the steps. I've read the eBook and watched the videos and even learned some things myself. And no, I didn't buy any of the stuff he recomended but the steps he shows can all be done manually - it just takes a little more work! (The tool he's promoting just makes doing some of the 6 steps easier and faster - oops, guess that's a way to automate.)

Anyway, take a look because "Six Steps to Success" is more in line with what people just getting started can understand, can do and can AFFORD.

Susan

2 Tips For The Price Of 1

I've been thinking about today's tip for several days. Not because I didn't know how to word it but ...

I didn't know what to write about. You know - writer's block - even I get it occasionally.

So I gave up and went to an eBook to get some ideas for a topic (I usually go through my email to see what the "hot" topic is when I have this problem but didn't find anything this time.)

Thinking I might find some good tips in "PC Safety 101" I started reading. It does have some good info and it recommends some good products but that's not all.

Currently there are 20 private label rights articles being given as an added bonus. (You have to actually read the eBook to get them.)

Tip 1: Read the eBooks you get - free or paid for - because they might have more in them than you bargained for.

Tip 2: Overcoming Writer's Block
(1 of the bonus articles in "PC Safety 101 ." with no changes except to correct some spelling errors.)

What is writer's block?

Well, I just can't think of a single darn thing to
say. Oh well, I'm outta here!

Sound familiar? No! Oh, get real! We've all
experienced this phenomenon when we absolutely have to
write something, particularly on deadline. I'm talking
about. . . . .uh, I can't think of what the word is .
. . oh, yes, it's on the tip of my tongue . . . it's:

WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!

Whew! I feel better just getting that out of my head
and onto the page!

Writer's block is the patron demon of the blank page.
You may think you know EXACTLY what you're going to
write, but as soon as that evil white screen appears
before you, your mind suddenly goes completely blank.
I'm not talking about Zen meditation
stare-at-the-wall-until-enlightenment-hits kind of
blank.

I'm talking about sweat trickling down the back of
your neck, anguish and panic and suffering kind of
blank. The tighter the deadline, the worse the anguish
of writer's block gets.

Having said that, let me say it again. "The tighter
the deadline, the worse the anguish of writer's block
gets." Now, can you figure out what might possibly be
causing this horrible plunge into speechlessness?

The answer is obvious: FEAR! You are terrified of that
blank page. You are terrified you have absolutely
nothing of value to say. You are afraid of the fear of
writer's block itself!

It doesn't necessarily matter if you've done a decade
of research and all you have to do is string sentences
you can repeat in your sleep together into coherent
paragraphs.

Writer's block can strike anyone at any
time. Based in fear, it raises our doubts about our
own self-worth, but it's sneaky. It's writer's block,
after all, so it doesn't just come and let you know
that. No, it makes you feel like an idiot who just had
your frontal lobes removed through your sinuses. If
you dared to put forth words into the greater world,
they would surely come out as gibberish!

Let's try and be rational with this irrational demon.
Let's make a list of what might possibly be beneath
this terrible and terrifying condition.

1. Perfectionism. You must absolutely produce a
masterpiece of literature straight off in the first
draft. Otherwise, you qualify as a complete failure.

2. Editing instead of composing. There's your
monkey-mind sitting on your shoulder, yelling as soon
as you type "I was born?," no, not that, that's wrong!
That's stupid! Correct correct correct correct?

3. Self-consciousness. How can you think, let alone
write, when all you can manage to do is pry the
fingers of writer's block away from your throat enough
so you can gasp in a few shallow breaths? You're not
focusing on what you're trying to write, your focusing
on those gnarly fingers around your windpipe.

4. Can't get started. It's always the first sentence
that's the hardest. As writers, we all know how
EXTREMELY important the first sentence is. It must be
brilliant! It must be unique! It must hook your
reader's from the start! There's no way we can get
into writing the piece until we get past this
impossible first sentence.

5. Shattered concentration. You're cat is sick. You
suspect your mate is cheating on you. Your electricity
might be turned off any second. You have a crush on
the local UPS deliveryman. You have a dinner party
planned for your in-laws. You . . . Need I say more.
How can you possibly concentrate with all this mental
clutter?

6. Procrastination. It's your favorite hobby. It's
your soul mate. It's the reason you've knitted 60
argyle sweaters or made 300 bookcases in your garage
workshop. It's the reason you never run out of Brie.

FACE IT - IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS YOU HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK!

How to Overcome Writer's Block

Okay. I can hear that herd of you running away from
this article as fast as you can. Absurd! you huff.
Never in a million years, you fume. Writer's block is
absolutely, undeniably, scientifically proven to be
impossible to overcome.

Oh, just get over it! Well, I guess it's not that
easy. So try to sit down for just a few minutes and
listen. All you have to do is listen ? you don't have
to actually write a single word.

Ah, there you all are again. I am beginning to make
you out now that the cloud of dust is settling.

I am here to tell you that WRITER'S BLOCK CAN BE
OVERCOME.

Please, remain seated.

There are ways to trick this nasty demon. Pick one,
pick several, and give them a try. Soon, before you
even have a chance for your heartbeat to accelerate,
guess what? You're writing.

Here are some tried and true methods of overcoming
writer's block:

1. Be prepared. The only thing to fear is fear itself.
(I know, that's a cliché but as soon as you start
writing, feel free to improve on it.) If you spend
some time mulling over your project before you
actually sit down to write, you may be able to
circumvent the worst of the crippling panic.

2. Forget perfectionism. No one ever writes a
masterpiece in the first draft. Don't put any
expectations on your writing at all! In fact, tell
yourself you're going to write absolute garbage, and
then give yourself permission to happily stink up your
writing room.

3. Compose instead of editing. Never, never write your
first draft with your monkey-mind sitting on your
shoulder making snide editorial comments. Composing is
a magical process. It surpasses the conscious mind by
galaxies. It's even incomprehensible to the conscious,
editorial, monkey-mind. So prepare an ambush. Sit down
at your computer or your desk. Take a deep breath and
blow out all your thoughts. Let your finger hover over
your keyboard or pick up your pen. And then pull a
fake: appear to be about to begin to write, but
instead, using your thumb and index finger of your
dominant hand, flick that little annoying ugly monkey
back into the barrel of laughs it came from. Then jump
in quickly! Write, scribble, scream, howl, let
everything loose, as long as you do it with a pen or
your computer keyboard.

4. Forget the first sentence. You can sweat over that
all-important one-liner when you've finished your
piece. Skip it! Go for the middle or even the end.
Start wherever you can. Chances are, when you read it
over, the first line will be blinking its little neon
lights right at you from the depths of your
composition.

5. Concentration. This is a hard one. Life throws us
so many curve balls. How about thinking about your
writing time as a little vacation from all those
annoying worries. Banish them! Create a space, perhaps
even a physical one, where nothing exists except the
single present moment. If one of those irritating
worries gets by you, stomp on it like you would an
ugly bug!

6. Stop procrastinating. Write an outline. Keep your
research notes within sight. Use someone else's
writing to get going. Babble incoherently on paper or
on the computer if you have to.

Just do it! (I know, I stole that line from
somewhere?). Tack up anything that could possibly help
you to get going: notes, outlines, pictures of your
grandmother. Put the cookie you will be allowed to eat
when you finish your first draft within sight ? but
out of reach. Then pick up the same type of writing
that you need to write, and read it. Then read it
again. Soon, trust me, the fear will slowly fade away.
As soon as it does, grab your keyboard ? and get
writing!

To Your Success,
Susan

PS You can find this and other PLR articles included as an added bonus inside
"PC Safety 101."

When Knowing It All Can Hurt Your Business

Recently I heard Kevin Bidwell state that these 4 words were 1 of the biggest obstacles that many online business people must overcome:

"I already know that."

I must admit that I really didn't believe him when I heard the statement because I've never felt that way and my readers are always sending me questions.

However, today I do believe him because I've now seen at least 2 other "internet gurus" make the same statement.

Since I am now a believer I decided to check and see what it was that other people already know and no longer need to learn about.

Here's a list of 5 things that people think they already know and no longer have anything to learn.

1. They think they know what they're promoting and they think it's products or services.
   
   Wrong - products and services may be what people are paying you for but they are not what you should be promoting. You should be promoting your business.
   
   
2. They think they know the most important thing they have to do make money and it's getting traffic to their site.
   
   Wrong - you do need traffic but more importantly you need to know how to make money from the traffic you do get. Having a site seen by 10,000 people who buy nothing is worth less than a site seen by 100 who buy what you're selling.
   
   
3. They think they know how to use viral marketing - they give away an ebook or sign up for a viral advertising site.
   
   Wrong - True viral marketing is much more involved than giving away an ebook you hope will get passed around or adding your page to a list of others in the hopes that someone will actually buy your product when they sign up for the same viral site.
   
   
4. They think they know how to use autoresponders because they have 1 set up to send out their periodic mailings.
   
   Wrong - Autoresponders are great tools and 1 of the most under used. Sending out a thank-you for ... and your broadcast messages are not why you set them up and use them.
   
   
5. They think they know many ways to get traffic to their site because they do them.
   
   Wrong - While there are many good ways to get traffic to your site, using all of them and mastering none of them is not the best way to get traffic. You need to identify which sources of traffic you want to use and master those few methods before moving on to others. Successful online marketers work on mastering the traffic strategies that provide the most traffic with the least effort.

While I could go on and list other things that people think they already know about I think you get the point...

There's always more to learn.

So next time you catch yourself thinking, "I already know that" -

Remember, you may know a lot about it but you may have more to learn to use or do it effectively.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS You can get more detailed information about the 5 things you may already know about but aren't using correctly by clicking here. It's a quick read and contains some very powerful information that you can use right away.

Tools of the Trade

In this high tech world it's easy to forget 2 of the most basic and important tools you need for your online business - inexpensive tools you already have and may not be using.

You remember the internet because that's where your online business is located.

You remember your computer because without it you can't connect to the internet.

You remember your host, autoresponder, and ad tracker because you use them to build your business and make it grow.

But do you remember to use the 2 tools that should be within reach all the time, a pen and a pad of paper?

Sure you have these things close to the phone to jot down notes and numbers. You may keep them handy in the kitchen to make your grocery list and by your computer to take notes. But do you have them handy when your relaxing and not working your business?

When you're enjoying time with your friends and family, doing your favorite hobby or just vegging out in front of the TV, you should always have your 2 take-along tools of the trade with you.

Why?

Because when your not sitting and forcing ideas out of your conscience mind your subconscious is working it's hardest and some of your best ideas will be created. And unless you take note of those ideas when they pop-out, you'll forget them.

Our minds are strange and mysterious things. They work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and they never sleep. They house all the things we've seen and learned, all our likes and dislikes, all our memories and dreams. They torment us by putting tunes in our head that we can't get rid of but won't tell us the name of the tune. They remind us that we've been somewhere before but won't tell us when. They create million dollar ideas in 1 instant and then forget those ideas in the next.

Now if you're a very organized person you have a place to make your "To Do List" with all the things you need to get done. You have your list for what you'll do the next time your at your computer. You have a calendar, a place for your notes for things you need to remember and a list for future projects. And you may be using electronic tools to hold all this information so you can pull it up on your computer screen with a few button pushes.

But even if you use electronic tools to hold all this valuable information you still need to keep a pen and a pad of paper handy when you're not at your computer so you can jot down those unexpected ideas or things you've forgotten. Then, when you get back to your desk you can transfer those items to the appropriate list.

Remember, you have no control over your subconscious mind. It will work every second of every day about anything it wants. It may decide to solve a problem that you've been thinking about. It may decide to come up with a new product or headline for a sales page. Your subconscious mind will give you what it wants in an instant and unless you write it down it will take it away just as fast.

Some of the things your subconscious mind will come up with may not be of any use when fully thought about but some of them could be real jewels. So take note of all your subconscious ideas and give them some thought. Write down those ideas with enough information so you can put your conscious mind to work on them when you want.

While we may be living in a high tech world where most people think that only those things that plug in or run on batteries are of value, we, as internet marketers must remember to use 2 of the most basic and yet most powerful tools ever created - pen and paper.

To Your Success,
Susan

To Dream ...

What would you like to do if you had enough money to quit your job and your online business could take care of itself? - What would you do in all that extra free time?"

That's the question I asked my subscribers recently.

When I asked the question I knew some would think that it was another of our "just for fun" questions and others would figure I'd use it to tell them how to define their goal.

Actually, neither of these are the reason I asked the question.

While it is fun to dream and making our dream a reality is why most of us start an online business, there is another reason to dream about what you would do if you didn't have to work.

Your dream of a bigger house, traveling all over the world, driving a race car, sailing across the ocean or whatever - is something you're interested in.

But more than that ...

... It's something you can use to find the niche for your online business.

Now before you start telling me why you can't use your dream to help you identify a niche market let me give you 5 reasons why you can.

1. If you're interested in something then there are probably a lot of others who are just as interested. Of course you would have to do some basic research to find out if the group is large enough and if they spend enough online to make it worth pursuing - but you have to do that anyway.
2. If your dream is not specific enough to identify a market then you need to work on your dream. If you had enough money and time to live your dream you'd have to know the specifics or how would you make it come true?
3. Think your dream is too big? Then pick a piece of it to start.
4. Think your dream is too small? Then expand it. It's your dream and you can make it as big or as little as you want.
5. But it's only your dream. You don't know anything about it. To that I have to ask, why not? If you really want and expect to someday have your dream come true you should start learning some things about it now.

One of the mistakes most people make when they are trying to pick their niche market is to think - "I am not an expert so no one will care what I have to say."

But what exactly is an expert?

An expert is someone who knows more about something than someone else - not everybody else - someone else.

So if you learn a little about your dream you are an expert to those who share the same dream and haven't learned as much as you.

All the internet marketing gurus tell you to pick a niche that you either know about or are passionate about. But what is your passion? Is it your job? Is it your family? Is it something you already know or do? Or is it something you want to do but don't have time for?

If your dream is your passion then remember some of the important words in that old song "The Impossible Dream."

To dream the impossible dream,
...

And the world will be better for this
...

You can read all the lyrics and listen to the entire song at:
http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/O'Toole/impossibledream-lyrics.htm. (To hear the song click the music notes next to the song title.)

So dream your impossible dream. Then put it to work and make it happen.

To Your Success,
Susan

19 Formatting Tips To Improve Your Sales Letter

Before I list 19 simple ways to improve your "sales" letter you need to understand 2 things:

1. For this article, an online "sales" letter is defined as any web page where you want to get an action from your reader - a sale, a sign-up, go to another page, etc.
2. It's the words and the way you format the words on your "sales" letter that cause the reader to do the action you want. The words - not the pictures - do the work and cause the reaction of your site visitor.

Now that you know what a "sales" letter is and it's the words that are the most important part, here are 19 tips for writing effective "sales" letters.

1. Have an attention grabbing headline at the top of the page where your visitor can see it without scrolling.
2. The best color to use for your headline is red. It can be any shade of red but red works the best to get someone's attention.
3. Put your name close to the top of the page before the body of the "sales" text.
4. Put your name at the bottom of the "sales" text.
5. Use a picture of your real signature or one that looks real.
6. Use sub-headlines within your "sales" letter.
7. Sub-headlines should be the same color as you main headline.
8. Don't underline text in the body of your "sales" letter. (People assume underlining means it's a link and may try to click on it.)
9. Draw attention to your testimonials by having them in separate boxes.
10. Put some space between the testimonial and the border of the box containing it so it will stand out. A different background color for the box is good too.
11. A good testimonial should state specifically what they liked about your product, ezine, etc. Use some method to highlight the specific thing they liked.
12. If you are selling a product on your page do not use red for the price. Subconsciously red means stop.
13. Bonuses are good when they relate to your main offer. Unrelated bonuses can work against you.
14. Use some method to highlight the important parts of your "sales" letter for those who just skim the page.
15. Even though PayPal has some "bad press" within the internet marketing community, it is still one of the best payment processors to use because it is so widely known and trusted. So if you use another payment processor you may want to include a PayPal button as an additional method of payment.
16. Just like they work on paper, sticky notes on your web page capture your visitors attention for a few seconds. Make those seconds work for you.
17. White space is very important because it makes the "sales" letter easier to read. Use it to separate paragraphs and important list items - especially when the list items have a lot of text.
18. Chose an easy to read font and make it an easy to read size and color.
19. Make sure you include a "call to action." That means you tell them exactly what they are to do - buy, sign-up, go to, etc.

Remember, every time someone visits your "sales" letter they've come with the idea not to do what you want and it's your job to sell them the idea that they "want" to do your desired action.

It's your words and how you format them on your page that make the difference.

To Your Success,
Susan
FriendsWhoCare Newsletter

Tracking Your Business To Success

Recently I asked if you were tracking your ads and 2/3's of
my subscribers stated they didn't - most said it was because
they didn't know how.

Because "not knowing how" seemed to be the biggest reason, I
won't bore you with all the reasons tracking is important. Just
know that it is.

Now before we get started I am going to admit that I am Not a
tracking guru. Like most of my readers, I do everything myself
and don't have time to set up tracking links for everything.
Also, since I don't have the time to set up a lot of tracking
links, I haven't installed a tracking program on my host nor do
I pay a service to track my stats. So until I start paying
someone to help me with my business, I use the stats provided by
my hosting service and 1 free service that also provides some
traffic. (I do have the ability to create tracking links through
my autoresponder and have access to a professional tracking
service but very seldom use them.)

With that said, here are 3 ways to get information to help
you track what's going on with your business:

1. Use the information provided by your hosting service.
   
   Gathering statistical information for your business is another
   reason to have your own domain name and using a hosting
   service. The information provided is easily accessed, can tell
   you some very valuable information and doesn't create any
   additional work. (This is assuming your hosting service
   provides statistical information and most do. If yours doesn't
   you should find one that does.)
   
   Using the stats provided by your host you should be able to
   see things like what pages are visited most frequently, what
   country your visitors are coming from, what type of browser
   they're using, how many unique visitors you're getting, the
   most popular keywords used to find your site the page, what
   robots and spiders are visiting your site, the links used to
   access your site and how many times an eBook has been
   downloaded..
   
   Looking at my June stats today, June 7, I can tell you that
   I've received 45 hits from Downloadfreegifts. This doesn't
   tell me how many have signed up but it does tell me how many
   have visited my signup page. (That's why I told you how I
   track where my sign ups are coming from.) I also know how many
   have visited the newsletter page with the poll so I know how
   many look at the poll as compared to how many who vote - Big
   difference! I can also see what people are downloading from my
   site. (Good for finding out if people are stealing your
   products.)


2. Use a free tracking service.
   
   Free tracking services usually only provide you with a
   redirection URL (good for hiding affiliate links) and the
   number of hits to your link. This is not very much information
   but it can still be useful.
   
   Using these services is very easy since all you have to do is
   sign up, enter the url you want to track and a short
   description so you can remember what your tracking, copy the
   url they create and start using that url in all your ads.
   
   I've signed up for 2 of these free services:
   
   trackthatad.com and linkbrander.com.
   
   I haven't really used trackthatad but do
   use linkbrander since I also get additional traffic for using
   their links. (Also, trackthatad has some annoying pop-ups for
   their tutorials that appear on just about every page.)


3. Use the tracking links provided by your autoresponder
   service.
   
   Many autoresponder services have the capability to create
   tracking links. Again, all you have to do is enter the url you
   want tracked and a brief description so you'll remember what
   you're tracking. They create a link and that's the 1 you use.

Now here's 1 easy way to track your ads in ezines...

When you enter the url you want to track in the tracking service
you're using add - ?ezinename

to the end of your url (ezinename is the name of the ezine where
you're placing the ad.)

Example:

http://www.friendswhocare.us/join.htm?marketingtips

Do this for every ezine you're using. Place the appropriate
link for the ezine in the ad you submit.

After the ads have run you can check how many hits came to
each link and you'll know which ads worked the best. You'll want
to do this for several weeks and be modifying your ads until you
find one that works. After you've found one that works keep
using it. You may find that different ads work better in
different ezines.

You do not need to be a tracking expert or pay a lot of money
to start tracking your ads. You don't have to upload scripts or
put page counters on your web pages. With all the free services
that are now available you can get some basic stats to start
tracking your ads - today.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS If you're looking for an inexpensive, reliable hosting
service that provides some good website stats here are the 2 I
use:

RealMarketing.com and PushButtonPublishing.com

I highly recommend PushButtonPublishing.com because they also provide my autoresponder (with tracking capability) and a good tracking service in addition to many other services that I use all the time.