10 Graphic Design Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Designing and developing attractive landing pages, sales pages, squeeze pages, etc. has got to be 1 of the hardest parts of having your online business.

There are so many things to consider like:

• Should you have a header graphic and if you do, how big should it be?
• What colors should you use for your backgrounds and text?
• How big should your images and fonts be?
• And the list goes on and on.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were all graphic web designers or could afford to hire 1?

Unfortunately we're not so today I am going to do 3 things:

1. List 10 graphic design mistakes
2. Give you a Free PDF report that explains them in more detail, shows examples and gives some information on how to fix them.
3. Throw in a couple of extra tidbits of information.

First the list:

10 Graphic Design Mistakes:

1. Header image is too large.
2. Page colors are either too bright or too washed out.
3. Too many colors on the page.
4. Too many types of fonts.
5. A dark background behind the text.
6. Using too many scripts at the same time causing browsers to sometimes slow down or even freeze.
7. Not using enough "white space."
8. Not using a watermarked or patterned background correctly.
9. Message font size is too small.
10. Offer is not clearly identified.

Second the Free report:

Inside this report you'll find more information about each of these 10 mistakes, examples showing some very well done sites and recommendations on how these sites could be improved.

Get it here: http://www.friendswhocare.us/ebooks/top10.zip
(You'll need to unzip the file and use Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report. You can get WinZip FREE and Acrobat Reader FREE if you need them.)

Third - a couple of tidbits of information:

• On page 5 of the report there is an example of a “rounded corner testimonial/text box." You can grab this picture out of the report for your use by: 1) Putting your cursor over the picture and clicking the left mouse button. 2) Right click to save the image to your clipboard. 3) Open your favorite WYSIWYG web page editor (I use FrontPage). 4) Paste the picture onto a blank page.You'll find that the box can be adjusted to any site you need and you can use an image editor like Irfanview to put your text messages on it and then add it to your site. (Irfanview is listed as a free resource inside the members' area - under Website Help.)
• There's a recommendation on page 4 to use glassy or gel buttons. Here's where you can make some for free:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Having a good graphic design for your site is important because that's how your page viewer judges your site. You want it to be easy to look at, easy to read, professional looking and effective. And by avoiding the 10 mistakes listed above you'll be 1 step closer to achieving these things.

To Your Success,
Susan

6 Ways To Avoid And Filter Spam

1 of the complaints I hear a lot about is the amount of email people get - especially the unwanted kind.

Well I hate to be the barer of bad news but ...

If you're going to have an online business then receiving a large number of emails daily is 1 of the things you'd better be prepared for.

Signing up for ezines, reports, special deals, free giveaways, traffic exchanges, membership sites, updates, etc bring in a lot of legitimate email. (Not to mention the email you'll get from your subscribers.)

And after you've joined a few lists, had your site up for awhile and kept the same email address for a couple of years you'll also notice a greater number of "not-so-legitimate" email.

And we're not talking about an extra 5 or 10 -
We're talking about "Hundreds" of email messages to your inbox every day.

Now I can tell you that when you're a 1 person business having to clean out the "junk" and wade through the good stuff can really eat up your time. Time you should be using to build and grow your business.

So today I am going to offer you a few suggestions on how to save some time in handling all that incoming email. I don't claim to be an expert at how to receive less "spam" or how to get off of mailing lists or even on how to effectively filter all your incoming email. But since I don't pay for any mail filtering services I've developed a few techniques to help avoid some spam and filter some of it out of my inbox.

6 Ways To Avoid And Filter Spam

1. Never ever post your email address as a clickable link on your or anyone's web page. Clickable email address are gathered by email harvesters who then sell them to anyone wants them. So unless you're really looking for dates, body part enlargement pills, a loan or cashing in on someone's hidden money in some foreign country I'd recommend you not post your email address as a clickable link. Instead, encrypt your email address. You can find a free tool, SpamStop, inside our members' area to help you.
   
   
2. When you identify an email message as spam don't click any of the links it contains - not even the unsubscribe link! While a lot of spam does not contain an unsubscribe link, much of it does appear to have 1. The problems with clicking the links are: 1) It may or may not unsubscribe you from that list (since they sent you unsolicited email you can't trust them to unsubscribe you) and 2) It validates your email address as a good address and puts you on a more expensive list to be sold. So instead of getting less unwanted email you'll probably start getting more.
   
   
3. When you create your contact information for your site use something other than "admin" or "webmaster" as your name in your email address. Because these names are commonly used many lists are created by gathering domain names and then attaching "admin@" or "webmaster@".
   
   
4. Most web hosts allow you multiple inboxes and have 1 already set up for your use. The 1 that's already created is your default inbox and will receive all the email sent to your domain - no matter what name is used. If your site allows you to have more than 1 inbox create another inbox for your contact information email address. Then all your legitimate email will go to that inbox. When you check your default email inbox you may find that your site is receiving a lot of unwanted messages you'll have to delete it but you don't need to read it.
   
   
5. Try using the built in spam filters for the mail service you're using. Recently I switched to Outlook 2003 and it has many new features to block junk e-mail (spam). The most notable feature is Microsoft's Junk E-Mail Filter. There are 5 key features in Outlook® 2003 to help you combat spam:
   
   * Junk E-Mail Filter
   * Safe Senders List
   * Safe Recipients Lists
   * Blocked Senders List
   * AutoUpdate
   
   I keep my filter set to low so the messages identified as Junk will be saved in the Junk Folder. That way I can save the legitimate ones before I delete the rest. And every time I identify a valid email I add it to the "Safe Senders List." While this filter is not 100% effective it does identify between 95% - 98% of the junk and move it out of my inbox. For directions on how to use Outlook 2003 go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011590551033.aspx
   (Yahoo and other mail services also provide spam filters. Try turning it on for a week and see if it will work for you.)
   
   
6. Whether or not you use the spam filter provided by the mail program you're using you will still want to set up some personal mail rules for directing certain messages to specified folders. Since I get a lot of unwanted email to my web site's default email inbox I've set up a rule to send it all to my deleted email folder. To do this I have it catch all email to my site "friendswhocare.us" and then defined the exceptions (the valid email names I don't want deleted). And of course you can set up rules to send mail from specific senders to a special folder rather than have them deleted. (You'll still have to add these senders to your "Save Senders List" because the junk/spam filters usually run before your rules.)
   
   You can watch this video to see the easy way to set up rules in Outlook. ( You may have to click the Play button twice to get it to start.)
   
   

While the above suggestions will keep most of you unwanted email from getting to your inbox, some will still make it through. Also you will still have to clean out your Junk or Bulk folders. So here are a couple of shortcuts on how to delete email quickly.

2 Shortcuts for Deleting Email (Outlook)

1. If you have a lot of unwanted messages grouped together then you can delete them all at once by:
   
   * Click on the 1st message to be deleted
   * Hold the Shift key down and
   * Click the last message to be deleted
   
   All the messages - 1st, last and all those in between should be highlighted so when you click the delete button they will all be gone.
   
   
2. If your unwanted email is scattered throughout your inbox you can use the Ctrl key.
   
   * Click on the 1st message to be deleted
   * Hold down the Ctrl key and
   * Click on each of the messages you want deleted
   
   All the messages you have clicked on should now be highlighted and you can delete them all by clicking the delete button.

Yahoo and other email services usually have you check a box to mark messages you want deleted. Look around and somewhere they usually provide a place where you can "check all." If most of your messages are to be deleted then "check all" and uncheck those you don't want deleted before you click the delete button.

When you're first starting you may not be getting much email and be tempted to look at some of the unsolicited email. But after you've been doing business online for awhile you'll discover that not only do you not have time to look at it but that it also steals much of your precious online time. So take some steps to avoid getting spam and learn to use your email program. You'll be glad you did.

To Your Success,
Susan

A "Black Hat" Marketing Trick Exposed

One of the things I've noticed lately as a reseller is the number of packages I get that include a file with unadvertised bonuses. Now I would normally like to find something extra either for myself or to include in the packages I sell however these bonuses are not "totally free" products.

No, instead these "free" bonuses are not digital products at all. Rather they are icons and open a web page when clicked. And while there is a free product offered on the web page it requires I join someone's list to get it.

Now while I know that the extra bonus wasn't advertised and it is free if I choose to sign up, I don't consider it completely "white hat," maybe "off-white," "gray" or even "black." But definitely not "white" since there's a one-time-offer with every sign up and the giver is hoping I'll not only join someone else's list but also buy the OTO so they can make a profit.

Call me old-fashioned but when I get a free gift inside a cereal box or an extra pair of sock when I buy a package of socks the store doesn't ask me to give my name and address to anyone. If I have to send in my information to get the gift the manufacturer states on the outside of the package that there's a coupon or certificate inside - not the gift.

By including these clickable icons as free bonuses inside a resale package the package originator gets something extra from the reseller than the original agreement. The originator sold the package, made a profit and passed those rights onto the reseller. However by including a file with clickable icons the originator is hoping to make some money off the reseller's sales.

As a reseller I know product creators are hoping to make some money from their recommendations inside an e-book but now they've found a way to try to make money from those who buy but don't read or read but don't buy the recommended product.

Pretty slick, uh?

OK, I'm through ranting and now I am going to tell you how they create those clickable icons. Not so you can do the same thing but to help you save a little of your precious time when your at your computer.

You see, you can create clickable icons for the sites you visit frequently and place them on your desktop. Then when you want to visit 1 of those sites you can simply use the icon to open a browser window and have it already be on the page you want to visit. Think of it as a way of having several "Homepage" settings for your browser.

So here's how to create a clickable icon for a web page:

1. Open your web browser and go to the page you want to open when you click the desktop icon your going to create


2. See the icon in the address bar? Explorer users, it's the Explorer image to the left of the url. FireFox users, it's the picture of a piece of paper to the left of the url.
   
   
   


3. Place your cursor over the icon on the left of the address bar.


4. Now holding the left mouse button down, move your mouse over to you're desktop and release the mouse button. (If your browser window fills your screen then you'll have to reduce it's size before your can "drag and drop" the icon.)


5. Once you've created an icon for your desktop you can move it anywhere you want by simply using drag-and-drop.

Although using these icons won't save you hours every day they will save you a few seconds since you won't have to open a window and then use 1 of your "Favorites" or type in the URL. And these seconds will add up over time.

To Your Success,
Susan

Know Your Rights

Recently a subscriber sent the following:

"I have been looking for some good quality 'How -To' ebooks to give away or sell. My problem is I am still confused about all the different 'Rights'. I was wondering if you might write an article explaining all the types of resale rights and what they are." Monte

Well this seemed like a simple request since I figured all the types of resale rights would be defined online. And even though I thought I knew the correct definitions I immediately did some searches on a couple of the "big" search engines just to make sure.

Also since most of us who are in the business of reselling are also affiliates I thought I'd go ahead and include the definition of affiliate marketing.

The following definitions are from http://en.wikipedia.org/.

"Affiliate marketing typically refers to this Electronic commerce version of the traditional agent/referral fee sales channel concept. An e-commerce affiliate is a website which links back to an e-commerce site such as Amazon.com. When the readers of the website click on the link, they are connected to the e-tailer and if they purchase something the affiliate receives a small payment (depending upon the e-commerce site policies), usually a percentage of the money the customer spends."

***** SIDE NOTE *****
There have been a few new twists to affiliate marketing since this definition was written. Affiliates can now sign up for programs where they earn a set amount for click-throughs (AdSense type ads) and sign-ups ("Death of Internet Marketing Report".)

Also, depending on the site you become an affiliate for you may earn anywhere from 1% - 100% of the money spent. However, if you must send traffic to a web page through a link that was given to you then you are doing affiliate marketing and are not a reseller even if you make 100% of the money.
***** END SIDE NOTE *****

Reseller
"A reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of onselling them rather than consuming or using them."

***** SIDE NOTE *****
Although this is a good definition many of us reselling services and products also use or at least try-out the service or product before we sell it. And sometimes we even buy the product or service with the intention of using it first and then start selling it later because it's a good product that can help others.
***** END NOTE *****

Now before we get to the actual definitions of the different types of resell rights you must know that these are general definitions. Many resale products come with a license that define exactly what rights are included. And when the rights are explained in some file that is included in the resale package those are the rights you have and should follow.

Normal Resell Rights"Normal resell rights mean that after you buy the item you will be allowed to sell it to your customers."Master Resell Rights"On the other hand, when you acquire master resell rights, not only you can sell it to your customers, but your customers also have the rights to sell it and pass on the resell rights."

Branding Rights
I couldn't find a definition for this 1 so I'll include mine.

Branding rights means that you have the right to put your information within the product. This information is usually restricted to your name and website or your affiliate links.
You do not have the right to change the content and to ensure that you won't, you are either given a copy of the product with your information included or you're given a tool that will only allow you to change those things that are allowed to be changed.

Private Label Rights"Private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand."
...
"The concept has recently been extended to written text. The web is now awash with articles known either as 'Private Label Articles' or 'PLR (private label rights) Articles'. These are bought and sold in large volumes in order to quickly populate websites to attract traffic from search engines. The articles are presented as though created specifically for the site concerned. There is also now software available to automatically generate unique permutations of these articles."

***** SIDE NOTE *****
When you have private label rights for an article, report, e-book, web page, etc. it means you have the right to put your name on it as if you were the one who created it. You also have the right to make changes to it before you put your name on it.
***** END SIDE NOTE *****

Give Away Rights
A product with give away rights means you can give the product away without requiring someone to pay for it. Now some products will come with both give away and resale rights while others may say they must be given away and can not be sold. A product that can not be sold can be used as an gift when someone signs up for your list and as a bonus for another product since you are not requesting payment for that particular product.

Now you'll notice that none of the above definitions except the 1 for give away rights include any information about pricing, bonuses, membership sites or auction sites. That's because those things are pretty much up to the reseller unless a license has been included that defines exactly what the reseller can and can not do. Some licenses will state a recommended price while others may state a minimum price. Some licenses will not mention it being used as a bonus while others will state that it can or can not be used as one and others will state that a minimum price must be paid for the main product before it can be given as a bonus. The same is true about membership sites. Some products can be included, some can't and some say it must be a paid membership site. Most older products don't mention auction sites however because action sites have become a popular place to "advertise" ebooks most newer products with licenses don't allow you to place the product on auction site.

***** SIDE NOTE *****
The primary reasons for not allowing products to be placed on auction sites are:

1. It devalues the product because there are no quantity limits on ebooks.
2. Auction sites are popular with those who are actually selling bootlegged products. (They either don't have any right to sell the product or they are violating the license agreement.)

***** END SIDE NOTE *****

1 last thing about resale rights products. Many resale rights products now require you to register your product before you start selling it and can revoke your resale license if you don't.

Although there are several types of resale rights understanding the general and most popular definitions of them isn't too difficult:

• Resale Rights - sell product
• Master Resale Rights - sell product and resale rights
• Branding Rights - include some of your information in product before you sell or give away but don't change content
• Private Label Rights - include your information and can change content before you sell or give away
• Give Away Rights - product can or must be given away free of charge

The really important thing is -
If a product comes with information defining your resale rights - no mater which term they've used - then you must use that information as your guide when you sell or give away the product.

To Your Success,
Susan

How To Make Your Tables Stand Out

How To Make Your Tables Stand Out

One of the things you've got to love about having a website is wondering how your site will view in the many browsers that are available. And if you're like me you probably check your site using your browser and only check how it looks in 1 or 2 others occasionally.

But the 1 thing I've noticed in checking my sites is that tables, primarily the borders of the table, don't view the same way across all browsers. And because I don't know how to write CSS code the only way I knew to fix the problem was to either remove the borders or use borders that were close to what I was trying to do.

For example, if I was trying to get a table with a red border, depending on the browser I'd see:

Explorer

FireFox

Well yesterday I found a way to fix the border color problem without using CSS

To make colored borders for your tables that will look the same on Internet Explorer and FireFox (the 2 most popular browsers) all you have to do is:

1. Create your table.
2. Define the background for your table to be the color you want for the table's border.
3. Define the border size for your table to be 0.
4. Use the "cellspacing" attribute for your table to determine the border size.
5. Change the background for the cells of your table to be the color you want.

Here's the code for the table holding the tip title and if you're using FireFox you'll notice that it has a "nice" red border:

<table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="3" width="390" id="AutoNumber7" bgcolor="#FF0000"> <tr> <td width="80%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC"> <p align="center"> <b>How To Make Your Tables Stand Out</b></td> </tr> </table>

And this is what the above code means in English:

1. Define a table with:
   border size of 0
   cellpadding of 10 (that's the empty space around the content
   cellspacing of 3 (that sets the size of the border seen)
   width of 390 (this one is in pixels but you can use percentages)
   id is the table's name bgcolor of #FF0000 (background is red)
2. is the first table row
3. Next we define the column as: width of 80% of the table cell background color of #FFFFCC (that's light yellow)
4. Formatted the cell's content.
5. Ended the column, row and table definitions.

The above is an example of a single celled table but you can use this method to define tables with multiple rows and columns to get a nice border around your table and each of the cells.

Now if you're using an HTML editor like FrontPage to create your web pages you will have to do some HTML editing to make your border show up because many HTML editors insert some code and you'll have to remove it in order to see your border.

So after you've created your table and cells check the line that defines the table. It's the line that starts <table ...

If you see code similar to this:

style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111"

you'll need to remove it.

Using the above method to define your tables and cells can help make your site look the same for many web browsers. So give it a try.

To Your Success,
Susan

It's Easy To Get Confused

Over the last few days I've been getting a lot of email about a new report "The Death of Internet Marketing." And before that there was the report "The Death of AdSense."

And these types of reports aren't new. A couple of years ago many were proclaiming that "Email Marketing Is Dead" and "Popups Don't Work."

But as you know, email marketing isn't dead and many, in fact most of the well-known names of internet marketing still use some form of popup. If either of these things didn't work do you think people like Mike Filsaime, Jim Edwards, Yanik Silver, Ewen Chia and Doug Champigny would waste their time with them?

You also know that AdSense is not really dead - it's now just harder to use spam sites and and ads to make money with it.

So why do people write these types of reports and make these statements?

Well there are many reasons and here are the 2 biggest:

1. They capture your attention and get you to do something (usually sign up on their list).
2. They often provide you with good information about how the internet is changing.

Are these reports worth reading?

In many cases they are worth reading. Not because the headline is absolutely 100% true but because they provide some information on how things are changing.

Now last night I skimmed "The Death of Internet Marketing"
report and can tell you that much of the information in it is valid. However, does the author of the report think internet marketing is really dead or dying? No - he is pointing out how some of the latest trends in internet marketing that we've seen over the last few months have made it harder for everyone, even the "big names of internet marketing" to make sales. According to the author he wrote the report because, "I really wanted to address problems in our industry." ... "But most importantly, I wanted to open your mind to new things and trends coming that will save your Internet Marketing Business. I do feel that people that continue to play this game with the old rules will find their online careers cut short and short lived."

So far for every change that has occurred in internet marketing there have been at least 1 or more ways for the ethical internet marketer to adapt and survive. You know email marketing isn't dead even with the spam filters, complaints and laws because legitimate business people have adapted and use methods that will get their mail through most of the time. As for popups - sure the old style is blocked but now there are many other methods to get that added message up. Is AdSense dead - of course not. It's just been changed to try to make it more appealing to those doing a search. And internet marketing? Again quoting from the report on it's death, "To every door that closes, another door opens. So Internet Marketing is not dead."

So the next time you read a statement about how something is dead or doesn't work don't be confused. Just remember, the internet is constantly changing. There are new laws being written, more laws being enforced and new technologies being made available all the time. And it's because of all these things that what worked 5 or 10 years ago or even 5 to 10 months ago may not work today but there are ways for the legitimate online business
person to survive and grow.

To Your Success,
Susan

Stop Losing Visitors To Your Site

Last week 1 of my favorite subscribers, Gaida from http://www.7daystoprofitsmastery.com/Reports, asked the question: "How do i do a redirect...?"

It seems that many of her site visitors were going to "reports" rather than "Reports" and she was losing visitors to the famous "404 Error Page." Remember, capitalization does count in file names.

Because Gaida was an active subscriber long before I wrote the tip, "6 Ways To Re-Direct Your Web Page To Another Page" and she forgot and because you may have either forgotten or not been reading the newsletter in June, 2005 this tip is 1 of those inside the members' area.

When you read the archived tip you'll see that the 6th method includes the links to 2 free tools you can use to create the re-direction code for you.

Oh, you want a fresh piece of advice and not be sent off to read an archived tip?

Then how about this?

2 Good Reasons To Use Redirect Links

1. To hide your affiliate links in email advertising.
   
   It's a well know fact that many people will not click an affiliate link that looks like an affiliate link and some of those who do will chop off your affiliate information just to keep you from getting paid. Some will even replace your affiliate info with their own.
   
   
2. To send site visitors who misspell your page address to the right place on your site.
   
   If you have a page that has something unusual in it's spelling like
   * capital letters, hyphens, numbers or abbreviated words,
   * a file name with possible different spellings for the same word or
   * a name with some common misspellingsthen create some redirect links.

Remember, you don't want to lose visitors to a "404 Error Page" because every visitor you lose means you've lost another potential customer or subscriber and a simple redirect link may be all it takes.

To Your Success,
Susan

Reoccurring Income Without A Membership Site?

Have you noticed that every few weeks a new "hot" product that reveals how to make the "most" money gets launched?

It looks like today ClickBank is the way to go. But just a little while back it was AdSense and before that it was membership sites.

Now none of these methods are new and they are all good ways to produce income. And there are many other ways to make money online like selling for other affiliate programs, selling your own products, reselling other peoples' products and having affiliates.

But, of all the ways to earn money on the web, do you know which ones will get you reoccurring income? (Reoccurring income in this tip is defined as additional income without any or without very much additional work or expense on your part.)

The answer is and you better sit down for this 1 -

All of them!

You read it right - You can earn reoccurring income from your 1 time sales pages. But ...

There are 4 important actions you must do to make it happen.

To earn reoccurring income from a single-sale sales page you must:

1. Have a good sales page that is working.
2. Have a list.
3. Be getting new list members regularly.

And the 4th action - the 1 you're probably not doing is:

• Add a new message into your autoresponder series telling new subscribers about your sales page. New subscribers that you didn't have when you broadcasted your message to your list haven't read your message or seen your page, so tell them about it too.

Do you want to put in a message for every sales letter you broadcast to your list? Probably not. But for those sales pages that work well you should add a message.

Should the message be the same as it was when you broadcasted it? It depends on what you said. If you've included something that wouldn't be appropriate in 6 months then you'll have to modify the message. And if your sending them off to look at a product your promoting as an affiliate you'll need to verify that the product is still available every once in awhile.

Will the sales be as regular as monthly membership dues? No, monthly due payments are usually paid on pre-set days and your messages will be getting delivered depending on when your new list members sign-up. So rather than get a payment on the same day of every month, you'll be getting unexpected payments. (Don't know about you but I like unexpected income.)

How much time and money does this cost when compared to maintaining a membership site or using a PPC like AdSence? Umm, let's see, writing and adding 1 message and then leaving it alone compared to adding new content to a site every month or adding funds to a PPC account every week or month. That's a hard 1 so I'll let you figure it out.

Are reoccurring sales (those sales that don't require much additional work or money) possible if you don't own or promote a membership site? Yes, and they are another good reason to build your list.

To Your Success,
Susan

2 Unorthodox Traffic Strategies

Getting traffic is the name of the game when you have an online business and I am just like you in that I am always ...

Looking for new and easy ways to get more traffic.

So recently I joined a site - Unorthodox Traffic - where they offer some ideas for generating traffic. However while information inside the member's area was just ok, it was the information they shared in their first mailing that I want to share.

Here are some excerpts from that mailing:
--------------------
...

"In this article, we’re going to discuss two powerful traffic generating strategies that you have never heard of before, and chances are, your competitors won’t have a clue about them either. These are tactics that are “hot off the press,” so to speak. They have just been discovered, and they are bound to give you unbridled traffic the likes of which you may not have experienced before."

...

The Secrets Of MySpace
...

"MySpace is one of the MOST visited websites today."..."MySpace is a community website that allows people to create their own profiles and connect the same to other people to build their own virtual network. It’s quite easy to build your network in this community. People claim that they are able to gain 1,500 contacts within two weeks."

...

"Create a MySpace profile and build your network."

...

"Include your main website’s link in your profile page."

...

"MySpace also has a community billboard feature. If you’d post there, your message would appear in the profiles of all your contacts. Simply include your link in your message."

...

Connecting With CraigsList

"The website www.craigslist.com is an online classified ads center dedicated to employment opportunities. However, it accepts all manners of advertisements.
For free, at that!"

...

"Craigslist is a PR7 website. Simply choose the category most appropriate for the subject of your website and place an advertisement that would invite readers to visit your web pages.

They don’t have to click on the link. They don’t have to visit your website.

Having your link in a PR7 website is enough to spike up your own website’s Page Rank! Again, this means a higher position in search engine results pages, and more organic traffic for your online business."

...
--------------------

Now to be honest I've heard of both of these sites before but haven't used them since:

• I didn't know about how the billboard feature worked at MySpace
• Didn't know how popular Craigslist was

I also know that some pretty well known online marketers are using MySpace since I have done some research. And what I discovered in my research is that these guys all point to each other.

Soooo ...

I've just signed up and will be adding more information soon. Please join me at MySpace let's see if we can improve our traffic as a group of friends working together.

To Your Success,
Susan

6 Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Sales

You work hard to find or create a good product.

You work hard to build a sales page.

You work hard to build a mailing list.

You work hard to write an email message and send it to your list.

Then the sales start coming in - Right?

Now let's be honest. Are you're emails working as well as you wanted and expected?

Well if they aren't check this list of 6 common mistakes made when writing promotional email.

1. The message is too formal.
   
   Promotional email shouldn't be written as a formal sales letter because no one wants to read a sales brochure unless they've specifically requested it. Rather, it should be written as if you were having a private conversation with 1 person. An although you shouldn't make obvious errors, you don't need to worry about all the formal rules of grammar and punctuation. Instead, you need to make it sound and read as if you were talking to the person reading it.
   
   
2. Overuse of personalization.
   
   Being able to use a person's name in your email makes the message sound more personal but only if it's done correctly and in moderation. Again, write as if you're having a conversation and use their name only if you would use it when talking to them. When you're talking you don't repeat the listener's name in every sentence or paragraph so don't do it when you write to them either.
   
   
3. Overuse of power words.
   
   Power words are those words that are suppose to invoke a reaction from the reader because they make them feel or see something. Discover, Amazing, Explode and Revealed are 4 examples of the long list of power words that are used in email promotions. And while these words are good, using too many of them in 1 message will turn your message into a hyped-up sales pitch. (And you're not writing a sales pitch, your writing a personal message - Right?)
   
   
4. Too many offers.
   
   A good promotional email is written to accomplish 1 task and only offers 1 choice. You must decide what you want your reader to do and then offer them the opportunity to do it. Most readers who see an email with several links for different things will put off checking them out until they have more time. And guess what, they never have time to get back to you message so they don't check any of them out.
   
   
5. Not giving a specific reason to act.
   
   When someone opens your email they aren't sitting at home wanting to buy something. If you don't give them a "real" reason to take you up on your offer immediately, they'll put it off until later and as we all know, later never comes.
   
   
6. Talking too much about yourself.
   
   Talking about yourself in your ezine or friendly non-promotional emails is fine. But when your making an offer to your list, you need to limit the information about yourself and talk about the product and how it will benefit the reader. Write what you what them to remember - How your offer can help them - Not how great your vacation was.

Writing and sending offers to your list can be 1 of the most profitable tasks for your online business however it is not as easy as it sounds. Getting your readers to open your email, read your message and do the desired action takes both planning and practice.

So the next time you write an offer to send to your list, stay focused and tell them how the product will help them, tell them what to do and give them a reason to do it. And after you've written the message, check to make sure you haven't made any of the 6 mistakes described above.

To Your Success,
Susan

PS If you want to learn more about writing good email promotions check out Michael Rasmusse's new free membership site. He's created some quality video tutorials that explain how good email promotions are written, what they include and he gives examples. It takes just over an hour to watch all the videos and see how effective email promotions are written by one of the best email copy writers around. http://www.susancarrollhome.com/recommends/emailexposed.php

Susan

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