People are using the internet to search for how-to videos as well as informative written information (like this article). Although written information tends to be more thorough and more permanent - it stays on the page, while videos are fleeting - videos can grab people's attention and hold them on the page a few seconds longer. Here's how you can have a slice of that cake.
You don't need to film yourself (although that has certain advantages) and you don't even need a camera to make a watchable video. Here's how:
You need a piece of software such as "Powerpoint". That's probably the best known, but not the cheapest. I have something similar in "Open Office" called "Presentation". You create a series of frames or "slides" which are played back in sequence - just like the slide show on your photo watching software.
Spend time working out what you're trying to say. Bear in mind that this not like a page of information, because you can control what people see and the order in which they see it. Just as in a courtship, the sequence is crucial - begin by intriguing the viewer, then get them to like and trust you, then show them how your advice or your product is going to improve their life. Finally persuade them to take action.
Once you've worked out what you want to say, you just type out your message a sentence at a time - about one sentence to each slide, that is - occasionally adding effects (such as words whizzing into place) (if the effect enhances the message). Don't use effects if they don't enhance the message.
Use simple graphics (which are freely available) if they make your point easier to grasp. Don't use them if they're just going to distract or irritate the viewer, though.
When you have assembled all the slides and tested their effectiveness, rehearse reading out the text while the side show plays. The usual technique is to depart from the written text occasionally, in a casual, chatty way, to add a bit of friendliness to the presentation.
When you're word perfect, speak into a microphone and record the audio and visual elements together with screen recording software such as "Cam Studio" which captures what's on the screen.
Edit the presentation (cut off the start and finish, if necessary) on Windows Movie Maker, then save it using "tasks" on the toolbar. The finished presentation can be uploaded directly to Youtube from the Youtube site. Then you can use it on your website, blog, facebook page or whatever you like.
Don't forget to make your "call to action" easy and obvious, otherwise all your efforts will have been in vain!
Why teachers are well-placed for Internet Marketing
You may not know much about marketing yet, but generally:
- teachers are intelligent and receptive
- teachers are good at instructing and simplifying
- teachers are good at persuading
- teachers are aware of the power of words
- teachers are not easily fooled
- teachers can find time in the holidays
- teachers are good at staying motivated
Have a look at my e-zine article which deals with each point in greater depth. Find out about YourNetBiz.
Saturday 4 December 2010
Effective selling on the internet - four big money-making secrets
There's a fortune to be made selling on the web - and you can have a slice of the cake if you know what you're doing. In this article I will share with you four big selling secrets that will get that cash flowing in the right direction.
When someone lands on our website, how can we turn their interest into a sale? There's much more to it than charm and trust: we need a whole armoury of tricks and techniques to persuade the visitor to part with their cash. Here are four classic ploys that are so effective they're practically industry standards:
Immediate call to action
Make it obvious what you want your customer to do: if you want them to click on a button, make sure that the button is prominent and unmissable! Get them to take action immediately, not some time soon or next week, as they may never visit your page again.
How do you do that? Indicate that the product is in short supply - in fact time is running out fast: you're only going to take on a limited number of clients - you can't allow too many items to be sold... If the customer doesn't act now they're going to miss out on your hot product that everybody wants. No one wants to be left out, especially if it's smart to buy your product. If they don't act now they'll miss it and they won't be smart!
Stress the benefits, not the features
Your product may have any number of special features, but what counts is the ways in which it will make the customer's life better. People don't want to know what's in their breakfast cereal - but they need to be shown that eating it is their gateway to happiness, and belonging to that happy smiling family. They don't want to know the horsepower and thermal wattage of their electric drill - they just want to know that it will deliver the perfect, effortless hole (which will give them more time to enjoy the good life).
To emphasize the benefits, use pain
If you don't use that toothpaste, you'll have tooth decay and gum disease. If you don't use that disinfectant, the nasty germs will get you. If you don't buy the product that's cool to buy, you won't be in the "in" crowd.
Make it clear that if the customer doesn't buy from you, they'll be missing out and the pain will remain. If they do buy, their pain will be eased. It's even more powerful to play on possible pain than possible gain. When they buy from you, their worries will be banished forever.
When someone lands on our website, how can we turn their interest into a sale? There's much more to it than charm and trust: we need a whole armoury of tricks and techniques to persuade the visitor to part with their cash. Here are four classic ploys that are so effective they're practically industry standards:
Immediate call to action
Make it obvious what you want your customer to do: if you want them to click on a button, make sure that the button is prominent and unmissable! Get them to take action immediately, not some time soon or next week, as they may never visit your page again.
How do you do that? Indicate that the product is in short supply - in fact time is running out fast: you're only going to take on a limited number of clients - you can't allow too many items to be sold... If the customer doesn't act now they're going to miss out on your hot product that everybody wants. No one wants to be left out, especially if it's smart to buy your product. If they don't act now they'll miss it and they won't be smart!
Stress the benefits, not the features
Your product may have any number of special features, but what counts is the ways in which it will make the customer's life better. People don't want to know what's in their breakfast cereal - but they need to be shown that eating it is their gateway to happiness, and belonging to that happy smiling family. They don't want to know the horsepower and thermal wattage of their electric drill - they just want to know that it will deliver the perfect, effortless hole (which will give them more time to enjoy the good life).
To emphasize the benefits, use pain
If you don't use that toothpaste, you'll have tooth decay and gum disease. If you don't use that disinfectant, the nasty germs will get you. If you don't buy the product that's cool to buy, you won't be in the "in" crowd.
Make it clear that if the customer doesn't buy from you, they'll be missing out and the pain will remain. If they do buy, their pain will be eased. It's even more powerful to play on possible pain than possible gain. When they buy from you, their worries will be banished forever.
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Make Money Online with Twitter - The Wise Person's Start Up Guide
It's the fastest growing social network and a great way to keep in touch with friends - we know that much. But with all those tweets flying around, surely it's impossible to keep up with more than a handful of followers? Well, yes you can, but the methods are probably different from what you think! This article shows you how Internet Marketers use twitter to promote their business and build success while they sleep.
Internet Marketers don't just tweet for fun - they use twitter to collect followers, to establish a rapport with them, to build trust and to be genuinely helpful (by responding to other users' questions and proposing solutions to their problems). And serious twitter users don't just send out general tweets to everyone - there are techniques for getting straight to the hottest prospects!
Setting up your twitter account for Internet Marketing
1 use the name you need to be known by.
2 upload a personal photo - users need to see that you're a real person.
3 use a non-standard background to stand out from the crowd.
4 spend time on a great profile with a link to your website or blog.
Collecting Followers
Follow others, see who they follow and collect like-minded people who are suited to what you are selling. You're looking for people who already want your product. Most people will follow you back (perhaps using an automated tool like socialoomph). Some may even read your message, read your profile and click your link.
An automated system such as twollo will find people and follow them for you. Once you get going with interesting and retweetable tweets, using the kind of keywords that people might be interested in, even more people will decide to follow you.
Responding
When someone follows you, send them a welcoming message that is intriguing enough to make them want to check you out (but don't try to sell them anything at this stage). Socialoomph will do this for you automatically.
When you follow someone, they will usually send you a welcoming message, thanking you for the follow. Send them a message back - unlike normal tweets, these direct messages appear in people's e-mail as well as within twitter.
Whenever anyone sends you a direct message, send them a direct message back. You want to get into conversation with people, after all.
How to tweet and get into profitable conversations
In my article titled "Making Money Online with Twitter - Advanced Tweeting Techniques" I show you what kind of thing to tweet, and I show you how to find conversations that will lead to conversions!
Internet Marketers don't just tweet for fun - they use twitter to collect followers, to establish a rapport with them, to build trust and to be genuinely helpful (by responding to other users' questions and proposing solutions to their problems). And serious twitter users don't just send out general tweets to everyone - there are techniques for getting straight to the hottest prospects!
Setting up your twitter account for Internet Marketing
1 use the name you need to be known by.
2 upload a personal photo - users need to see that you're a real person.
3 use a non-standard background to stand out from the crowd.
4 spend time on a great profile with a link to your website or blog.
Collecting Followers
Follow others, see who they follow and collect like-minded people who are suited to what you are selling. You're looking for people who already want your product. Most people will follow you back (perhaps using an automated tool like socialoomph). Some may even read your message, read your profile and click your link.
An automated system such as twollo will find people and follow them for you. Once you get going with interesting and retweetable tweets, using the kind of keywords that people might be interested in, even more people will decide to follow you.
Responding
When someone follows you, send them a welcoming message that is intriguing enough to make them want to check you out (but don't try to sell them anything at this stage). Socialoomph will do this for you automatically.
When you follow someone, they will usually send you a welcoming message, thanking you for the follow. Send them a message back - unlike normal tweets, these direct messages appear in people's e-mail as well as within twitter.
Whenever anyone sends you a direct message, send them a direct message back. You want to get into conversation with people, after all.
How to tweet and get into profitable conversations
In my article titled "Making Money Online with Twitter - Advanced Tweeting Techniques" I show you what kind of thing to tweet, and I show you how to find conversations that will lead to conversions!
Make Money Online with Twitter - Advanced Tweeting Techniques
Twitter is everywhere, but how can you use the power of twitter to build your online business? In this article I show you how to tweet for profit, and how to turn other people's tweets to your advantage.
I'm assuming here that you're familiar with the basics of twitter. If you haven't already got started and would like to know how to optimize your twitter account for Internet Marketing, read my article entitled " Making Money Online with Twitter - The Wise Person's Start Up Guide".
Tweeting (sending out updates)
If your tweets invite responses, people will be more likely to answer! Just as you would at a party, ask questions and try to appear more interested in the other person than you are in yourself. Find out about them and look for ways to help them.
Interesting tweets often include links to other things available on the net: articles, pictures, videos, websites, blogs... Use these kinds of tweets in addition to your sensible advice to establish your reputation as an expert in your field - the kind of person who can help others.
When you read a really interesting tweet that you want to share with others, you should retweet it. People love having their stuff retweeted; it's flattering.
If you don't see anything to retweet and can't think of anything yourself, use sites such as "stuff to tweet" or digg, where you are bound to find something interesting, but (unless it's really brilliant) try to keep it relevant!
Don't use tweets to plug your own stuff more than once in a while, or people will feel you're too pushy. When you do promote your own site, be subtle, but make sure you mention some kind of must-have free offer - perhaps a pdf report. Ideally this free gift or report holds the answer to someone's problem, so you have a legitimate reason for suggesting they check it out.
Getting into discussions
This is the important part: use "search twitter" to listen in on other people's conversations. Type in a keyword that's important to your business and find out who is discussing it already.
If you use the advanced search facility you can specify strings of words, and maybe a question mark as well - so you can find who is asking a question about your area of expertise. Results come up not just of people (anywhere in the world) who are asking right now, but also an hour ago or last night or a week ago.
Remembering that you're helpfully offering expertise (and not trying to puff yourself up or hard-sell your product), you can join in these conversations and suggest solutions to the problems that people are discussing.
At the same time, other wise twitter users will be doing the same thing and searching for what you're discussing. They may well decide to follow you, or send you a direct message asking for your opinion.
Links
Needless to say, your site and your blog will invite people to join you on twitter, and your twitter profile (and many of your direct messages) (each of which is a URL in its own right) will link to your other stuff. This is all good for Search Engine Optimization.
Use what you learn
You will inevitably gain valuable insights from listening in on conversations and finding out what people are tweeting about. These insights will help you add focus to your business and they will provide you with material for new tweets, blogs and articles!
I'm assuming here that you're familiar with the basics of twitter. If you haven't already got started and would like to know how to optimize your twitter account for Internet Marketing, read my article entitled " Making Money Online with Twitter - The Wise Person's Start Up Guide".
Tweeting (sending out updates)
If your tweets invite responses, people will be more likely to answer! Just as you would at a party, ask questions and try to appear more interested in the other person than you are in yourself. Find out about them and look for ways to help them.
Interesting tweets often include links to other things available on the net: articles, pictures, videos, websites, blogs... Use these kinds of tweets in addition to your sensible advice to establish your reputation as an expert in your field - the kind of person who can help others.
When you read a really interesting tweet that you want to share with others, you should retweet it. People love having their stuff retweeted; it's flattering.
If you don't see anything to retweet and can't think of anything yourself, use sites such as "stuff to tweet" or digg, where you are bound to find something interesting, but (unless it's really brilliant) try to keep it relevant!
Don't use tweets to plug your own stuff more than once in a while, or people will feel you're too pushy. When you do promote your own site, be subtle, but make sure you mention some kind of must-have free offer - perhaps a pdf report. Ideally this free gift or report holds the answer to someone's problem, so you have a legitimate reason for suggesting they check it out.
Getting into discussions
This is the important part: use "search twitter" to listen in on other people's conversations. Type in a keyword that's important to your business and find out who is discussing it already.
If you use the advanced search facility you can specify strings of words, and maybe a question mark as well - so you can find who is asking a question about your area of expertise. Results come up not just of people (anywhere in the world) who are asking right now, but also an hour ago or last night or a week ago.
Remembering that you're helpfully offering expertise (and not trying to puff yourself up or hard-sell your product), you can join in these conversations and suggest solutions to the problems that people are discussing.
At the same time, other wise twitter users will be doing the same thing and searching for what you're discussing. They may well decide to follow you, or send you a direct message asking for your opinion.
Links
Needless to say, your site and your blog will invite people to join you on twitter, and your twitter profile (and many of your direct messages) (each of which is a URL in its own right) will link to your other stuff. This is all good for Search Engine Optimization.
Use what you learn
You will inevitably gain valuable insights from listening in on conversations and finding out what people are tweeting about. These insights will help you add focus to your business and they will provide you with material for new tweets, blogs and articles!
Monday 28 December 2009
Boost the SEO ranking of your website with article marketing
It's not enough to have a great website - people need to know it's there! Let's say you've put together a site which showcases photographs. Your "niche" (to use the jargon) is photography and you need to establish yourself as an authority on all things photographic. You can do this by writing articles.
Each article, like this one, will be a few hundred words long. It will be easy to understand and informative, but it may well only deal with one main point (other points can be discussed in other articles). Tell your readers about the techniques, equipment and artistry involved in choosing and buying the kit, selecting subjects, lighting them, taking the photographs, printing or processing, exhibiting or publishing or sharing them... In fact you'll never run out of things to say about your niche as it's your hobby as well as your business.
Submit your article to an Article Directory such as Ezine, where - for no charge - it will be read by people who want to know about photography. Ezine has great ranking with Google already, so when someone searches on Google for keywords and key phrases which appear in your article's title, teaser copy and body, your article could well appear near the top of the list and they may well click on it and read it.
At the end of your article you'll have a link to your website. The reader will click there to find out more - and there you have your visitor. Believe me, a great many people read these articles, and if you submit lots of articles you're going to get lots of visitors. You'll be able to track the success of your articles and the number of clicks they generate through the tools provided (for free) by Ezine.
But that's not all! Google values these incoming links greatly, and the more articles you have (all with links), the greater the SEO ranking of your site. Put the same articles in your blog, and have links from your blog to your site as well (and vice versa). Include links to your site and your blog in everything you put on the web including social pages, and contributions to discussion forums.
And that's still not all. If your articles are any good, people who send out newsletters will publish your work (together with your link) and distribute it to everyone on their list. Some of those people on the list may well use your articles too. Ezine will show you which of your articles are published by other parties.
If you write lots of articles, you will be establishing yourself as an expert, and people will be more likely to read all your other articles. The effect is cumulative. And once people learn to value your opinion and trust you, they'll be more likely to buy from you.
Each article, like this one, will be a few hundred words long. It will be easy to understand and informative, but it may well only deal with one main point (other points can be discussed in other articles). Tell your readers about the techniques, equipment and artistry involved in choosing and buying the kit, selecting subjects, lighting them, taking the photographs, printing or processing, exhibiting or publishing or sharing them... In fact you'll never run out of things to say about your niche as it's your hobby as well as your business.
Submit your article to an Article Directory such as Ezine, where - for no charge - it will be read by people who want to know about photography. Ezine has great ranking with Google already, so when someone searches on Google for keywords and key phrases which appear in your article's title, teaser copy and body, your article could well appear near the top of the list and they may well click on it and read it.
At the end of your article you'll have a link to your website. The reader will click there to find out more - and there you have your visitor. Believe me, a great many people read these articles, and if you submit lots of articles you're going to get lots of visitors. You'll be able to track the success of your articles and the number of clicks they generate through the tools provided (for free) by Ezine.
But that's not all! Google values these incoming links greatly, and the more articles you have (all with links), the greater the SEO ranking of your site. Put the same articles in your blog, and have links from your blog to your site as well (and vice versa). Include links to your site and your blog in everything you put on the web including social pages, and contributions to discussion forums.
And that's still not all. If your articles are any good, people who send out newsletters will publish your work (together with your link) and distribute it to everyone on their list. Some of those people on the list may well use your articles too. Ezine will show you which of your articles are published by other parties.
If you write lots of articles, you will be establishing yourself as an expert, and people will be more likely to read all your other articles. The effect is cumulative. And once people learn to value your opinion and trust you, they'll be more likely to buy from you.
Monday 12 October 2009
What is the best kind of home based business?
Do you want an opportunity to create a real income, working from home? Are you looking for an extra source of money? Do you want to re-invent yourself as a successful internet marketer? I will show you ways of choosing the best online business.
When people start in internet marketing they often have very little idea of what constitutes a real, viable business. We are easily dazzled by promises of fast cash and of course we all want to get rich quick. Before plunging into anything, you should compare a few opportunities, and you will soon realize that most schemes offer very little – especially in the area of training and resources.
Many online businesses offer only one “big idea”, whereas you’re going to need an integrated system (marketing, products, and selling) that is flexible and genuinely effective across many niches and marketing activities. Moreover, you’re going to need the support of real people.
So, what is the ideal internet business?
Firstly, a good business opportunity is going to provide you with massive amounts of training material – not just enough to cover a handful of procedures.
Secondly, as well as E-books and videos, you’re going to need an ongoing programme of live webinars with marketing experts and life skills coaches, who will respond to your questions and deliver up-to-the-minute advice that is really effective.
Ideally there would be archives of interviews with prominent members of the internet marketing community. Maybe even a collection of interviews with millionaires from other business areas too.
And as well as assistance and advice, you’ll need quite a bit of ready-made (but adaptable) tools, such as a selection of pre-prepared customizable websites and landing pages with slick videos and persuasive copy that you don’t have to write yourself.
How about a team of very experienced professional salespeople ready to close deals for you, so that you wouldn’t have to be waiting by your own phone?
Above all else, you want to buy into a community of real people who are waiting to help you. You should join a successful team, who you could meet on the phone or face to face, who will be there to support you every step of the way.
When people start in internet marketing they often have very little idea of what constitutes a real, viable business. We are easily dazzled by promises of fast cash and of course we all want to get rich quick. Before plunging into anything, you should compare a few opportunities, and you will soon realize that most schemes offer very little – especially in the area of training and resources.
Many online businesses offer only one “big idea”, whereas you’re going to need an integrated system (marketing, products, and selling) that is flexible and genuinely effective across many niches and marketing activities. Moreover, you’re going to need the support of real people.
So, what is the ideal internet business?
Firstly, a good business opportunity is going to provide you with massive amounts of training material – not just enough to cover a handful of procedures.
Secondly, as well as E-books and videos, you’re going to need an ongoing programme of live webinars with marketing experts and life skills coaches, who will respond to your questions and deliver up-to-the-minute advice that is really effective.
Ideally there would be archives of interviews with prominent members of the internet marketing community. Maybe even a collection of interviews with millionaires from other business areas too.
And as well as assistance and advice, you’ll need quite a bit of ready-made (but adaptable) tools, such as a selection of pre-prepared customizable websites and landing pages with slick videos and persuasive copy that you don’t have to write yourself.
How about a team of very experienced professional salespeople ready to close deals for you, so that you wouldn’t have to be waiting by your own phone?
Above all else, you want to buy into a community of real people who are waiting to help you. You should join a successful team, who you could meet on the phone or face to face, who will be there to support you every step of the way.
Can I help you choose a home based business?
Are you looking for an opportunity to create a real income, working from home? Would you like to leave your current job and re-invent yourself through the power of the internet? Unless you want to start from scratch and do everything yourself (which I would not recommend), you’ll need to find a ready-made business that is right for you.
It’s not just that there’s a bewildering array of tempting offers on the net – it’s a virtual cut-throat marketplace! Type a few keywords (such as “fast cash”) in your Google search and you’ll be inundated with dubious proposals, promising you untold wealth in a handful of mouse clicks. Most of these offers are going to be useful only to those who wish to offload money in a hurry.
Okay – maybe not everything is a total scam, but you have to ask yourself how realistic the claims are, whether the promises are at all feasible and whether you can afford to get fleeced. A genuine opportunity will include a whole lot more than one single big idea, and it won’t really be a virtual cash-machine – if it worked like that, why would they need to sell it? If you seriously want to see results, you will have to invest your time and expertise (as well as your money) in a real business.
Your ideal internet business
A business like that would include proper training, in the form of standard information texts, e-books on all aspects of internet marketing and videos that allow you over-the-shoulder views of everything you’ll need to do, and all this would be available for you to download, to study, to benefit from and to sell – for no extra charge.
Ideally there would be thousands of titles, all archived in a searchable, user-friendly database. Any one of these e-books and videos would encompass the kind of information and training that you see on offer all over the internet for hundreds of dollars. Just think of the time and money you would save if you knew that everything you needed was all provided for you in one place! You’d be able to stop searching for inspiration, and get on with your new internet marketing job!
A business opportunity that doesn’t offer this kind of resource is not going to be a viable proposition.
It’s not just that there’s a bewildering array of tempting offers on the net – it’s a virtual cut-throat marketplace! Type a few keywords (such as “fast cash”) in your Google search and you’ll be inundated with dubious proposals, promising you untold wealth in a handful of mouse clicks. Most of these offers are going to be useful only to those who wish to offload money in a hurry.
Okay – maybe not everything is a total scam, but you have to ask yourself how realistic the claims are, whether the promises are at all feasible and whether you can afford to get fleeced. A genuine opportunity will include a whole lot more than one single big idea, and it won’t really be a virtual cash-machine – if it worked like that, why would they need to sell it? If you seriously want to see results, you will have to invest your time and expertise (as well as your money) in a real business.
Your ideal internet business
A business like that would include proper training, in the form of standard information texts, e-books on all aspects of internet marketing and videos that allow you over-the-shoulder views of everything you’ll need to do, and all this would be available for you to download, to study, to benefit from and to sell – for no extra charge.
Ideally there would be thousands of titles, all archived in a searchable, user-friendly database. Any one of these e-books and videos would encompass the kind of information and training that you see on offer all over the internet for hundreds of dollars. Just think of the time and money you would save if you knew that everything you needed was all provided for you in one place! You’d be able to stop searching for inspiration, and get on with your new internet marketing job!
A business opportunity that doesn’t offer this kind of resource is not going to be a viable proposition.
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