Steve Wagenheim’s Home Business Blog

A lot of article writers like to write articles from their own personal perspective and experience. This is fine. There is nothing better than some personal experience to back up the facts of an article. The problem is, many article writers end up writing an article that is more about them than the point they’re trying to make…and that’s not good.

Just recently, I wrote an article about how the rules of a forum apply to everybody and I used myself as an example, writing about how I was recently banned from a particular forum for a brief time. However, I didn’t make the focus of the article on me. I made the focus the fact that no member of a forum is above the rules and that if they break the rules, they have to pay. The actual personal article I wrote about my experience, was not submitted to any article directory, as that would not have been appropriate, but was instead just put on my personal blog as a blog entry.

Okay, so how do you keep from turning a personal experience article into one that’s about yourself? It’s really very simple. State the point that you want to make. For example, in my case, that the rules of a forum apply to everybody. Then, after you have stated your point, give your example but give it briefly…no more than a paragraph. This will keep the article itself from being about you. Then, for the remainder of the article, finish up the point you want to make. Maybe give other examples that are not personal. Maybe give some tips on how to make the most of the point being made.

The last thing anybody wants to read is an article that is JUST about you. They want to learn something that is going to help them with their problem or warn them about a potential problem…in my case how acting like a horses behind can get you in a lot of trouble. If you keep this in mind when writing personal perspective articles, you should have no trouble keeping your readers reading and not having them think that you’re some self absorbed bore.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html - This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

As of this writing, it has been one insane week. We lost Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson all in one day. The number of Michael Jackson domains that were bought up yesterday were simply astronomical. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing something about Michael. Poor Farrah actually got lost in the sauce on this unbelievable day. And approve or not, some people made a killing off of Michael Jackson’s death. But do you really know how to take advantage of hot trends like these when they happen? If not, you might want to read this article.

Yes, there is money to be made off of current events. But how do you keep on top of them? Well, one way is to go to one of the big news sites online. Google News is a big one. Usually, if you go to Google and type in a keyword phrase with the word “news” in it, you’ll find Google News will come up at the very top of the search results or very close to it. If something has just happened, you can pretty much find it there. Of course, you can also go to CNN or any of the other big news sites.

However, if you want to find out what people are looking for, and that’s the key, then what you want to do is go to Google Trends. This site will give you the top 100 phrases that are being searched for at Google. The list is updated every hour on the hour. Sometimes there is a bit of a delay. I’ve seen the site not get updated for as long as three hours. However, this is very rare. Google Trends is probably the best place to go in order to find out what people want.

Then, after you find out what’s hot in the news, the next step is simply to get a site up online as quickly as you can. If you can’t afford a domain and hosting, get yourself a Blogger blog. Because Blogger is owned by Google, these blogs can actually rank very high. I use them a lot and they work fine. The key is finding a way to monetize the blog, which can usually be done easily through AdSense or an affiliate program.

As long as the world goes on, things are going to happen. And many of those things can bring in a pretty penny if handled the right way.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to make money TODAY without spending a DIME, capitalizing on the current hot trends? Check out my site at http://www.hottrendsdaily.com/ and find out how.

It’s the affiliate marketer’s dream…to put together a set and forget system for marketing some affiliate product that they’ve found. The question is, does such system really exist and if so, what is it? This article is going to tackle that issue and dish out the real truth about affiliate set and forget systems. Can you handle the truth? Well, we’re going to find out real soon.

I have one system put together that is as set and forget as you’re going to get. The reason I say that is because no system is truly self running. For example, the system I’m talking about runs on a few articles that are ranking high in the SERPs. Anybody looking for that topic will most likely find my articles. The articles lead to a blog with a review of the product. At the end of the review is an affiliate link to the sales page. That’s it…that’s the whole system. Seems pretty set and forget doesn’t it?

It’s not. And let me explain why. I don’t care what you’re selling. You MUST keep an eye on it. What do I mean? I’m talking about the product itself. What happens if it stops selling? I mean literally, the product is taken off the market. Your blog is sending people to a sales page that no longer exists. Even worse…what if the sales page changes and there are some major holes in it that kill conversions? If you don’t keep an eye on your campaign, you won’t know this. The only thing you’ll notice is that the affiliate checks aren’t as big as they used to be.

What if, for some reason, your article was removed from the article directory you submitted it to? If you don’t keep track of these things, you won’t know to either resubmit it or submit it to a different directory. And yes, this does happen when suddenly a topic is no longer allowed by a directory. The Internet changes constantly. Therefore, you need to be on the lookout for these changes.

Truth of the matter is, there is no such thing as a true set and forget system. There are things that are close, but nothing is truly set and forget. So make sure that you keep an eye on all the variables of your affiliate marketing campaign.

You never know when somebody just might yank out the rug from under you.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.

This article probably applies more to product creators than anyone else, but in reality, it applies to everybody who is into Internet marketing in any capacity. Sometimes it’s best to keep your trap shut. Failure to do so could result in losing out on a lot of future income. I’m going to give you a few examples where this is true. I’m sure you’ll take the hint.

Let’s start with product creation, as that’s where everything ultimately starts. With no product, there is nothing to market. And yes, I know that there is a big temptation to tell all your marketing friends about this great idea that you have, but doing so is a very bad idea. Why? The answer is simple. Ideas are stolen all the time. And while you might think you can trust the people you told, in this business, you really can’t trust anybody. Unless the idea is trademarked, patented or whatever, there is nothing stopping another person from beating you to the punch and coming out with the product first.

What about marketing itself? Well, there is not a lot out there that’s really a secret. Truth is, most marketing methods are pretty widely known. Either that, or they’re out there somewhere to be found. But what if you actually stumbled across a way to market that was truly unique and brought a boat load of visitors to your site? This could give you a big advantage over other marketers in bringing visitors to your site, especially other marketers in your niche. So what do you think would happen if you were to share this marketing method with others? There’s a good chance that the competition would seriously cut into your profits.

And what about the niches themselves? What if you found one that was relatively unknown by other marketers but had a sufficient enough demand to make a nice monthly income? Do you think it would be wise to share this niche with other marketers? As it is, because most people are good at keeping track of what’s going on, they’re going to stumble onto it eventually. So there is no need to make things easier for them.

Naturally, if you’re in the information business, you could sell all this stuff. But if you’re not, it’s probably best to keep your trap shut.

After all, loose lips sink ships.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html.

You know what gets me? People who run their own businesses like land sharks and criticize others for how they run theirs. Well, this article is going to dish out a big dose of reality to those of you who think that your business ethics are beyond reproach. There are quite a few things that you’re doing, yes, you and even I, that some might consider unethical. Think I’m kidding? Keep reading. You just might be in for a big surprise.

Let’s tackle a subject that a lot of people seem to think there is a black and white line separating the good from the bad. Well guess what? It’s not so black and white. The subject I’m talking about is getting your web site to rise up the SERPs. We hear about white hat and black hat all the time. And while some of you may think you know what black hat is, you really don’t have a clue.

For example, if you read Google’s TOS, you will see that anything that is used to artificially raise a web page up the ranks is considered against their TOS. Well, what about you folks, like me, who write articles and submit them to directories like this one? Sure, we get away with it because on the surface it appears that all we’re doing is providing useful information to those who need it, but let’s be honest. We wouldn’t be doing this if there wasn’t something in it for us. If this content didn’t help our rankings would we write it?

The point I am trying to make is simple. Our motives, whether acceptable or not simply because of appearance, aren’t as pure as the driven snow as we would like to think. We’re essentially in this to make money. Make no mistake about it. That includes me, you and everybody else who runs a home business. The only difference between us and the so called black hatters is the length we’ll go to achieve our ends.

So before you start throwing stones at other people for what they do, take a good hard long look at your own business practices. Do you use forced opt in? Do you use forced continuity? Do you build a network of sites to build a strong backlinking network? Do you submit articles to many directories? I could go on but I think you get the point. All of these things COULD be seen as trying to manipulate the search engines.

No, we are not as pure as we would like to think we are.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Looking for a solid 4 step plan to building your own business…FREE? Pick up my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/4steps.html and get started TODAY!

Every once in a while, something happens that makes me think of things that I wouldn’t normally think of. In this case, it’s a recent news event that got me thinking about sales copy and how to go about writing it. I’ve been wrestling with the idea of generic versus timely copy and I’m going to share my views on this subject in this article. I think you’ll find this interesting reading.

The news event that got me thinking about this subject was Michael Jackson’s death. As you know, the king of pop passed away yesterday, as of this writing anyway. Now, why his passing would make me think of sales copy is still a mystery to me, but the issue, generic versus timely copy, is one that I think deserves to be wrestled with.

Okay, what do I mean by generic versus timely copy? Generic copy, to me, is the kind of copy you see that if you read it in 1990, it would basically be the same kind of copy today. In other words, the sales letter itself could work in either era. With timely copy, what you’re doing is incorporating things that are particular to the era itself. In other words, the sales letter would have either made no sense, say 20 years ago, or would have been totally ineffective. My question is simple. Which one is better?

In wrestling with this issue I have come to the conclusion that generic copy, in the long run, is the way to go. Why do I feel this way? The answer is quite simple. Let’s say that we write a sales letter for a product using timely copy. Unless we expect this product to only sell for a short time, we hope that this letter will do its job for years and years to come. Well, what happens to that sales letter if we use timely copy and five years form now, that timely piece of information is no longer relevant? We have to change our sales letter.

Now, some people would say that’s not such a big deal. But, if I have a sales letter that’s converting for me at 5%, the last thing I want to do is monkey around with it. What happens if I make the changes and the conversion tanks? My philosophy on copywriting is simple. Once you get your sales letter to where you want it, you DON’T want to mess around with it. It is for THIS reason that I say go with a generic sales letter and resist the temptation to throw timely events into your copy.

In the long run…I think you’ll be much better off.

To YOUR Success

Steven Wagenheim
Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.

Article writing is such a wide open field. You can write on just about anything from sports to music to zebras if you like. One of the most fascinating areas to write about is current events. But writing about current events has its pitfalls. In this article, I’m going to go over the pros and cons of writing about stuff in the news. You may or may not want to tackle these after reading this little piece.

As you probably know by now, Michael Jackson just passed away, as of this writing anyway. Now, I could have decided to write a whole bunch of articles on Michael Jackson especially since I grew up listening to him and the Jackson 5. But I have decided against it. I’m going to explain why when I go over the good and bad or current event writing.

Let’s look at the positive aspect of it. It’s current. It’s what people are going to be most interested in. If you think there aren’t millions of people out there today who are clamoring to read just about anything on Michael Jackson today, you’re crazy. Anybody with a Michael Jackson blog is going to have traffic coming out of their ears. Make no mistake about it…Michael Jackson articles WILL be read today.

But what about five years from now when all the hoopla dies down? What’s going to happen to all these articles? Oh sure, there will still be a few people who will look for Michael Jackson articles, but it’s not going to be like the craziness of today. These articles will get very few views down the road.

Now, take an article on article marketing or SEO or something that is not so timely, something that is going to be consistent for a long time. Those articles are going to be read tomorrow as much as they’re going to be read today. Sure, they may not get the initial traffic that then current events articles get, but they’ll get a lot more traffic five years from now.

Yes, you can do well writing about current events, for the short term. But if you want long term traffic, you might want to focus on topics that aren’t so timely.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html - This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

This article actually tackles two problems in one. Generically, it tackles the issue of going it alone in general. I don’t know about you but I wish I had some help when I first started over six years ago. It might not have taken me so long to achieve the success that I have. More specifically, it tackles the issue of affiliate marketing mentorship itself and how it is so different from anything else because of the nature of affiliate marketing. But the question is, do you have a mentor? If not, you might want to consider it. Let me explain why.

There are things involved with affiliate marketing that you really can’t learn on your own, at least not quickly. These are certain quirks about the business that only come with time and experience. One of those things is spotting products that are surefire sellers or surefire losers. As you do this more and more, you almost get a sixth sense for what’s going to sell and what’s going to tank. The sales page itself has a lot to do with it. For that matter, spotting lousy salescopy is something that you develop over time as well.

Another area where a mentor would help is in writing ads. Unless you’re a crackerjack writer to begin with, and even then there are no guarantees, writing ads for affiliate products is different from writing ads for your own products. How so? With your own product, YOU created it. Therefore, you can tell everybody exactly what the product is and what it does and can do it from a personal perspective. However, with an affiliate product, unless you’ve actually used it, what can you honestly say about it? This makes writing ads very tricky. It’s also why I strongly suggest that everybody gets a preview copy so that they CAN write intelligently about it.

Finally, there is the system itself. And make no mistake about it…to be successful as an affiliate marketer, you need some kind of system. A person who has already done this and is doing it successfully HAS a system in place…one that is already successful. All you need to do is have that person teach it to you and plug it into your own marketing efforts. And no, it’s not the same as reading a book on affiliate marketing. What happens when you have a question? The book won’t respond. Trust me on this.

Ultimately, getting a mentor for learning affiliate marketing is going to be your decision to make. Personally, I think it will take months off the learning curve. But, if you’ve got patience and don’t mind waiting, by all means…go it alone.

Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Tired of being an affiliate failure? Want to turn yourself into an affiliate assassin like I am? Want to land in the top 20 of every affiliate promotion you tackle just like I do? Check out my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/affiliateassassin/index.html and start earning a solid income as an affiliate marketer.

A lot of beginning bloggers sit there and stare at their newly created masterpiece and scratch their collective heads wondering what to do next. Do I put this here or there? Do I include this or not? It’s enough to drive you crazy. Well, there is a simple solution to this problem. Design the blog layout in your head first. Then, transferring that design to the actual blog should be a piece of cake…provided you’re using a flexible enough blogging platform. So let’s tackle that first.

In my opinion, you can’t beat WordPress. There are more themes and layouts than you can shake a stick at. It is probably the most flexible piece of content management you’re going to find anywhere. I personally have over a half dozen WordPress blogs. I strongly recommend them if you’re going to have the best chance of transferring your thoughts into reality. But okay, how do we actually execute this process? The following is what I have found to be the best system.

Go out on the Internet and take a look at other blogs in YOUR niche. The reason you want to confine the search to your niche is because you want to see what the topped ranked blogs look like. Trust me, each niche has its own look, especially when you’re talking about the top ranked blogs in the SERPs. Don’t get lazy on this one. It’s going to take some time and effort but it is more than worth it.

After you’ve taken a look at some of the top blogs, get yourself a piece of drawing paper and start outlining your blog on it. Draw a header and whatever columns you think you’re going to need. If you’re planning to have multiple pages such as about me, contact, articles and so on, include them in your outline. If you’re going to use AdSense on the blog, map out where you want the blocks to show up. If you’re going to have an opt in form, map out where you want that to be. Make sure you go over every item that you want to appear on your blog.

After you’ve mapped the whole thing out on paper, only THEN do you go to your admin area and start constructing your blog layout. This way, you’re not groping around in the dark. You know exactly what you want and where you want it. You’ll be surprised how quickly you end up putting your blog together using this system.

There is no need to sit around scratching your head wondering what to do with your blog. Design it in your head first and you’ll have no trouble transforming your thoughts into reality.

To YOUR Success

Steven Wagenheim
CLICK HERE to discover how to put together an authority site that will ultimately bring you in a steady income for years and years to come with very little upkeep

I can’t stress the importance of your article title. If it isn’t captivating enough, people aren’t going to bother reading the article. So how can we get the most out of our article titles, especially if we’re writing a number of articles on one subject? I’ve found that one great way to do this is with what I call combined titles or a main and sub title combined. I’m going to go over this technique in this article. I hope you find it helpful.

If you take a look at the actual title of this article, you will notice that I have used this technique with it. The main title of my article is “Article Writing Tips.” This tells the reader that the article that they’re about to read is going to have something to do with tips on how to write articles. This is obvious enough. But that title alone is very generic. Aside from that, you can only use it one time if you’re submitting articles to directories. What do you do if you want to submit many articles on one subject?

That’s where the sub title comes in. If you take a look at the second part of my title, the one after they hyphen, you’ll see it says, “Getting The Most Out Of Your Titles.” This more specifically tells the potential reader that the tips they’re about to read after to do with the title of their article. This way, they can then decide if this is something regarding article writing that they’re interested in. If you do your research correctly to determine what people ARE interested in when looking for info on article writing, this should never be a problem. I have yet to have an article that wasn’t read by a number of people.

The key to using this technique is simple. Always keep the first part of your title very generic. For example, let’s say you were writing tips on running a home business. You might make the first part of your title, “Home Business Tips.” This tells the reader that the article they’re about to read will have something to do with running a home business. The second part of the title might be something like, “How To Get Organized.” This tells the reader that the tips specifically deal with organization.

Naturally, you will want the main title to include the main keyword phrase that you’re targeting. This will help you get a better search engine placement. If you can combine this with a secondary keyword phrase in the second part of your title, this will get you an even better placement.

By using this technique, you should never have a problem coming up with an effective article title that gets people reading and the search engines loving.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html - This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.