In this installment of making money online...the real truth...I want to discuss scams. This is a term that gets tossed around quite a bit, and while there are a lot of scams out there, not everything is a scam just because it's not working for you. So the first thing we're going to do is set the record straight on what a scam isn't and then explain what a scam is. Hopefully, this will clear up all the confusion so that people don't go tossing this term around like a volleyball.
Here is what a scam ISN'T. Let's say you decide to sign up with a company like Avon. I'm sure you've all heard of them. Remember the old commercials from the 60s, Avon calling? This is where you'd get some Avon rep ringing your doorbell to try to sell you cosmetics. Well, just because you signed up with Avon to sell these cosmetics and didn't make any money doing it, doesn't make it a scam. It just means that you're a lousy salesperson. See, anything related to sales is not a guarantee because you can't make people buy things. That doesn't mean all sales opportunities are scams.
A scam is literally when you join a company, the company promises to pay you for reached certain goal, whether it be sales, sign ups or whatever, and then when you reach your payout threshold and put in for payment, you don't get paid. You then complain to the company, maybe even to the BBB or some other agency and then suddenly the company disappears. That is a scam. That is the only true definition of a scam...when a promise made to you is not fulfilled.
Here's a quick example of a scam from years ago...paid to read emails. The scam worked like this. The company, after taking your sign up fee, promised to pay you a certain amount of money for each email you would read. After you'd reach the payout threshold, which was usually pretty high, you'd put in for your payment and never get it. Eventually, you'd put in your complaints until eventually enough people complained and the site shut down and the owner runs off to the islands with your money. This was very common about five years ago.
This is why scams are so hard to spot. They look legit until you don't get paid. In our next installment, I'm going to go over some ways that you can spot potential scams. You'll want to catch this one.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Want to see more of this series? Watch my REAL Truth Videos at
http://www.stevewagenheim.com/downloads.html and get the REAL truth about making money on the Internet.
The money is in the list. If I had a nickel for every time I heard that saying, I wouldn't need to build a list. The truth is, a solid, well targeted list can make you a fortune. I myself have many lists depending on what niche it is that I'm targeting. How did I get them? What's the best method for building a list that will actually provide you with an income? In this article, I'm going to share with you three surefire list building strategies. If you follow these three steps, you should have no trouble building a profitable in house list.
Very first thing you need to do is understand your market. What I mean by this is you need to understand what motivates them, what drives them. What are their hot buttons? What would they sell their first born to solve? These are the questions that have to be answered or there is no way that you're ever going to reach these people. So strategy number one is to put out surveys. Ask people what they want. Have them sign up to your list just so that they can tell you. If they have a really serious problem, trust me, they'll do it.
Another strategy, assuming you already know what these people want is to give them free information. Offer them a free report or maybe even a newsletter that they'll receive on a regular basis. People with problems love things that are free, especially if those things will help them with their problems. Don't just give them any old junk. Make sure the information has some real value. If the people on your list see that the info you give them actually helps them, then they will be more likely to buy your products.
Finally, and this works like gangbusters, you can run an affiliate program giving away a free report and pay affiliates $1 for every opt in they generate for you. Trust me on this. If affiliates know that they can earn money just buy giving away a free report, they'll do it. I did this for somebody and I got them 128 opt ins alone. Can you imagine how many he got from ALL his affiliates? This is a killer way to build a list.
If you follow any of the methods above, you'll see that your list will build itself quickly and it will be one that will earn you an income for a long time to come.
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.
If you're an article writer and you're trying to fit in those tough keywords (you know the ones I'm talking about) this article may just give you some help in this area. It's not the easiest thing to do, but with a little practice and some out of the box thinking, you can fit those keywords in and make them sound as natural as the day is long. It just takes some thought.
Okay, the keywords I'm talking about are not your everyday run of the mill ones. You know the ones I mean, such as acne cure, dog training, potty training and so on. These are very easy to fit into your articles in the natural flow of the conversation, as one sided as it may be. The tough ones are those long tail keywords that sometimes don't make any sense. I'm talking about when people look up something like "your dog how to train quickly." That is about the worst English I've ever seen in my life. But hey, some people look up things in strange ways. So, how do you get a keyword like this into your article and have it make any sense at all?
Well, this where the out of the box thinking comes in. The best way to illustrate this is with an example. If I was writing an article on dog training trying to target this keyword phrase, this is how I would do it.
"As somebody who has been training dogs for a very long time, I get a lot of questions asked of me. Sometimes, I'll even hit the search engines to see what people are looking for. Well, just the other day, I found a search phrase that was really odd. It was "your dog how to train quickly." Now, you have to admit, this is rather poor grammar. Fortunately, I do understand what this person wants. He wants to learn how to train his dog quickly. Well, to my grammar challenged friend, I think I have the answer for you."
And there you have it. It's that simple.
So now that you know the secret, go out there and write your articles using those very badly worded keywords.
At least one person will know what you're talking about.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Want to write articles that will turn you into a killer article marketer? Get my book on article writing and marketing located at:
http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html
I know that the Internet reaches all over the world. However, where you live can have an effect on your business. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not. The point is, you have to be ready to adapt to your surroundings. Unless you're willing to pick yourself up and move, there is nothing you can do about the restrictions that your country puts on your business. In this article, I'm going to touch on some of these restrictions and some benefits to where you might live.
One of the biggest restrictions is in payment processing. Some countries are restricted from having accounts with processors like Clickbank and PayPal. There is nothing you can do about this. If your country is on the blacklist, that's just the way it is. However, they are not the only game in town. There are many payment processors on the Internet, such as Worldpay, that you can turn to in order to take payments online. So while you may not be able to reach as large a customer base, you can still run a profitable home business with a little hard work.
Another restriction is actual Internet access itself to some sites. Did you know that in certain countries, YouTube is banned? That's right. So, if you're thinking of doing video marketing for your business, YouTube is not an option. However, they are not the only video site on the Internet. There are tons of video sites that you may have access to. You can upload your videos to them.
As for opportunities, many countries have things that are specific to them alone and these could be great opportunities for your business. Maybe your country has a certain culture and custom that may be easily monetized. For example, in Korea, table tennis is very big. You can make more money from this niche if you live there than anywhere else. Point is, you need to look at what is unique to YOUR country and take advantage of it.
Where you live will no doubt have an effect on your business. The key is looking out for the opportunities and taking advantage of them.
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!
One of the hardest things to do, as an affiliate marketer, is to look out for the hot opportunities that are out there. You know, the products that you know you're not going to have any trouble selling. The problem is, with most hot products, by the time you find out about them, it's too late. You're the last one in the shuffle and your chances of making a sale are slim to none. So what do you do? How can you jump on things BEFORE they really become big. Well, there are some ways. I'm going to touch on three of them here.
Probably the best way is to get on the lists of all the top marketers. You're going to do this, not so much to be pitched to and buy their stuff, but to find out what they're coming out with. Think about it. The first people who are going to find out about the newest releases are going to be those on their list. And in most cases, there will be an email telling about a future JV opportunity and a chance to sign up. You want to jump on these right away.
Another great way to find out what's hot is to go to the Clickbank marketplace. Except you're not going to look at the top product in each category. These things are already going to be too hard to sell. What you want to do is go to the category that says "New Products" and see what's there. If you see something that really looks good (takes some practice to spot them) jump all over it. You'll be one of the first affiliates promoting it.
Finally, there is something called Google Hot Trends. Here you will find out what people are searching for up to the hour. If something brand new comes out, you'll be one of the first to find out about it. Just today a new technology came out that has an affiliate program. Hot Trends is a must for checking on a daily basis, even several times a day.
If you follow these three simple tips, you'll find that you have a much easier time finding great products to sell.
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. PLUS...if you want to master using Google Hot Trends, check out my site at:
http://www.stevewagenheim.com/hottrends/index.html and find out how.
A copywriter's job is simple...suck the prospect into the copy and make them want to read it all the way down to the fine print. Easier said than done. However, there are some standard techniques you can use to get your prospect to do just that. In this article, I'm going to share with your the basic outline for you to build on. This should give you a great head start to writing copy that gets people to do what you want them to do...read it.
At the top of the list is the top of your copy...the headline. A compelling headline is critical to getting your prospect to continue reading. The stats don't lie. Did you know that about 80% of your sales will come from your headline? That's mind boggling when you think about it. Bottom line is this. If your headline is weak, the prospect won't read any further, which means they won't make it down to your buy now link. So it is imperative that you grab them by the throat right away.
After you've gotten their attention, you need to keep it. The best way to do that is with a story related to the product itself. Maybe a personal story of how the product helped you, or whoever create it. If you're writing for another person, get his story. Facts tell, stories sell. The prospect wants to feel like they know the seller. They want something personal and not just a bag of facts. Facts will bore the heck out of your reader. A good compelling story will work wonders.
However, that story needs to be backed up by some proof. So along the way, as you're telling your story, mix in some testimonials from people who have already used the product and are happy with it. If you can show documented proof that the product works, such as income screen prints for a make money product, by all means do it. Any kind of social proof at all will add credibility to the sales letter.
Finally, you need to close the deal strong. Give the prospect an iron clad guarantee. Give them a price that they can't refuse. Make the offer so appealing that they'd have to be crazy to say no. And make them aware of the fact that the offer may not be around long. All of these things will contribute to the prospect reaching into their wallet and taking out their credit card.
This is basically how you get your prospect to read more. If you follow this basic outline, you'll have no problem writing copy that sells.
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.
Okay affiliate marketers, listen up. You've probably noticed lately that you're not making as many sales as you used to, that's if you were making any sales at all. Well, it's no secret that the world economy is having a meltdown and people are holding onto their money. Fortunately, I haven't been hit as hard by this as others simply because I have my act together. I've been doing affiliate marketing for over five years and know how to drain every last drop out of the well. In this article, I am going to give you some tips that will help increase your sales during these difficult times.
Let's start off with the most important tip of all...giving value. When you're competing with other affiliate marketers for the public's hard earned dollars, you have to give more than the other affiliates are willing to give. So, what I do, and this works very well, is I offer a bonus to anybody who purchases an affiliate product from me and NOT from John Doe. It doesn't have to be the greatest thing since sliced bread but it does have to be valuable and something that will complement the product. Doing this will increase sales. I can almost guarantee it.
Another thing you can do to increase your sales during this difficult time is to spend more money. That's right. Not less, more. See, advertising is a strange thing. The more of it you do, the more sales you make IF you're selling a proven product. It's just a question of the numbers. If you're already doing PPC and your budget is $10 a day, increase it to $20 a day. You're still going to achieve the same conversion rate so the sales will now come in faster instead of slower. Now granted, this all depends on how good the product is that you're selling...which leads to the final tip.
Make sure what you're selling is a proven seller. There are a lot of products out there that aren't doing squat, either because the products are not sought after or the sales pages don't do a good job of selling them. So make sure you have a winner on your hands and not a loser to begin with. Otherwise, you're just throwing your money away...no matter how much you're spending.
Believe it or not, you CAN survive this economic meltdown if you promote wisely.
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.
Are you invisible? What am I talking about? Is it advertising? It could be. Certainly not getting your marketing message out there will make you invisible and broke to boot. But in this case, I'm talking about something even more important than advertising. I'm talking about your personality. Or more specifically, I'm talking about who YOU are. Sometimes you can have the best marketing message out there, but if you come across as bland and boring, you're not going to make as many sales as you could.
Okay, so how do we rectify this? How do we make ourselves known and make it so that people don't see us as a bland and boring marketer? Probably the best way is to let yourself be seen. There are many ways to do this online today, especially with the technology we have available to us. For example, one way is through the use of video. By creating a video introduction of yourself, telling your target market a little something about you, people will get to see who you really are.
Another way is through putting on your own Internet radio or TV show. Yes, with today's technology, this is easy to do. There are sites that dedicate themselves to providing these services for marketers. All you need to do is go to Google and look up "put on your own Internet TV show" or "put on your own Internet radio show" and you'll get all the details. Personally, I prefer the TV show because people get to hear AND see you at the same time. There is nothing better than putting together a face with that voice.
Gradually, as you do this, prospects will begin to not only know you but FEEL like they know you. And this is so important. The more comfortable they feel with you, the more likely they are to buy from you. So get out there and not only make a name for yourself, but make a voice and a face for yourself as well.
You'll see your sales increase dramatically if you do.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Want your own business right out of the box and cut your startup time down to zero? Check out my site at:
http://www.stevewagenheim.com/biab/ and get your own business in a box for literally pennies.
It's not something that you want to think about, but you're going to get disputed sales when you market online. I'm not talking about people who ask for refunds. I'm talking about people who claim that they never bought the product from you in the first place. Well, if you're wondering how to deal with these people, there is a simple way. And yes, sometimes they're being honest. I'll explain why and how.
Unfortunately, there are those in this world who make it a practice to hack into people's accounts and make purchases through them. This happens all over the place. They gain access to your email or whatever, log into whatever online account you have and make the purchase. I remember one person who had 47 purchases credited to their account. It must have been a real nightmare.
The way to handle disputes is simple...don't get worked up over them and don't try to fight them. In most cases, the buyer will win unless you're delivering a physical item and can prove that it was delivered. With digital goods, this is impossible to do. So just resolve the dispute by issuing a refund. However, there is more that you can do to prevent this from happening again.
If you use a product like DLGuard, you can ban certain customers by logging in their email and IP address. The IP address is tracked with every sale and sent to you, so you always have this info on hand. By banning these problem customers, you don't have to worry about them, or the person who hacked their account, doing this to you again. The whole process takes about 15 seconds.
There are going to be people who try to get things for nothing. That's just the nature of this business. However, by following the above procedures, you can reduce your disputed transactions and also reduce your stress.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Tired of getting your stuff stolen? Check out my review of the best digital protection software ever made at:
http://dlguardprotection.blogspot.com/2008/09/protecting-your-business-download.html
and stop thieves dead in their tracks TODAY!
Okay, so you want to create your own products, or maybe you're already doing that and don't understand why you're not making the kind of sales that you expected. Well, part of your problem may simply be that you haven't given enough value for what you're charging for the product itself. If that's the case, and most times it is, then this article will give you some solid advice on how to improve the value of every product that you create simply and efficiently.
The easiest way to increase the value of your product is to offer bonuses with it. Most product creators have more than one product laying around at their disposal that is related to the product that they're trying to sell. All you have to do is include two or three of those products as bonuses and charge the same price, that's the key. The prospect will believe that they are getting more for their money and will be more likely to buy from you. And you can do this with virtually NO extra effort.
Another way, though not quite as easy, is to take your product and convert it into different formats. For example. Let's say that you have a product that is an ebook and you're delivering it in PDF format. You might want to take that same ebook and turn it into a video or audio product. This way, you can charge more for the product because the perceived value has been increased. If you turn it into a physical product, by putting it on CD or DVD, then you can charge even more for it...even though it is the same information.
We live in a very cost conscious world. The economy is pretty much in the toilet and people are hanging on to their hard earned dollars. They're not likely to part with those dollars unless they are sure that they are getting a good deal. By adding bonuses to your product or by turning the product into multiple formats, you can either charge the same price, thus giving the prospect the impression of a better deal, or charge more money outright because the perceived value of the physical product has been increased.
By doing either of these, you WILL sell more products.
You can take that to the bank.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Don't know where to start to create your first product? Check out my review of "The Complete Guide To Product Creation" at:
http://stevenwagenheim.blogspot.com/2008/09/review-of-complete-guide-to-product.html
and get started TODAY! You too can create products that can earn you THOUSANDS monthly.
